80 Series Diff Oil Seals

Submitted: Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 15:38

ThreadID: 27823 Views:2814 Replies:4 FollowUps:4

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Stan

My left hand front diff oil seal appears to be on it's way out as I have noticed wetting on the inside of the rim and the brake cover plate. The truck has only done 155 000 KLMs, and I am wondering whether I need to get both seals done, or should I only touch the leaking one.

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Reply By: Footloose - Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 16:17

Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 16:17

Doing one could be false economy. Do both of them, chances are the other one will go fairly soon.

AnswerID: 137791

Follow Up By: Stan - Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:06

Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:06

Makes sense. Thanks

FollowupID: 391564

Reply By: Glenn (VIC) - Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 17:05

Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 17:05

Hi Stan,

I too would replace both as then at least you know both are new. Shop around for prices though as some mechanics may charge an arm and a leg. I did mine recently but cannot recall the exact figure for the parts. The labour was completed by Diamond Jim, with me as his assistant. If you know what you are doing, it should be pretty easy. I did replace the bearings at the same time, and apart from being messy with all the grease, it was a reasonably easy task too.

Cheers

Glenn

AnswerID: 137802

Follow Up By: Stan - Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:11

Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:11

Glenn,
The first quote I got was about $1200.00 from Toyota. Sounds a lot, but I don't want to stuff it up, or worse, open them up and find problems beyond my level of expertise. Ill shop around like you said, but in the end I intend to hold onto this truck for a long time, and if I get at least another 150000klms out of these seals then I suppose $1200 is well spent.
Thanks mate.

FollowupID: 391565

Reply By: Billowaggi - Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 23:34

Friday, Nov 04, 2005 at 23:34

If you do it yourself, or have it done , make shure that the brass bushes inside the stub axle, that carry the drive shaft are replaced. Wear in these allows the shaft to get out of alignment to the seal. Later models use a needle bearing. I is also worthwile checking that the diff breather is not blocked.
Regards Ken.

AnswerID: 137876

Follow Up By: Stan - Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:28

Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 at 16:28

Do these needle bearings wear out quickly. What I am getting at is, should I just get them to change out these bearings while they are there, considering it has done 150 000 KLMs? As my truck is a 1997 model, are you saying it would have the needle bearings instead of the bushes? Is there a easy way of checking if the diff breather is working ok. About 20 000KLMs ago I pulled off the front and rear diff breathers (as fitted by Toyota) and replaced them with longer hoses and ran them up into the engine bay. I then fitted the little spring loaded caps to the tops of these hoses. Nice and simple and I believe they are working fine. I could be wrong but I don't believe the breather tubes caused this problem, as I have noticed grease film in the diff oil since I first bought it at 100 000KLMs. Is this also a sign of the diff seals on their way out?

FollowupID: 391567

Reply By: BenSpoon - Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 00:18

Monday, Nov 14, 2005 at 00:18

Doing it yourself is pretty straightforward- the only special tools you will need are an oil seal puller (for the axle seal- its set back and hard to get to) and a newton scale for setting the right tension on the steering. A gregorys book will walk you through it all. While you are in that deep in the axle, put a swivel hub rebuild kit on it and new wheel bearings. This will pretty much refresh all the components in there except the CVs.

It may take you a whole saturday, but for the cost of a carton of beer for yourself it will save you a $1k mechanics bill.
Do both sides at the same time to make the fix reliable.

AnswerID: 139248