New Axles?

[helusay]

Hey Folks,
I have recently discovered that my seal on the driver's side of my rear diff has gone out again. The mechanic who did the work said that it probably will need a new axle on that side soon. Which is cool because I was thinking about replacing them. My question is, can I get new posi gears for the rear end and new axles and use the same old diff housing that is on the rear end, or am I going to need a new housing too? Also, does anyone have suggestions on good gear and axle combos and places that sell them? I will probably need to have them delivered to me or the mechanic. Any input will be helpful, thanks

 

[fourwd1]

What year truck ?
Rear axle seals was a problem for a few years around 96, there may be a service bulletin or something.

You can put different gears and a locker in the same 3rd member (diff housing).

 

[helusay]

Sorry, I have a 1990 with a 3.0. I figure since the truck is going to need new stuff, might as well upgrade it. Any brand suggestions on the lockers and axles?

 

[fourwd1]

Check Poly Performance fot the axle shafts, Superior might also have something.

ARB or Detroit or Aussie for a locker.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Get with Zuk and have your 3rd member parts delivered to him and ship him your 3rd to put in new gears and/or the locker. He is famous for his 3rd member setups and is widely considered one of the best at it in the country.

When I had mine done by him his labor was $200 and you paid for the shipping. Small price to pay for that caliber of work. Sometimes you can pick up a used 3rd for around $100 and you can send that one to him to save downtime...

Better hurry though because if he hasn't quit for the year already he will soon. He lives in AZ and only does 3rd's in the cooler months.

Here's his page with the write ups on it so you can see his work...

http://www.gearinstalls.com/

He'll do just the locker and freshen up your bearings or he'll do the locker and completely rebuild it and install new gears. Whatever you want...

For axles, Marlin sells good ones but they show back ordered right now...

http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/axles.htm

Trail gear has them in stock and they're probably just as good too and they're cheaper to boot. If you want to order a complete 3rd member with the right gears and locker of your choice already installed they have those too. The price is competitive with what you'd spend to get yours rebuilt with gears and a locker, but when you see it all together it kind of gives you shell shock. They sell brand new units too, not rebuilds. They're quality units... I have a buddy with one that wheels hard every weekend.

Axles: http://www.trail-gear.com/rearaxle.html
3rd members: http://www.trail-gear.com/toy-diffs.html

Forgot to add I installed a Lockright in mine after I got it from Zuk and it was relatively straight forward. I was nervous tearing into his work, but it feels like it went pretty well and the unit definitely locks up tight. The Lockrights are similar to the Aussie units and they're both about half the porice of a Detroit soft locker and at least for my use work just as well. They're just a little noisier in the corners but you get used to that...

Zuk will install one of those too.

 

[toyoda]

The mechanic who did the work said that it probably will need a new axle on that side soon.

FYI that is BS!! He either didn't put it in straight or nicked it while installing. If you are interested in a locker then kewl. But save your cash on the inner axles. Next time do the seal yourself.

Directions
take off your wheel.
undo the brake line
unbolt the 4 nuts holding the axle. (just on the back of the brake drum)
pull out old seal. tap in a new one.

30 min. job. ohh and a couple minutes more to re-bleed the brakes.

I have 390K miles on my rear axles with LOTS of hard wheeling. I've replaced seals ONCE at around 200k. 7 dollar autozone/kragen ones seem to work just as good as the dealer. But I personally used a factory seal.