I had a 2011 4R that I purchased new in 2011, vehicle developed a groaning noise in front end only in 2WD, soon as I shifted to 4 hi noise would go away. I fought with Toyota dealer for months over this, they replaced a wheel bearing, rotated tires, even put wireless microphones on each wheel to isolate noise. They tried to tell me there was nothing wrong with vehicle. Toyota finally brought district tech into dealer and he found the problem right away. Turned out that needle bearings in front end where totally destroyed, so bad that shaft actually was wearing into the casting, once dealer replaced front axle assembly noise was gone for good.
So now here I am in 2020 with a new 4R TRD ORP with 1500 miles on the odometer and I hear the same noise ! What the hell is going on ? Anyone else experience this issue. I know there is a TSB for this but you would think after all this time Toyota would have fixed this for good. Do they all do this ? Here is the TSB#....TSB T-SB-0026-15.

Is this the ever-slight vibration around 2300 rpm that seems worse upon acceleration? I thought they all did that.

Get the bushing from East Coast Gear Supply

The TSB number has been updated to T-SB-0012-19 for later 4Runners:

T-SB-0012-19 Toyota Technical Service Bulletin

Read through this thread, a lot of folks have had this issue. I have the same issue and will be attempting to replace with the ECGS bushing:

Front Diff Grinding/Groaning Cyclical Noise

Because your running is brand spankin new, you might fall under the related TSB or there may be a new one. Do you research on this issue and bring it up to the dealer.

So yeah - you're not alone I would say. From the research I've been doing on the topic over the last 3 years the common denominator is that the same parts have been used in the entire chain of vehicles, and while I cannot say for sure its doubtful they have revised this part in the new ones so even if you receive a replacement diff under TSB identification it can have the potential to do the same thing. I just ignored the groaning every winter (presumably as the metal contracts in much colder temps the freeplay in that shaft / bearing assembly increased enough to make that noise considerably louder, never heard the issue in summer)

Anyway - after three trips to two different dealers to narrow that down, they all became no problem found results and service managers and techs alike never heard of an issue like that in these vehicles. Really? So that gave me a ton of confidence to have any of them pulling apart my front end to replace the differential assembly even if I could convince someone that this isn't a normal gear train noise.

Spoke to my local off road guy who's been changing those bearings out for the last decade really, primarily for lifted trucks of course with beyond stock CV shaft angles that develop the same problem and his go to solution is the same thing - replace the needle bearing. He uses the same thing as ECGS but he obtains them from Nitro Gear.

I just did this actually as I came out of 3 year bumper to bumper warranty. Should have done it 2 years ago really was so simple he did it in an hour for petes sake. Noise gone, dead quiet as it should be and we've had below zero cold in these parts lately I'd have heard the damn thing groaning away for sure. Anyway - thats my experience, good luck, seems like you're going down the same road - no pun intended

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The older TSB replaced the needle bearing; the latter TSB replaced the entire front differential. Both will be covered under warranty.

Note that the second TSB says the problem was solved after VIN JTEBU5JR#K5632980.

So K is Model Year 2020. Well we probably won’t know for awhile yet until others come on here looking for answers if in fact they did something at that end of the differential cause clearly that has been the only root cause I’ve ever read about and can attest to as being the solution with my ‘diff groan’.

The new differential they are putting in to solve the problem has a different part number than the old one, so I would assume there are some technical changes that fixed the problem.

I had a new front diff installed under warranty in January of this year, my noise has come back as soon as the temps dropped. I think I may just go with the ECGS fix this time around.

I had no noise until I upgraded my suspension. Zero lift just new stuff and front leveled out.

Yeah that is what the off road shop guy related to me when he was tapping in mine. He recommends his Toyota owners / customers with these diffs tap one in as well when doing whatever he's asked to do increases the stock CV angle because eventually - that needle bearing seems to complain for lack of a better term.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread!

New member here, just bought a '22 Limited. 500 miles on the clock

Vibration through gas pedal / rough engine at around 2,300 RPM under acceleration, up steel hill

Is this normal?

This is the only comment I have found about this anywhere, I have searched hard!

Any response very grateful!

I did this at 310K miles as precautionary move recommended by East Coast Gear Supply. We did not have the noise and the bearings were fine.

First of all, congrats on your purchase!

From your description I do not think it is related to the issue in this thread, which is the needle bearings in the front end.

I believe what you may be hearing\feeling is somewhat “typical” vibration\noise\resonance for 4.0 V6 in the 4Runner.

I always heard\felt it in my truck, and it is also a lot more (I would say 95% more) pronounce when the weather is cold… under 40 degrees or so.

Nevertheless, your truck is new, so I would recommend go to the dealer just to double check.