Toyota Front Diffs

Never heard about this must be a first.

What do the dealers say.
"This has never happened before, your the first"

Toyota tough (luck)

So come on tell the story

Don't forget the "unbreakable" hilux!!! They can break diffs too.

If sales dropped off because of the prob hey would fix it. We are all used to it and accept it so , I guess, Toyota may have stared us all down.

Sorry guys im lost ... What diff problem ? is there a common problem I havent heard of ?

Andrew,

I think you have the models mixed up. The 120 Prado has a bigger diff than the model it replaced.
It would be interesting to see how many diffs, engines etc that are replaced due to a "weakness/design fault" Vs the amount of vehicles sold.
I think that might tell a different story but if the figures were available that showed failures per vehicle used off road we would get a vastly different set of figures.

To the greater majority of 4wd users their vehicles will be more than adequate for what they do and they will probably never here of a problem let alone hear of one.

We only here of them because we " move in different circles"

Lets face it every, car, commercial,4wd has a "problem" , somewhere at some time.
Lets hope it is not ours.

Andrew,

Never had a toyota front diff problem, other than normal wear, until the 2000 model 79 series. They were real "dogs", and heard of numerous front diff, and steering problems. Fair few gearboxes in this model didn't last too well. Rang the Mt Isa dealer, "How's that tojo of mine going, with the g'box repairs" Answer: "Which one, mate, we've got 3 in here at the moment"

Few 79 series Turbo's have done front diffs here in west Qld, over the past 2 years.

Where's the 14 years come from?

Hooroo...

another urban myth perhaps, 14 years worth of an issue that is caused by stupidity and driver error, more than anything.

And it is an easy fix also, a front air locker with the carrier design they have, and a solid pinion spacer, and they are still succeptable to abuse by people who dont know better, but they certainly arent a weak point with those mods.

I ran a 300hp @ the wheels and 520nm @ the wheels 80 with lockers, 36" swampers, 80 series turbo petrol for afew years, with these mods and didnt break a front diff, doing winch challenges, 4wd events, rallies, etc etc, but I never snatched anyone backward, never tried to 4wd anything backward, never tried to tow anything heavy backward uphill, and never gave the car stick with tyres on the lock, and never broke a cv either.....

My 2000 model 78 series troopy with same diff as 100, running 36" swampers on 16x10" rims never broke either, and I never modded that front diff, it was standard, and it did every track in the high country while I had it, winter, summer, loaded, unloaded, snow, rocks, but then maybe I was just lucky...........;-)))

The LandCruiser club of Victoria had a particular hill on their property that would take out the front diff on an 80 series rather frequently. They complained to Toyota who didn't believe them so they tried it in a brand new 80 series.. and broke the front diff. The hill was steep and had a diagonal hump across it, this would allow two diagonal wheels to lift and the vehicle to accelerate forward under gravity. Once the wheels connected with the ground again there was usually enough momentum to break the diff. This appeared to only applied to non diff lock vehicles. TLCV had the hump bulldozed out to prevent further damage.
The Turbo Diesel Prado has enough torque to break its front diff / CV joint a bit more often than most users would like too.

Just my $0.02 worth

The Yota front diff problem has long history on this forum. Just skim back a few pages.

Drivers shouldn't be able to break cars. The manufacturers just build crap into 'em. I own a 100 series and the diff stories scare me a bit. It's not right when ya spend a heap of hard earned. I still have my old Ford Maverick and still haven't broken anything on it - and I've tried real hard. Please God make truck with a Yota diesel motor and a Nissan drive line.

Bilbo

I have never measured, but driving behind any cruiser and then a patrol is very revealing. Side by side the yota diffs and axles look positively anorexic. they just don't seem to have any meat in them. And anyone who's tried to take out a Patrol gearbox (some learned the real hard way) knows there's a HUGE difference in size and weight. These are the only things putting me off considering a troopy actually.

No doubt it would be driver error & not Toyotas fault as GO_OFFROAD testifies, he is GOD to Toyota so who would dare doubt him,
they have John Laws & his helper/adviser, just maybe GO_OFFROAD is that guy!
I just hope The Captain Nissan supporter reads this thread