I bought a new 2020 4Runner last year, and as soon as we drove it off the lot it started making a groaning drive line noise which ended up being the infamous front diff needle bearing. The entire front diff and CV axle was replaced.

Well the symptoms started showing up again. I removed the front diff magnetic drain plug and found pieces of that needle bearing stuck to it. Jeez....

The vehicle is scheduled to go in this Friday. I installed a 1.5" lift on it, so I'm hoping they don't deny warranty because of that. Tires are stock size. I want them to replace the drivers side CV and front diff again. If they do then I will be on my third front differential. Seems excessive for a 2020.

I have the ECGS bushing, but I'm hesitant to install under factory warranty.

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Is this a more common issue with the 2020+ models? This is the second or third time within a week that I’ve read about front needling bearings going bad shortly after driving off the dealer lot and without any lift. OP, did you post this on any other forums?

They don't deny warranty for 3inch or less lifts AfAIK.

No I did not post elsewhere. I was not aware this has been happening to other brand new 4runner as well.

After having the issue the first time (20 miles on the OD) and learning about it, I figured Toyota would have updated the issue by 2020 but maybe I got an old part. But two in a row, maybe the original needle bearing TSB is still haunting trucks. Just a guess. What are your thoughts?

Yikes I had a new diff put in last February and it’s gone bad again as well on my 17. I’m doing the ECGS bushing this weekend because I see no point in replacing the diff again. But I am concerned with the pieces in there. My 4runner has been driving kind of funny and feels loose, I wonder if yours did this too?

The shop that did the previous replacement looks to have screwed up the install pretty badly. I hope all of the loose bits made it down to the magnet without making their way through any spinning bits.

As far as I know, Toyota has not yet actually fixed the issue, and probably won't. Once the shop fixes their mistakes, install the ECGS bushing to permanently fix the problem

I’ve never heard of this... you say “infamous” ? What years does this “infamously “ affect?😥😥😥

2003-2021 4runner, Tacoma, FJ

Seems like you got a really bad one off the lot. I wonder at what point can you demand another vehicle.


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I'm not even close to this point lol.

Why do you believe Toyota won't address this issue? I can't imagine the warranty dollars they're spending. Seems like it wouldn't be that hard to redesign a bearing like ECGS did.

This has been going on for a number of years. There is a Technical Service Bulletin about it:
Front Diff Grinding/Groaning Cyclical Noise
T-SB-0012-19 Toyota Technical Service Bulletin

Supposedly, that area of the front differential was redesigned to solve the problem in the 2020 models, and older vehicles were supposed to get a new differential with the redesign, not just replace the bearing and seals.

If you have pieces of the old bearing on your magnetic plug, obviously you did not get a brand new differential, which means the replacement shop did not follow the TSB instructions.

They DID redesign the bearing for the 2020 model. But I'm beginning to wonder if the redesign didn't really solve the problem.

??? These rarely fail, I dunno how you can say they are infamous

I worked for Toyota Canada head office until 2012 and the 4runner was a service dog .. meaning they hardly ever saw them in the shop for repairs... That is when they decided to add more accessories cause the service was loosing money.. never heard of diff issues when I worked there and I know of all the other problems in cars everyone thought were bullet proof

According the the TSB cited above, the issue started in the 2016 model, four years after your 2012 departure from Toyota Canada.

Again, the TSB requires a NEW differential to be installed, not just replace the bearing/seal. There was an older TSB that allowed the bearing/seal to be replaced without a new differential.