HELP: Rear Axle issues

Did the diff breather mod and the original breather wasn't clogged. Gonna change out the seal later today and look for the grooves. What do I do if I have a groove? This is the seal I have:

 

UPDATE: so I replaced the rear axle seal....the original wasn't bad. There was no groove where the seal was rubbing....everything looked perfect. However, it's still leaking. My father-in-law said it may bent a bent axle (the actual axle inside the housing). He said this may be causing an oblong rotation, which may cause the seal to have gaps in it when spinning. This may also explain a little bump I feel at around 45-55 mph.

Thoughts?

 

I was thinking about maybe putting the truck on a lift and accelerating to see if I could see a wobble or anything. Is that a dumb idea or should I just pull the axle from the get-go?

 

I had a shop do it b/c I was strapped for time, but I'm gonna do the axle myself. Nothing to it, right? My father in law is a Toyota guru (mainly with the pre-Tacoma trucks), so I know he'll know exactly what to do.

 

My main concern is that the axle won't be bent and I will officially be out of ideas...

 

to be clear, I'm talking about the axle shaft, not the entire axle assembly lol

 

Hopefully I can take it apart on Sun. I'll be sure to take lots of pics. Thanks!

 

A bad wheel bearing is often times the cause of a seal leaking. I would never replace the seal without doing the bearing, because it could be the main problem at hand, or the gear oil running through the bearing will have ruined it.

Also conceivable, the inner seal rides on the little retainer ring. Toyota updated that seal at some point, and moved where it hits on the axle, the retainer ring should also be moved in order to correctly ride on the seal.

 

I have the same problem on my 99. First time I replaced the seals I had the bearings replaced as well. 40k later they were leaking again. I just got into a habit of replacing the seal every 20k or so. I can have both sides done in under an hour. There's really nothing to it. 4 nuts, the brake line, E-brake line and the axle slides out. I don't even remove the drum assembly. Just remember to bleed the breaks after reassembly.

This next time ill do a bearing job again as they aren't feeling as tight as I think they should.

 

So I just got my oil changed and a guy recognized my truck because he said he replaced seals, bearings, shafts and everything for the previous owner and told him it needed a whole new axle because the truck got hit in the back-left area of the bed pretty hard. Obviously none of the components he's replaced have fixed the leak, so I'm gonna cancel my back-ordered shaft and just get a whole new axle I guess

 

Bump...after talking to my father-in-law and old-school Toyota guru, he said it might be better to just buy a housing and put new shafts, seals and bearings in it and re-use the gears. I'm more susceptible to this idea because it will cost me much less AND I won't have to give up my e-locker. Thoughts?

 

Marlin Crawler carries an improved-design rear axle seal. I used them on my '84 Toyota.
He has them for Tacomas as well. Might be worth a shot.

https://www.marlincrawler.com/axle/rear-axle-parts/heavy-duty-rear-axle-ecoseal

 

Bump...after talking to my father-in-law and old-school Toyota guru, he said it might be better to just buy a housing and put new shafts, seals and bearings in it and re-use the gears. I'm more susceptible to this idea because it will cost me much less AND I won't have to give up my e-locker.

Thanks.

Anyone got any input on new axle assembly vs. a new housing with all new parts and use my factory gears so I can keep my locker?

 

The Marlin seal will not fit an e-locker rear.

 

Good to know...thanks.

Bump for input on new axle assembly vs. a new housing with all new parts and use my factory gears so I can keep my locker?

 

So, my plan is to order an axle housing, shafts, bearings, seals and re-use my rear gears/locker...unless I can find a used rear axle somewhere. Thoughts?