long story short my rear diff blew a seal from the pinion area and i did not know. i was driving on the freeway and noticed a whining noise but did not think much of it, drove about 60 miles on the freeway to get home then realized it could be the axle... checked and it was completely dry. filled it up and it still whines on the freeway above 60mph

is there a way to salvage this diff or should i start looking for another diff? if so what years can swap directly in?

thanks guys, its a bummer as this was my daily and has never leaked a drop of diff oil and all of a sudden it puked it all out

 

Most likely thing is that a bearing ran dry and is now making noise. If you can afford the down time, pull the 3rd and ship it to ZUK at www.gearinstalls.com and have him rehab it. At least talk to him about it. He knows all when it comes to Toyota diffs.

There's a good chance that your breather on top of the diff is plugged, which can cause pressure to build up and blow the seal. I had an axle seal blow out because of that. Unscrew the breather and make sure it's clear.

Any 8" 4-pinion diff from a V6 from 89 to 95 will swap in. You just need to make sure the gear ratio is the same as what you have now. If your vehicle came stock with the 31" tires, then it's likely a 4.56 ratio.

 

RJR your are incorrect on the gear ratios. it all depends on options. my 91 dlx has 4.10s with factory 31's. my 86 sr5 with 29s, i havent looked up. both have 22res and 5 speeds.

to the op your bearings are toasty. time for a rebuild. easy to pull the 3rd and have a good shop to rebuild it. I also recommend zuk.

 

On the 84-88 the code is on the firewall just above the motor. On the 89-95 the codes are on the drivers door frame I believe.

Gear codes

 

OP has a 3.0, not a 22re. My 3.0 came stock with 4.56 gears with 31" tires. The door sticker shows something like P225 tires, but that was to get around import taxes. The dealers would install 31's as soon as the trucks got to the dealership.

 

yep my 91 has 225/75r15 on the door sill as well. gear code is g292.

RJR does yours have tow package?

 

It had the factory hitch, and the necessary wires bundled up under the rear fender, but no electrical connector installed. I assume that may qualify as a "tow package". Makes sense that a tow package would include the higher ratio gears, although here in Colorado on 31/33" tires I can't imagine driving around with 4.10 gears even when not towing. 5th gear would be useless.

 

yep thats tow package. 5th gear is almost useless not towing. lol.

although the 3.0 5 speed may also be geared different than the 22re 5 speed.

 

pretty sure mine has 4.56 gears. it is completely stock and i still have the original window sticker from the dealership showing all the options but i will confirm before i do anything. im looking on craigslist for some third members, i might even hit up a couple junkyards next weekend im trying to keep it on the cheap since i can afford to have it rebuilt (im assuming its going to cost a decent amount)

 

if you have a local reputable shop rebuild it. it would be a couple hours time and the price of bearings. maybe 150-200. finding a 3rd that is good and has 4.56s is going to be harder than you think. and still cost 150-200.

 

found a third member on craigslist going to pull it tomorrow morning. its off a 4runner with 180k miles that was in a front end crash. door tag says it has 4:56 gears which is what i need.

$150 and i have to pull it off but i looked up the procedure and it looks like a piece of cake!