My rear axle seals have been leaking for a while. I finally got around to replacing them this past weekend but ran into some trouble. I believe in DIY as much as possible and was reading up on this site http://128.83.80.200/taco/rwb.html

i got the inner retainer and abs ring off easily with just two bearing separators and my HF 12 ton press. However, the outer retainer for the wheel bearing doesn't want to budge. I even made a copy cat SST like the one in the link, but no-go.

I notice the bearing kit i bought came with an extra retainer. If any of you have successfully done the job yourself, have you had to cut the retainer off or apply heat to get things going?

 

I did not replace the bearing myself, but took the axles out and replace the seals. I took the axles to a shop and they cut the two retainers and skid control rotor (ABS ring).

 

Toyota says to cut them which is what I did on mine. But I need to redo it (seal is still leaking and I've changed it twice in a month) and hopefully I can get the ABS ring and at least one retainer off with the press. Those suckers are expensive.

 

I think the main problem with these leaks is that the collar is not properly located so the seal is not running over the flat portion of the collar. So either dimensions have to be taken before assembly (distance between bearing face and collar compared to distance between axle edge and seal lip) and/or grease the seal, assemble, turn the axle, pull out and check the location of the marks where the seal seats.

 

I think this is exactly the problem with mine. I've changed the seal twice and it continues to leak. So now I need to do the job over again and I'm going to measure before I press this time. I did notice the last time I pulled the ABS sensor out to clean it that the ABS ring wasn't centered on the hole. So I'm pretty confident that's the issue. I just need to get my Mustang up the driveway (currently still snow covered) so my wife can drive the Tacoma while I fix it. Way to expensive to commute in the FJ40 for a few days.

 

Just FYI on another thread by PatomacDuck titled "Rear Axel Rebuild" the knowledgeable people talked about the seals not fitting exactly on the shoulder. There is a 2-3 mm space between them (design concern?). If not, then the seals leak again in a couple hundred hours???

Anyway, check out that thread, it will be of help to you.

Kip

 

I did this job. I used a bearing puller (the plate type) which I bought at Harbor Freight. I made the Special factory tool(250 bucks) out of an old 4runner axle I bought for 20 bucks from a junkyard..........imagine that, the bolt pattern is exactly the same on the factory tool as an old 4Runner axle cut in half....wink, wink.

After that I put it on a 20 ton press and it came apart just under air pressure, never had to pump the press.

Geez, I wish I had taken pictures and done a write up.

Do yourself one HUGE favor. Buy a micrometer and messure where all the collars fit on the axle before you take it apart.


.

 

I'm probably late to the party but I just re-did the seals for the forth time in 3 months. I found that no matter how I installed the seal it didn't sit on the retainer far enough. I even tried the Timken seal 1960 but it failed in two days. Its a crappy seal, stick with oem. My solution was to install new retainers backwards so there is more of the shoulder for the seal to ride on. I also moved it inboard by 1mm plus the 3mm i gained from not having the bevel there anymore equals an extra 4mm of shift in placement. If you go more than about 3mm inboard with the retainer, it will rub the housing. So 1mm is all i wanted to move it. By doing this, it will allow you to seat the seal all the way into the housing squarely. Here's a couple of pics.

Old config


New config


After day one, no failure. So far so good.

When you install the axle, grease the seal and retainer and be careful inserting it into the seal. Dont force it. Once it lines up it will slip into the seal nicely.

* don't assume the original inner retainer is in the correct position. It wouldn't have leaked if it was. I would suggest before disassembling the axle, install a new seal and test the position on the retainer with grease to make sure it will be correct. I used one of the cut off retainers (but a new one will work as well) to check how deep it could be set in the seal. It turns out that the retainer bottoms out on the housing before it will flush up with outside of the seal.