About to tackle my first 3rd member removal (gear upgrade) in my '90 4runner. I found a how-to on axle removal and that seems very straight forward. Once I have the axles removed, is there any more to the project than unbolting the supports that hold the "pig" (3rd member...just learned that name today lOL) and unbolting the driveshaft, and swapping them?

If there are any how-tos I would love to see them, searched for hours and can't find much...perhaps I'm using the wrong terms.

Would also love to see one for the back, although I don't imagine that one being anywhere near as complicated!!

 

*subscribes*


where did you get the write up on the axle removal?

 

Nope, you got it. If you can pull and reinstall an axle shaft, you have 80% of the battle won.

There's some gasketing to mess with as well as fluid draining and refilling and the locker wiring if you have it, but otherwise it's not a big deal.

 

Just did mine. Rear is a little more complicated than front.

Front:
Jack truck and place on jackstands
Remove skidplate
Drain diff oil
Unbolt the 12 CV axle bolts and tie them up so they wont droop down when you remove the pig
Unbolt the 4 bolts on the driveshaft, remove, and support it
Remove the ADD from the front
Loosen the two BIG mount bolts from underneath
Loosen the horizontal bolt in the front
Support the pig with a jack, then remove the bolts and drop it down

Rear:
Jack up, put FRAME on jackstands - need axle at full droop
Remove wheels
Drain diff oil
Remove brake drums
Undo ebrake cable
Undo brake line
Remove 4 bolts around axle housing
Pull axles out
Remove 4 driveshaft bolts and support shaft
Remove ABS sensor from top of pig
Remove 12 bolts holding the third member - leave a few to support it until you get a jack under it
Remove the third member

Reverse to reinstall. Be sure to bleed the brakes well and check the driveshaft bolts after you drive a bit. Helps to coat one side of the paper gasket for the diff with a THIN coat of RTV to keep it stuck in place while you wrestle with the diff.

 

Thanks for the write up TC. Here is the axle swap writeup I found:

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/cv_axle/

Honestly I can't beleive how hard it is to find regular maintenance procedures on the web I come from the toyota MR2 community and there is a writeup for EVERYTHING from changing blinker fluid ( ) to full engine swaps/rebuilds. There are perhaps 40,000 mr2s total imported into the US...I bet there are that many '86 pickups alone LOL. Not sure perhaps I'm just not proficient at searching for this stuff yet?

 

One question:

If you're swapping in a whole new rear end, you dont' need to even pull the drums, correct? Thanks

 

Yes - it's the only way to get the e-brake cable free from the brake shoe.

 

LOL your about learn WHY they call 3rd's pigs

 

OK I phrased that too dramatically. What I meant was you don't have to pull the rear axles, pull the 12 bolts holding the diff, regasket, rtv, all that stuff, right? And in my case they left the ebrake cable with my assembly (along with panhard bar, brackets, all sorts of cool stuff :p) so I'm good.

Ohhh...so they're referring to the weight? I've already got one my pickup bed (the one I'm swapping in). Its kinda heavy but to a guy who has to lug around 150 lb MR2 transaxles all the time its not too bad :p I've just always heard them referred to as "pumpkins"

 

Oh - you're replacing the entire axle with the third already installed...Guess it would depend on what all's attached, but yes, the only thing that would absolutely require the drums off is the ebrake cable.


The rear one might be called a pumpkin, I think the front one is a pig.
Either way, they're not all THAT heavy, just awkward SOB's - especially the rear. At least the front has the stub axles to act as "handles". LOL

 

Yeah I really lucked out. Basically they just gave me everything that was attached to the whole rear axle assy. All I have to do is disconnect my brake lines, shocks, top end of panhard bar, and driveshaft, then jack this one into place. Shoudl make my life a lot easier. I do have some new rear shoes so I'll probably put those on while the spare axle is out of the truck. Will tackle it this weekend, wish me luck! :p

 

Forgot the link arms. This would be a great time to put in lift springs if you ever want to...

 

Yeah the control arms are still attached too, just need to unbolt one end of mine. Lift is in the mail should be here friday....wayyy ahead of you LOL