HEEEELP!!! rear axle issues!

I purchased a 2001 tacoma double cab 3.4L v6 prerunner a week or so ago. i could hear a noise in the rear end and just wanted to cover all my bases so i checked the fluid in the rear end. i found the rear end pretty much empty. I filled the rear end to get me by a couple days until my appointment with the local autoshop. i knew if the rear end was empty i would need new seals and more than likely new bearings. well the auto shop called me today while they were working on my vehicle and tells me that "one of the axles that is on the truck now is not an original" and that "the bearings will not work with that particular axle." so he gave me 2 options. either they would have to try and find a bearing and seals that fit that axle. (which i have no information on and would be lucky to find the correct bearing.) or purchase a new axle shaft which will have to be purchased from toyota at the hefty ransom of $583.00. so does any of you mechanical gurus have ANY info on another shaft that would fit in these rear ends that could possibly be different?? apparently they scarred up the bearing that was on it so they cant read the numbers. any info would be great. could it be possible it was replaced with a non-prerunner axle or maybe an axle from a 4runner?? or does the whole thing sound like a load of crap and the guy is just trying to get extra money off of me? PLEASE HELP! Thanks!! i was suspicious of how an 01 only had 133k miles on it without tampering with the odometer but now im thinking it was correct and the truck has just been sitting a while.

 

wheel bearings are sealed from the differential oil. they were most likely fine. how does the bearing not fit. even the aftermarket axle available uses oem bearing. And how did they scar up the bearing? that should NOT happen if proper methods were used to remove.

if axle seal was leaking it would easily of been see with oil on drum and wheel aswell as a smell from the oil on brakes. could have been pinion seal.

 

It had oil and build up on the drum housing. But in my opinion it sounds like they probably messed up my axle and are now trying to come up with a reason why it won't work. But then again I'm not working on it myself so Idk. He said that it's like the axle came out of a different vehicle. Maybe an older or newer Tacoma that was slightly different but same length and spline #

 

I was going to disassemble everything myself and just carry the hubs and axles to the shop and have the parts pressed off and on but I decided to let the shop don't the work. Last time that will happen. Seems like every shop I go to here is just out to make more money than they quoted you.

 

if it was in there at all the bearing not only fit in the right position and fit into the drum housing then only thing that could of been different would be the od of axle which wouldnt work with seal or abs ring (if truck has abs) That whole deal sounds highly unlikely to me.

 

Yeah he mentioned something about possibly it was a vehicle without abs but yes it smells very fishy to me also. I'm going to call tomorrow and get this mess straight. But he did mention something about the OD being different but seems to me that'd make it different down the entire shafts which would throw off everything I'm the rear end. I'm not a mechanic but I do a lot myself and can figure out just about anything. But I can't fathom in my mind the shafts being different on one side seems like it'd almost make one tire turn slightly faster or slower than the other unless it just so happen that spline was an exact match.

 

You do know or should say ,do your mechanics know v6 prerunners should have a 8.0 axle and diff with a locker.Without lockers Tacos use a completely different 8.4 axle housing and diff. and I'm not sure if different shafts/bearings but wouldn't be surprised.Didn't research but here a parts breakdown on Camelback toyota.
https://parts.camelbacktoyota.com/parts/2001/Toyota/Tacoma/Pre Runner/?siteid=214329&vehicleid=69997&section=UNIVERSALS & REAR AXLE

It helps when looking for parts to put your location in your signature as someone local to you maybe has or knows where parts are. I have a extra complete 8.4 rear axle, 410 gears from a 4WD/no abs with wheels for dirt cheap($150)in Oklahoma. I of course can't ship it though.

 

Why doesn't half the members on here at least have the state there in as part of the profile? Were are you located?

 

My bad I live in Georgia. Yeah I'll share this information with the shop in the morning maybe they'll figure it out so in can get it back on the road.

 

you said that like all prerunners have the locker. he didn't mention anywhere if it was a trd so I assume its an 8.4

 

An ABS axle can fit in a NON ABS housing, but a NON ABS axle cannot fit in an ABS housing. This is due to the location of the oil seals. The ABS axle shaft seals much further in the axle tube. The NON ABS axle shaft seals right behind the bearing.

 

Something sure sounds strange here for sure .

Either some wrong terms are being used or something is lost from what the mechanics told the OP

This is a Toyota so as far as finding the weird and strange parts installed is quite normal.

My guess a axle got snapped doing something that someone should not have been doing an axle was found that sort of worked enough to drive the truck

May have had something to do with your noise

A little late now but it would have been good to compare the two axles

As was said low on gear oil will effect the differential bearings and the ring and pinon not the wheel bearings unless you have full floating axles

Was this a private sale or from a dealer ??

 

I purchased the truck from a dealer. It's a doublecab TRD off road 2wd prerunner w/abs. But from what I've found is most of the axles are the same part numbers. I'm just going to tell the guy that obviously there's a bearing that fits on the axle shaft and inside the hub. So he's got one choice. Find the bearing and seals for that axle. But I will give an update later today when we figure out what's going on. I'm working 12 hr days right now and didn't have time to do it myself or i would have. And I don't have time to go there during operating hours or I'd go find the parts myself.

 

If both of the axle shafts are out of the housing then have them take a picture of where they are dissimilar. Other than that go to partznet.com if you've really got no other option and you can get a new oem axle shaft for $400 + shipping. If you mean a Toyota dealer is where you bought the truck, I have a hard time understanding how they could sell you a truck with the wrong axle shaft and not fix it once you have proof that it had been this way when you bought it.

 

Something doesn't add up right with this deal.

 

Does anyone by any chance know the part number for the non abs axle in this picture? I need the part number for the bearing

 

Ok based on this picture, you have an ABS axle shaft for the 8" rear end and a non ABS axle for the 8.4" rear end.

If you look in the axle tube you will see that the oil seal is set back from the axle flange. On the 8.4 without ABS the seal sits right at the axle flange and butts up against the bearing. On the ABS 8" axle, the oil seal rides on the inboard retainer that is next to the ABS tone ring (the gear looking thing). For the non ABS axle to work in the ABS housing, you need to find an oil seal that can sit at the very edge of the axle flange. I have seen a few people post about it, I believe the dimensions are 75mm OD and 50mm ID. You would have to ensure that the seal is driven in perfectly perpendicular.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-into-an-8-e-locker-axle.276202/#post-6837037

 

More info

 

Didn't read thru everything but my advice would be to get a whole axle assembly from a junkyard for roughly $500 and swap in yourself. Might even find one with a locker