How easy are these to install, are they a direct bolt in for the IFS 7.5? Are any special tools needed? Anyone have any install experience they'd like to share?

 

Just installed one on a 89 4Runner. This is from memory, so may not be complete.

Remove the diff assy from the truck.

When you take out the carrier, make sure you keep the shims on the correct sides of the diff (they will slide out). They are what set the bearing preload and ring gear backlash.

Then you need to remove the ring gear from the carrier (so you can get out the cross shaft). It is a tight fit, use a brass drift (punch) to tap it off.

Drive out the pin that holds the cross shaft. Remove the cross shaft and the side gears. Remove the thrust washers from the side gears and put them onto the lockrite gears. READ THE INSIDE BACK COVER OF YOUR INSTALL MANUAL TO SEE HOW TO MEASURE THE CLEARANCE!!! There are 2 cups in the lockrite box you use to measure. If clearance is ok, they are removed. (You might want to get new side gear thrust washers from dealer first if you think they have lots of miles on them).

Then install the pins and springs. Install the cross shaft. Install the retaining pin and STAKE it in place (I used a cold chisel to stake it). You don't want the pin to fall out!!

Reinstall the ring gear. I have used those soft plastic hammers, and also the method of heating the ring gear to 200 deg (metal pan with boiling water works). If you use the hammer method, make sure the bolt holes are lined up. If you use the heat method, it will drop right on and you have a short time to get the bolts started before it cools tight onto the carrier. Torque the ring gear (difficult to get the torque, need 2 people...one strong enough to hold the assy while the other torques it....gloves help a lot).

Now drop the carrier back into the housing. Keep the bearing shims on the correct sides. Install the bearing caps and torque.

 

David, THANKS!!! thats exactly what i was looking for. I got another thread on this board about lockrights in the rear. I might be helping a buddy install on, so if you have any instructions on that, it would be AWESOME. Thanks again for the great post!!

 

The rear is harder to do. The install of the lockrite is the same, but to reinstall into the diff hosing, you need to set up the bearing preload and backlash of the ring gear. I used a dial indicator for the backlash and preload setup. Also, it was quite a while ago.

It was not particularly easy to do. The front is a piece of cake.