My 1998 4runner has had a increasingly louder howl and vibration coming from the rearend. We don't drive it too much so it was hard to tell if it was getting louder or we were just imagnining it. By the time I could tell something was wrong it was too late. I brought it into the dealer to diagnose it and they told me both axel seal had been leaking and I toasted the carrier assembly. They quoted me $2700 for a rebuild(carrier asmbly, bearings, seals and cleaning etc.). Unfortunately money's tight, so my wife's father who is a master mechanic back in MI told me I should look into buying a complete remanufactured diff with axle's or go to the junkyard. Since I want to drive this truck for many years to come I figured I would go the remanf. way. I'm having a little trouble finding companies that sell remanufactured diffs. Can anybody point me in the right direction hopefully close to the west coast so shipping doesn't kill me. I think I can do it myself with the aid of some tools from work. Anybody have any comments on the magnitude of this? I've heard it can be done in a full day by someone competent. I guess I'll see if that's me or not. Thanks in advance.
