Rear pinion seal replacement

Today i replaced my rear pinion seal and i have two questions to ask. First i made sure to tick mark everything to make reassembly easier and to put everything back to exactly how they came apart. I even measured the pinion preload before and after. Here is where im a little confused.

****ALSO I HAVE A SOLID SPACER IN THE REAR**** NO CRUSH SLEEVE

In the pictures below you can see that i marked the pinion nut and companion flange to exactly where it was and counted the number of turns it took to take the nut completely off (11 turns). I measured the pinion preload and that was around 6-7 inch lbs. I dissembled everything, put some high temp grease on the seal lips and gear oil on the yoke, installed the new seal and then put everything back together. Went to measure the preload and now it measures slightly above 10 inch lbs???

Also, when i put the seal in, towards the top (picture on the bottom) it looks like a little bit of the rubber got pinched and im wondering if this is going to cause a problem down the road? Im pretty sure its my OCD kicking in again, but id like some advice as to what could cause the preload to be that off when everything went back together the same way.

I test drove it for a few miles and stopped in between to take a look and feel. No leaks, no noise and the pinion bearing is not getting hot. As far as i know a job well done but the seal and preload have me uneasy.


BEFORE DISASSEMBLED



AFTER REASSEMBLED



PULLING THE FLANGE OUT



SEAL RUBBER, LOOK TO THE UPPER RIGHT ABOVE THE LETTERING



ANOTHER PICTURE

 

The rubber appears to be on the outer edge of the seal if its not leaking not to worry
As to the extra pre load could lust be the tighter seal dragging on the yoke surface if its not causing bearing heat once again not to worry.

 

I haven't looked up the specs on these 3rds lately, but I think 10in lb is within spec. If there are no obvious signs of trouble I'd roll with it. These guys say 14-17 on a new setup, but that's with factory crush sleeve:

http://www.drivetrainspecialists.com/setup-specs

My guess? Bearing wear had dropped the preload a couple in-lb from the original assembly and when you torqued it back up things snugged up a bit. I really wouldn't worry.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. That helps, ill keep an eye on it for the first few hundred miles. But like I said the housing where the pinion bearing is doesn't get hot, just warm and there is no play at all. That outer pinion seal rubber pissed me off a little, but I was to far ahead to pull it back out without destroying it.

 

Looks like a job well done!

With a solid spacer and shims between the bearings I do not think you will have much effect on pinion bearing preload. With the solid space preload is adjusted by installing or removing shims between the inner and outer bearing. Also pinon bearing preload is generally measure with out the ring gear in place ~ just turning only the pinion. (By pics it looks like it is still installed in the axle)

The little pinched rubber on the seal od is not an issue.

 

Did you need to buy a new nut?

 

Nope was able to reuse it. It only had a few thousand miles on it since the gear swap.

 

Is there any indication why it started leaking with so few miles?

Mine started throwing a little oil, but only at highways speed, about 6-7 months (less than 5,000 miles) after the re-gear. It does not leak when parked or when I drive around town.

Do you have to Toyota part number for the seal you used?

edit: nvm, I see that you have the 8.4 diff, wouldn't be the same seal.

 

I thought the same thing as far as the mileage goes and the leaking. Mine had about 10000 on it before it started leaking. And like yours only leaked at highway speeds. My thought... Possibly when the gears were being installed and set up, the constant pushing in and pulling out from setting backlash/pinion depth and preload could have nicked the seal. So far no leaking as of yet, fingers crossed

 

Hmm, that could be it. Its annoying none the less. Good to hear your seal is holding.

Another question, what is the puller you used to pull out the flange? I didn't realize a puller was needed to get that flange off.

 

Did you go 4.56 or 4.88? I went thru hell getting the correct seal after po did 4.88's.

 

I have the 4.88 Nitros with the 29 spline and a solid spacer.

Which diff do you have? 8.0 or 8.4?

 

Mine's an 8". TRD, factory locker.
Anywho, mine was pissing oil at hwy speed. Not sure the complete issue that involved it, but after a-many-a-calls, one of the diff guys in my area managed to narrowed down the proper seal to being a 2wd seal. The 4.10 stock seal was extremely out of spec on the 4.88's.
I couldn't have an oem seal delivered in a convenient manner, so I used a napa one. Still holding strong after 10000mi.

Toyota p/n was 90311-38047

 

Really? That is quite interesting.

When I asked my local stealership for a replacement seal, 90311-38047 is the correct one based on the vin#. However, the one in the diff now is 90311-41009 based on the 29 spline pinon.

 

I used a steering wheel puller, it worked great.

You will need a puller to remove the companion flange. Dont use a hammer for this

 

The 90311-380417 is the current one I just put in. Not sure what the other seal part# was, I didn't bother to look lol. I do know that the original seal that was used and started leaking was the one out of the nitro rebuild kit. I'm not sure if they use OEM seals from Toyota or not in the kits?

I also didn't know the seal number was based on the final drive ratio... Interesting as I would have thought they were all the same and the only difference would be if you had the 8.0 or 8.4 rear

 

Interesting in deed.

The 38047 p/n was dealership quoted as being a 5 lug pinion seal.

 

Part of the issue is that Toyota made a change in the middle of the '02 model year. You guys are '04s so your factory setups would not be affected by this.

According to the dealership parts guy, TRD's with the 8" diff built after 1/2002 came with the -41009 seal. And, at least for '02 models, TRD's built before that date came with the -38047 seal.

To add to my confusion, the build date for my truck is 11/2001. If what the dealership is telling me is correct, mine should have come with the -38047 seal but it did not. Just Differentials, the place that did my re-gear are telling me the seal they used was the -41009. This is the seal that is throwing oil. They insist that it is the correct one for my diff and the -38047 is not corect becasue it is for a 27 spline pinion.

I have seen the two seals side by side and they are definitely different.

 

FWIW, this is a website I have used to help me identify Toyota part numbers. This site narrows it down based on your vin# and also your frame code. You can also search by part numbers.

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

According to this site, both of those seals will work for my truck.