Driveline Noise

[Wile.E.Coyote]

I know these type of threads are annoying to try to track down the cause, so thanks in advance for any help.

I'm getting a vibration/noise that I can't track down. It's a low hum that alternates cyclically, so it goes whoooooooom...............whoooooooooom.........It's pretty soft and subtle, but I notice it in my floorboard until about 50mph when it's drowned out by other road and wind noise. It seems to be slower than my tires spinning, but it speeds up when I speed up. I first noticed it when I lifted the front Bilsteins up another 1'', but I also changed the diff and transfer case fluid the week before. I'm pretty sure it went away when I put it in H4 and I'm 95% sure it's not tire rubbing.

My best guess is front CV? I took a quick look under there and noticed that it looked like some grease was escaping from the end of the CV boot on the passenger side. I don't know how this would link directly to the noise, but not sure what else it could be. I also have another post on this site about a clunk in reverse that started weeks before this. Don't think they're related, but who knows.

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

Should have mentioned:

2004 V6 4x4 Sport with 105k miles.

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

Nothing huh? Chasing down vibration noise is such a pain in the ass.

 

[fdbyrne]

If it goes away when you engage 4x4, do a search in the Tacoma forums for 'ECGS bushing.' There's a pretty well known issue with the driver side differential output shaft support bearing especially after a lift.

You'll find a crap ton of descriptions of the problem in the Tacoma forums. I'm not an expert and I'm not saying that it's your problem for sure, but I think that you'll agree that the symptoms sound the same after you do that search.

 

[m85476585]

There's also the GX470 revised front differential damper, but I don't know if that applies to the V6. I think I have the noise that the RFDD would fix, but it's subtle and only around 60mph, so I'll just ignore it.

 

[JEL]

There's also the GX470 revised front differential damper, but I don't know if that applies to the V6. I think I have the noise that the RFDD would fix, but it's subtle and only around 60mph, so I'll just ignore it.

The GX470 damper seems like it'd work on either the V6 or V8, but it resolves sort of the opposite of what the OP is mentioning, it's a drone that comes on around 60-70mph when 4wd is engaged (or always present in the case of the V8), mine does it a little bit and I've been thinking about adding the damper but I just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

If it goes away when you engage 4x4, do a search in the Tacoma forums for 'ECGS bushing.' There's a pretty well known issue with the driver side differential output shaft support bearing especially after a lift.

You'll find a crap ton of descriptions of the problem in the Tacoma forums. I'm not an expert and I'm not saying that it's your problem for sure, but I think that you'll agree that the symptoms sound the same after you do that search.

Thanks man, that is genuinely helpful! It seems like that might be my problem, why is it so big on the Tacoma forums, but not so apparent with the T4Rs?

 

[fdbyrne]

I'm honestly not sure. I'm pretty sure that they share the same components and are subject to the same problem. I installed one in my 4Runner and some others have too.

In my case, I wasn't really experiencing the vibration. I just didn't like the amount of slop that was in the inboard side of the driver's side CV shaft where it goes into the differential housing. Mine had a lot of play and the bushing tightened it up nicely.

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

So I've dreamed of an ARB locker for a while, would that also solve the issue since it's replacing the carrier? I could justify it to myself by putting the $200 that I would spend for the ECGS bushing towards the locker.....:bravo:

 

[Erkelbot]

Long shot, but did you loosen the skid plate(s) in some way when you were down there monkeying around? If one bolt were loose still it may wobble/vibrate with wind passing through on the front end -- and it could clunk in reverse when you hit a bump or go down an easement. It's probably not the issue, but it's always worth looking into the easy stuff first...

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

Definitely have had skids off recently when I did diff fluid but the noise is too consistent to be wind related. It's a perfect off-on-off-on like a metronome. Im still hoping for the easy solution but I think I'm past that unfortunately.

One note that I forgot to mention but could be related, was that my front diff had a lot of "metallic sludge" on the magnetic drain plug when I changed the fluid. It probably had never been changed. The rear diff and t-case were near perfect.

 

[Erkelbot]

I assume you haven't messed with the exhaust at all, right? The reason I ask is because some cars -- especially wagons -- will drone really bad when you change/mess with the exhaust. It's possible that you struck just the right balance somehow when you lifted the truck, though not likely...

 

[fdbyrne]

So I've dreamed of an ARB locker for a while, would that also solve the issue since it's replacing the carrier? I could justify it to myself by putting the $200 that I would spend for the ECGS bushing towards the locker.....:bravo:

I'm not sure about the locker but the bushing shouldn't cost you $200. It should be around $60 and you could borrow my bearing puller tool if you pay for the shipping.

 

[Wile.E.Coyote]

Update: things have gotten warmer here in Chicago recently and the noise has dissipated. Seems the colder it is the more noticeable. I'm going to plan on doing the ECGS bushing sometime this summer but for now I have bigger projects to do.