{mods - feel free to move or merge]
Background: 09 D4D SR5 dual cab, bought new 06/2009, all services bar one at Toyo dealers. Used off road but never hammered. 4WD H & L used when appropriate (not on sealed surfaces). Bull bar + winch + dual battery fitted, Ultimate Suspension 2" lift fitted to correct nose-down attitude & bring back to normal ride height + a little bit. Wheels regularly balanced, wheel alignment done at 80K service (Toyo).
SWMBO took it to a Toyo dealer in Canberra the other day for its 90K service and to investigate an ocasional clonk underneath from somewhere up the front. They call her at work, she calls me, something about front wheel problems, cost = $lots, she hasn't a clue what all the tech stuff is about. So I ring them, eventually get through to the right bod at the right service dept. Short & sour of it is the offisde drive shaft will have to be replaced. Service bod mentions various things includign one or more rubber boots being shot, thus the joint probably scuppered through contamination. "Weird" I thought, cos I'd given it a good tub at the weekend and when I did the wheels and hosed some cack off under the wheelarches I would have seen grease everywhere. So anyway after some negotiation I gave them the go-ahead saying that if there was any chance if it was not down to something like puncturing a boot with a stick or a rock (which would be weirder still cos it had not been anywhere near dirt since I cleaned it) I would be pursuing it as a warranty claim. Service bod says if it is a warranty issue Toyo keep the part, if not we can take it.
Yesterday SWMBO picks up the car, rings me and puts Service bod on the blower. Turns out a bearing had failed at the diff end, they accepted it as a warranty claim (car has 90K on it and <3 years old). So that's good news (claim under warranty) but not good news in that
1) is the other side going to go bang shortly?
2) it makes me wonder about the quality of materials used if a drive shaft bearing can go at only 90K under normal use
3) I hope the diff casing is OK.
Will update when I get a bit more info, but given the number of posts and threads on front drive shaft/ CV joint problems is it worth putting up a thread to catalogue what went wrong at what mileage on which models, with info on suspension mods etc? Is there one already that I missed?