TL;DR - I need a new transfer case.
Like most of the rest of the Tacoma, I "only" have 200K miles on the transfer case. While these are generally viewed as rock solid components that can last upwards of half a million miles, mine actually started to show signs that something was wrong nearly 100,000 miles ago. I thought I'd rectified the problem after changing the oil, but clearly that wasn't the case - the damage already done to the bearings that keep things spinning smoothly.
Everything came to a head in the Back for More trip, when a strange noise from the case was diagnosed as an input bearing and abruptly ended the adventure. My plan here is to replace the case with a low-mileage junkyard case in the short term, getting me back out on the trail as expeditiously as possible. Then - without the pressure of time - I'll crack open my original case and rebuild it before swapping it back into the Tacoma.
I'm quite looking forward to this, as I thoroughly enjoy learning about the various components on my truck and how they work.
I've already picked up the replacement transfer case I'll be swapping in.
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