I have been noticing some clunking while driving for the past couple of days. So I decided to check underneath the vehicle to see my rear actuator has cracked. I have not used 4WD since last winter. Any reason why it cracked before I replace it? And is it simple to replace? Thanks.
Cracked rear differential actuator
- Thread starter jahahai
- Start date
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shadow247
New member
Make sure the sway bar isn't making contact.
Otherwise could just be a fluke. It is a piece of plastic after all on a 20+ year old truck.
4RunnerNoobinNC
Junior Member
I’ve got one in the garage if you need one…shoot me an IM…
Malcolm99
Member
Its actually cast Aluminum, they usually don't crack except when you remove them as the hole in the diff gets rusty and makes it difficult to pry out and that one stud corrodes, Aluminum and steel don't get along and create a crusty bond. the sway bar contacting the top of the actuator makes the most sense looking at it, especially if its lifted, if so you will see contact marks and the sonoran steel rear sway bar relocation kit will solve that. Save the armature, gears, position sensor and cap with magnets as they come in handy if one needs to rebuild them.
96RedRunner
Senior Member
My bet would be swaybar got it if the suspension hasn't been replaced in 200k+- mi.
If your rearend sags and bottoms out on bumps regularly that's when bar hits it.
hklt4R
New member
The only real way to prevent sway bar from hitting is with the brackets from Sonoran Steel. Longer links will still have you hitting. As far as replacing it’s pretty easy. There’s 2 nuts on the studs for the 3rd member and one 12mm bolt holding it to the housing. Then you just need to undo 2 electrical connections, the breather hose and a bracket that’s held on by a 12mm bolt that secures the wiring harnesses and breather hose. It should come right out once all of that is done. And make sure to lock the motor while it’s out of the diff and manually lock the diff by pushing the fork all the way over to the passenger side through the motor hole. You may need to jack one tire up in the air and spin it while you try to manually lock the diff to get it to fully locked. Doing this ensures your locker motor is clocked properly.
