New Rear End/Axel Questions
 

A few people may recall that I have the '96 SR5 4x4 5sp (115K Miles) that loves to eat rear axel seals. I believe that I am on the 5th or 6th one now. It is getting a bit expensive @ $350 a side to replace each time.

I talked with a Master Toyota Tech today (one I'd trust - huge into rock crawling and really knows his stuff). His suggestion was to toss the current rear end (axel, axel housing, & diff) and find a used rear end at a junk yard. I mentioned that I was considering a rear locker and he fed me the right combination - look for a rear axel with an E-Locker.

Current rear end seems to be 4.10 gears (Door code A03A), 16" wheels with 265/75/16 Revos, ABS.

So off to the questions:
1. How easy would this job be for a moderate wrench turner to swap rear ends??
2. Approx time for job?? Mechanics guestimate 5hrs
3. Would job require or be eased by the use of air tools??
4. What year(s) would be a match?? I'm finding 96-00 would match, is this right
5. I realize that there is no assurance that a salvage yard part will be fault free - but is there something that I can check or look at to limit "crap parts"
6. Found a match at Midwest Auto Parts $1100 (Omaha, NE, I live in West Virginia shipping may be prohibitive) - any thoughts.

Sorry for all the questions - but this will probably be the largest mechanical job that I will tackle. Any and all thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Andrew T. Watson

Sounds to me like you have something bent back there. HAs your mechanic checked for this?

Repeated seal failures can sometimes be attributed to scratched, nicked, or bent axleshafts. Does it always happen on the same side? Do you keep taking it to the same place to fix it? ;)

Swapping in a whole axle wouldn't be too hard, propabably easier than doing the grind, drill and tap thing I did to gain an electric locker. Be sure to get one that has ABS if you want to keep that feature. Aside from that, the year of the donor dosen't matter. Get the locker computer, switch and all the wiring from the donor Runner if possible. That would make the swap very simple.

Last time I had to replace the seals, the axels were "mic'ed" down the full length and found to be in-round.

Two theories about the problem:
1. Bend housing is a definate because the problem is happening on both sides.
2. Toyota knows about this issue. It seems that the seal that rides up agaist the ABS is riding "too deep" and the back spacing is off. Sometimes as much as 3/8" more than factory specs. If the dealership/tech is competent the appropriate placement is usually accomplished with Machinist Marking Grease. Also the tension springs inside the inner seals are uaully shortened to provide increased sealing.

After speaking with techs who've dealt with this problem, the good news is that none of them have seen this issue on rear ends that have an E-Locker. They can't come up with a good reason why not. But, hell if replacing the rear end will cure the problem - then why not, plus I'll get the locker that I've been wanting.

Andrew

if the tire in the mud had traction, then yes, both tires would have equal power instead of only your tire that was in the air. but if your tire was just spinning in the mud, then maybe not as much, that would be a tire issue.

96-00 4Runners and 96-03 Tacomas.