Did I destroy my rear axle bearings by carrying heavy load?

This weekend I was transporting new flooring for my house which weighed 1300 lbs.

Today I noticed the inner right rear wheel and brake backing plate are covered in oil which seems to point to the rear axle seal leaking.

Should I just change my axle seal or change the bearing too? I don't know if I destroyed the bearing with heavy load. From what I've read the rear axle bearing is chore to do and dealers sometimes don't even do it right.

 

If you do one side do the other. And if you’re taking it apart do it right. You have a 14 year old truck things start to wear out on older trucks. Overloading didn’t help. Try two or three trips next time or rent a trailer.

 

It was actually 2 trips at 1300 lbs and 50 miles distance per trip.

 

I'm not familiar with that part, specifically, or how it fails but that load is not all that heavy. Others here (myself included) regularly haul stuff like that without issue. You should be able to expect your truck to haul that without complaining. IMO, if it did cause the seal to fail then it was about to go anyway and this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

You’ll also want to replace the brake shoes on that side because they are now saturated in gear oil and that sure does not help their performance

 

But to answer the question in your thread title, no. Like the poster above me said, it could have been the straw that broke the camels back

 

The seal is a lot easier to do than the bearing as a DIY job: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rear-axle-seal-replacement.288348/

If it's just the oil leaking, replace the seal. If you get grinding noises typically seen with bad wheel bearings, replace the bearing.

The leak happening now may be a coincidence or just the oil running hotter than usual because of the extra weight. Check your diff breather isn't plugged (the pressure has to escape through somewhere).

 

100 miles of 1300lbs in the back of a truck with likely stock 06 worn out leafs.... you were riding on bumpstops the entire time which is NOT easy from a shock load perspective.

Saving 20-50 bucks on a trailer rental just cost you likely 1k$

 

What's the $1k? Full Icon leaf pack to go with OP's CDC shocks?...

 

My Tacoma has a 1200 lb payload. Going over by 100 lbs isn't going to cause any damage. You're driving a 15 year old truck. Stuff wears out, it is just a coincidence that it happened now.

 

A repair bill for bearings, seals, brakes.

 

Go ahead and replace the breather on the diff.
That way you know it’s new, if it gets stuck closed it can build pressure in the differential.
My axle seal went out at 70k, the seal actually looked blow outwards in one section.
It was definitely a strange situation.

 

A rear axle seal is the only non body work repair job I have outsourced. I had the tools, the know how, and the time to do it, but the dealer only wanted about $275 to replace it. Brake shoes and a spring kit were cheap as heck, so I did that on my own the next day.

 

I wouldn’t bother just replacing it. If you’re already touching it, might as well get a real breather (not just a pressure vent) with an air hose routed up higher. Tail light housing or - what I did - fuel door are good locations

 

Yes, this would be a good idea.
I plan on extending mine to the little storage compartment.
I never use them for anything.

 

Yeah, Disassembling the drum brake and components is a PITA.
I disconnected the line at the wheel cylinder and capped it with a vacuum cap.
Then fought the E-brake cable.

I used jack stand with the side I was working on 1 notch higher than the other.
That way the Diff fluid ran to the other side of the axle tube while working.
That stuff stinks, and is hard to clean up in a garage floor. Especially when the garage isn’t yours.
Also be careful pulling the seal out, a seal puller helps.
I think I used cheaper plastic seal driver kits from Harbor Freight. It had the correct size.
Parts wasn’t too expensive, I think I had less than $50 in the seal and new Diff fluid.

I did not replace the brake shoes. I spent a long time soaking and cleaning them in Brake Parts cleaner.
Was this the right thing to do? I don’t know. But I did it. And I can’t tell any difference in stopping quality.

 

I ordered Brembo brake shoes from Rockauto. The local dealer wanted $119 for Toyota shoes. I was not about to pay that much from them because they already fleeced me $15 for the axle seal (should have been $9 MSRP based on parts.toyota.com) and $7 for the O-Ring (should have been $4 MSRP).

 

I really hope the bearing is ok. I did not hear weird noises. I'll give the wheel a good shake to check for play when I jack it up.

 

They are 4 leaf harsh ride TSB springs (not the recall springs) combined with Icon AAL. I checked and they were not riding on the bumpstops at all with the 1300 lbs in the back.

 

You're probably fine then. Replacing the axle seals look easier than swapping a third member, and people have been known to swap third members in Walmart parking lots...