Rear Axle Seals: The Ultimate Information and Replacement Thread (3rd gen)

[Bryanphoto]

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone! I had gear oil all over my passenger side wheel, so recently replaced both rear axle seals & bearings. The information in this thread was invaluable. I also relied on Timmy the Toolman's video and DrCoffee's flip the retaining ring method. Wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys.

So I now own a press tool to press on and off bearings and ABS exciters on these Toyota axles... I live near Winston-Salem, NC. If anybody nearby needs to do this project, drop me a message. I'm going to hang on to the press tool for awhile but I'm planning to resell it since hopefully I won't have to do this job again.

 

[REX_T4R]

Thanks to the OP and other contributors to this thread. It benefits everyone to have information regarding this issue on hand.

I had my seals replaced today by my mechanic and I'm glad he showed me what he found. Turns out, the mechanic of course pressed the retainer too far inside and also messed up the bearing by incorrectly pressing it in.

This was the work of the previous shop. You can see that everything was pressed in excessively, causing a leak, despite new seals.

This is my mechanic's work. Note that instead of the grease test, he simply used some sort of crayon or chalk to indicate where the inner seal was touching the retainer. Definitely a cleaner and simpler way to determine how far to press it in.

Here are the old bearings, clearly installed incorrectly.

New vs old:

I'm pretty confident that leak won't reappear for a while now. Hope this information is useful. Also just another reminder that good mechanics are truly hard to find. I'd do the work myself, but I don't have the time, space or tools do these types of jobs anymore.

 

[nwguy]

Got new tires put on a couple weeks ago and the tire guy showed me the dreaded signs of axle seal failure. Ordered all the seals and bearings from amayama today, came out to $149 after shipping and should be here in about 10 days. Only the bearings were in their warehouse apparently. I ordered extras of the cheap stuff, just in case.

Toyota 90313-48001 - SEAL, OIL (FOR REAR AXLE SHAFT OUTER) $2.94 x3
Toyota 90363-40020 - BEARING $35.55 x2
Toyota 90310-50006 - SEAL, OIL $3.31 x3
Toyota 90301-88077 - RING, O $4.03 x3
Toyota 90520-36045 - RING, SNAP $1.15 x3​

Will be grabbing the HF 20 ton press since it's on sale, but hopefully finding someone local with the other tools to help make it happen, but considering all the money I'm saving, won't be too hurt if I have to buy them myself.

While I wait to accumulate all of the other stuff, going to go ahead and do the rear diff breather mod.

 

[Bad Luck]

[MENTION=169430]nwguy[/MENTION] Loaner tool: Rear Bearing Puller/Press Tool Loaner Program

 

[nwguy]

[MENTION=169430]nwguy[/MENTION] Loaner tool: Rear Bearing Puller/Press Tool Loaner Program

Awesome, thank you for passing that along, I will look into that once I have a press in my shed. Do you still have the tool? What's your ETA for being completed with it?

 

[Bad Luck]

Awesome, thank you for passing that along, I will look into that once I have a press in my shed. Do you still have the tool? What's your ETA for being completed with it?

I've still got it, and I'm all done. It's all packed up and ready to be sent to the next person. I included a 4"x4" square steel piece and a couple pvc pieces I bought just for this job.

 

[pentagrammaton]

Was asking around here in Birmingham, for labor, I'm being quoted $280 for disassembling & reassembling both rear axles. Does that sound like a fair price?

 

[STI_MECE]

One of my rear axle snap rings is lose around the axle....if it snaps in place and just isn't snug is it still good to use or does it need to be dead on tight and not be able to spin around the shaft with your hand. There is no slack....it doesn't rattle around it's not tight lol

Idk if that makes sense

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Bad Luck]

Sounds like a fair price to me assuming your are getting both rear axle wheel bearings done, they are pressing off abs ring (if equipped) and retainers, and flipping the outer retainer during install for best seal with the redesigned axle seals.

