Looks like the rear diff's o nthese 4runners are starting to be an issue. Had mine replaced at 56k, they did the rear diff, wheel bearings and axel bearings.
I called the 800 number to the corporate headquarters customer experience center. The gentlemen was very nice and listened to my dealer experience. I made it very clear I wasn't calling to complain about that experience but wanted to focus on getting my rear diff repaired as it should be under warranty. After about 30 minutes on the phone, he asked me if I minded taking it to another dealer to which I agreed. He said if I had a similar experience and it wasn't repaired, he would turn my case over to a case manager. I was assigned a case number and got this person's name that I talked to. I asked him if they had any "recalls" or "service programs" concerning these rear diffs and he said none showed up. He said he understood my frustration with the dealer comments I had to listen to (posted up top) and said to call him back as soon as I had another dealer look into it. I'll make an appt. as soon as I can with another dealer and see what happens. This is very disappointing but I'm going to remain positive and scratch the 1st dealer visit up to a crummy dealer. Maybe the next dealer will get the ball rolling with warranty to fix my rear diff and this will all go away.
kick this up a notch if you don't receive satisfaction from that 2nd dealer, to wit: do you have a friend who's a criminal attorney? If so, you might consider having him send the dealership a so-called $20 letter (!) stating that any and all drive train problems are completely covered under US Vehicle Warranty laws, and that any further foot-dragging by the dealership(s) will trigger litigation. Be sure he sends a CC to the service manager! If that doesn't kick things loose, well then you know you're really and truly dealing with a bunch of cynical crooks and you never really had a fighting chance anyway.