Hey, I wasn't sure where to post this or what exactly to search for...

Ok, so I was leaving a parking lot last night and got on my 4Runner quite a bit. I floored it, went around a corner, shifted to second, then slammed on the breaks to make the next turn (friend said I had a really strong chirp into second). When I slammed on the brakes I heard a really loud pop. So we got out and didn't see anything visibly wrong, and the truck drove fine. I went on just a regular dirt road and started hearing a really loud noise. It sounds like a thud instead of a tick and it happens very quickly and gets worse the faster you go. I got out and was turning the driveshaft each direction as far as I could and my friend said that it was making the same sound then, as when driving. And when I take off it feels like it catches, then looses, then catches again, and I'm driving fine (except for the noise).

Anybody have any ideas as to what might have happened? Thanks

 

cracked a ujoint of chipped some teeth off the ring and pinion

 

That's what I was thinking. I'm leaning more towards missing teeth on my gears

Oh well, that means I get to regear and lock it right?!?!

 

I had a similar problem. I drove it for a long time before I decided to go ahead and regear. When I took it apart I was surprised at how badly my pinion was damaged. I can't believe it was still driving! I put pics on here. I'll see if I can find them. I kept the pinion as a trophy. Anyway, with much good advise from ZUK I got my gears in and I'm still very happy with them.

 

Here it is. I was driving around on this for who knows how long. I drive hard too.

 

same thing happened to me but i was just doing doughnuts in the dirt

 

Jeez, seems to be pretty common haha. I drive my truck probably quite a bit harder than I should. I have yet to have a car last more than 3 months before it gets broke again haha. I think I might have popped the clutch a bit when I took off Friday night too. . .

Could I do damage to the driveshaft or something else if I drove with it like this till I can afford to get it fixed?

 

Just depends. Maybe, maybe not. That's where dumb luck comes into play.

 

I agree that nosfanatic2006 should pull the 3rd and check for 3 missing teeth on the ring gear

And axekick----- That is pretty impressive driving around on a pinion like that. The pinion teeth are, by nature, stronger than the smaller ring teeth and for that to happen, I would think the pinion was sloppy and moving around...or maybe someone set the pinion depth excessively deep. Most of the breakage posted on the boards seems to involve the ring teeth.
ZUK

 

I'm easy on my 4Runner and it did the same thing.Ring gear was worn but no missing teeth.The pinion almost had none complete.It sounded like a electric can opener at 60!Louder than my wore out swampers.
Bigblock

 

So I went to the reputable off road place here in town and its gonna be about $700!!! But that's pretty much rebuilding the whole rear end with a 1 year, 12k mile, no questions asked warranty. I think I need to park the 4Runner for a spell and look for a little civic hb or something. This truck is getting to expensive for me right now

 

Ok. So would it be ok if I just replaced the pumpkin with a used one? Or should I go ahead and pay to have the shop fix it?

 

The third member? Yeah, if you find one that has the same gear ratio, you could change it yourself easy enough.

Zuk, the ring was fine in my case. The four bolts that hold the carrier in place had gotten loose from when I had installed my aussie. There was all kinds of play in there. You got me through the rebuild. It still holds up fine, and I used plenty of red locktite on those bolts this time.

 

Ok, I've found a few 4.10 thirds. And found out I have a 2 pinion rear. Question: are there any issues when switching from a 2 pinion to a 4?

 

Nope.
Bigblock

 

Thanks Bigblock

 

Damn. I can't remember if I put any on the retaining bolts when I installed my Aussie........ Now I'm not going to be able to sleep.

 

Yea its way easy. Just pull out the axles and drop it out. I just did it to mine.

 

Well good news. I just bought a 4.88 rear diff with a lockrite already in it. Pretty psyched about getting that. And I took the driveshaft off tonight and the u-joint was shot so I took it to the local 4x4 shop and they said it would be done tomorrow morning and that the new u-joint was a sealed unit that was waterproof so I wouldn't ever need to grease it.

Anyone know about these "sealed/waterproof' u-joints? All I've heard about are factory stock and greaseable. He said these weren't cause they didn't need to be.

I'm actually kinda pissed its just the u-joint. If I had known that, this thing would have been on the road again a month ago