Rear Axle Seals

[Bwanabob1851]

Seal failure and rear axle replacement

Did you recently have your tires rotated? Looks like your front tire used to be your rear tire.

Sort of off track here, buy Kball you appear to know what you are talking about. I recently took my 2000 4Runner (190K miles) in for service because the brakes were sticking within the last day or so (turns out the rear drums had rear axle fluid all over them) and there was a constant periodic noise. We were going on a Xcountry trip. The mechanics said it was tire noise and rotated the tires. 2,000 miles and two weeks later, the rear axle gave out - it was because they either never rotated the tires, never checked the brakes or were blind, deaf and dumb. They admitted that they never checked the brakes even though the service order said they did. I contended I never would have had a $1500 repair if they had done their job in the first place. Their reply was that yes, they missed the seal failure, but I am not out any money because they would have recommended axle replacement at that mileage. I don't buy this. What is your opinion of 1) needing a new axle when the seal failure was caught within 200 miles and 2)can I say for certain that their failure and my repair bill are connected?
Looking forward to your opinion.

 

[thebrandon]

Replacing the seals themselves is very simple, and if you know what you're doing it can be done in an hour, sometimes less if all you do is the seals. The seats and bearings is what takes more time and equipment most people don't have at home.

 

[kakarot]

I took my 97 4Runner to a mechanic to look it over. They said i would likely need new axle seals on the back end.

THis mechanic told me they didnt want to tackle it as it was a difficult task. So I took it to the Toyota Dealership. They said they would do it but aggreed it was difficult.

Now i have looked through my Haynes manual, the FSM, and a couple Posts on 4runner forums, and I just don't see what the issue is? it looks pretty straight forward to me. even enough that i would probably try tacklin it my self.

looks like the only special tool i would need is a seal puller.

Am i missing something or have i been mislead to think this is a pain to do?

Ks

ksroqclimber,
It a very easy job to removed and installed, the hard part is pressing out the bearing and pressing in the bearing. I did my this summer it cost me $100 to press out n press in the bearing from a machine shop. Just follow Bigfishallday guide and you should be ok. The guide was the best detail I'm not even a mechanic and I was able to do it just take your time and becarefull.