.....and even easier to just buy a 4th gen, which is probably what I will do.

 

This is getting to be really frustrating. None of the dealers around here will do "bench work" so I can't pull the axle out and bring it in to have the bearing replaced. Also, All-Pro never sent me the .pdf of their rear brake installation instructions, despite numerous attempts to get them to do so. I also filled out a sales contact form and never heard back from them.

I am not sure what to do at this point. The dealer wants my rig to do the work, and they said $250 in labor for (1) bearing. That's seems pretty steep to me.

Any thoughts?

 

any machine shop will be able to press bearings on and off for minimal $$

 

But Steve mentioned a SST. And the dealer I just talked to said bearings are extremely rare to have go out on these...

Maybe it isn't the bearing?

 

Bingo! The rear axle bearings on my 1981 Pickup were fine with 285,000 on them. I replaced them anyway, as I have a press and I made a tool for the older 95 and older axles.

A press and a tool is needed, the tool can be the real Toyota one or you can cut off the end of a bent axle tube and make one out of that. Also the ABS rings are hard to get just right. Look it up in the FSM, lots of special tools and measurements for the 96+ stuff. Hence all the leaking issues.

I went through this when I had the Poly Performance Cro-Mo rear axles put in the 1999 4Runner. What an ordeal. Expensive ordeal, but then again no one has ever broke one of those.

If it is the bearing, get an axle/drum combo from a junk yard.

 

For most shops it is impractical to field questions daily when better than 95% of the questions will never result in purchase.

You need a press and you need the SST or part of an axle tube.

Someone in Toyota land down there ought to be able to help. Try a Toyota offroad shop of some sort. Have you called Wheelers?

Thinking about it at dealer rates though, pulling a side, press off, press on and refilling the diff, that is more than an hours work, did that include seals and a bearing?

 

No, I havent called Wheelers yet.

No, it was simply the labor charge to take care of the bearing (if I provided it). Replacing the seal alone is $600. They also said they would not let the vehicle leave the dealer without new brakes since they are saturated with oil, so add another couple hundred for that. It just keeps adding up. I called some local wrecking yards and I can only buy the entire rear axle assembly, which runs $450. Maybe that would be a good route to take assuming I could get a newer axle.

 

By Wheelers he means 4Wheelers Supply on Washington in Phoenix, not the parts vendor in Oregon.

I got them to do all the press work on both Dana 44's (ball joints on the knuckles). I don't know if they would have any special Toyota Tools. You'd have to call them.

 

Will do. Thanks guys.

 

Why not just try a swap with a 4th gen and you'll get rear dics brakes and a working parking brake all at once?

 

Just spoke to Wheeler's in PHX. They said $25 to R&R the bearing. WOW! That's what I'm talking about!

 

And the out of town guy nails it.

 

Yeah, you sure did. Thanks. I'll buy you a Chai (pronounced 'ch 'eye in my book) sometime.

I also spoke to APO on the phone again. Maybe I missed it somewhere in this thread, but their system is not designed for ABS-equipped vehicles. There is no way I am losing ABS in the rear. Also, they said that I could get different calipers with a parking brake feature, but that it would "suck." They also had no desire to take a look at this thread, and said that demand was mainly for Tacoma's, not 4Runners. He said he gets like 20 calls a day from Tacoma guys and none on the 4Runner. He said a good rear disc brake kit for a 4Runner, with e-brake feature and ABS compatibility would run a couple grand.

No thanks. I am going to rebuild the drum brake system and hope for the best - for now.

 

Dont forget to look at Seqouia's, dont they have rear discs?

 

Decided to stick with drums. Found another leaky axle seal when I pulled off my driver's side drum. Went to the dealer, got a new seal. Mangled the seal going in. Went to the dealer and bought two more seals; one for back up purposes. Brought my axle in and had the dealer take a look at the "play" of the bearing. All is well. Took my drums to Checker Auto to get them turned for $10 each. Browsed the tool section and found a tool for hammering in seals. The tool was $18.

Got home and hammered the new seal in within 1 minute with the new tool.

Installed new shoes, new drums, and did the bleeding and adjustment procedure. All is well so far. She stops perfectly now.

I am pretty good at the rear drum brakes now if anyone has any questions...

 

Except for that time a new Mexico smoky nabbed you for speeding on your way to meet Matt, Darren and I in Buena Vista a couple years ago

 

my e-brake doesn't even work... darn rustbelt!!! if i use it I just have to crawl under back and release them manually...

 

I'll be installing the Downey rear disc brake kit in the next couple of months. It was expensive, $900.00, but it comes with everything needed including an adjustable proportioning valve with gauge for tweaking the pressures fore/aft. All the parts are top notch and the kit includes cables and parking brake calipers. I did want to go with transfer case e-brake but no one made a kit and I didn't want to have my rig out of service while I fabricated one. Plus the parking brakes on the rear discs are surely better than the drum parking brake that hasn't worked well in many years. I'll post some pics after the install.

 

Get yourself some new parking brake bellcranks and you won't have to do that (very common issue in the rustbelt). Mine had the same problem and that's the fix for it.....and it's alot easier than getting on your back and rolling under the back of the truck in the dead of winter.

 

Any update on this install? I am looking at the same kit.