Issue Update: Front Differential Broke (ADD) on TFL's 2024 Tacoma TRD Off-Road 4WD

[beungood]

it’s great that the ADD prevented more damage from occurring, and yeah the part shouldn’t have failed that easily, but i’m also of the mind that the traction control had a part to play in this with quick acceleration and braking when the wheels started spinning on the climb

If it prevented damage in those conditions then they need to redesign it and make it sturdier.

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[AlexT]

on rewatch and from what’s in the video, and on checking my own truck, traction control is off automatically in 4LO and can’t be turned on. so i am changing my mind, the ADD is probably weaker than it should be. not a great look, but i wonder how hard it is to replace?

I would think it was stability control that is disabled in 4lo. A-trac and MTS are forms of traction control that are most aggressive in 4lo. Tinkerers adventure did a video on the Tundra showing that the ADD had been moved inside the diff which was good because they were prone to corrosion in prior gens. I’m not sure on the new Tacoma but probably not great placement if it ever needs to be replaced!

 

[joemysterio]

I believe someone elsewhere mentioned it was a carry over part from the previous gen, so taking that into consideration if true with the following... if this part is designed to fail under extreme conditions, yet it broke prematurely, then it's possible that the part isn't weak but actually had a defect/malfunction OR wasn't installed properly. Obviously Toyota needs to investigate and time will tell if this is a one-off occurrence or a bigger issue, like a worker installing things incorrectly or the part(s) truly being weaker than we previously thought.

But for now, it seems logical to me to assume this is a localized issue first and foremost. Also, I gotta say, I wish I could be in the room with those engineers and techs sorting this out... must be interesting conversations going on.

 

[PNWblue]

I believe someone elsewhere mentioned it was a carry over part from the previous gen, so taking that into consideration if true with the following... if this part is designed to fail under extreme conditions, yet it broke prematurely, then it's possible that the part isn't weak but actually had a defect/malfunction OR wasn't installed properly. Obviously Toyota needs to investigate and time will tell if this is a one-off occurrence or a bigger issue, like a worker installing things incorrectly or the part(s) truly being weaker than we previously thought.

But for now, it seems logical to me to assume this is a localized issue first and foremost. Also, I gotta say, I wish I could be in the room with those engineers and techs sorting this out... must be interesting conversations going on.

Yeah the Toyota mechanic guy on YouTube put the truck on the lift in his video and pointed out the front differential is a carry over from the 3rd gen. He sort of moved on quickly from there...

 

[bking]

Yeah the Toyota mechanic guy on YouTube put the truck on the lift in his video and pointed out the front differential is a carry over from the 3rd gen. He sort of moved on quickly from there...

Yeah, it makes sense that this is a carryover. Why redesign the front diff when the one you have had works fine. I get that the Gen4 has more torque, but not that much more in this case. I'm betting it was a bad part in this particular truck.. You know every you-tuber with a Tacoma went out and tried to break theirs too. Too many views on the line

 

[09jsw]

Yeah, it makes sense that this is a carryover. Why redesign the front diff when the one you have had works fine. I get that the Gen4 has more torque, but not that much more in this case. I'm betting it was a bad part in this particular truck.. You know every you-tuber with a Tacoma went out and tried to break theirs too. Too many views on the line

Yea but the hybrid version is almost double the torque.

Definitely not as tested as I would have liked.

 

[bking]

Yea but the hybrid version is almost double the torque.

Definitely not as tested as I would have liked.

I can't imagine they haven't. Any mass produced part can have 1 or 2 failures

 

[09jsw]

I totally agree, failures happen a lot on mass produced cars.

 

[ScottyTaco]

Yeah, it makes sense that this is a carryover. Why redesign the front diff when the one you have had works fine. I get that the Gen4 has more torque, but not that much more in this case. I'm betting it was a bad part in this particular truck.. You know every you-tuber with a Tacoma went out and tried to break theirs too. Too many views on the line

its crazy, 10-15 years ago without these YouTube channels or social-you'd never hear about this issue... now someone can post a video and have half a million views in a matter of 5 days.

 

[calicoo]

its crazy, 10-15 years ago without these YouTube channels or social-you'd never hear about this issue... now someone can post a video and have half a million views in a matter of 5 days.

It's good and bad. You learn about problems you would not have otherwise but now one broken front diff and there's mass hysteria online.

 

[PNWblue]

Just in case we're all repairing this ourselves , here's a guy that fixed his own ADD. Different issue though, but seems fairly straightforward if it doesn't break apart and send pieces into the diff.

 

[bking]

its crazy, 10-15 years ago without these YouTube channels or social-you'd never hear about this issue... now someone can post a video and have half a million views in a matter of 5 days.

That's true. Unfortunately people go into mass hysteria when there's a problem. It's a good thing though, at least you know what could happen and why. It also encourages manufacturers to fix problems quickly. I have a feeling this will lead to a software update to the traction control as I am now fairly certain that was the cause. He was revving this in 4 Lo (not unreasonably) and the traction control grabbed the wheel at full torque and snapped the ADD Fork. This is just a guess of course. If I get in a situation like this, I will be turning off TC until we know that wasn't the problem.

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