I didnt have a press when i did my bearing...took it to a machine shop, he cut the retaining ring with a die grinder, cold chisel cracked it the rest of the way off, pressed out old bearing, reinstall new, $40 later i put it back on my truck, $8 brake flush...and a few hours of my time...im no mechanic but its a no brainer...(tried the shade tree method and could not free the backing plate)

Numbers like that make me want to go back into vehicle repair!!!!!

Yes, every time I feel the need to take my truck into the shop--it makes me try it myself first. Did not want to mess up on a wheel bearing though.

And yes, it is a brake system flush.

Brad

I've needed to do 5 wheel bearings all together in 2 trucks. Each time I just brought the axle to a shop that had the proper tube jig. Aside from the parts, retainer, c-ring, bearing, and inner and outer seals, labor was about $40. All together about $100. Where you need to be careful is on re-assembly. It's easy to whack the inner seal when inserting the axle. I'd avoid the shade tree method myself. The retainer ring is on super tight it seems. The first shop that did one for me didn't have a tube jig. He used a series of parallel blocks and bent my axle. I could see the possibility of that happening if you were to try to pound it out yourself using the shade tree method. Otherwise, putting it back together is easy.

Did you purchase Toyota u-joints or did you go with after market, like Brute Force or Spicer? I am thinking that it is time to redo my rear drive shaft u-joints and would like to only have to do this once.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I don't think Toyota will sell you joints for the double cardan section. I bought mine from NAPA.

Thanks Erik. I'll make a trip to NAPA and get them. The cheapest I can get them from Toyota is about $45 apiece and that doesn't include the double cardan shaft.
I've got a friend that works at NAPA and he will give me a good price!