Differential Drain Plug-Won't Budge

Think those would work with a long 1/2” breaker bar ?

 

There’s really no room for long tool less you lift up the truck
Keep in mind the leverage angle

 

I've drained and filled well over 100 Tacoma/4runner front diffs. Only had 1 drain bolt strip, it was my personal GX470 before I became proficient at working on Toyota trucks.

For the front diff drain bolt I use a very long (18-20 inch) 3/8 ratchet and 10mm hex socket. There isn't much room for the ratchet head at the drain plug.

With the truck jacked up is better. Once the socket is fully inserted into the hex bolt, I smack the long ratchet once or twice. This usually breaks it free. If not, then I very carefully apply steady pressure, making sure the hex socket stays straight. It's easy for it to get crooked, since the head of the ratchet can interfere with the diff housing if not at the correct angle.

 

Same issue. I bought this for $34 on Amazon and it worked perfectly. I replaced with a stainless steel 19mm plug from Amazon. Make sure you support the rachet to keep it straight and not twist the tap out. I didn't have to drill, just hammer best fit into the plug. Don't buy factory Toyota parts from Amazon. Lots of fakes. ToyotaPartsDeal.com., is the cheapest, fastest OEM parts I have found.

 

Yes but it depends on your situation, I had my T4R up on Quickjacks so it was 2ft in the air so getting the leverage on a long bar was not a problem. I think the key here is making sure you have enough pressure on the head of the nut, the longer the bar the greater the chance it will slip and round the hex. I am not sure if you are supposed on use an impact but the direct pressure is what I think broke it loose, there was no rust at all on the threads my guess is that these plugs were put on dry before the diffs were filled and the torque spec is too high for that. Once they have been take off once and oil is on the threads I don't think they will have issue coming off. Moral of the story here is if you have a new (ish) T4R change your diff oil ASAP to make sure you can get the drain plug off.

 

I only have 5k miles on my 2024 but this thread has me thinking about breaking my diff plug loose and then retorquing it to
30 ft lbs like the oil pan drain plug .

 

Its worth it just for the satisfaction of cleaning all the metal sludge off!

 

he’d just be cracking the seal n retorquing the bolt
Not a drain at 5k

this way in the future he’s set

right?

 

Yep

 

Since I haven’t done a drain and refill yet someone please post a pic of the location of this plug.
TIA .