Epic Fail

Classic blown rear axle seals. The expensive part of it is- Toyota's ignorant design where you have to destroy the wheel bearings to get everything apart to GET to the seals.

I saw a 3rd gen today at a muffler shop that had a lower ball joint fail on it, unfortunately the body took a beating from the tire flying off.
I hope that you will be able to get your truck back together and running quickly.
 
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The trouble is that once the oil reaches the brake area, it has already passed through your bearings and contaminated/washed out the grease. Whether or not one changes the bearing, they are most likely f-Ed or on the way there.

Watch Tim’s video, read the dr coffee thread. This is not a small or cheap fix. I did mine about a year ago. Better to fix it once and do it properly I think.
 
PatrickStapler said:
Is this video misleading me somehow? I didn't see him touch a wheel bearing to replace the seal.

YouTube
Click to expand...

That is the proper way to replace the seal but it will most likely leak again. The seals available today are of a different design than the originals.

Your bearing is also contaminated with gear oil due to the seal failure and most likely has it's grease flushed out.

Search for Timmy the Toolman axle seal replacement.
 
2ndhandyotaman said:
Classic blown rear axle seals. The expensive part of it is- Toyota's ignorant design where you have to destroy the wheel bearings to get everything apart to GET to the seals.

I saw a 3rd gen today at a muffler shop that had a lower ball joint fail on it, unfortunately the body took a beating from the tire flying off.
I hope that you will be able to get your truck back together and running quickly.
Click to expand...

The rear axle seal is part of the rear axle housing so how do you have to destroy anything on the axle shaft to replace the seal? Maybe you're thinking of the rear wheel bearing, but they make tools to press off/on all the components on the axle shaft.
 
PatrickStapler said:
Is this video misleading me somehow? I didn't see him touch a wheel bearing to replace the seal.

YouTube
Click to expand...

Like others have already said, it is recommended to replace your rear wheel bearings when you replace the rear axle seals. I used the part numbers that Timmy showed in his video. I also bought a 3rd rear axle seal in case I messed up putting one in (which I did). The tool he used in this video: YouTube is available on loan through weekendclimber on this thread: Rear Bearing Puller/Press Tool Loaner Program

The youtube video I linked shows only the press work involved for the wheel bearings.
 
Bad Luck said:
The rear axle seal is part of the rear axle housing so how do you have to destroy anything on the axle shaft to replace the seal? Maybe you're thinking of the rear wheel bearing, but they make tools to press off/on all the components on the axle shaft.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the seal on the bearing retainer plate as well as the bearing itself, as it seems that the bearings are usually replaced when this job is done.
 
Yup. I have one the axle seals failed in.. I replaced the seals [Rear end axle seals 90310-5006] on 8/20/2016 98 Sr5 Red [Tetanus1] with my odometer 218289. I just changed the seals only.. Still not leaking at 9/4/2019 with 255029. So yes at some point, your axle bearings are going to get you if not replaced.. As they haven't got me yet... { i changed the breather as well }.I am planning on changing my rear end and front end on that rig at some point as my housing in the rear is jb weld sealed from leaking at the moment. The previous owner let it go low a few times so my rear end has seen better days ( it actually has locus heavy duty oil stabilizer at 100% in place of gear grease... has since 2016.. A little noisy at 70mph below 60mph purrs quiet as a church mouse....LOL. I am sure the locus has nothing to do with not leaking too..:whistle:

The Folks are correct though.. The grease is gone in those axle bearings... The correct way to fix it is to replace them. ;-)
 
PatrickStapler said:
So it appears these separated from the sockets. The studs are both completely in tact.
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That's the most probable failure mode. As you can see from my visuals, the LBJ's on your gen have forces puling it apart while those on earlier and later gens have forces pushing them together. On later gens wear would cause play but not likely cause them to pull apart.
 
CV Joint Boot Pliers

PatrickStapler said:
Can someone post a part number for the correct pliers to install the boot clamps?
Click to expand...

I just watched another Timmy video (done that a lot the last few days) and he didn't use any pliers to tighten the clamps on the boots. Is this standard practice? I get that the shaft has grooves in it and the cv joint housing has grooves on it, but is that enough to prevent water intrusion and grease leakage?
 
Rear Shock Removal

You guys that have been working on these trucks for a while may already know this, but for a beginner like me I was a bit concerned about removing the rear shocks after reading all the horror stories here. So after watching a Timmy video installing rear Bilsteins with a flexible ratchet wrench it got me thinking. Since the top housing is attached to the upper stud, I should be able to attach said wrench to top nut, lodge it against the frame and turn the shock body. So with that and a set of 16” Channel T&G pliers I did just that. I had both factory shocks off in less than 20 minutes. The right shock actually sheared the stud after about four turns of the shock body. I left the bottom bolt installed during this method.

9-C11-FFF9-E3-BD-47-F1-8-CFB-A5-DC8-BD8-ED10.jpg


Anyway, maybe that will help someone who in the future.
 
Getting Close!

Waiting on front coil springs. I somehow left those out of the basket when I ordered all the other items. Didn’t realize it until everything else showed up Thursday.

54066-C1-D-493-B-474-C-A29-F-E85-D672-EBF21.jpg
 
Success!

Strut bushings showed up at 10AM today. Finished it at 2PM. Had it in the alignment shop at 2:30PM. Wow what a difference new suspension makes. It rides and drives so much better...almost like new I would assume. I love Bilstein shocks. I use them on my race car as well.

Thanks to those who helped here.
 
PatrickStapler said:
TBH, I have no idea the age of the suspension. If I had to guess, I would say everything except the shocks might be OEM. For what I know they could be too. The truck has 315K miles on it.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of miles

A year ago when my 2005 SR5 (145,000 miles) was up on a lift for a front wheel bearing, the mechanic said to order some front end lower "arms" with the ball joints, and the sway bars if I'm not mistaken.

They weren't expensive, but glad they were replaced. These were not OEM parts. Still on the original shocks. :faint:

V6 4runner starts and runs great. Basically everything but tires and brakes is OEM.

I did the real differential change (3 quarts) in the driveway 6 months ago. Oil and filter with conventional 10W 40 every 4,000 miles now. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00829I3TQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0791JYB8N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KTIK91I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UC9ITG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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Hey Patrick

Did I read somewhere that you went with Moog LBJ's? I could be mistaken, often am. If you did, keep an eye on them. Some have reported very early failures with those. Don't count on them to last like the originals.
 
Yes...I used MOOG everything. Hopefully they will last at least a couple years. I couldn’t stomach spending as much on Toyota suspension parts as I paid for the truck.
 
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