Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey Guys,
Ive had this vibration coming from the rear of my 03 Hilux 3.4L V6 for some time, and now its way worse since doing a big towing trip up the coast.

I also find bearing grease (moly-lithium based stuff) in my rear diff when changing the diff oil. Its got a rear locker also, which co-incidently is leaking diff oil around the airlocker airhose in-socket. I have replaced and checked thoroughly the breather lines and they are clear.

Is there any way of checking without pulling the axles off/out if either of the rear axles are bent? Im guessing the bent axle has chopped out the bearing and/or seals in the diff casuing the grease leak and bent axle is casuing the massive vibration. The vibrations (feels more like the rear end is pushing the front end repeatledly) are most noticeable between 1750-2000 revs, usually 2-5th gear, and also most noticeable when backing off the gas, or when the engine is in the wrong gear and labouring around those revs.

Any suggestions? Ideas? Recommendations??

Cheers in advance
Karl

did ya check ur centre bearing in ur tail shaft? that would be the first thing to check out, also there shouldnt be any grease in ur diff apart from a bit of grease in ur rear axle bearings but that should not be notiveable, also check ur pinion for slop or excessive backlash. also what sort of rims are running? a mate of mine had steelies on a prado and they bent because he was towing a 6 meter boat most weekends.

Grease look may of been metal sludge from bearings or gears wearing.
Not too hard to remove diff centre and axles for inspection.

Bazzle

bazooked wrote:also what sort of rims are running?

Rims are alloys, have had them balanced quite a few times since the initial problem started.
Havent checked the centre bearing yet, although last service it was indicated that there was some free play in the bearing.
Still doesnt explain the big blob of grease, this time it was perhaps half a cup, in the past its been alot more.

bazzle wrote:Grease look may of been metal sludge from bearings or gears wearing.
Not too hard to remove diff centre and axles for inspection

Have always checked the diff oil (and grease) for any metal, and never found any (visible metal anyway), as for pulling the diff and axles out, I dunno if i could manage this and then still have it ready for my daily driver, as Ive never done it before!!!

Cheers

Have you got some car stands , Jack up rear , put it on the stands so the wheels clear the ground. Then have one of your mates start and put into second gear , MAKE SURE you do this in the open. Do not go under the car,just stand behind and check for wheel wobble. Also turn of car and check for up and down movement on the bearing by lifting and lowering tyre. Also while vehicle is running in second , Go to the side and check for tailshaft vibration or movement , watching for pinion movement,get him to rev it to the right range. My tailshaft had a vibration only at 60 km and this is how I found it ,Also a bent axle will show up as both tyre and rim wobbling. Also check your tyres , they sometimes go out of round and have bulges in them. MIght help,might not Cheers Paul.

Thanks Mart, I'll try that, BUT only in the open! :-)

Also, didnt mention before, but the vibration is actually more like bumps than anything else, it kind of makes the ride seem like ur travelling on a really bumpy road....makes sense??

Any other suggestions?

Cheers for all the help so far

hi you may have a bubble on a rear tyre this will feel like a vibration or a bumpy road

Ive rotated the tyres a number of times, including changing to my 33'' MTs and the "bumpiness" is still there, so Id rule out the tyres.

Im still thinking prop shaft bearing or bent axle.........

i had this problem on my 92 lux. turned out i had bent the tailshaft and the center bearing was stuffed and the unis. might pay to run it into a mechanic and see if they can give it a quick check to help narrow it down.

Well, I finally got around to replace the centre tailshaft bearing, and for one hours labour and $90 for bearing, the majority of vibrations are gone!!

So thanks for all the help guys.

Where'd you source the bearing from? Genuine toymotor?

Mechanic got it for me, Im assuming Toyo, but at that price, I doubt it. Packaging was un-labelled. Repco advised that no aftermarket bearings of that nature were available from them. I didnt try Terrain Tamer for instance.