question for the group: apparently my rear differential is bad - metal shavings and water inside - so should i replace just the 3rd member (i assume this is just the rear diff.?) for $275 plus $225 labor, or the entire rear-end for $550 plus $250 labor?

any help would be much appreciated since i only know how to drive 4runners, not work on them!

thanks!

 

Shoot I'll teach ya! Hard call for me to make without knowing the possible damage caused to the axle shafts or other internals, that occurs when the corrosive combo of water n' oil get together for a night on the town. Where the heck are ya I'll do it for less, kidding, though I would really, that's not very steep a charge as far as I've seen. Either way you need to go.

 

It depends on what grenaded. If it was just your ring and pinion just find a set of gears and an install kit and have somebody replace them. I just mailed a guy a set of 4.30 gears I had laying around for $20. I'm having a full third set up with a locker right now for $100. If one of your axle shafts came apart that's a different story. $225 in labor to replace a third is kind of steep unless that includes setting up new gears in it.

BTW welcome to Yotatech. Please take a few minutes and goto your User CP and fill in your location and put something in your sig line e.g. 94 4-Runner SR5 3.0L 5speed

 

How long has water been in there? You may get away with just replacing or rebuilding the 3rd member and maybe the axle bearings.

 

thanks for the responses. hard to say how long the water and metal shavings have been in there. i just started hearing this kind of humming, growling sort of sound out of the back end, so i brought up to the shop where i always get my tires and had them look at it. they opened it up and said there was water and metal in there and that i need to replace the diff.

i grew up working on muscle cars, mustangs, etc., so i am relatively clueless when it comes to 4runners.

 

Sounds like your R&P is probably toasted. If you can afford it this a great opportunity to buy a drop in third with a locker installed from Trail Gear. They are a bit spendy though. Next time around install a diff breather hose that keeps it out of the water and change your fluids from time to time. If you have a stock diff breather and go through water over about halfway up your rim your gonna get water in the diff.

 

by r&p i assume you mean rings and pinions? since i don't do a lot of rock crawling, i am not sure i need anything too fancy. mostly use 4x4 for climbing dirt and sand when i am at the ocean looking for new surf spots.

so if i just need rings and pinions, i should probably just pick up the 3rd member, right?

 

Darn close, it means ring&pinion gears(2 total), however the differential has pinion gears also, 2 or 4. Yes, a third member swap is real easy, if you are familiar with RTV and bleeding brakes. An entire axle swap is more work but not much more complicated.

 

ok, i think i am starting to understand all of this. thanks for listening to all the newb questions.

 

The Ring and Pinion is inside the third member. The third member itself it just the metal piece that the driveline hooks too and bolts to the axle housing. You dont' need a whole new third just the goodies that are inside of it. The easiest fix would be to pull a complete third with the same gear ratio out of one from the junkyard or somewhere. It's easy to change one out when everything is already ready to run.

 

aha, ok. so when someone says they have a 3rd member for sale for $275, you think they probably just mean the housing, not the goodies?

 

Indeed it's possible that all you need is a ring & pinion, which isn't that much more difficult than either option, and could be the least expensive. Lot's of info from guys on this site or elsewhere available for free. I taught my self and I'm a slow learner, just be sure to have a good understanding, to save yourself the time/money/hassle of mistakes, over-sights,etc.

 

No, sorry was typing, they probably mean the whole unit, most specify whether the ring or pinion and/or what ratio, is included. If they don't, assume it isn't included, no geussing on the gear ratio, a need-to-know in these circumstances. That's way to spendy for a third with no r&p.

 

Ya just a third housing usually goes for $100-$150 bucks.

 

i have a good non-elocked third with 4.10s that came out of my truck. no noise and no teeth damaged. 157k on it when I pulled it. Its easy to do the swap. we did my e-lock swap in an evening and that imcluded cutting and tapping the new studs in the housing.

 

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