250k 3rd Gen

Whelp, this past week, it finally happened: I found gearcase oil all over my drum/shoe and behind the ABS sensor on one side, but the other side seems fine.
I'm not mechanically inclined enough to do the job myself, and don't have the space or time to learn how + buy a press.

I called pretty much all the shops within a 15mi radius of my house (Seattle). Most shops wouldn't touch the job. One of the few reputable shops that would touch the job is quoting me about $1,100 for both sides, will use all OEM parts, and guarantee the work for 1yr. That's a lot of moolah, but situated in the middle of the pack in terms of other shops' estimates. Stealership said $1,500 (blech).

The diff breather is in perfect working order, which leads me to believe me the failure occurred due to normal wear and tear. That would suggest the other side (experiencing identical w&t) is likely to go in the not too distant future as well. If that's true, then I should bite the bullet and just have both sides done.

But, if that assumption isn't likely to be correct, I might want to save the dough just have one side done for now, and then more closely monitor the other side for leakage.

Whatcha think?

My 2 cents on this is to do them both if you are going to do one of them. While it saves on the immediate funds, you are still out the downtime and hassle of having to basically do it twice. It may also be less expensive if the shop does them at the same time ("package deal"?).

Or consider broadening the radius to get out of the city a bit, may be less expensive.

I'm new to 4runners and about to embark on the same journey, only doing it all myself. I guess I like buying tools :-)

~Jason

Just do both sides. I'm assuming they are replacing the axle bearings as well. If they aren't then you are likely to have leaking seals again along with the old axle bearings groaning/grinding due to the grease being washed out by the diff fluid leaking past it.

I may be in the minority here but my thoughts are as follows.
Even “reputable” shops and dealerships seem to have a hard time getting this done correctly, even when using OEM parts.
The design change in the seal necessitates doing the job a bit differently than most realize, even most reputable shops unless they’ve been down this road before.
I would speak with shop to confirm they understand the revised seal design requires a modified replacement process.
Shouldn’t be much cost savings if they do one side now and do the other side at a later date. This way some time passes and you have time to evaluate if they did the proper job on the first side. You don’t want them screwing up both sides if it turns out they didn’t do it properly.
Just keep an eye on the side you don’t do now. Take a look each time you do an oil change, etc.
Just my 2 cents.

I almost always do both sides for things like this. I just think of it as maintenance. If one's gone bad (without an obvious reason), there's a good chance that the other side is close(ish) to failing.

If doing both would be a big hit to your budget, one at a time should be fine. If your breather's good, a new seal on one side shouldn't cause any problems on the other side.

Dean

do both sides, and 1100$ guaranteed work is a correct price if done by a reputable shop. There is a reason why some don't want to touch this job, it's pretty involved. Took me forever to do with my home-made tool and I'm pretty well equipped, with a lift. You have to triple-quadruple check everything

good point I did not think about the bearing failure

Yep, bearings, seals, retainers, allegedly all other necessary components for the 1100 price. I really appreciate all the helpful feedback and insight. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on both sides. Thanks everyone!

There was some helpful advice but @Sarki had the best advice. I will echo what he said. Shops and even Toyota dealerships botch this job with a VERY HiGH frequency. The mechanics don't understand the seal was redesigned. They sometimes don't have the right tools and they cut the ABS tone rings and inner retainers off sometimes scoring the axle shafts. They don't confirm a good mating of the seal with the inner retainer by doing a sharpie or grease test.

OP, before you let some shop work on it, become educated on this job so you know how shops can screw up and you can do some interrogating before you let them work on it. I've got a couple videos for you.

My first attempt was just seals (OEM) and it failed due to miss alignment of seal!
The second attempt was 100% success with the help of TIM's Video. Used all OEM parts, puller tool, press etc. Inspected after few thousand miles through the ABS sensor opening and happy to report, it is dry! Thanks Tim! I have posted your video all over ih8mud.com. LC 100 has the same setup.

This site is the freaking best. Thanks, @mtbtim and @Sarki . I think I watched Timmy's videos myself 3x before deciding to take it to a shop instead. I'll make sure to ensure the shop knows exactly what this entails as well.

Smart Man!

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I think you don't want to get ****ed over a simple repair. You said it was gear oil right? That's the dust seal on the diff. I off road a lot and noticed I had a slight gear oil drip right as it happened. The issue was the dust seal got knocked slightly cockeyed. 100,00 miles and both dust seals were in perfect condition upon inspection. They are super high quality. All I did was tap the seal into it's correct position very carefully. Make sure you know the correct depth to set the seal if you have to replace them and do this yourself. Too far and you'll be breaking it out and re doing it. I don't see why a shop can't do this it's basic mechanics. They usually jump at this type of opportunity because it's good way of screwing people over.

Don’t forget to replace the shoes as well. They will be soaked with gear oil if it’s already getting out onto the wheel... use oem parts and check behind the abs sensor a few hundred miles after the repair to make sure they did it right... or at least look for that symptom that indicates they may not have.

Those oily shoes will possibly stick and lock to the drum if you have to make an emergency stop. Mine did, it’s what finally kicked me in the a** to make the repair to the seal... did both sides though only the driver was leaking.

The shop I used botched the drivers the first go but seems to be good after second attempt... been 2 years now, no leaks. This guy seemed to be familiar with the repair and mentioned using the “grease test” method @mtbtim refers to.

I also did the diff breather extension immediately after (myself) routing up behind the tail light with a new breather/jiggler


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