Going to get flamed for this for sure....

econhonda

econhonda

New member
So this weekend I completed a big project I've been working on. I installed a paver patio in my backyard, and had a bunch of pavers left over. Well, I did the lazy thing and loaded them all into my 4runner. Keep in mind that a month ago I installed firestone air bags to handle additional load (not for this reason though). Anyway, almost 100 pavers went into the back of my 4runner, and I pumped each airbag up to the max 35psi as well as my rear tires to 55 psi. I later calculated that this was about 2,700 lbs!!!! So, anyway, I slowly made my way across town to return the pavers. I never went over 40mph and didn't notice any severe bumps. After I got home, I thought I'd check everything underneath, and sure enough I blew my passenger rear axle seal (replaced six months ago). After cussing myself out, I started to worry I did more damage than just the seal. Could I have bent the axle housing? If so, how do I check? I couldn't detect any play in the wheel bearing so I'm hoping that my breather is just plugged and I blew a seal due to heat buildup in the diff. Anything else I should check? How difficult is it to bend an axle housing or axle shaft?

I know. I know. This was very stupid so anyone who thinks the cargo specs are bogus, I hope you think again.

Thanks for the help.
 
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I think that it was a coincident that your axle seal went out while carrying this load.

Carrying more the ton of weight on a truck designed to carry 300 pounds of cargo isn't good for it. You probably would have blown out a tire or two and maybe broke an axle flange off or two.

The nice thing is that your suspension probably saved any real damage from happening because it was still able to suspend rather then crashing on the nubbers and not giving way.
 
Sorry I'm no help, but it reminds me of "tundra deconstructed" google it! Maybe its time for "4runner deconstructed.
 
It wasn't that my estimation was off. It was that the design changed midway through the project and I need far less of that type of paver. It's hard to defend my intelligence in this particular thread though...
 
If you blew it out because of this was prolly because you had the tires at a pretty high psi, and the suspension all worked up, because now instead of there being some give in the tires and in the suspension (which was probably bottomed out) it now has no give is basically like running no suspension with rubber bands for tires, and instead of thr tires and suspension absorbing bumps, it got transfered to the axle. But that is just my thoughts on the topic, i could be compleltey off, i have carried over a ton inside my 4runner multiple times, but i try to distribute the weight the best i can...
 
JohnsD90 said:
If you blew it out because of this was prolly because you had the tires at a pretty high psi, and the suspension all worked up, because now instead of there being some give in the tires and in the suspension (which was probably bottomed out) it now has no give is basically like running no suspension with rubber bands for tires, and instead of thr tires and suspension absorbing bumps, it got transfered to the axle. But that is just my thoughts on the topic, i could be compleltey off, i have carried over a ton inside my 4runner multiple times, but i try to distribute the weight the best i can...
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Interesting. That makes sense especially with the air bags and tires pumped up quite a bit. Are you suggesting that I don't increase the psi in my tires for such a load? I thought you were supposed to.
 
Some increase is good so your rims aren't scratching the asphalt, but 55 is rock hard. Might as well have run steel rounds.
 
How is your diff breather?

One theory for explaining the rear seals to go is that the diff breather gets clogged shut. Which causes pressure build up in the axle and blown seal.

Now there are two theories why the seals would leak again after being replaced. The one in which I have stated above. The other is, the seal not being installed properly. There is now debate about how far the seal should be seated in. There is apparently a handful of people having this issue after replacing seals.

Given this info, I would agree that this could be a coindedence. just my $.02
 
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Bamf_CT2004 said:
How is your diff breather?

One theory for explaining the rear seals to go is that the diff breather gets clogged shut. Which causes pressure build up in the axle and blown seal.

Now there are two theories why the seals would leak again after being replaced. The one in which I have stated above. The other is, the seal not being installed properly. There is now debate about how far the seal should be seated in. There is apparently a handful of people having this issue after replacing seals.

Given this info, I would agree that this could be a coindedence. just my $.02
Click to expand...

Yup, both these theories have been discussed in detail here. Read the reference and tutorial sticky. It links to BigFishAllDay's excellent and complete write-up on axle seal replacements.

Seriously, if you havn't read it already, check out the reference and tutorial sticky.
 
econhonda said:
Interesting. That makes sense especially with the air bags and tires pumped up quite a bit. Are you suggesting that I don't increase the psi in my tires for such a load? I thought you were supposed to.
Click to expand...

Yes, you should adjust for larger loads as an official recommendation for normal driving which is meant to cover things like long stretches at highway speeds while maintaining plenty of reserve (I assume since you went to 55psi you're not running passenger tires).

If you insisted on carrying that load, since it was slow driving and short duration, you could have easily gotten away with street pressure or even a little less.
 
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JB. said:
Yes, you should adjust for larger loads as an official recommendation for normal driving which is meant to cover things like long stretches at highway speeds while maintaining plenty of reserve (I assume since you went to 55psi you're not running passenger tires).

If you insisted on carrying that load, since it was slow driving and short duration, you could have easily gotten away with street pressure or even a little less.
Click to expand...

Not passenger tires. Load D range. I guess I should have been able to figure that out myself. I wasn't doing any extended highway driving. Thanks for the response.
 
econhonda said:
Interesting. That makes sense especially with the air bags and tires pumped up quite a bit. Are you suggesting that I don't increase the psi in my tires for such a load? I thought you were supposed to.
Click to expand...

55 is way to high, when i do this kind of stuff i generally do around 32 psi and just let the suspension bottom out, its rides like an old lincoln but it has never conked out on me. Last time i did it i drove up too 55mph so and it was a 20 mile ride, i would down shift to slow down ect.
 
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