Anyone had to replace bearings in the rearend?

Mine is a TRD Off Road Prerunner

 

Maybe ask these guys? They appear to handle mainly the larger stuff, but might be able to help you, or direct you to someone who can.

http://atlantagearandaxle.com/

 

OK, so it will have the E-locker diff. Might want to check into shipping costs if that one in the classifieds is still available.

 

Those prices are crazy. Pull the third yourself, takes like 30 min. It's heavy, but that's about the most difficult part. Take it to a rear end shop and have it rebuilt. Cost me $350 for everything, all bearings replaced. Slap it back together with some RTV and you are good to go.

And the mechanic who said the "whole diff is shot" what does that mean? If it all needs is bearings and races, that's pretty easy for any differential shop to rebuild. I've grenaded all kinds of rear ends and never once did I buy a whole new one, just rebuilt what broke. If your truck drove to the mechanic pretty sure it's just your bearings that need to be replaced, not an entire third.

 

Eyesore...that is encouraging. Sadly, I am mechanical enough to change my own oil but don't have the tools and knowledge to do much more than that. Wish I did!!!

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...removal-installation-e-locker-3rd-member.html

Just follow this, if you can change oil, this isn't much more, really. Righty tighty lefty loosey.

When rtv'ing trick is to not over tighten and push all the rtv out. Go in an opposite pattern lightly tight, let it sit for a bit, then tighten to the torque spec, fill it and run it.

Thought I should be constructive if you don't want to try it yourself. I double checked my invoice. Labor for rebuild was $200, kit was $180 so total I paid was $380. Figure a reputable shop should be able to pull the third and put it back in at max 1.5 hours. Rebuild kit, plus the rebuild should be somewhere around $400 with labor. Assuming $150 an hour labor rate you should be in it for like $700 ($300 labor to R/R third, 400 for rebuilding the third). All of this assumes it's your bearings that are the problem.

 

The reason I feel the mechanic is saying that the rear end is "shot" is that when a pinion bearing, or side bearings, go bad, they usually cause excessive wear on the ring and pinion gears themselves. (And considering how long the OP has said this has been going on, I would think this was the case) So when you have gears that are gone, and bearings that are gone, then many times it is more cost effective to replace the unit. (Though I do agree that getting a rebuilt 3rd member would be the best choice)

 

I have feelers out at multiple places now for second opinions. We shall see what other options there are I suppose.

I am still bummed this happened.

 

OP
Have you checked gear oil level in the rear?

 

Yessir. It's perfect level

 

So a quick update:
I had two options:
1. Rebuild the rear end and replace bearings at an average price of $1500 and some change.
2. Replace the entire 3rd member/ chunk for $1700 and some change.

Option 2 was brand new Toyota parts and ultimately the route I went.

Now at 125k miles my truck runs like new again!! I am so happy to have a quiet and smooth truck!

The gears in my old rear end look great to boot. I wonder if it is worth anything to someone who would want to rebuild the bearings?