The Marlin kit is the best value out there. All OEM brand parts.

If you look at page RA-3 of the 88 FSM, you'll see a callout for the "Retainer and Bearing". The Retainer may also be referred to by people on here as a bearing spacer.

The snap ring could be re-used in a pinch, but do not open it any more than necessary as they do tend to stretch and not clamp down as tight.

The rear axle O ring is shown in the same diagram on RA-3 towards the left side of the page between the brake backing plate and the flange of the axle housing. It could potentially be re-used in a pinch. If r-using, do not remove it from the axle housing as it may crack and break. Smear grease all over the flange and O ring to aid in sealing.

 

Thank you for the clarification arlindsay! I really appreciate it!

So "Retainer" and Bearing Spacer" are the same, excellent.

I do see the O ring on the diagram now that you say that. If I don't track down a new O ring and Snap ring I will attempt to reuse, thanks for the tips on reusing if I need to.

 

Also ordered new brake shoes and a hardware kit, will get that done to both sides as well. Hopefully my cylinders and drums are okay.

 

Haven't made much progress. I did buy another daily driver a few days ago though, sadly not a Toyota, but a 4 door truck that my wife and kids can go in. My wife wanted her minivan back, and I was not prepared to rush myself through an axle seal/bearing/shoe/hardware kit install when I have never done one. I like to take my time when teaching myself how to do something. Plus I needed a pickup truck anyway.

So the 4runner is now a project truck, which means I will have time to do more in depth repairs and maintenance to it. I think my wife has finally accepted the fact that I will never get rid of it . The plan is to get everything done to the rear axle so I can drive it this summer with the top off, and then only drive it in nice weather moving forward.

While I've got everything out of the way, I'm going to look at my rear leaf springs as well. It's time to eliminate my saggy 4runner butt. I have a set of Procomp 4" lift springs that I might try to mix with my stocks to get back to stock height, I've never done any leaf spring work so we shall see. Or I might just pull the trigger on some coil springs and do a ZUK mod. I don't know yet.

Here is my rear driver side drum filling with gear oil. Drum wouldn't pop off easily, so will need to get into the adjustment hole on the back and let the star wheel off I believe.

 

You can start a war with that question, half of the YT members hate it and the other half love it.

 

It is definitely a divided issue. I have read many, many, many threads on it, and there is always a lot of back and forth.

If one was intending to do a large amount of off roading and looking to get as much articulation as possible, I can see the concern with having some coil springs just sitting in there, especially the "No Cut No Weld" version of it. The fact that with as many threads as there are about this mod, and I have never actually read about anyone "losing a coil", leads me to believe that it's never been an issue for anyone. I could definitely be wrong about that though.

In my case, I intend to do some very light off roading with my young boys, and mainly just daily driving in the summer months. I think the ZUK mod would work quite well for my situation. The only reason I don't have coils sitting in my garage ready to go in, is I've had a hard time sourcing them for a decent price and shipped to Canada. It seems I can get a set for around $80.00 US, but then shipping has been consistantly close to $80.00 as well.

All that being said, I do like the idea of reconfiguring my actual leaf springs to get me back to stock, or close. Especially since I have a set of leaf springs to disassemble and create my own pack, it's the cheaper option for sure.

 

Finally had some time to pull my axle.

Drum wouldn't come off easily, and I couldn't figure out how to back off the adjustment through the access hole without being able to see it and never having done it. Since I'm doing the inner and outer seal and wheel bearing, I decided to just pull the whole thing so I could set it on a bench and actually see what I was doing. Drum came off pretty quick once I could see what I needed to do.


Backing plate freshly pulled


Mmm dirty brake components, time to learn how to replace the shoes and all hardware!

Brake drum, will have to inspect it closely. I didn't feel any sort of lip on it which is a good sign from what I've read.

Making great(in my mind) progress! And having fun doing it!

 

Well, I definitely deformed my snap ring beyond reusable condition.. maybe I should have bought that pair of flat snap ring pliers for $44.00. Oh well, not supposed to reuse them anyway. Will pick up a couple from the dealer hopefully, and some o rings for the axle since I didn't get any. Still regret not ordering from Marlin.

Started to Dremel the bearing retainer off, then the battery died.

Then will attempt to pound my bearing off on a piece of 3/4" plywood.

Having a beer while waiting for the Dremel to charge

 

Curious to see if the slam method works for you. I tried it without removing the retaining ring and I could not get bearing to budge. I didn't want to Nick the axle, I owned a press already so I bought the bearing tool.

 

I've done the slam method with the collar on. Even on an OEM bearing that had been on there for nearly 30 years. It takes a serious pounding to get it to work. I'd recommend a half inch piece of plywood on a solid cement floor and just smash away.

