Hey, I'm a newb in this side of the forums, had a 94 22re before and now have a 97 sr5 w/ and auto trans. Anyhow, thanks in advance for the help....

The rear diff seems to have a leak shere the third member bolts up to the axle housing, there is a little fresher oil around the entire gasket surface, so i'm assuming that i need to pull apart the whole darn thing in order to replace the gasket. Even if it is the breather, which I'll be extending, am I correct in that once that gasket blows, it's gotta be replaced? The other posts I read in the searches suggest not using RTV? Correct? Gasket or good stuff?

While I am at it, I figured I should replace the inner oil seals on both sides, since they'll be apart anyhow. The rear bearings were done at 95 by the PO (btw, I'm at 130) and I think they should be fine, so I was just going to do the seals and O-rings. Any other suggestions for maintenance since I'm tearing into this? Just order these gaskets from the local dealer? I'll get the Marlin hex plugs, since they are far cleaner to work on (and the Marlin family is great).

While I am tearing into it, i was figuring possibly doing the suspension upgrade while the brake lines were off....(and the wife is OKing initial truck funding) the springs and shocks on this are shot, and I'll eventually go with steel bumpers (the rear is rusted out.... and on the old one I had a Kennesaw on the rear of the 94, and it actually was fine... though yes, it took a long time to get... but I've had custom bikes built, so I have ultrarealistic understanding of build times).

Anyhow, what is the feedback on the ToyTech springs? I would assume they need the panhard bar extension and the longer brake line, too. Procomp 3000s still OK on these (I always liked them more than the Rancho 5ks).

Thanks for the reply to the randomness.

 

to my knowledge even tho its a 4th gen it shouldnt have inner oil seals, just the ones on the outside with the wheel bearings, and ive only seen people use RTV on the third, i used black magic, but i was a PAIN to get off for some reason, like slamming with sledge pain, but yeah good stuff should be good

 

alright id say the best way to fix your diff leak wold be replace the seal, but that takes time if you have it. i had the same leak but i fixed with with stuff called grey glue made by permatex, i just covered the seam for the 3rd member in it and it hasnt leaked since... thats just if you want a 15 minute fix haha

 

4th gen??

its a 3rd gen and yes they have inner and outer axle seals. from what i understand, the outers are basically a dustcover for the bearing and the inners are the ones that keep the diff oil in

 

Hour or two to replace it, pretty simple to pull a third on these trucks. I can have my rear end apart in 30 minutes

 

I haven't done this yet, but I'm having the same problem, kinda iffy about taking my axles out, and the dealership wants a ton $$$ for this job. Here is a write up I have been keeping for some day soon.

https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech...m1_oilseal.htm

 

tearing apart the rear end is super easy.

take wheels and dhsaft off, disconnect brake lines, and the 4 flange bolts and voila you can pull the shaft out