blown axle seal with e-locker?

CSL

CSL

New member
So I have joined the club of the blown rear axle seals. After reading about the cost of this job professionally, I have chosen to attempt this fix myself. I will also do the breather mod at the same time.

I have read this thread:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?t=11884

But I have a new question:

Are there any special concerns in removing the rear axle shaft when you have a factory E-locker?

I will also take any other advice on this matter as I have no mechanical experience other than my other DIY work on my T4R.

Thanks.
 
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CSL said:
So I have joined the club of the blown rear axle seals. After reading about the cost of this job professionally, I have chosen to attempt this fix myself. I will also do the breather mod at the same time.

I have read this thread:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?t=11884

But I have a new question:

Are there any special concerns in removing the rear axle shaft when you have a factory E-locker?

I will also take any other advice on this matter as I have no mechanical experience other than my other DIY work on my T4R.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


locker shouldn't make a difference you'll see when you get the diff cover off that everything is self contained, your just pulling the diff cover off right and putting a new seal on and some atv right? should be a quick,cheap,easy job, i've done them before on my jeeps it should be the same.
 
No diff cover on the yota axle, but it's fairly straight forward with pulling the axles out. No different with the e-locker. One thing you might want to be concerned about is the wheel bearings. I replaced my axle seals myself, but then they started leaking again 2 weeks later because the bearings were bad which caused the seals to go bad again.
 
jdmaccord6 said:
No diff cover on the yota axle, but it's fairly straight forward with pulling the axles out. No different with the e-locker. One thing you might want to be concerned about is the wheel bearings. I replaced my axle seals myself, but then they started leaking again 2 weeks later because the bearings were bad which caused the seals to go bad again.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything above. I have done the job myself a few times. If you have to replace the wheel bearings on the leaking side, then you can bring the whole axle to a machine shop and have them do it. They will not come off without a press. Just lay the hub on the ground and spin the axle by hand. If you have any rough spots or grinding then the bearing is shot. I could actually see metal shavings on mine, so it was obvious.
 
jdmaccord6 said:
No diff cover on the yota axle, but it's fairly straight forward with pulling the axles out. No different with the e-locker. One thing you might want to be concerned about is the wheel bearings. I replaced my axle seals myself, but then they started leaking again 2 weeks later because the bearings were bad which caused the seals to go bad again.
Click to expand...

lol i need to hurry and get mine built up so i can start wheeling and breaking stuff and learn about this! hahha, such a different beast than anything i'm used to, it has more in common with my vw than my jeeps lol!

it's good to know about the wheel bearings needing a press
 
Actually Izzard the reason there is no diff cover is because it is a 3rd member set up like a Ford 9". The toyota axle is often compared in strength to 1 ton axles and even stronger then some of them. One of the reasons a lot of other people will switch to a Yota axle (Samurai's and others) and also why things like your Jeeps have to upgrade to D-60's.

Obviously you have seen the light since you have a Runner and are on this site just wanted to make sure that you know the only thing our Yotas have more in Common with your VW's is they both last longer then your jeeps. Something else you will find out once you build it up is you wont be breaking things when you wheel.
 
CSL- since you have an issue with your rear-end with e-locker I will gladly trade my(non-locking) rear-end to help you out:headslap:

Actually it is no different with locker or not and I agree with one of the above posts just check your bearings when you have it apart to do the seals. Fairly easy-medium job if you are mechanically inclined and good selection of tools.
 
theizzardking said:
lol i need to hurry and get mine built up so i can start wheeling and breaking stuff and learn about this! hahha, such a different beast than anything i'm used to,
Click to expand...

Nahhh....you knew this. The diff "cover" simply includes the gears and just happens to be located on the other side of the housing. Pull the third memebr, replace the leaky seal and reinstall. Having a locker or limited slip wont make a difference....the carrier will still need to be pulled to replace an inner seal....same thing as on a jeep.
 
JeremyH said:
Nahhh....you knew this. The diff "cover" simply includes the gears and just happens to be located on the other side of the housing. Pull the third memebr, replace the leaky seal and reinstall. Having a locker or limited slip wont make a difference....the carrier will still need to be pulled to replace an inner seal....same thing as on a jeep.
Click to expand...

I agree and hope my earlier post wasnt giving you to hard a time. Once you look at it if you have done rear end work before will be easy to identify similar functions.
 
it should only be the inner axle seal
seal3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Elton H said:
it should only be the inner axle seal if its the outter one its gonna cost alot more
Click to expand...

From the picture you posted, that looks like an outer seal. Usually there is an inner seal that is just outside of the carrier....

I think we all knew that he wasn't talking about the RTV on the third member to housing mating surface...
 
Wow! thanks for all the replies. Honestly, I am only guessing that it is the seal in the photo above.

There is oil spraying out from my wheel in a circular pattern. It is on the top of the wheel well, and a big sunburst pattern is sprayed on the inner sidewalls of the wheel.

My guess is that it is the seal in the photo, and perhaps blown from a seal diff breather.

A few questions for clarifications:

The seal in the photo is connected to the axle housing and stuck to the truck. This is the one that is easy-medium to replace and is in numerous writeups. TRUE???

The bearings are connected to the hub and the axle that is removed from the truck. I can test the bearings as mentioned above (thanks) while it is removed from the truck. If bad, I can just drive the axle to a shop in another vehicle. TRUE???

Hopefully all I have to do is replace the seal shown above, with a limited cost of tool investment (seal puller, seal press)
 
yes its that easy 4 bolts the brake line and the e brake the whole axle slides out as for the wheel bearing its pressed in no way too really check it also your gonna need some brake cleaner to clean the brake pads and such
 
It can be confusing because most people assume the inner seal is the most difficult to replace, but it's the easiest. You don't have to pull the bearing to check it. You will be able to visually inspect the inner surface and check how smoothly it rolls once the axle is out. You will need some type of seal puller and seal set. Some people use sockets to set the new seal in place but a bearing and seal set puts it in perfectly. If you warp the new seal on installation then it will start leaking again.
 
Wtf!?!

Thanks for all the input.

I thought I would fill the differential to make up for all the lost oil spewwing from my wheel until I can get the time to fix this.

I opened the diff, and whatever I put in, just flows right back out. WTF?

There is a lot of oil sprayed from my wheel, so I thought for sure the diff would be low. If it's not diff oil, and it's not brake fluid...

...what the hell is coming out of my wheel?!
 
CSL said:
Thanks for all the input.

I thought I would fill the differential to make up for all the lost oil spewwing from my wheel until I can get the time to fix this.

I opened the diff, and whatever I put in, just flows right back out. WTF?

There is a lot of oil sprayed from my wheel, so I thought for sure the diff would be low. If it's not diff oil, and it's not brake fluid...

...what the hell is coming out of my wheel?!
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the gear oil level. It always seems worse when you see the oil because it's a really thick oil that coats so well.
 
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