How difficult is it to replace the rear transfer case output shaft seal and bearing? I'm assuming the required parts are: seal, bearing, and gasket to transmission. The job looks simple on the surface.

About 5yr and 10k miles ago I had a shop replace a leaking rear tailshaft seal, and they said the bearing was fine despite my asking why the seal went bad. Well, it's clear that the bearing is bad since I can easily feel play in the bearing when grabbing the adjacent u-joint and pushing up/down on it.

I crawled under there because I noticed a vibration that slowly (every few seconds) oscillates in intensity when the front hubs are locked and transfer case in 2H at freeway speed. Unlock the hubs (stop the front drivetrain from turning), and the vibration goes away. I did not do a test of 4H with hubs unlocked. U-joints and bearings on the front propshaft all seem solid. Not sure how this might relate to the rear driveshaft bearing&seal failure.

In the signature, but '87 4Runner, 22RE, five-speed manual transmission, SR5.

 

Grego has a write-up on it.

 

Alas, that's not enough. Here's the thread by Grego92 (not Grego): https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...r-case-224390/

Problem is, that's just the exterior oil seal -- not the bearing.

Has anyone replaced the associated bearing and can comment on the size of the job?

Thanks.

 

From what I can see in this video: it doesn't look too tough. I'm assuming all '87 22RE with MT5 has the RF1A gear-drive cases.

Remove the cover #4 (rearmost) and the parts should slide off of the end of the shaft -- the bearing doesn't appear to be pressed on. Given that I have play in the shaft, I'm assuming that rearmost bearing is bad and that's why the last rear seal only lasted 10,000 miles.

Can anyone confirm the bearing replacement is as easy as it looks? I'd do it on the truck w/o removing the t-case from the vehicle.

 

Yes, you can do it with the case installed in the truck. Just the first, smallest piece of the case has to come off.

I've had half a dozen of these cases apart, and that rear bearing pulled right off every one.

Think that there's a steel ball that imobilizes the oil pump screw, or maybe the speedo drive gear that you'll want to watch out for; so that it is not lost into the case.

I'd replace the oil pump seal while I was in there too.

As to your felt play, sometimes the output flange is found to be loose. Believe the torque spec is 90 or 95 fp.

 

When I decided to replace my transfer bearings earlier this year(1987 4runner mtm) I pulled the transfer case out and left the transmission bolted in. Made the job a lot easier. Reinstalling wasn't bad, just had to be careful not to damage the seal in the adapter. I had two floor jacks; one going to transmission to support and adjust angle if needed, the other to raise the transfer case into place and roll forward once we got the shaft lined up.

I had no indication of an issue with the transfer, I just decided to replace bearings because of age. But to my surprise I found the bearing for the idler gear wasn't good.
The transfer case bearings are not cheap, 2-3 times more expensive than overhauling the transmission, but Marlin has a pretty price competitive kit with Japanese bearings. I bought during a sale, so that helped.
Looking at the FSM and remembering the work i did, it may be possible to replace the output bearing with the transfer in place, but it doesn't look enjoyable or much of a time saver. I think you'll be a lot happier with the outcome if you just pull the unit.

Edit: Blueman, good video showing disassembly. Is the gentleman doing the work on his kitchen table?!! Oh man, wait till mom gets home

 

Job is done without removing the transfer case -- I don't think removing the case would have make the process any faster, and likely notably longer. I drove the truck up on a set of cement blocks to raise it 8in, and that created plenty of room for this tall person to work underneath. And yes, the blocks were oriented the right way. A light tap of an engineer's hammer popped the tail section off. And yes, even though I knew that speedometer drive ball was there, it still fell out -- be ready to catch it.

The seals came out easily on the bench with a tap from the backside, and I used the old seals and bearing to press in the new seals on an arbor press. Refilled with Redline GL-5 75W90 -- it took 2.15 quarts to come up to the fill plug and had been drained completely beforehand.

Parts used (from local Toyota dealer, but ordered on-line):
P/N, Price Each, Description
9031248001, $7.25, Transfer Case Input Shaft Seal Seal, Type V Oil (For Transfer Extension Housing).
9031138140, $10.29, Transfer Case Extension Housing Seal Seal, Oil (For Manual Transmission Extension Housing).
9020120005, $2.88, WASHER
9017920001, $7.11, NUT -- this gets peened after tightening so should be replaced
3614535010, $4.11, GASKET, TRANSFER EXTENSION HOUSING -- thin paper gasket (read: fragile)
9036328004, $35.39, Bearing (For Transfer Driven Sprocket). Bearing, Radial Ball (For Transfer Input Gear).


Filling technique

 

@Blueman Did this solve your vibration?

 

right, so did it fix your vibration?? Kind of left us hanging on the results

 

So....this truck isn't a DD and most of the roads I drive are so rough or full of traffic it's hard to get a good test in. But I ran a test yesterday, and I don't notice a vibration with the front hubs locked in 2H or 4H at 60MPH, but with the hubs open and in 4H there is a definite vibration that goes away at speed when switching to 2H. But my rear leaks are gone, and that was my primary worry before.
I'm not going to worry too much about the vibration in 4H with open front hubs right now.

Hope no one feels left hanging now!