Gee, there's someting a little off with that diff fluid... (1 Viewer)

[toyteg08]

So I did my front axle service today (well, a few hours today, and a few hours yesterday), and it's a good thing!

I just wanted to add another thank you to all the people here who've provided information on how to maintain our vehicles. Thank you everyone!

Some things I found that worked/didn't work for me, in no particular order:

1) Separate the birfields from the axles, whether you swap them or not (but then you may as well). It is much better to pack them with grease before you put the axles back into them. The grease does not get in the way of seeing where the C-clip is at.

2) I didn't break any C-clips or snap rings. Get more anyway. Better to be covered.

3) Marlin oil seals for the axle are the shiz. Get the tool too; it's cheap and awesome.

4) The trunion races actually do go in slightly easier when you freeze them.

5) The axles were easy to re-insert. Don't slam them in, but be deliberate about it.

6) The PVC pipe method for separating the birfields rocks!

7) The cages in the birfields are SHARP! Like, slightly dull razor sharp. I cut my fingers on them three times.

8) The zip-tie method for compressing the C-clip on the axle never worked for me. Yes, I had fat zip-ties too. A hose clamp did the job easily.

9) This job OWNS rags. Can't have enough.

Thank you again everyone! You guys rock!

 

[topend yobbo]

Glad you had a win mate.

 

[Driley]

Congrats on getting that done! I agree about the ziptie. Woody's hose clamp method worked much better. It does not hurt to take some time and find a sweet spot on the star and axle splines. When I switched sides, the short axle was a bit stubborn in some of the grooves. I just found the spot that would let me slide the axle into the star smoothly and marked it. After packing the birfield with grease, I just lined up the marks and with the hose clamp in place, it eased right in.

Riley

 

[jlg32281]

I need to do this to mine. It's probably never been done at 142K.

 

[Beowulf]

3) Marlin oil seals for the axle are the shiz. Get the tool too; it's cheap and awesome.

I got to spend some time with Marlin during CM and several of us were discussing his axle tube seals and the install tool. As of today, the tool is for the smaller seals used on 40s, 60s, and minis. Marlin does not recommend using the current tool on 80 seals. However, he will have a new & improved tool coming out in a few months. The end will be interchangeable and will be able to handle either 40 or 80 inner axle tube seals. It will have a few other improvements too. Please wait until October before you bug him about it because it takes time to get these into production.

I have not had a chance to use the Marlin seals yet but I have to agree that they appear to be an improvement over the Toyota seals (sorry Dan.) Marlin said he has sold thousands of these seals and has had virtually no complaints. I bought a pair and will install them on my next axle service.

-B-

 

[unwiredadventures]

So I did my front axle service today (well, a few hours today, and a few hours yesterday), and it's a good thing!

I have all the parts needed to perform this maintenance. I'm holding off until I can find the right shop in Southern California to do my 4.88 re-gearing.

Thanks for posting your comments! I'm reading everyone's experiences until I do my own.

 

[NLXTACY]

Frank please count me in for helping you out. I will need to do this service before my Canada trip and I really want to get a hands on in doing it. I have Doug's video but there's nothing like getting your hands dirty!

Hopefully this time my 60 will continue to run smoothly as it is now

 

[KurtKuhn]

I got to spend some time with Marlin during CM and several of us were discussing his axle tube seals and the install tool. As of today, the tool is for the smaller seals used on 40s, 60s, and minis. Marlin does not recommend using the current tool on 80 seals. However, he will have a new & improved tool coming out in a few months. The end will be interchangeable and will be able to handle either 40 or 80 inner axle tube seals. It will have a few other improvements too. Please wait until October before you bug him about it because it takes time to get these into production.

I have not had a chance to use the Marlin seals yet but I have to agree that they appear to be an improvement over the Toyota seals (sorry Dan.) Marlin said he has sold thousands of these seals and has had virtually no complaints. I bought a pair and will install them on my next axle service.

-B-

B-

So as to not go too far off topic, I posted up my experience with Marlin's seals here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...-oil-seals-installation-tool.html#post4404126

-KK

 

[RiggerFJ80]

I'm slowly but surely stocking up on parts for this. Somebody hit the nail on the head with the hipbone connected to the kneebone analogy though!

