Passenger side Differential support arm

[aha2988]

Hey guys, been running through a little research on this an was currious if any of you could chime in with a picture or a confirmation of sorts to this question.

In the 2003-2004 a good many of the 4wd 4runners came with an extremely thin under sized passenger side support arm. Theres only been a few cases reported that i've found of this happening, mainly for extreme offroading between bouncing and torque loads to the front axle the brackets just shear. every account as been extremely close to the same shear location of the bracket:

Front Diff Support comparison - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

So in 2005-2006 toyota revised the bracket making the webs slightly thicker and the over all part a little wider. More of the more serious off-roaders have been using these brackets along with plate welding the sides of the support arm to make certain it won't shear. (side effects of the arm shearing are punctured oil pan, & trashed inner CV joint/boot)

My question for my 5th gen friends is, what do yalls passenger side differential support arms look like compaired to whats seen in the thread link i posted to toyota120, the thread shows the 03 brackets and the revised brackets Me and a few others are currious if toyota made another revision as well as if so could it be even stronger than the revised bracket we have now?

If your interested in taking the time to look or grab a picture of yours. Its under the the oil pan/differential skid plate. this is the general location to look as well as what mine looks like now lol (motive for concern shown in pic)


the rest of the pics in that photo bucket album are of my situation i just sheared mine last friday night on a night run at uhwarrie national park:happens:

TIA to anyone who can help compare this for me!

 

[aha2988]

any one.. lol

 

[20034RunnerV84x2]

Ohhh..... Now I'm kinda happy mine isn't 4WD! If no one does ill go look at my dealer, its only a mile or 3 away.

 

[aha2988]

Ohhh..... Now I'm kinda happy mine isn't 4WD! If no one does ill go look at my dealer, its only a mile or 3 away.

haha thanks that was my other option aswell. I post a question on the 5th gen section and my first response comes from another 4th gen owner. great toyota brother hood guys

 

[JB.]

I'm interested in this too but you're expecting an answer from what is likely to be an extremely small sample population:

You need a 5th gen owner who:

1. Has seen this thread
2. Cares about this thread
3. Has taken the front skid off
4. Has taken a picture of the spot in question
5. Cares enough to find and then post said picture.

On the other hand, I would think anyone who wheels their 5th gen hard would be interested in finding out whether the part in question has been strengthened, so maybe someone will go take a look.

I'll help bump this thread from time to time. Maybe we can find something out eventually.

 

[Jeremy556]

When I get mine back from the body shop, if no one else has posted in the mean time, I'll take some pics.

 

[brockeverly]

I was just under there, but did not take any photos. Odd for me.

Anyway, I do not recall what the brackets looked like in comparison. I will happily go take some photos of them for you, but it has been 110+ here lately, so it will be a bit.

 

[harper7]

Hey guys, been running through a little research on this an was currious if any of you could chime in with a picture or a confirmation of sorts to this question.

In the 2003-2004 a good many of the 4wd 4runners came with an extremely thin under sized passenger side support arm. Theres only been a few cases reported that i've found of this happening, mainly for extreme offroading between bouncing and torque loads to the front axle the brackets just shear. every account as been extremely close to the same shear location of the bracket:

Front Diff Support comparison - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum

So in 2005-2006 toyota revised the bracket making the webs slightly thicker and the over all part a little wider. More of the more serious off-roaders have been using these brackets along with plate welding the sides of the support arm to make certain it won't shear. (side effects of the arm shearing are punctured oil pan, & trashed inner CV joint/boot)

My question for my 5th gen friends is, what do yalls passenger side differential support arms look like compaired to whats seen in the thread link i posted to toyota120, the thread shows the 03 brackets and the revised brackets Me and a few others are currious if toyota made another revision as well as if so could it be even stronger than the revised bracket we have now?

If your interested in taking the time to look or grab a picture of yours. Its under the the oil pan/differential skid plate. this is the general location to look as well as what mine looks like now lol (motive for concern shown in pic)


the rest of the pics in that photo bucket album are of my situation i just sheared mine last friday night on a night run at uhwarrie national park:happens:

TIA to anyone who can help compare this for me!

Has any failed except the 03-04's since they changed the design?

Removed and replaced my diff and had them off and they seemed plenty strong judging by the weight. I'm pretty sure it's the same as the later model 4ths and the FJC's .They are exactly the same as the FJ's and I hav'nt heard of any of them failing and some of them wheel them pretty hard.Taco's have them as well and use the same front diff.

In 2010 they also fixed the front frame flex that caused fender bulges with supports and doublers ,beefed up the motor mounts and not to mention a new rear 8.2" 12 bolt ring and pinion .
Here are a couple pics I shot when I replaced the clamshell front diff.......

 

[aha2988]

Thanks guys!! btw did they match that 8.2" ring and pinion up front? thats awesome!







looks like its the same as the revised bracket.. and yes the weak link was limited to the 03-04 brackets thanks for the comparison guys!!

 

[JB.]

FWIW

Took this pic a while back while checking for the number 6.

It's not real clear but it appears there might be a 6 on Harper's pic as well.

 

[snow&surf]

looks like its the same as the revised bracket..

FWIW

Took this pic a while back while checking for the number 6.

It's not real clear but it appears there might be a 6 on Harper's pic as well.

I changed my differential fluids last weekend and was lazy to put the skids back on so I snapped a pic after reading this thread. Looks like we do have the revised bracket and you can clearly see the 6 (60, in fact) on the passenger side bracket.

 

[wracks03s]

I just broke mine in my 03 last week. Trying to find a replacement.

 

[BrandonF]

2003 GX470. Also broke mine.

IMG_1065 by Brandon Faliszewski, on Flickr