 

The slam method... did not work. Not yet anyway. Couldn't even get the retainer fully cut off, can only get to so much of it with a dremel disk.

I haven't decided how stubborn I'm going to be. I may attempt it again before taking it into work and getting the boys in the machine shop next door to do it. I would just have to weld up the SST, which is no biggy.


I plan to do something about my rear end sag. I was going to use a set of these if I can, or build a set...

But it sure would be easy to slip a set of coils in for a ZUK mod, and avoid dealing with rusty leaf springs and old bushings. What to do...

 

I've decided to set some short term and long term goals.

Short term, to drive it this summer:
- eliminate rear end sag with a ZUK mod
- complete replacement of rear axle inner/outer seals
- complete replacement of rear wheel bearing and retainer
- replace rear brake shoes, both sides
- replace brake drum hardware, both sides
- replace drums if needed
- replace rear soft brake line
- replace rear hard brake lines from soft line to backing plates
- install Speed Bleeders

Long term goals so far:
- find a solid front axle and do a solid axle swap
- remove ZUK mod
- install complete leaf spring set I have
- swap a manual transmission in
- replace front passenger fender
- cut rust out of rear fenders and weld patches in
- repair other misc rust areas
- repaint in stock metallic brown
- fabricate new front and rear bumpers based on stock bumper designs

That's a rough outline for now.

 

I found some 2000 Jeep TJ coils for $40 online, then ordered a set of spring compressors from Amazon for $35. So for $75 and about 45 mins of work, I did a No Cut No Weld ZUK mod to give some relief to the tired leaf springs and hopefully get back to stock height.


I was pretty impressed with these spring compressors


I don't have any reference measurements from how it sat with sag since I didn't decide to do this until I had my axle apart. I do know that there was roughly 1.5" between the bump stops the way it sat with sag though, and now there is about 4 5". I cut the coils down to 13" to start with, can always take more if it's too high.

I'll have to wait until I get the axle put back together to see how it actually sits.

 

lots of people do the zuk mod. i wonder about the potential for the coil to pop out, as the bottom appears to be held by the rubber bumper. the bumper rubber is only glued/bonded to the plate that holds it under the u-bolts of the leaf spring. if the rubber pops off, as has happened on both bumpers on my red ‘87, what holds the coil in place?

 

I'm planning to secure it on the top metal bump stop, but I haven't figured out exactly how yet. Then if I do lose a rubber bump stop at least the coil will hang and I can remove it. These will only be in temporarily.

 

The coils I got for my 4R fit very tight around the top metal bump stop, I bet they'll not be easy to remove. Besides that the people who do the annual technical check for vehicles approved the Zuk mod in my truck, so I believe it's safe.
Anyway, if the possibility for the coil to pop out concerns you, you can try something like this:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post52406898

It took a while for the springs to settle. My 4R looks like this now:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...l#post52443905
Edit: You already saw those pics and you even gave me a "Like". Thanks!

One more thing, the Zuk mod was a temporal solution in my truck, I needed to do something with the rear suspension before a trip and that is the reason I installed them, but the original idea was to replace the leaf spring set.
The "problem" is they perform good, so I decided to keep them.

 

i do understand why the zuk mod gets installed. i’d be concerned if the bottom shifts due to shearing off the bumper, the brake lines might be collateral damage. perhaps unlikely under most on-road driving conditions, but what about even modest off-camber trail riding?

 

I do believe if any forum member had problems with the zuk mod, would inform the rest of us, Yotatech is a very cool group of people. Anyway, because the potential problem you described has not happened yet, it does not mean may not happen in the future, I understand your concern, when we are on the road, or off road in your example, it is better to be safe than sorry.

We can do something like Rad did but without cutting the top metal bump stop to avoid the problem:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...l#post51992081

And this in the bottom:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post52406898

That could work, but it is not an elegant solution, and I agree it is better to replace the leaf spring set.

 

Thanks for chiming in wally and Someday.

I agree its unlikely that a coil would pop, but I think it's possible enough that I want to do something about it. If I end up leaving them in for longer than just the summer, I will replace the bottom rubber and secure it like the thread you linked Someday.

The way RAD secured the top of his coil is exactly what I was thinking of. Obviously I can't do it exactly the same since my coil is on the outside, but it will be something similar to that for sure.

 

Time to get back to my bearing/seal job. Picked up the O rings and Snap Rings from the dealer today. O rings were around $9 each and snap rings around $4 each. I'm only doing one side at the moment, but might as well have the other ones on hand. Almost ready to start cleaning parts and reassembling.