ECGS clamshell and tools ??

Hey everyone.
I finally got the famous “humm” on my taco letting me know it’s time to swap the needle bearing out.

I found everything at ecgs including the two tools.
But I had two questions about the tools.

1) the install tool. Says it’s a racer/driver tool. Can anyone tell me what the hell that is? I’ve honestly never heard of that and cannot find any images of it. I’m asking so I can see if I need to buy that too or if I can ask my mechanic if they have one. Trying to save where I can since labor won’t be very cheap lol

2) is there anywhere else anyone has bought all of these items from? I’m just assuming ecgs is the place to go with but thought I’d ask before I buy. Right now everything is $170 (clamshell and tools)

2016 off road with 5100s and 887s and spc ucas for reference.

thanks In advance.

 

"Borrow" the seal drive from O'Reillys or similar shop for free. Places like O'Reillys allow you to rent tools. You put down collateral money and then get the money back fully after returning the tool.

ECGS is the only company that makes the replacement bushing.

 

For a race driver just use a socket that's the right diameter. That's what I'm going to use.

 

You'll need a race drive set like this: Dont quote me, but I think the bushing is 40mm ID, so the 39.5mm driver fits perfectly.

As far as the puller is concerned, you can ask around your local area and see if anyone has one to lend out. Usually just pay for shipping both ways or something like that

You can also make one easily enough if you're so inclined with some 1/2" all thread, nuts, washers, steel plate, and a grinder

 

Oh that’s all it is? That’s helpful thank you. I for the life of me couldn’t figure out what race driver was. That makes much more sense now. Hell the shop probably already has one of those. That could’ve just saved me $45!

I’m assuming they are also the only ones that have the install tool too? I’ve seen some people make their own but I’m not even gonna try lol

 

The install tool is just a circular block of metal. You can borrow those from a chain auto store, you can use a socket (I did and it worked fine) or whatever.

Ecgs is the only company that caught this and designed the fix for it. No one else makes a solution. The removal tool can be substituted but a no hassle or risk solution is to use their tool.

 

Oh yeah. If you're having someone install it for you then they most likely have the tool.

 

At the very least, buy the removal tool and rent the install tool.

 

Meh, even their custom tool needs to be modified

 

It does indeed, had a to shave a bit of the edges to get it in the clam but for most people it's the best option. If I had a bit more tools in the garage I'd like to make my own just in case. @Muddinfun has the exact measurements for those that want to try and save a good amount.

 

This is what I did. The first socket was slightly bigger than the bushing. Then for the final tappy taps used a slightly smaller socket, same diameter as bushing.

 

Good to get solid confirmation, I figured it'd work but now I'm sure. Thanks for the response!

 

Luckily I got mine from another member so it's been modified already.

 

Here's the dimensions. I took these pics before I used it. When I used it, I had to just slightly chamfer the back side to get it to slip in.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ecgs-tool-cheat-code.530484/#post-16978997

 

I bought the extraction tool from ecgs. I did not modify it. It was too large and broke the original needle bearing, slightly. Good thing I stuffed plastic bags inside the diff, that way nothing dropped into the diff opening.