i have a 98 4runner and its grinding when i drive down the road i have noticed that there is slop in the drive shaft where it meets the rear axle. can i replace the pinion bearing with normal hand tools or do i need special tools? is this a huge pain in the a** job? do i have to pull the half shafts?

 

To replace te rear pinion bearing you will need special tools.
It is a fair bit of work even for an experienced mechanic.
Have you checked the U-joint? Maybe that is what is bad.

 

If it is not too far gone, try tightening the nut on the pinion shaft. Unbolt the sdriveshaft, unstake the nut, tighten the 30mm nut to ~90 ft.lbs. to take up any slack, restake the nut and put the shaft back on:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...eal/index.html

I had to do that on my old rear diff several times.

 

well i decided to take it to the tranny shop, and i know the guy pretty well. he looked at it and sure enough the ring and pinion bearings were shot. i am just going to let him do it. he is charging me 175 labor and what ever the parts cost. i figured that didnt sound to bad. there goes putting the jaos skid plate on this month.

thanks for the imput

 

imput...hahahahaha