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