New 3rd member install

[cleex024]

I am about to install a rebuilt 3rd member in to try to get rid of this grinding sound the dealership said was making noise. Hopefully once i install it the noise is completely gone and nothing else is making noise because its annoying trying to find a problem by keep throwing parts at it lol.

Just trying to find out if anyone has done this and any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I am assuming I can just use black rtv to use at a gasket.

Also im trying to make the car sit even in the rear so im thinkin about putting in a custom made 1/2" spacer epoxied on the rear drivers side spacer i have on there already. anyone see any problems with this? if so any better ideas? it is exactly 1/2" lower on the drivers side rear.

 

[cleex024]

well i just installed the front 2.5" leveling kit in the front and lowered my bilstein 5100s down to the first notch at .85" giving it a 3.35" lift in the front...this with my 1" rear leveling kit in its about perfect now. before i had the front without the leveling kit and 5100s set at the very top notch at 2.5"...to me it was sitting a little too low in the front at 36.25 df 36.5 pf 37.5 dr 38 pr.

after doing the .85" more lift i got 37.5 df 37.75 pf 37.75 dr 38 pr

i figure now if i only increase the driver rear 1/4" it would sit absolutely perfect...anyone have any thoughts? would be great if i could get some ideas while i put in the 3rd member so i can do something while im in there.

seems like a simple 1/4" piece of metal epoxied onto the leveling spacer would work but anything try anything different?

 

[ebg18t]

seems like a simple 1/4" piece of metal epoxied onto the leveling spacer would work but anything try anything different?

If you are using the usual rubber/plastic spring spacers, how about shaving off 1/8-1/4" off the passenger side one to level it off?

I have no advise on installing the 3rd member.

 

[Mike07SE]

Here's my experience with swapping mine out from ECGS regeared and True Trac'd.

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

 

[cleex024]

Here's my experience with swapping mine out from ECGS regeared and True Trac'd.

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

wow thanks a lot...definitely using this.

oh and by the way to egb...the spacers are aluminum.

 

[cleex024]

So if anyone was curious it was indeed the bearings in the diff. There is absolutely no noise now so I can say I don't mind taking it to this dealership now lol.

Hopefully more I can enjoy this 4runner till 400k miles

 

[satanos6668280]

Good to hear its fixed. Did you swap out the diff yourself?

 

[cleex024]

Good to hear its fixed. Did you swap out the diff yourself?

I was planning on it but I'm getting married this weekend and didn't think I could get it done in time in car there were emergencies. So I took it to a couple guys I know at merchants...book time only calls for 3.1hours so it must be pretty easy.

But I looked over what the guy said above and send very easy anyhow.

 

[Spunky1]

If you dont mind me asking...what did this project end up costing you? I am in the same boat.