Rob

 

[toyteg08]

I have all the parts needed to perform this maintenance. I'm holding off until I can find the right shop in Southern California to do my 4.88 re-gearing.

Thanks for posting your comments! I'm reading everyone's experiences until I do my own.

Frank please count me in for helping you out. I will need to do this service before my Canada trip and I really want to get a hands on in doing it. I have Doug's video but there's nothing like getting your hands dirty!

Hopefully this time my 60 will continue to run smoothly as it is now

Well guys, all I can say, from someone who had never done this before either, is don't be scared of it. There's nothing really hard about the job, it's just messy more than anything. I cleaned off and ran upstairs to double check online about the orientation of the rubber seal behind the felt wiper (ridge faces away from the hub), but that's about it. It's pretty straightforward. I can't believe the dealer charges $1000+ to do it.

One other thing that helped me, and is something I do whenever I tear deep into a vehicle and have alot of bolts and nuts and parts to take off, is lay down a sheet of cardboard, and lay the parts down on successive sections of the cardboard, draw boxes around the pile of parts, and write in the box what parts they are. This would have helped the fellow who put his upper trunion bearing cap bolts into his calipers, or whatever it was (In case that sounded insulting, by the way, it TOTALLY was not meant to be. I'm the one who took my valvebody off and ruined my transmission, after all....).

Jon

 

[Driley]

I got to spend some time with Marlin during CM and several of us were discussing his axle tube seals and the install tool. As of today, the tool is for the smaller seals used on 40s, 60s, and minis. Marlin does not recommend using the current tool on 80 seals. However, he will have a new & improved tool coming out in a few months. The end will be interchangeable and will be able to handle either 40 or 80 inner axle tube seals. It will have a few other improvements too. Please wait until October before you bug him about it because it takes time to get these into production.

I have not had a chance to use the Marlin seals yet but I have to agree that they appear to be an improvement over the Toyota seals (sorry Dan.) Marlin said he has sold thousands of these seals and has had virtually no complaints. I bought a pair and will install them on my next axle service.

-B-

I used the Marlin seals and the the tool that he sold that stated for use with the 80 series axle. I ended up using a brass drift (carefully) for the last bit of seating, but the install tool helped to get the seal started in the hole. I guess if I have issues, I will contact Marlin Crawler and see how they want to handle the situation.

Thank you B for posting that information.

Riley

 

[Beowulf]

Riley,
Let me be clear.... I am not making an announcement for Marlin regarding their seal installer tool or what models it is for.

During our conversation at CM I asked about buying an installation tool for the 80 series seals and he told us the current tool doesn't work as well as he would like for his 80-Series seals. He also told us that a new tool was in the works and it would probably be available in October. He went to great length to describe the improvements and I was impressed at his attention to detail and how he plans to improve the tool based on customer feedback.

I am not suggesting that everyone or anyone call up Marlin and ask for their money back or credit on the new model or anything else so please don't misunderstand my statement. Please.

-B-

 

[wxm]

I don't think anyone is going to sweat over a $14 tool - it is probably not even justified to pay $10 shipping to return it. Plus, it does work for the OEM seal. But what I really want to figure out is whether the Marlin seal is actually an improvement over the OEM. I have both Marlin and OEM seals in hand, and am trying to decide which one to use for my upcoming axle rebuild. Base of KK's installation problem, it seems the Marlin's seal have more rubber "insulation" than the OEM. It is true that they are very nicely made, but the question is whether they will out-perform the OEM seal over time when rubber hardens.

 

[Driley]

Riley,
Let me be clear.... I am not making an announcement for Marlin regarding their seal installer tool or what models it is for.

During our conversation at CM I asked about buying an installation tool for the 80 series seals and he told us the current tool doesn't work as well as he would like for his 80-Series seals. He also told us that a new tool was in the works and it would probably be available in October. He went to great length to describe the improvements and I was impressed at his attention to detail and how he plans to improve the tool based on customer feedback.

