Mike07SE
New member
This a quick writeup of my experience of replacing my differentials. This should serve those that are replacing the complete Third Members and not doing a bench regear themselves. This took me just over 2 hours for my first time around. Guesswork aside, I see no reason why this couldn't be done in 45 minutes less time in another go around. Third member is heavy! It would help to have a friend help, especially if doing on the ground.
Removal
1. Chock the front wheels.
2. Put truck in neutral. Raise vehicle off ground. Remove rear wheels. (21mm)
3. If working on a the ground and not a lift, support the rear axle on jack stands.
4. Loosen rear diff fill plug first, then remove the drain plug. You can control the flow with the fill plug. (24mm)
5. Unbolt the rear driveshaft. This is the reason to have the trans in neutral for this step. Strap or bungee the shaft up and out of the way. I strapped it around the muffler. Worked just fine. (14mm)
6. Remove the brake line clip at the rear hub. I cut a a notch in the hole that the hard line passes through to the soft line at the caliper. I used an air saw which was like a small sawzall. This allowed me to move the line out of the bracket and pull the axles without literally removing the calipers as the hose had enough in it to do this.
7. Unplug the ABS Sensor cable.
8. Remove the clamps holding the rear brake hard lines on the axle tube (allows a little extra play). (12mm)
9. Remove the parking brake cable retainers from the lower control arms. (12mm)
10. Remove the rear nuts securing the rear hub to the axle flange. A combination of a socket and ratchet & a wrench (hopefully a long one) will be needed. (17mm)
11. Axles should slide out easily. A couple of hits with the palm of my hand and a tap with a deadblow was all it took to break loose. Slide them out about 6" and it helps to have an extra set of jack stands to put under the rotor to prevent the axle shaft from wobbling and damaging the inner tube.
12. Unbolt the rear differential. Break all nuts loose before completely removing. You may also see an issue as I did that the nuts are stuck to the studs and will take them out in the process.
13. Clean the diff mating surface off (Pictures shows before surface). Clean out the inner housing. You'll have to "sweep" the remaining gear out through the drain plug.
Reinstall
1. If your studs stayed in place, place your new gasket over them. In my case only one stayed in. I placed my Lube Locker gasket over that one stud on the bottom and held in place up top with a piece of masking tape.
2. Place the 3rd member over the studs. Tighten to spec (Lube Locker specs 7lb-ft, then 15 lb-ft. Factory is 20lb-ft) in a criss-cross pattern. Also for the studs that came out, I simply reinstalled them with the nut still on and added LockTite.
3. Slide axles back in. Carefully feeling the axles slide into the the carrier. Twist the hub a little to line up the splines. Once set in, spin the pinion and make sure everything turns smoothly.
4. Reinstall axle hub flange nuts.
5. Reinstall ABS Sensors.
6. Reseat the brake hard line at the hub flange fitting. Install retaining clip.
7. Reinstall hard brake line axle clamp bolts.
8. Reinstall parking brake cable clamps at lower control arms.
9. Reinstall driveshaft bolts.
10. Reinstall wheels.
11. Refill rear diff. It took me just about 3L (3 bottles) to fill.
12. Take for a test drive. Keep in mind proper break in techniques.
Torque specs: Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
Removal
1. Chock the front wheels.
2. Put truck in neutral. Raise vehicle off ground. Remove rear wheels. (21mm)
3. If working on a the ground and not a lift, support the rear axle on jack stands.
4. Loosen rear diff fill plug first, then remove the drain plug. You can control the flow with the fill plug. (24mm)
5. Unbolt the rear driveshaft. This is the reason to have the trans in neutral for this step. Strap or bungee the shaft up and out of the way. I strapped it around the muffler. Worked just fine. (14mm)
6. Remove the brake line clip at the rear hub. I cut a a notch in the hole that the hard line passes through to the soft line at the caliper. I used an air saw which was like a small sawzall. This allowed me to move the line out of the bracket and pull the axles without literally removing the calipers as the hose had enough in it to do this.
7. Unplug the ABS Sensor cable.
8. Remove the clamps holding the rear brake hard lines on the axle tube (allows a little extra play). (12mm)
9. Remove the parking brake cable retainers from the lower control arms. (12mm)
10. Remove the rear nuts securing the rear hub to the axle flange. A combination of a socket and ratchet & a wrench (hopefully a long one) will be needed. (17mm)
11. Axles should slide out easily. A couple of hits with the palm of my hand and a tap with a deadblow was all it took to break loose. Slide them out about 6" and it helps to have an extra set of jack stands to put under the rotor to prevent the axle shaft from wobbling and damaging the inner tube.
12. Unbolt the rear differential. Break all nuts loose before completely removing. You may also see an issue as I did that the nuts are stuck to the studs and will take them out in the process.
13. Clean the diff mating surface off (Pictures shows before surface). Clean out the inner housing. You'll have to "sweep" the remaining gear out through the drain plug.
Reinstall
1. If your studs stayed in place, place your new gasket over them. In my case only one stayed in. I placed my Lube Locker gasket over that one stud on the bottom and held in place up top with a piece of masking tape.
2. Place the 3rd member over the studs. Tighten to spec (Lube Locker specs 7lb-ft, then 15 lb-ft. Factory is 20lb-ft) in a criss-cross pattern. Also for the studs that came out, I simply reinstalled them with the nut still on and added LockTite.
3. Slide axles back in. Carefully feeling the axles slide into the the carrier. Twist the hub a little to line up the splines. Once set in, spin the pinion and make sure everything turns smoothly.
4. Reinstall axle hub flange nuts.
5. Reinstall ABS Sensors.
6. Reseat the brake hard line at the hub flange fitting. Install retaining clip.
7. Reinstall hard brake line axle clamp bolts.
8. Reinstall parking brake cable clamps at lower control arms.
9. Reinstall driveshaft bolts.
10. Reinstall wheels.
11. Refill rear diff. It took me just about 3L (3 bottles) to fill.
12. Take for a test drive. Keep in mind proper break in techniques.
Torque specs: Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
Toyota 120 Platforms Forum
