My local mechanic was honest enough up front to say he wouldn’t do an axle seal job. I appreciated that. Then I did it myself.

John, thanks for your reply. What I meant about the previous seal replacements is that I would hope (maybe I'm naive) that when the PO had the seals replaced twice at the dealership, that the mechanic at the dealership didn't gouge up the housing with the seal puller or while putting the axle back in. And in any case, the current shop I'm using (not a dealership) hasn't stated that there's any damage so I have no reason to think there is. This is the first time they've worked on my truck.

I do think it's highly likely that the previous seal replacements at the dealership followed the FSM and the seal has kept riding very close to the beveled edge of the retainer, and that's why the seals are leaking again (especially with 23 year old bearings that have repeatedly been subjected to leaking differential oil). I've now given this shop exact instructions three times about how I want the job done, so despite their odd recommendation to consider replacing the housing when there's no reason to suspect it's necessary, I'm going to let them do the job. Their communication has been good and they claim to understand what I'm asking, I think they're just skeptical of being told what to do by someone (me) who they can tell probably doesn't have much general experience wrenching.

I didn't buy any new retainers or new ABS rotors, but I did get new bearings, seals (all), O-rings, C-clips, and crush washers for the differential plugs. I did ask them to switch the retainers (inner to outer), and of course to flip the inner retainer so the beveled side faces the ABS rotors and do a grease test to confirm. I even sent them links to two critical parts of Tim's video and they confirmed that they watched them and will do a grease test. I hope they still don't find a way to **** this up.

I chose this shop because it has good reviews, it specializes in Japanese vehicles, and they have a press (many shops I looked at didn't have a press and had to send the axles to a separate shop for that work). So I'm hoping my explicit instructions about how to press everything back together does the trick. I'm going to ask them to do a grease test for one side in front of me so I can see the results.

Hook style seal pullers need to die. Slide hammers really just do a fantastic job for pulling seals efficiently and effectively.

couple of ideas.. I doubt you have a bad housing
.one: MTBTM is correct on how to set this up...and it gives you more area to get the seal to hit correct...however some people think this is not needed
two: the shop that is doing the work and if they are a specialty Japanese shop they will appreciate learning how to correctly set up a 4 runner for the future...less future call backs for them
three: 800 seems expensive...is that labor and parts ? If you need a new axel housing...great time to convert to a locker rear end . In your area of the usa and all the people on the forums that live in that area you should be able to find a drum to drum elocker for less than that , even installed, and then have them switch in your newly pressed axels with bearings. If you were in my area Id help you out. I bet you could find dome 4runner friend to help you out. swapping in a drum to drum would be less that 2 hours ( well for me with air tools and jacks etc) , add another 2-3 for swaping in the "new axels" and installing new seals...the longest part would be doing the wiring. I made up my own harness, did not use factory switch...did it in what they call the gray wire mod....that took me longer than swapping out the rear ends. Now I think you can buy the non factory style harness pre mad

good luck

Can we please stop saying the correct way to install retainers is the Dr Coffee method? The only correct way to installing seals and getting them not to leak is making sure the seal is riding properly on the retainer. Flipping the retainer or not flipping the retainer doesn't matter.

The Dr Coffee method has merit in that you gain some clearance to work with and it does seem on most 4runners that 5mm of polished axle shaft seems to be where the seal will be riding on the retainer correctly when it is flipped.

I think its important to point this out since a lot of people think flipping the retainer, having 5mm of polished axle shaft, or etc. just solves the problem. Tim points this out well in his video but it does seem time to time that people just gloss this over.

Good point I agree that if the retainer depth is set to accommodate the new seal design, it would not have to be flipped. So maybe instead of me saysing the "correct method" or the dr coffee method I should have said."a method" thus implying that there can be choices in doing this

Guys have just adjusted the inner retainer in the normal orientation (bevel facing the seal) a little more inboard and got a good mating with the axle seal but there's not much room for error. If they get it bit too far inboard, they'll be grinding the retainer into the axle housing which is no bueno. So, instead of worrying about grinding the inner retainer into the axle housing, I just chose to follow the Dr. Coffee method and it's worked out for about 15 sets of axles so far.

I'd have to say I'm burnt out doing this job but I know there will be more occasions I'll perform it because I'll meet somebody I like that needs help with this and then I'll be working my Harbor Freight press again.

You could always take the ABS sensor off to verify a leak?

3rd Gen Rear ABS Gear (leaking real axle seal) : 4Runner

If you don't want to do the job yourself - I would make sure who ever is doing it gives you pictures / videos of their work. Give them an explicit list of exactly what you want - Otherwise its all unknown/unseen and in the back of your head.

Tell them you want a picture after removing the shaft, inside of the housing, sharpie test (which I like better than the grease test), etc.. watch all of timmy's videos on the job so you know what they should be doing. I think he has 3 or so covering it.

BTW Thanks a bunch for the videos - Did the job myself a few months back using the videos. **If anyone needs the tool in the NJ/MD/PA area let me know - I sold the press but still have the bearing/seal puller tool

Here are a few random pics from when I did the job, didn't take many tho. rear seals - Album on Imgur

Tim's right about how slim the margins are on this placement. 1 to 2 mm is about the extent of it. I spent a lot of time with a caliper measuring things while doing mine. I was only comfortable moving the retainer inward by 1mm, that's it. Doing the Dr Coffee flip buys you another 1-2 mm of mating surface.

Based on my sharpie tests and measurements I am fairly confident that things would be very marginal at best without doing the flip. But we've been through this before haven't we?

In the end though one should be performing the grease/sharpie test and determining where the retainer is riding. I just think its good practice on this forum to make sure people understand that. I've seen a couple of threads on this forum in which people even reference your videos and still do the installs wrong.

Good point. Regardless of how you position the inner retainer on the axle, you need to verify a good mating of the axle seal with the inner retainer before bolting everything back up.

I have 3 x 3rd gens, a 97, 98 and 2000. I got two more drum to drum axles to swap out a rusty one and to put an e-locker on the other. They are in the range of 200-300,000 miles. None show any evidence of leaking. I guess my time will soon come? I use the 2000 4runner mostly now, and I ordered the parts for an axle seal job. Should I just do it to get it out of the way for peace of mind? Hoping for a Yukon trip this summer. Maybe I'll just bring the parts with me in case. Hey, if I'm up that way and it blows out, maybe Kanoe can help me do it!!! For a fee of course...

With the miles you have, I guarantee you're seals are leaking but you just haven't seen the evidence yet, with a splay of gear oil on inside of one or your rear tires or you noticed gear oil has gotten into your brakes. But, it's easy to verify. Pull your ABS sensors, turn the axles while looking into the ABS sensor port. If you see gear oil lapping onto the ABS tone ring, that means gear oil is getting past the seal and it's also contaminating the bearing slowly washing the grease out.

I checked two of them and it looks like there's a little bit of wetness on the ABS gear but not totally dripping, meaning the globs of grease on the ring go round and round and don't get washed off which you would expect if it was bathing in an oil leak. It's bloody hard to pull those sensors out when rusty without wrecking the plastic. I'll double check the 2000 and if it's dry I should be good for a big trip this summer. If wet I'll plan to get the job done. I have the 20 ton press, just haven't put it together yet. I have a million things on my plate right now. I'm like a kid with eyes bigger than his stomach. So many neat projects I start but nowhere near enough time to do them.