Seal was leaking on front diff where left CV shaft exits. Found the side bushing in the ARB air locker was destroyed, causing the CV shaft splines to gouge up the bore the bushing had protected. Whole locker needs to be replaced. Could a 3" front end lift have caused this, due to geometry change of the CV shaft? Only 60,000 miles on the 2010 vehicle.
ARB locker ruined by 3" lift?
- Thread starter bellis
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Simpleman74
New member
sure it could and probably was the contributing factor....
Tyler James Inc
Senior Member
Much more likely the seal was damaged when the CV was re-installed after the ARB was added.
CV angle shouldn't put stress on the seal at 3" over stock.
Wasn't there a puddle everywhere you parked that indicated a leak? To an extent, you can run a diff pretty low on oil without it doing damage. I can't imagine the diff leaking all the oil out without it being obvious there was a leak. How many miles on the ARB install?
CV angle shouldn't put stress on the seal at 3" over stock.
Wasn't there a puddle everywhere you parked that indicated a leak? To an extent, you can run a diff pretty low on oil without it doing damage. I can't imagine the diff leaking all the oil out without it being obvious there was a leak. How many miles on the ARB install?
yotantexas
Member
I assume this was on the driver side? It sounds like you are talking about the stock needle bearing. If so it is very common for it to go out on lifted yotas. ECGS sells a solid bushing that is a great upgrade.
Mine went out on my Tacoma and caused the axle seals to leak. Replaced both seals and the bushing without issue.
TOYOTA 8" CLAMSHELL CV AXLE BUSHING
Mine went out on my Tacoma and caused the axle seals to leak. Replaced both seals and the bushing without issue.
TOYOTA 8" CLAMSHELL CV AXLE BUSHING
wfo9
New member
ARB does not have needle bearings... It has a bushing...
You must run good diff oil and change it often...any loss in oil will cause issues for that bushing. In needs lubrication.
People don't seem to understand that an ARB locker replaces the entire diff (except the clam shell housing).
The greater angles on the cv shafts clearly add to wear potential.. but 3" should be fine. Obviously YMMV. The arb carrier should last longer than OEM. Im guessing you just lost the seal and things went bad. They don't last forever, but are super easy to replace.
You must run good diff oil and change it often...any loss in oil will cause issues for that bushing. In needs lubrication.
People don't seem to understand that an ARB locker replaces the entire diff (except the clam shell housing).
The greater angles on the cv shafts clearly add to wear potential.. but 3" should be fine. Obviously YMMV. The arb carrier should last longer than OEM. Im guessing you just lost the seal and things went bad. They don't last forever, but are super easy to replace.
Jetboy
New member
I have the exact same scenario - x2. I'm on the second front ARB - what I thought was a failure to disengage turned out to likely be a bushing failure. ARB replaced it under warranty. Unit 2 exhibits the exact same issue - I replaced the seal with a new OEM one. No leak, but the bushing has a TON of play in it. So it doesn't hold the gear aligned with the inner gear set and the entire thing rumbles. ARB sent a 3rd replacement diff that I'm going to not install. I'm done throwing money at it. It's a problem with the design. I only have about 2" lift. Never had an issue with the open diff. Swapped back between them during the first replacement and the OEM diff was silent. It's just not worth the effort anymore to me to keep replacing them. I think the change over to stamped gears a year or two ago is also a contributing factor. ARB used to machine billet gears for the spiders. Now they use forged gears (that are not machined or lapped) so they have quite a rough surface relative to properly machined spider gears. I suspect that is contributing to the axle wobble that ultimately causes the failure. Both of mine happened within the first 100 miles or less with full oil in the diffs. The wobble caused the seal failure, not the other way around is my bet.
OP: if you're still around - did a replacement solve the problem?
[MENTION=106176]wfo9[/MENTION] - do you remember when your ARB was installed. I think the gear change happened around 2017 to the forged spider gears. It may have also involved a change in some parts of the carrier design as well.
This is under 100 miles from new install:
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xmuY5MeC8Uw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
OP: if you're still around - did a replacement solve the problem?
[MENTION=106176]wfo9[/MENTION] - do you remember when your ARB was installed. I think the gear change happened around 2017 to the forged spider gears. It may have also involved a change in some parts of the carrier design as well.
This is under 100 miles from new install:
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xmuY5MeC8Uw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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