Hi All,

I recently replaced my right rear axle bearing and seals with the help of my long-time (17 year) mechanic. After I read and researched here on yotatech on how to replace the axle bearing, the mechanic and I tackled the job. We had trouble getting the bearing off with the recommended pounding on floor method so my mechanic chose to torch it off. I remembered reading that that wasn't a good idea but he said it would be fine to torch off the bearing.

Since replacing the axle bearing, seals, and brake shoes I've had some issues.

1. My self-adjusting rear brakes seem to be over adjusting and causing huge vibrations above 50mph. Most likely not related to the axle, but I don't know for sure.

2. When I back off the rear brake shoes manually (no more rubbing) there is a slight vibration in the drive train between 60-75mph, especially when I let off the gas. This vibration was NOT there before the axle bearing was replaced. There are no weird noises coming from the axle bearing I replaced. The brakes should not cause this vibration as they are totally backed off at this point.

Question:

Could the torching off of the rear axle bearing, coupled with some pounding of the axle on the floor to get the bearing off, have warped my axle and caused me all this brake and/or drive train vibration?

Could any of this be caused by the rear drums not being true?

Opinions. And I've brought the 4runner back to the mechanic 2x and still the problem continues. He's at a loss. He is a good mechanic and I have never had a problem with his work in 17 years, but he isn't a toyota tech either.

Cheers

 

yes


yes


find a new mechanic.

 

Short responses and to the point. Thanks.

Anyone else have a rear axle warp after torching off the bearings?

Cheers.

 

it is actually unlikely that someone heated anything enough to warp it. it takes a lot of heat. using heat to remove bearings is just not done.

pounding on the floor is also....errr...what were you thinking ? you need to build the proper SST and use it in a press. the only thing to possibly cut off are the abs rings


if you did this
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte.../shadetree.jpg

it is probably bent

 

"What was I thinking?" I got the info from a few threads here on yotatech, with regards to pounding the floor. Didn't seem like a big deal, but hind-sight is 20/20. Heat from the torch coupled with the pounding may have warped my axle, hence the question(s) I posed. My own stupidity for taking internet advice I guess. I'll chalk this one up to an expensive lesson learned...

Cheers

 

ive torched mine off before, never had a problem. and just beat new ones on! with a pipe slightly bigger than my axel! went right on. no vibrations.

im not saying its not possible to damage anything.

 

did you remove the axle when you did this work if so did you reinstall the rear drive shaft the way it was before?

 

That was my first thought is maybe the driveshaft is out of phase if it was pulled apart at all when the diff was removed

 

I removed the right (passenger side) rear axle shaft to replace the bearing and seals, and the left rear axle shaft to replace the inner seal. I took technical right-ups from this website and followed the instructions, except the part where my mechanic torched off the bearing.

Since then I've had brake issues as listed in OP and a slight vibration at 60ish miles per hour that wasn't there before the work.

Outside of the torching, I can't see where I went wrong. The technical write-ups suggested pounding the bearing off by slamming the spline end into the ground (on a piece of wood is what I did). The only thing I can think went wrong is that I pounded the axle shaft within a minute or two of the torching which may have slightly warped my axle.

The frustrating thing is that I get conflicting reports, some say yes you could have warped the axle shaft by torching and slamming, others say "I did the same thing and had no problems".

Just frustrating on my part, but I know it will be resolved soon by either getting a used rear axle shaft or seeing if my drums are okay. But first I will take my rear drums to a brake place and see if they weren't "trued" properly.

Cheers

 

Is your driveshaft in phase? Was it seperated when your diff was removed?

 

Not exactly sure what you mean by "in phase". My diff was not removed, nor was my drive shaft touched. I removed and replaced each rear axle shaft, one side at a time. Plus my vehicle was in gear, if that makes any difference.

Sorry for the newbie type "unsureness" of your terminology. Just learning how to do stuff on my own.

Cheers and thanks for your input.

 

I was simply trying to rule out a potential problem.....If the diff or driveshaft was not touched then its not a problem....

The ujoints are lined up so they are in phase like this>>

If the shaft is pulled apart many times people dont know that the two sides have to be put back together correctly or there WILL be vibration

 

Thanks for the info., I didn't know that about the drive shaft and that the two sides need to be aligned as shown. Good thing I never touched it or the differential.

I'll be re-checking my brakes and rear axle shaft more thoroughly over the next couple of days to figure out the vibration thing. Could be something as simple as poorly machined drums or brakes that need to be re-adjusted (which I did again last night). The vibration only comes at highway speed, so I'll test it again tonight after work.

Cheers

 

BUMP.

Still having same problems as mentioned on the opening post. Posted this in the a.m. over the last week with a few responses, now I'll try the evening/night crowd. Please re-read the OP.

Has anyone ever warped their rear axle shafts after torching the bearings and pounding them off? I am thinking that is where my slight vibration at 60-70ish miles per hour is coming from.

Thanks

 

denpacc sorry to hear what you are going through

I'll only address the vibration itself.

I first presume you are feeling it through the steering wheel-and of course nothing in the rear would affect steering wheel feel or vibration. I am no mechanic but I think that is a safe statement to make.

Next presuming you feel this vibration with your "butt" -the general ride of the vehicle-there are too many variables. U joints and driveshaft as pointed out by dirtoyboy, tire pressures, a lot of things could have changed.....shocks wearing out, springs sagging, etc....