The Toyota Tacoma is known as one of the most rugged vehicles on the road, but even it can be taken down by a seemingly small error in the manufacturing process. As a result of some errant welding spatter, Toyota must recall 381,199 of the pickups from the 2022-2023 model years.
The affected trucks are equipped with axles made by Hino Motors Manufacturing USA that have welded-on axle housing ends. Those ends are fine, but as they were being welded on, the supplier didn’t use the correct welding spatter guard mounting setup. As a result, some slag may have made it onto the seating surface for the axle’s retaining nut.
If the seating surface was contaminated with welding spatter, it could prevent the retaining nut from tightening correctly. As a result, the fasteners could loosen over time and allow one or both of the axle shaft sub-assemblies to separate from the housing.
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Drivers of the affected Tacomas may feel a vibration or hear an abnormal noise. They may also notice that their vehicle is leaking differential oil. More alarmingly, if axle shaft separation occurs, vehicle stability and braking performance would be seriously impacted and may lead to a crash.
Unfortunately, given the nature of the manufacturing error, Toyota can’t be sure which units were and which weren’t contaminated, so it has to recall every Tacoma it assembled between May 2, 2022, and November 21, 2023.
Toyota plans to start reaching out to owners on April 13, and they will be asked to return their trucks to a nearby dealer. There, the rear axle housing will be inspected, any welding spatter will be removed, and their retaining nuts will be tightened to spec. Where necessary, additional repairs made necessary as a result of this condition will also be fixed at no cost to the owner.
