My rear differential blew out

Hey ladies and broskis, my 2008 taco trd offrd scsb 4.0 auto with e-locker blew the rear differential. I’m not sure exactly what broke as I haven’t pulled the 3rd yet, but since the pop and shutter happens every second or more rotation I was told it’s probably the ring gear? It’s got the a04b axel code which by my research is the 8” 3.73:1 w e-locker. I’m wondering if you guys can chime in on what my potential route should be in getting this baby back on the road? The a04b’s seem to fly outa the wrecking yards as soon as they get in so I’m having a tough time finding one. Since my drvr rear wheel bearing has been barely weeping for a few years, I think I want the whole axel because if I dealt w just the 3rd member I might as well do the seals and bearings and that looks like a major pia beyond my expertise and tool availability. I’ve been searching yards in Sacramento on line and calling all around to no avail. Any info and reviews on east coast gear supply would be great to hear about too. My rear actuator for my diff lock has been not working for 10 years so that’s another reason why getting the whole axel on a hopefully lower mileage truck was the way I’ve been looking. Thanks you guys! What to do?

 

I've heard nothing but good things about East Coast Gear Supply.

 

+1 for ECGS. I’ve swapped with them for 488s and lockers and the process was great

 

@dk_crew - How long was the turn around? Do you remember how much the shipping was using their hook up w FedEx? I’m pretty sure my 3rd is damaged so I wouldn’t get the full refund for the core. I need to just pull the 3rd and see if my axel ends are okay?? If not then I should just pursue the whole thing axels and all

 

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I'd call them and figure out best options. I think they now sell full axle assemblies for Toyotas if that is the route you want to go. When I ordered (3 years ago) it arrived within the week. I swapped out over the weekend and sent my cores back in the same box theirs came in. For you I don't know if they'd want your core or not? But I'd call and see.

 

You could probably slap a good third into the housing for under $300.

Which way to go depends what you want out of it/to do.

 

@TacoTuesday1 - I can only find one 3.73 3rd member w e-locker and that’s on eBay out of a 97k mile truck for $1500 shipped

 

I found one! It’s the whole axel/3rd assembly out of a 2007 w 105k miles at LKQ, $1186 + tax + $100 core, 6 month/6k mile warranty. Thanks you all for your insights! Guess I’d better get to wrenching!

 

Search and you will find.
I sold one, if not more than one, working third without issue for $300 or less. That is the price.
You can find such parts for anywhere from $0 to $300.

To my knowledge, you do not need an entire axle. You need a third.

8.0" are said to be weak, including compared to "8.4" which can run the same ratio, or whatever you want.

If your shafts are fine. If your housing is fine. And your third is blown. Why would you replace those parts. If all you need to replace is a third.
A third member costs less than the rest of it.

That is why I say you have options.
You can do a stock third. You can do a beefier ECGS Dana unit. You can put an 8.0 or 8.4. You can put whatever gear ratio you want in it, and whatever type of diff you want in it.

"$1186 + tax + $100 core" to fix a third member makes zero sense.

 

ECGS is a cornerstone of our automotive world. Easy to do business with and fair in pricing and lead time.

Eh, not quite. The e-locker and non-e-locker housings are different and the 3rds are not interchangeable. The 8.4 is stronger (but weaker than a Ford 9", or LC or Tundra rears) but would require a different housing.

 

This! I actually blew a hole in my 8” diff when I had my e-locker catastrophe. I had to replace the entire axle and went with an 8.4 “sport” Tacoma axle. It sounds like you just need to replace your 3rd!

 

correct, you need the elocker version. if you are good with tools you can swap it yourself with a few required tools, the toy8 is easier to setup then the 8.4

 

@TacoTuesday1 - I called every wrecking yard in the north state of CA from Sacramento to Oregon except LKQ because they were closed early. Every other place didn’t have the a04b diff I was looking for. There were tons of a04a’s and C’s but I want my truck the way it was intended. I wish I could have found one cheaper but trust me when I say I looked hard. It was a fluke that I called LKQ again after being zapped straight to VM at noon on a Friday, and I was supposed to be on a drift boat steelhead fishing yesterday when I decided to call them again. There was one (1) 3rd on eBay for 1400 shipped. I like to use only OEM parts on my truck from bad experiences with aftermarket so was leery of a rebuild. ECGS charges 800 for the rebuild + a 1250 core charge. If your 3rd is damaged you don’t get the full 1250 back when they receive the core. As I stated in the OP my drvr side axel seal has been weeping for a few years so I figured if I replace just the 3rd it’s only a matter of short time before my bearings go as I have 180k on my truck, that’s why I was searching for and bought the whole unit. I live deep in the PNW mountains 3 hours from normal civilization and burn wood for heat. I am very very hard on my Toy in this rugged wilderness seeking firewood to heat the house all winter. I use 4wd all the time. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that I broke a gear after so many years pulling thousand pound madrone logs up to the roadway. Toughest trucks ever! And I plan on my baby to last another 100k! The way I see it I’m gonna keep the old unit and maybe rebuild it? They want 300-500 for a single axel shaft so if I keep it I’m ahead. Happy Trails!