 

[APhelps]

Sounds like a fair price to me assuming your are getting both rear axle wheel bearings done, they are pressing off abs ring (if equipped) and retainers, and flipping the outer retainer during install for best seal with the redesigned axle seals.

While flipping the retainer is a good idea, it really doesn't have any actual benefit besides possibly giving you more room to work with. You still need to do a witness mark and ensure the seal is riding correctly.

 

[Bad Luck]

While flipping the retainer is a good idea, it really doesn't have any actual benefit besides possibly giving you more room to work with. You still need to do a witness mark and ensure the seal is riding correctly.

That's correct. I chose to flip the retainer in order to center the witness mark while maintaining the same clearance between retainer and axle housing prior to retainer flip. I didn't want to place the retainer any further inboard than necessary.

 

[mendozer]

I wish shops around seattle charged 280 for the labor. I figure the HF press is 144 right now and the SST is $110. Can't go wrong buying both even if it was just for one job.

 

[Drcoffee]

When I did my bearings CarQuest charged $40 each axle to press on and off. Call around for a better deal.

 

[lgc285]

I was just about to refresh suspension and bushings on my daily driver at 210,000 miles and noticed my rear axle is leaking on the driver’s side.

Dealership wants $1,400 for a bearing, seal, and new shoes on the driver side only! My mechanic says he can’t do it. Backing plates are toast from rust, breaks should probably be redone, parking break is seized, but the axle housing is salvageable. I dont have the space to try it myself

Would it make more sense to look for a rear axle assembly in good shape and hope the bearings are good and replace the seals?

 

[Vette468]

I think i just changed the worse' Bearing ever..the axle was wobbling almost 1/4inch Guts were Flying..

 

[mendozer]

I'm getting ready to do this now. What's not widely published about this is that 2000-2002 uses a different bearing. It's so unknown that last time I did this job I only did the seals and now they're leaking again...but I noticed it has the wrong bearing. The last two years uses the bearing that has the metal lip sticking out.

Rear Axle Service Kit, 1979-99 | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

Rear Axle Service Kit, 2000-04 | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

I found that the official toyota part numbers for these are
90363-40020-77 for the flat pre-2000 models
(pic) 1984-2004 Toyota Bearing 90363-40020-77 | Camelback Toyota Parts

90363-40068 for the last two years
(pic) 1998-2006 Toyota Bearing 90363-40068 | Camelback Toyota Parts

I'm not smart enough to know WHY, but the guy at Marlin told me it has to do with how the later models are assembled. Not sure why Toyota changed the last two years this way, but I'm sure there was a reason.

 

[mendozer]

part pictures for schematic organization
left is older, right is newer

 

[AntonioCm1983]

A 4runner enthusiastic made a special installer and removal tool for the axle shafts his name is Donald-the-bonald on eBay he is located in Omaha Nebraska and the tool says MCSpecial Inc on it 135 bucks for complete tool and the Tacoma adapter for second and 3rd gen models is an extra 45 bucks if anybody needs the links let me know

 

[mendozer]

yup just both of mine today. His kit comes with a press sleeve with a window so you can measure your 4-5mm polished axle spacing. Made the job very easy, well worth the $120 or so bucks. I was an idiot and forgot about Timmy the Toolman's second video where he shows the new tool. I was following with the first video and wasn't paying attention, crammed the first one one over an inch in!!! and of course the tool was too wide to press out the tone ring and retainer at that point, so I had to cut them off super carefully and buy new ones at the stealership. dumb mistake costs me 137 bucks.

 

[mendozer]

also just a tidbit on the 01-02 axle bearings vs earlier generations...when I did mine today, they literally just went in with a little tap of the hand. you don't even need the press for the bearing, and even if you do press it in, when you put it on the axle for the retainer pressing, the bearing will just slide right out onto the axle shaft. not a huge deal, it's just a little awkward carrying it to the press while the brake wheel jiggles around between the bearing stuck point on the axle and the axle flange.