4th Generation Rear wheel bearings

[DEF4Runner]

Went out today to install a Daystar 1.5 to correct my 'lean' and found the inside of my rear passenger tire splashed with oil. It would be WAY too simple and lucky for this to be a faulty brake caliper, and since the brake fluid levels are fine, I'm thinking the bearing is pretty much toast. I came out here and found an EXCELLENT write-up for the 3rd generation rear bearings...are the 4th generation pretty much the same, with the exception of part number differences? I searched around out here a bit, but couldn't find anything conclusive for the 4th gen rears (plenty for the fronts).

Here's a few pics: I couldn't get a good pic of the rear of the brake shield, but the lower end is saturated in oil.

 

[fdbyrne]

The process for the 4th gens is the same. The only difference is that you can't use the same tool to press the bearings out since the 4 bolts that hold the backing plate to the differential tube are in a different pattern.

 

[Brian3676]

It's really not too hard of a job. Take it off and take to machine shop, should only cost you $60 or so for them to press it

Most of the time you can just replace the seal in the axle housing and be fine though. No need to replace bearing if it's not bad. The seal you just slide axle out install new seal on housing and and be on your way.

 

[MFreund]

Unless the bearing is making noise, the oil is gear lube and you only need a axle seal. Save yourself some money!

 

[DEF4Runner]

Yeah, I can't hear the bearing itself making any noise. The oil splatter is new, within the last week/600 miles or so (took a trip).

 

[blackoutt]

+1 for attempting to do it with only changing the seal if the bearings good. I spent a lot of time and money trying to get a local shop to press some old Taco bearings in and out and ended up with ruined bearings, a ruined axles, ruined backing plates, a shop I'll never go back to, and overall the bearings weren't even bad at 150k. I only wanted to replace them "since I was in there", totally not worth it.

 

[fdbyrne]

+1 for attempting to do it with only changing the seal if the bearings good. I spent a lot of time and money trying to get a local shop to press some old Taco bearings in and out and ended up with ruined bearings, a ruined axles, ruined backing plates, a shop I'll never go back to, and overall the bearings weren't even bad at 150k. I only wanted to replace them "since I was in there", totally not worth it.

That's a real shame. If you have the right tools for the job it's really not all that difficult to do. You only do damage like that if you really try to jerry-rig something or use the shade tree method of slamming your axle on a hard surface repeatedly until the bearing falls out.

 

[blackoutt]

Yeah that's the worst part, the shop had the right tools but didn't know how to use them. They torched a notch in an axle getting the retainers off, bent the axle using the press plate wrong somehow, and took me a lot of arguing for them to end up at least paying for the stuff they ruined then I had to buy the parts all over again to re-do. I ended up re-doing the job by pounding the axle on the ground (actually an aluminum plate on a stump) out of frustration. It was free, it was not the right way, but it worked.

 

[fdbyrne]

I have a special built press adapter for Toyota trucks that I used to replace my 1st gen Tacoma rear bearings. When I pulled my rear axle out of my 4th gen 4Runner I found out that it won't fit in the same adapter because the placement of the studs on the backer plate are in a different pattern. I also figured out that I didn't have anything on hand that was up to the task of drilling new holes in half inch steel so I had to put everything back together without replacing the bearing and put the job off for another weekend. I spent a whole day taking the axle out and putting it back in only to end up where I started that same morning. Granted, most of that time was trying to put the parking brake back together and replacing the two bolts that hold the parking brake cable to the backer plate because they snapped off. Now that I figured out a few tricks to make that parking brake job easier it should take me half as long.

 

[KJackle84]

Rear Wheel Bearings

I'm looking to buy a 2006 4Runner with 83,000 miles on it, and the dealer is telling me the rear wheel bearings need to be replaced. If they do and I'm pleased, then I buy it.

What do I need to look for when looking over the service record? Is this type of repair common, and what other repairs could this lead to?

 

[RonJR]

It's not common, particularly at 83,000 miles. Typically wheel bearings will last indefinitely unless they get contaminated somehow.

One somewhat common issue is for the rear differential breather to become plugged, causing pressure to build up and blow diff fluid through the axle seals. In that case the diff fluid can wash out the sealed grease in the rear wheel bearing and ultimately cause bearing failure.

Hard to say what happened on this one. The good news is, if they fix it right, including new axle seals, it should last as long as a new one. I would have them check the diff breather, however.