A few people may recall that I have the '96 SR5 4x4 5sp (115K Miles) that loves to eat rear axel seals. I believe that I am on the 5th or 6th one now. It is getting a bit expensive @ $350 a side to replace each time.

I talked with a Master Toyota Tech today (one I'd trust - huge into rock crawling and really knows his stuff). His suggestion was to toss the current rear end (axel, axel housing, & diff) and find a used rear end at a junk yard. I mentioned that I was considering a rear locker and he fed me the right combination - look for a rear axel with an E-Locker.

Current rear end seems to be 4.10 gears (Door code A03A), 16" wheels with 265/75/16 Revos, ABS.

So off to the questions:
1. How easy would this job be for a moderate wrench turner to swap rear ends??
2. Approx time for job?? Mechanics guestimate 5hrs
3. Would job require or be eased by the use of air tools??
4. What year(s) would be a match?? I'm finding 96-00 would match, is this right
5. I realize that there is no assurance that a salvage yard part will be fault free - but is there something that I can check or look at to limit "crap parts"
6. Found a match at Midwest Auto Parts $1100 (Omaha, NE, I live in West Virginia shipping may be prohibitive) - any thoughts.

Sorry for all the questions - but this will probably be the largest mechanical job that I will tackle. Any and all thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Andrew T. Watson

I'll try and answer some of your questions as best as I can.

1) There's nothing mechanically difficult about removing/replacing the rear axle except you will have to bleed your brakes afterwards and I'd check into how the ABS system is removed from the rear axle and brakes.
2) No idea, but I would plan on running into problems that delay you at least one day because projects always seem to take longer than they should.
3) It would be MUCH easier to use air tools, especially if your control arm bolts have even been removed and replaced using air tools. I have a LCA bolt that I can't remove right now using regular hand tools.
4) IIRC, in 99, 00, or 01 the rear end changed to 2 brake lines, someone posted recently about that switch so a search may reveal it.
5) I'd look into a guarantee, a lot of yards have a certain number of days to install a part and discover it's bad for it to be returned.
6) Have you checked car-parts.com, they have a great online search?

Misc. thoughts:

I would definitely get jack stands (may be obvious) to hold the truck up while you're working on it.

If you haven't put rear shocks on yet, now would be a good time since it will be very easy to access the top mount.

If you don't wire the e-locker immediately, make sure you tape off the plug so it doesn't get corroded by salt during the winter.

Best of luck, I hope this cures your problems. What are you going to do with your old axle?

Not quite sure I understand "IIRC". I remember seeing that the '01 & '02s now have 4wheel ABS and wouldn't work. Don't know about the '99 & '00s. Any ideas??



This depends on the junkyard wanting/needing a core or charging for it. I they don't want it - I may try to part it to offset the cost. I'll let you/everyone known when the time comes.

Interested in lending a hand?? Just kidding!!!

Andrew

you may have a BENT axle. so as it rotates around the housing and the seal, it is working it's way to flattening the seal...

the FSM has a measuring steps and specs on allowable tolerances.

as for replacing the seals, on my 90, it takes about 4 tools and about an hour... bleeding the brakes the one that MIGHT take another person...

I'll second that. On my 96, I had a rear seal go out 3 times before my mechanic noticed that the axle shaft was bent. Replaced it and it hasnt leaked in over a year.

How about a warped/bent housing?

Last time I had to replace the seals, the axels were "mic'ed" down the full length and found to be in-round.

Two theories about the problem:
1. Bend housing is a definate because the problem is happening on both sides.
2. Toyota knows about this issue. It seems that the seal that rides up agaist the ABS is riding "too deep" and the back spacing is off. Sometimes as much as 3/8" more than factory specs. If the dealership/tech is competent the appropriate placement is usually accomplished with Machinist Marking Grease. Also the tension springs inside the inner seals are uaully shortened to provide increased sealing.

After speaking with techs who've dealt with this problem, the good news is that none of them have seen this issue on rear ends that have an E-Locker. They can't come up with a good reason why not. But, hell if replacing the rear end will cure the problem - then why not, plus I'll get the locker that I've been wanting.

Andrew

1. It's a relatively easy job. Lower shock mounts, upper and lower control arms (4), panhard, driveshaft, abs line, connections, and brake line. I think that's about it.

Removing the abs sensors is relatively simple. Just be careful when reinserting so you do not damage the o-rings. If you have some rust around the sensor mounting hole, smooth it down a bit.

2. Five hours seems about right. Get some help though - it's not an easy one-man job.
3. Absolutely. Harbor freight has a great sale on air compressors! Christmas is coming. Spray all bolts with liquid wrench or pb-blaster a couple times before the wrenchathon.
4. Sounds right to me.
5. Take a look at it yourself. Low miles. Ask if it was rolled. Cross your fingers.
6. Have you called/searched all your local yards? Take your time and try to find one locally so you can look at it before buying. This may give you the opportunity to warm up to the job by changing the seals on your existing axle yourself in the meantime - it's an easy job as well.

Definitely get an e-locker out of this deal! It shouldn't cost you much more. Try and get all e-locker related stuff thrown in with the axle - wiring harness (at least the part from the plug below the rear seat to the locker), e-locker ecu, and dash swith. Get the plugs and pig-tails with the ecu and switch just in case. You may be prewired - check out Phong's write-up (phorunner.com).

IIRC = if I remember correctly. As far as figuring out what year they started 4 wheel ABS do you have a dealer lot you can go look at?

I'd be more than happy to help, if you want to drive to MD. I looked up Huntington and it looks to be about 6 hours from here, which is a bit far for me.

Also I have the e-locker and my driver's side seal did leak, but it stopped once I cleared my hose. Are you saying only the non-e-locker housings had bad seal depth or they were the only ones that leaked?

Phong has a writeup that addresses the electrical issues on his site. I think Downey(?) sells a cable controller that lets you skip the electrical actuation stuff, but I haven't heard very good things about the cable.