4th gen wheel seal went bad. Up she goes.

[patricksheehy]

So I got my truck in the air to do a regular oil change and tire rotation (usually do both every ~5000 miles). When I got to the driver's side rear wheel, I noticed an explosion of oil in my wheel well, and it had coated my brakes and axle.

Here is what my normal axle looks like:

and:

This is what the side looked like with the bad seal:

and:

and:

You can also kind of see how the inside of my tire and wheel looks with my differential fluid flung all over it:

SO.

Got to work on Saturday, browsed the forums and came across a couple of really good write-ups that my dad and I were able to follow. Mostly, I used this one:

BigFishAllDay's Rear Axle Seal Guide

Unfortunately, I was running out of time before the parts counter closed on Saturday, so (not thinking) I grabbed the part numbers off of the forum and went to the toyota dealership. I ended up getting more than I thought I would need (brake fluid, 80w90, o-ring, oil seal, two retainers, and the skid control rotor).

I was hoping we would only need to replace the o ring and the seal, and of course use the brake fluid and top off what I lost in differential, but I fudged.

Not thinking for some reason that the parts would be completely different, I used all of the part numbers from BigFishAllDay's guide, which are for a 3rd gen!

So needless-to-say, the seals were not right, and I've got to wait till Monday to get the right parts for my truck.

But I wanted to share with you guys that wheel seals DO go bad on 4th gens. It looks like it's more rare than on 3rd gens, but it's happened to me, and it could happen to you.

Luckily the write-ups on this forum for the 3rd gens work pretty well with the 4th gen, even though everything is slightly different. So thanks everyone for covering the instructions rather thoroughly.

I've got spidertrax spacers on my 4runner. Do you think this could have anything to do with why my seal went bad? I'd like to think not, but perhaps the added stress caused mine to go bad sooner.

*Note: I've got 96k miles on my truck. It's a V8, Sport, 4WD. It has very rarely if ever seen intense off-road adventures.

Here's my axle out:

And a rare view down a 4th gen drivetrain (got the idea from BigFishAllDay):

I will also note that I put Red Line synthetic 75w90 in my truck at 60k when I changed the differential fluid. When I picked up the wrong parts at Toyota on Saturday, the man told me that my model called for 80w90. Could this also be a reason why my seal went bad?

By the way, the Red Line differential fluid that leaked out while doing the job and while the wheel was still on the truck ate straight through the paint and plasti-dip that I had on wheel. Luckily that wheel was going to the spare slot anyways since I was in the middle of a tire rotation, but it looks like I'll have to redo that wheel. Can't wait to get my ol' rattlecan of Plasti-dip out. And I can't wait to see what else I find to plasti-dip after I do it. I swear it's addictive.

Here's what my wheels looked like:

 

[gm350reratliff]

I don't think running a different oil would cause the seal to go bad as others have had this issue with OEM oil.

Don't mean to hijack but, what color are those sport wheels? They look great!

 

[patricksheehy]

Thanks for the info!

The wheels are 'hardened bronze'. I used plasti-dip inside and out, several coats with ample drying time, then a couple coats of hardened bronze by rustoleum.

I'm glad you like them! I love them but they're definitely different and not to everyone's taste.

 

[patricksheehy]

I'm trying to get everything back together and don't have a good way to put the hold-down springs in that have to go over the pin which holds on the front and rear brake drums. Anyone know of a special tool for this??

We got them off with two sets of hands, a couple of flat head screwdrivers, and some luck. But getting them back on is proving to be a different story.

Any information or tools relevant to those hold-down springs would be greatly helpful. Thanks!

 

[03_4x4Runner]

This tool always worked good when I had drum brakes. TEKTON 5810 12-Inch Brake Spring Pliers - Amazon.com The end one one of the handles slips over the stud with the spring on the handle. The spring goes on very easy.

 

[aha2988]

I used a screw driver, some picks, and a small 1/4" drive extension with a deepwell 1/4" socket and held my tongue just right and they eventually clipped on biggest PIA in the world.. I was hoping you had found a way to remove the emergency brake cable without disassembling the parking brake shoes.. pretty re****ed all the brake componants can stay on really if there was just a way to get the parking brake cable unhooked from the one brake shoe.

 

[patricksheehy]

Thanks for the help guys. I picked up a pair of brake spring pliers. I'll be able to dive back on it later this evening. Haven't been too impressed with the way it all has to fit on but, at least they work nice when they're working!