Rear Diff replacement / wrong diff

[4RunnerStarv]

Long story short
About a year ago I was in a car accident,
2003 4Runner Sr5 V6 with 95000 miles
I was told the rear diff had to get replaced so it was approved, fast forward to winter and my 4x4 wouldn't engaged properly, it would take 10-15m to the 4x4 to work after moving the car back and forth, It would also take forever to disengaged the 4x4. couple of months after winter I notice a sound every single time I pressed the gas pedal, took it to my mechanic nd he told me that the rear diff was damage, and I needed a replacement. it wasn't just the 3rd member. the whole thing.

Today I asked the insurance for a copy of the estimate and all supplement estimates and I find out that the shop replaced the V6 rear diff with a V8 rear diff with over 200K of use...
I know the gears are different sizes between the v6 nd v8 so the big question is...

what steps can I take?
has anyone here gotten that big of a **** up in their 4runner?

 

[JimInTN]

Iirc, yours would've came from the factory with 3.90 gears. All Toyota 8" 3rds are interchangeable....assuming the correct ratio is swapped back in.

The v8 4Runner, however, came with 3.73 gears. If that's the case I'm surprised it engaged at all or didn't catastrophically fail elsewhere.

 

[oldmansimek]

I would highly recomend bringing it to a different shop just to at least verify the incorrect gear ratio. If that is the case whoever put it in is responsible, there is also a good posibility that there is further damage to other components transfer case or front differential. If the gearing is different your front and rear end in 4x4 are fighting each other. Just a heads up most shops will not do internal axle work they usually replace the entire rear from a junkyard.

 

[Ralph Blake]

I have this feeling you will need an Attorney, to get this problem taken care of.

 

[Morphyne]

Just the stated mileage on the diff is bullshit. Why did the shop put one in that had 200k miles on it? Oh right, so they could keep the rest of the money earmarked for the new one that was supposed to go in your ride. what a bunch of shady lowlifes.

 

[Ralph Blake]

Just the stated mileage on the diff is bullshit. Why did the shop put one in that had 200k miles on it? Oh right, so they could keep the rest of the money earmarked for the new one that was supposed to go in your ride. what a bunch of shady lowlifes.

This is just one of the items this is going to end up in a lawsuit being filed,with an Attorney being needed, to get it fixed correct and a bunch of money returned to the OP.

 

[4RunnerStarv]

I've never been so pissed off in my life. I have to talk to the insurance first and then we'll see if I will have to get an attorney involved, but most likely I will have to. I'll post an updated of the biggest ****ed up i've ever experience

 

[Brian3676]

Depending on the insurance, most insurance companies offer life time warranty on repairs if you use one of there shops. When I was in an accident the entire rear axle was replaced. About 2 years later it blew up, called insurance and they paid for 100% of a new one no questions asked. That was State Farm.

Anyway! Good luck on your incident

 

[4RunnerStarv]

Depending on the insurance, most insurance companies offer life time warranty on repairs if you use one of there shops. When I was in an accident the entire rear axle was replaced. About 2 years later it blew up, called insurance and they paid for 100% of a new one no questions asked. That was State Farm.

Anyway! Good luck on your incident

Im about to change to State Farm lol.. they pretty much told me Im on my own, the warranty of the rear diff was 66 days so they wouldn't cover to cost to replace it again, nd that the shop actually put a V6 rear diff in there but they paid for the price of a V8 thats cheaper ... (BullSh*t)
Definitely getting an attorney involve now.

 

[Inv4drZm]

Long story short
About a year ago I was in a car accident,
2003 4Runner Sr5 V6 with 95000 miles
I was told the rear diff had to get replaced so it was approved, fast forward to winter and my 4x4 wouldn't engaged properly, it would take 10-15m to the 4x4 to work after moving the car back and forth, It would also take forever to disengaged the 4x4. couple of months after winter I notice a sound every single time I pressed the gas pedal, took it to my mechanic nd he told me that the rear diff was damage, and I needed a replacement. it wasn't just the 3rd member. the whole thing.

Today I asked the insurance for a copy of the estimate and all supplement estimates and I find out that the shop replaced the V6 rear diff with a V8 rear diff with over 200K of use...
I know the gears are different sizes between the v6 nd v8 so the big question is...

what steps can I take?
has anyone here gotten that big of a **** up in their 4runner?

Hold on there...

You could of gotten the rear diff from a V8 4Runnner and if that was the case, then there would be a difference in gearing, so make sure they double-check that BUT...

The Toyota "V8" or 8" differential is the nomenclature they use to mean the differential in most all the 4Runners, FJ's, and Tacomas up until the newer models when they swapped to the 8.2" differential. This name has nothing to do with the engine or the gearing.

You more than likely got swapped to the Toyota "V8" or 8" differential with the correct gearing for your V6- if your shop has any common sense.

The theory of your rear diff making a noise every time you press the gas pedal sounds iffy to me. But I'm not a mechanic.