Apparently I have a bent right rear axle. I am capable enough to just swap rear ends. Can someone with a bunch more Toyota wisdom advise me as to what year rear ends will go right in to my 1986 4x4 custom cab pickup? And will 4 runner rear ends work? And if so what years?

Any assistance appreciated. Thanks so much.

<---- Bending the axle on my donkey...

 

Entire housing or just the axle shaft? Should be able to use 4Runner '86-'89 and pickup '86-'88 for full housings or shafts, on the '89-'95 pickups, should also swap but some of the housings can have an extra wide spring perch and that takes some work to make it fit, shafts should be the same.

 

4Crawler. Nice to hear back from one of the Yotatech masters....Thanks for the quick reply. I was figuring full housing rear end from the junk yard. Did the 4 runners and trucks use the same gears?

I also assume that a 2wd, providing the gear ratio would work ok as well. Do you know if the 2wd used the same gears? If I found one 89-95, what mods would I have to do to the spring perch to make it work? I'm a pretty competent welder, chop saw and torch operator...Thanks for the help.

 

Oh, there is an 88 2wd local for $75 thats why I ask about the 2 and 4 interchangeability.

 

2wd is a nogo they used a 7.5 RG, and if you cruise on over to pirate4x4 they have a "toyota bible" that has all the gear codes n such so you can make sure you dont end up with 4:56's or 4:88's unless thats what you got? but 75% of 4x4's came with 4:10's stock

 

Yoterr...I went duck hunting today then when I got home, I jacked up the RE and pulled the tire, which is when I found out the axle is bent. I was disgusted so I went in and went back to sleep. (been up since 3am) and have not gone under the truck to look at the tag on the RE but I assumed 410 stock, but have not checked completely. Plus it's something like 20 degrees out side right now. Was just trying to get things figured out to start calling the junk yards tomorrow. Was going to check in the morning. I'll look at the Yota bible over at pirate... thats great! I didnt know about that. Thanks!

 

I couldnt locate a plate anywhere that had axle info, neither on the door jam, under the hood or on the axle. The truck is pretty much stock so I'm guessing that I'm going to have to guess 410. Dont know what else to do or how to check gears.

 

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_TechI...oDetermination

Or just put your current diff into the new housing if that is what you are replacing. If you only have a bent axle shaft, then just pull the shaft out of the new housing and slide it into your old housing.

 

I talked to a friend that is a mechanic and he said that replacing the shaft would be very hard, however he is more of an American brand mechanic. How hard would just replacing the axle shaft in my existing housing be? I know you guys know about as much about these rigs as anyone can.

 

Trivial repair, 4 nuts hold the backing plate to the housing, disconnect/plug brake line and e-brake cable and pull the axle shaft out. Insert new shaft, hook up and bleed brakes and you are good to go. No need to even drain the gear oil:
- http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte...wheel_bearing/

 

Oh. That is so fantastic. Thank you for that information. Heck. I can do that no problem. Thanks so much. Any suggestions where to get a replacement axle?

 

- http://www.car-part.com/ to find one at a local junkyard

Or try:
- http://davezoffroadperformance.com/

I had a couple of spares that I sold last year. Might also try the Members Classifieds section here as well.

 

4Crawler. Thanks so much. I think if Davez has it I'll just get one there. Seals and such at one place would be nice. Would one from a 4runner work as well?

--------->Sorry disregard above question. 4 crawler answered above...<---------

Thanks so much again for the help. I had my underwear all in a twist for nothing.

Will probably do the bearing while I'm in there in case the axle damaged it.

 

where are you located i have one out of a 1988 4runner.

 

PM'd you.

 

To clarify here, when 4Crawler says "insert new shaft" - he means an entire assembly including the brake shoes and everything. The seal and bearing are all pressed on - you can't (easily) just replace the actual shaft by itself.

It would be a bit unusual to bend the shaft without bending the housing. Make sure everything is straight before spending too much time on it, only to have it fail again.

If you DID bend the housing, and you don't recall any unusual circumstance (car hit you, big jump, etc) then you might want to upgrade to a stronger aftermarket housing like Diamond, RuffStuff, TrailGear, etc

 

Yes, thanks for the clarification on the shaft assembly.

But not at all unusual to bend just the axle shaft. On my old '85 axle, I had a total of 6-8 axle shafts over the years. The two original ones (both bent after bottoming out over a semi-hidden railroad crossing), two replacements, also bent to a lesser degree then 2-4 more I picked up, also bent. The housing itself was still straight.

Sort of an inherent weakness of the semi-floating axle design, they can bend out board of the bearing where the entire weight of the truck is cantilevered past the bearing. That is why I replaced that axle with a full floater kit. Axle shaft now supports no vehicle weight and that is all carried by the spindles and double roller bearings on it. But that is not a trivial undertaking (time- or money-wise) to convert to that sort of axle.

 

Ah, I see. So it really will be a simple fix while replacing the entire unit. That will be great. I dont have the time to upgrade at this point, and my rig is mostly off road at my ranch which is just muddy. No read bottoming out and NO ROCKS whatsoever so I'm sure that the stock should last well. I guess thats what I'll be looking for, the entire axle housing with breaks and everything. That will make like much easier. I have not heard back from RMA, but I'm sure I will.

Thanks again for all the help.

RJ

 

I should also mention that when I finally diagnosed the bent axle, the housing had not only a horizontal wobble but a vertical one as well, so I assume the housing is bent as well as the axle. That was a concern of mine when contemplating the axle repair. Is it standard when buying one used that it comes complete with the whole assembly (breaks and such)?

It is leaking at the seal behind the housing, so I know it will need one of those (Axle seal), but I assume that O'riley can get me one and after following the link provided by 4Crawler... I assume the seal replacement should be simplistic.

I hope that RMA has the complete housing for the axle including the breaks and the bearings in it are good and functional. How often do the bearings just fail provided the axle is not bent? I assume that is the primary failure cause for the bearings in the semi floating axle.

I figure it should be a shade tree job I can do in about a hour.

...Then drink beer for a while while I look at my new, straight not wobble affected axle...

Its odd, I never noticed the vibration in the rig until now. It vibrates like a mother between 55-60 then smooths out around 61-62...

 

The seal is past the bearing - it's a MF'r to change, need a press with a long throat to get the bearing off. If you get a complete assembly, be sure the bearing and seal are good, then it will be an easy swap.

All that said, it sounds like you need to check the housing.