So I just lost all power on the freeway on my 1992 3.0

Pulled over, engine idles put I could take my foot off the clutch in first gear, I got out and looked under and the drive shaft was turning, so obviously something with the rear dif

I put it in 4H and drove home just fine. But yeah, what am I in for and whats the cheapest/quickest route? Or at least what are my options?

Thanks in advance, not scared of tearing into it, just don't know exactly if I need a whole rebuild or new rear dif or what to replace exactly

thanks in advance!

 

You've lost drive power between the driveshaft and the tires. You can either obtain an entire rear axle assembly, or start figuring out exactly what happened to yours. A number of different failures could occur to create your symptom. Start by putting the rear axle on stands, and seeing what spins and what doesnt. Turn one wheel, does the other one turn the opposite direction? Hold one, turn the other, does the driveshaft spin? Does it make noise? Lock up? Pull the drain plug, see what comes out. Chunky, glittery, metallic paintish, or normal?

 

It just up and quit!!

It was making no noise at all before this??

No loud bangs??

I lean more towards a broken axle if it was the rear end gears things tend to come to a very abrupt stop.

Just a guess might be anything .

 

no loud bangs before this, but after it lost power and I put it in 4H to drive home, it would clunk when I would get going after a stop sign.

And yes, for the past two months it had been making strong vibrating shake b/w 60-70mph, then just this past drive the day it broke it switched to making the shake over 70mph

I thought I had to balance my tires so I didn't think about the drive train.

 

I vote for this. I wonder if the axle got bent some time back (causing the vibration) and eventually broke.

You're going to have to pull the axles anyway to get into the rear end. You'll find out for sure then.

 

hmmmmmmmmmm, now how'd that happen?!

 

Wow! Probably a bent axle; vibration cracked the axle tube, all the oil came out, and driver ignored the noise/vibration. If you are VERY lucky the axle broke cleanly right around the time the tube broke, so that you weren't driving for long without oil. You may be able to salvage some parts of the differential.

Good luck!

 

And there you go.

 

Not sure when I lost power, but the crack in the housing was only a little bit there, then I drove it to my dads to park it for a few weeks and use all his tools, and thats how it looked when I got there. It wasn't that bad till the very end.

Yeah, I'm getting a whole rear end for $300 and just swap it out. Any advice?

 

Make sure your new rear end has the correct gear ratio to match your front.

 

Go out and spray all the fasteners with the penetrating oil of your choice right now. Let it soak in.
Your arms will thank you afterwards.

 

Yes. And take pictures. This is a medium-big job, and we'd all like to see how you did it.

 

So I called the toyota dealer part shop, gave my vin, he said there is something on the side of the door I need but mine is worn off. He said its likely 4.55 but not 100% positive without that sticker. Anyone know how to find out my gear ration?

 

Not sure where you live but if it is in the rust belt I would plan on cutting the u bolts off saves so much time .

Big job ?? brakes , E- brake cables, Hydraulic brake lines , 4 u bolts and your drive shaft .

Unless one is buying a empty rear axle housing

If you pull the differential you can count the teeth on the pinion and ring gear and do the math to see what you have

 

So I count 40 on the ring gear and 10 on the other gear. What does that mean the ratio is?

 

It means you miscounted. You will never find two gears where the number of teeth on one divides evenly into the number on the other. That causes repeating pattern wear, and gear designers work hard to avoid that situation.

Likely you have 41 teeth on the ring gear and 10 on the pinion, which is a 4.10 gear ratio.

 

okay yeah after I typed that I searched a bit, seems likely that it is 39 or 41, I'll recount when I get back home

 

The 41/10 combination is a standard Toyota setup, for a 4.10 ratio. 41/9 gives you 4.56, another standard ratio. I think the other standard ones are 43/10 for 4.30, 39/8 = 4.88, and 37/7 = 5.29.

 

Its not like your running 37" tires
4:10 gears most likely and easiest to locate
Check your new rear end for bad bearings and excessive backlash
Axle bearings are easy to replace but if the carrier or gears are worn
its a big deal

 

Well, just got a new old rear end, put my 4.3 differential in it, and put it all back together, but it still doesn't work. The differential itself is broke. I can turn the drivers side wheel any way and nothing happens. So......

Not a lot of 4.3s out there, not in Salt Lake City. I could get it shipped and it will be about $400, or I can have a guy rebuild it for $3-400 or I could get another differential and take my 4.3 gears out and put it into it. Maybe there are other options but I can't decide what to do yet.