Near Staunton, Virginia- Need Help- Rear Axle Seal

[aontkos]

I'm currently on a road trip from Florida to West Michigan. I've been hopping through National Forests and enjoying scenic routes along the way.

The trip has been awesome and without problems until today. I just noticed that my passenger side rear axle seal is leaking. I have done the vent extension and I know that the vent isn't clogged, so I'm trying to find a way to replace the seal and bearing while on the road.

Does anyone know of any good shops/dealerships/friends that are capable of helping with this repair? If I was home I would do it in my driveway, but sourcing parts and repairing my truck in a parking lot isn't my favorite option.

I'm currently about 20miles south of Staunton and I'll be traveling north along I-81. Thanks!

 

[LittleCaesar]

My friend used to live in Harrisonburg up 81 some years back while she was a guide at the Luray caverns. She had a 1st gen Sequoia and as a single woman she took her Yota to Steven(s) Toyota. They were always fair and upfront with her. I don't have a number but they kept Stacey on the road until she bought an Odyssey (married with kids now) three years ago.

I'd also post in the general section for all T4R members to see....

 

[aontkos]

My friend used to live in Harrisonburg up 81 some years back while she was a guide at the Luray caverns. She had a 1st gen Sequoia and as a single woman she took her Yota to Steven(s) Toyota. They were always fair and upfront with her. I don't have a number but they kept Stacey on the road until she bought an Odyssey (married with kids now) three years ago.

I'd also post in the general section for all T4R members to see....

Good to know, thanks! That is right along my route so it may be a good option.

 

[Toyotayoda]

Not sure if you got this corrected yet, but in most cases you can replace just the inner seal(be sure it's in there square) and carefully pick off the inner seal of the bearing and pack some new lithium grease in there. With that knowledge maybe you could find a real mechanic to help you out.

 

[JohnMc]

Mine started leaking on a long road trip this July. It's been bone dry for years*, no signs of trouble, until we started doing some off roading. Perhaps getting the axle leaned way over and sloshing deep oil against the seal?

Anyhow, it wasn't anything I wanted to tackle on the road trip, so I just made sure that it hadn't lost enough oil to be a problem for the differential itself, and kept going. I added another half-pint of oil in Moab. When we got back home after 3000+ miles the oil level int he axle was still fine, and I replaced both seals and both bearings (and the brake shoes) at home with no rush or inconvenience.

Only caveat I would say is to jack that wheel up and yank back and forth on it pretty hard - make sure the bearing itself isn't coming apart. A bad bearing can make the seal leak, and you should NOT drive on a bad bearing. It's the only thing keeping the whole axle shaft/drum/wheel on - if it fails in a major way that whole assembly can slide out. Which is really bad.



* - the same seal had previously leaked at 180K miles, but at that point in time the axle breather was def. clogged. I replaced it with a remote breather, cleaned up the leaked oil really well, and all was good for another 40K miles.