 

I may be wrong. And the terms get confusing. Just to verify. Are you sure?

I was told the housings are the same. Shafts the same. That the thirds that bolt into them can differ but be interchangeable into said housings, and mate to the same said shafts inside of them which should also have the same number of splines.

again may be wrong.

the only for sure housing difference I’m aware of is the average normal Tacoma is probably gonna be SOA leaf mounts welded onto it from factory. While gardener spec trucks are SUA mount.

honestly boss do what you want I’m just giving info and sharing my experience to help make a decision.

1. finding it and for a good price is half the battle. Don’t be afraid to check Craigslist, partsouts, the classified section here, and Facebook.

junkyard by me quoted a stupid price. Which makes no sense because I bought an Audi diff down the street from them for like $150. In fact I bought an entire manual transmission conversion kit for $400. Including the diff. So call that price what you want.

and for my truck, I bought a third member from a gardener truck for like $50 used from a shop that had it sitting around old parts from a repair. Not sure why.

so I took that (which is what the plan was) to have it built. Revolution 4.88, Eaton truetrac. It was strong 8.4”.
Probably working condition. No visible issues.
So again, if you forget the 4.88 and TrueTrac put in it, that third was $50. It’s in my truck now.

if you swap a used axle, those seals are gonna be just as old and dry.

there was a bunch of them on the market for $50-300 at the time and wasn’t hard to find. eBay had many as well.

didn’t really look at codes. Wanted a strong 8.4” from a 2nd gen and I think that’s most of them. Whether it’s LSD or not.
Did not want the weaker 8” elocker.

if I wanted a locker I would’ve done 8.4” with arb air locker or Eaton elocker. But I wanted a mech LSD so I got a TrueTrac.

the TrueTrac was like $500 new. Seems to work pretty well. No wires no air no nothing.

truck was never down. Once that diff was assembled, slapped it in at a parking spot outside.

only obvious regret at this time to me is 4.88 manual on 35” which is good for 37” but highway would probably be better on 4.56 which is potentially stronger.

 

Axle shafts are the same, bearings are the same, brakes are the same.
Housings and 3rds are very much not the same between e-locker and non-e-locker and you will be disappointed if you try to mix them.
Non-e-locker SR5 and non-e-locker Sport models have the same housing.

 

E-locker housing. Notice the cutout on the right side.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/326282997308

 

Non-e-locker housing. Notice no cutout on the right side.

 

@TacoTuesday1 - I searched Craigslist. I went through pictures of at least 50 trucks at Rancho Toyota dismantlers in Sac comparing the gear codes a04b. I found 3 trucks with the same diff. Two pre runner trd or’s and one 4x4 trd or, and they were all gone. Look on eBay for a 3.73 e locker if you don’t believe me and see how expensive they are just for the 3rd. They’re hard to find and you gotta pay. As for interchangeability, I could have thrown an a04a whole assembly in it but I’d like to utilize my locker and that’s an open diff. The mechanical a04c lsd’s (which are only on 05-06 2nd gen’s) are even harder to find. If I could have found a mechanical lsd I’d have no problem with that but all they had were the stupid electronic lsd which utilizes the break system 07-15’s. I just got my e-brake cables out and both my axel seals were leaking pretty bad, drums and pads were gooped but nothing on the rims. I’m sure my bearings were next. The nose of the 3rd was also weeping gear oil too. As this new diff only has 106k miles I’m hoping the axel seals aren’t leaking? I told you I run all OEM right? Look up the prices for OEM 3rd member rebuild kits and OEM wheel bearings and seals. Not cheep. So to break it down, I could have bought the a04b 3rd on eBay for $1500 and replaced the wheel bearings and seals for $340 each (Toyota wholesale direct) and paid $2180. Or I could have paid a gear shop to rebuild my 3rd with all OEM bearings and gears plus the wheel bearings for $2700. Not knowing what ECGS utilizes parts wise is an issue for me too. There’s not many people on this earth that have beat their Tacoma the way I have for 180,000 miles. I’ll take my chances with the low mileage city truck diff lol.

 

i feel like you are way overthinking this. buy a gear set and timkin bearings and have an installer install it. you could have been done by now lol. last time i paid to have a regear it was around 1500 an axle.