I was going to polish the Audi today BUT........

[Brad B]

Unfortunately I found a rear axle seal leak on the 4Runner. So after calling the dealer and an independant shop, I couldn`t bear to fork over the $300 estimate to have it fixed. So I took a trip to the Toyota dealer and bought the $25 worth of seals and tore into it. Thanks to the help of a 4Runner forum (Who knew!) I found enough how-to`s to get it done. I still can`t get over how BIG these parts are (My first truck.) and how simple everything is. (Not quite as over-techy as the Porsches.)



The job took about 3 hours. Had to remove the parking brake assembly, remove brake line, pull the hub and remove the axle. Then I had to pull the seal and insert a new one. Then re-assemble everything, bleed the brakes and refill the oil level in the rear differential.







Just a drum brake, but is sure is big and heavy. I smashed my finger during re-assembly when I pushed the heavy axle assembly into the axle tube. I now have a lovely black fingernail. I`ll spare you the pics of that!







The guts.







The leaky axle seal.





New seals. I also had to buy a seal puller to get the old one out. It was quite an effort! The Autozone seal puller paid for itself. Worth every bit of $10. Toyota parts sure are cheap. If these had a Porsche logo on it they would have cost me $200.





Had to carefully press (beat) the new bearing into place and found that 2" PVC was the absolute perfect size. Amazing what you can come up with in a desperate situation. My $2 Bearing Punch is Patent Pending.





Done! Just in time to test drive in the rain. Beads courtesy of Zaino AIO.

[Dan]

Nice work. Toyota parts are so cheap compared to German parts. You probably would have needed 12 specialized tools on an VAG product.



That is the one thing I HATE about German cars, especially Audi, there is ZERO consideration for the mechanic. The AC compressor on a V8 S4 is exhibit A.

[Bill D]

:xyxthumbs: You must`ve been a mechanic in a past life!

[Accumulator]

Brad B.- Gee, another great DIY job you`ve accomplished



Should you get inclined, Brake Caliper (spray) paint works great on brake drums

[Brad B]

Should you get inclined, Brake Caliper (spray) paint works great on brake drums

DONE! You didn`t think I would let that get by me did, ya?

[Accumulator]

DONE! You didn`t think I would let that get by me did, ya?

Heh heh, glad to hear that



And I`ll admit that I wasn`t sure just how far you were gonna go with such stuff and/or whether I`m just off the deep end (what, me...by Autopian standards?!?).

[Ch96067]

Brad If I put all your threads together then I might be able to be a mechanic . Great stuff as always. Thanks for sharing.