I am not suggesting that everyone or anyone call up Marlin and ask for their money back or credit on the new model or anything else so please don't misunderstand my statement. Please.

-B-

I do not plan to take apart my front axle again for as long as I can (I already had to open the passenger side to replace the clip I broke during reassembly). My comment about contacting Marlin would only come into play if, after driving a couple of hundred miles, the diff fluid never cleans up. At that point I would need to go in and address the damaged inner seal and would ask Marlin if they had a design change ready for sale.

I appreciate your post and the other thread as I also did not feel that the install tool was making enough contact with the outer ring (too much edge contact on the rubber part). I used a brass drift and gently tapped the the seal in once I got it started with the install tool. It was just good to know that I was not doing anything wrong.

I apologize for making the last post sound like I was a disgruntled customer of Marlin. Quite the opposite. They were the ones that asked if I was only going to do one side (I left the quantity at "1" when I ordered the seal online). If they would not have caught that, I would have been sitting there with one seal and two holes.

I am not worried about the seal. Mixing of fluids is bad but not catastrophic. If it fails, I now know how to get to it!

Riley

 

[Beowulf]

I apologize for making the last post sound like I was a disgruntled customer of Marlin. Quite the opposite.

Kewl. Marlin is a very nice guy and he loves the Cruiser community. Even though they are a small company, he gave a LOT of prizes to the CM raffle to be given away as prizes. We need more people like him and more companies like Marlin Crawler.

-B-

 

[Brentbba]

Inner oil seal leak or water in the diff?

Mine looked similar when I changed it so I'm more than curious. I had the stuff bubbling out the diff breather and consensus was that I'd gotten water down the breather from a weekend playing in a creek crossing (stopped for someone else's photo op in the water)!

Plan on changing it again in a week or two to flush what may not have drained well enough the first time.

 

[Beowulf]

... after driving a couple of hundred miles, the diff fluid never cleans up.

Just so ya know, your front diff fluid may never "clean up" like the rear diff fluid. Mine has always had a tinge of green indicating some moly in the diff fluid.

-B-

 

[Driley]

Just so ya know, your front diff fluid may never "clean up" like the rear diff fluid. Mine has always had a tinge of green indicating some moly in the diff fluid.

-B-

Thank you for the information. That will keep me from posting a frantic "dirty diff fluid after rebuild!!! " thread.

Riley

 

[simps80]

.......This would have helped the fellow who put his upper trunion bearing cap bolts into his calipers, or whatever it was (In case that sounded insulting, by the way, it TOTALLY was not meant to be. I'm the one who took my valvebody off and ruined my transmission, after all....).

Jon

i did that...sound insulting? no...my pride died long long ago,

Then it died again and again after realizing I could afford to buy an 80 but not pay somebody to fix it for me. my pride's got a lot of lives....

That's why I spent the extra effort to broadcast my idiocy with pictures so others may avoid the same heartache of an expensive fix resulting from an easily avoidable mistake.

btw I also had quite a 'method' in place for organizing the myriad of hardware --> bagged, tagged, trayed nicely when I tore down passenger the side, by the time i got around to the driver side I got lazy...I was a pro by then.....out went the organization, throw everything into the coffee can...

so yea obvious guy says "tag your junk" but like everything else...good ideas are only as good as their practical implementation

....find some way that will work for you to organize your parts when you tear down stuff like this, bag and tag, cardboard, whatever, just find some way to organize that you can stick with.

 

[toyteg08]

Inner oil seal leak or water in the diff?

Mine looked similar when I changed it so I'm more than curious. I had the stuff bubbling out the diff breather and consensus was that I'd gotten water down the breather from a weekend playing in a creek crossing (stopped for someone else's photo op in the water)!

Plan on changing it again in a week or two to flush what may not have drained well enough the first time.

For me, it was the inner oil seal leaking. You can't really tell from the poor quality picture, but that fluid in the bucket is fairly thick, compared to clean gear oil anyway. The grease in the hubs and birfields was about the consistency of honey when I pulled the axles out. My truck has 130K mi, and I think if the service has been done before, it's only been once.