DIY 4.3 Re-Gear (2 Viewers)

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This must be like watching water boil to you guys. As I dabble a little bit at it each day. Takes the stress out of it as I'm not pressed to git-er-done.

Got my Harbor Freight 12-ton press setup. They've improved this thing since the last time I had one about 13 yrs ago. Should be able to sell it easily and recoup most of the cost once I'm done with it.

Made quick work of the pinion and case bearings.

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Good info... I'll try to get some pics of the Eaton units.

Were you able to get any pics or measurements of the Eaton? Wondering if they're more similar than not?
 
I am so glad I didn't try to diy this. No experience and no special tools, and probably not even that gauge of solder around. Props to you @TeCKis300
I was just thinking the same thing. If I ever have to do this, I’m paying a shop that setup for it. This has been a great read! Much respect @TeCKis300 !
 
I learned a lesson with my HF 12-ton. Wear ear plugs if it seems like something is requiring a lot of force.
I had to press the bushings out of the radius arms on my 80. They were pretty stuck. When it finally let go and moved about 1/4” in an instant the press jumped in the air about 4 inches and the clang was so loud my ears were ringing for days.
They barely put enough steel in these things to handle the forces of the bottle jack, but they are great for things like diffs.
I remember toyota 8” v6 diffs being bad about the inner bearing races spinning on the diff carrier, so using sleeve retainer (640 I think) was advised. Any issues like this on the 9.5”?
 
Thanks guys. I started with oil changes just like everyone else. With enough interest and motivation, and the great knowledgebase that's the interwebs, much of this can be in reach. Hopefully the knowledge gathered in this thread gives the next person enough hints to help them through this mod. The more specialized parts could be contracted out. Like them axle bearings!

@bloc - I've learned lessons too including having a press bed plate give suddenly. Fortunately no harm or foul and def my fault as I was pushing a press beyond its capacity. I always make sure to use eye protection now. These presses can be deceiving but the forces involved are extreme and shouldn't be taken lightly. I don't have enough knowledge to know if spinning races is a problem on the 9.5s. The pressure to take them out was about the same to press them in. With any luck, it should all be in spec.
 
I don't have enough knowledge to know if spinning races is a problem on the 9.5s. The pressure to take them out was about the same to press them in. With any luck, it should all be in spec.
Just to be clear I’m talking about the races that fit on the ends of the differential carrier, not the pinion bearings in the third member chunk.

I’m not sure exactly where I read about this but it may have been zuk’s site. If it’s a common issue on 9.5s it should be easy to find. When I did the setup on my 8” 3.73s the races nearly fell off. Exactly as I had read.
 
Wife let me put a couple hours wrench time in on fathers day. Delivered the front axle carrier baby. Wasn't too bad of a job. The 200-series specific side axle extension and mounts should swap right over based on earlier comments. I thought I might try adding the Tundra ADD front axle disconnect mechanism but I'm not feeling motivated enough to do that.

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Tundra front diff on the driver side has a needle bearing for the CV axle shaft. I believe that design is different than full-time four-wheel-drive LC diff. East Coast gear supply sells the bushing to replace that needle bearing to reduce the play in the CV axle shaft on diff side. This replacement bushing helps eliminate future oil seal leaks. You may want to replace that if you are using the tundra diff and only swapping the LC parts on the passenger side. TOYOTA CLAMSHELL BUSHINGS - 2007 Up Tundra and 2008 Up Sequoia. ECGS also sells tools to replace that bushing.
 
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This must be like watching water boil to you guys. As I dabble a little bit at it each day. Takes the stress out of it as I'm not pressed to git-er-done.

Got my Harbor Freight 12-ton press setup. They've improved this thing since the last time I had one about 13 yrs ago. Should be able to sell it easily and recoup most of the cost once I'm done with it.

Made quick work of the pinion and case bearings.

View attachment 2360142

View attachment 2360143
That looks a lot sturdier than my orange 12T harbor fright press that I've had for years. The thing has paid for itself over and over. I was money ahead on the first wheel bearing job I did (B6 Audi S4) If I were to do it over (which I may someday) I'd go with a higher tonnage and maybe air over hydraulic.
 
Just to be clear I’m talking about the races that fit on the ends of the differential carrier, not the pinion bearings in the third member chunk.

I’m not sure exactly where I read about this but it may have been zuk’s site. If it’s a common issue on 9.5s it should be easy to find. When I did the setup on my 8” 3.73s the races nearly fell off. Exactly as I had read.

Ah. I'm not familiar with the 8", but the retention on the 9.5 seems very sound. Neither of the 9.5 carriers I disassembled, including the '02 with 168k miles, had any unexpected play. They were both drum tight.

If you can see in this pic grabbed from Otramm's vid, it's clamped firmly by the carrier main bolts, with pressure from the side adjusters, that's then locked down with the stop.

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Unexpected...

The pinion from the LC100 uses a different diameter drive flange interface than the LC200. Measuring 28mm to 32.7mm respectively. The shaft at the outer bearing (nearest flange) is smaller too. Both use the same large inside (nearest pinion gear) tapered bearing size. LC100 outer tapered bearing external diameter against the carrier is the same.

I was hoping to harvest only the LC100 ring and pinion, to rebuild everything in my LC200 case. Didn't expect this and perhaps I'm wondering what other dimensionional differences there are? Easy button may be to rebuild everything in the LC100 carrier housing, since it's been confirmed that the carrier will drop right in.
 
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Tundra front diff on the driver side has a needle bearing for the CV axle shaft. I believe that design is different than full-time four-wheel-drive LC diff. East Coast gear supply sells the bushing to replace that needle bearing to reduce the play in the CV axle shaft on diff side. This replacement bushing helps eliminate future oil seal leaks. You may want to replace that if you are using the tundra diff and only swapping the LC parts on the passenger side. TOYOTA CLAMSHELL BUSHINGS - 2007 Up Tundra and 2008 Up Sequoia. ECGS also sells tools to replace that bushing.

Yes. I did notice that. The Tundra carrier CV outputs use needle bearing supports. The LC seems to have full-film journal bearings built into the housing with a oil groove in the middle. Why there is that difference, I'm not sure. But in everything I come across, the Land Cruiser seems to use more robust implementations. Good to know there are option going forward. Thanks.
 
Unexpected...

The pinion from the LC100 uses a different diameter drive flange interface than the LC200. Measuring 28mm to 32.7mm respectively. Both use the same larger front tapered bearing size. TBD for rear.

I was hoping to harvest only the LC100 ring and pinion, to rebuild everything in my LC200 case. Didn't expect this and perhaps I'm wondering what other dimensionional differences there are? Easy button would be to rebuild everything in the LC200 carrier housing, since it's been confirmed that carrier will drop right in.
Meaning the splined section for the driveshaft flange is larger on the 200?
Is the driveshaft end interchangeable? Meaning the bolt pattern and centering ring. What I mean to ask is could you just use the 100 input flange with the 200 shaft, even if the spliced section is smaller and presumably less strong..
 
Meaning the splined section for the driveshaft flange is larger on the 200?
Is the driveshaft end interchangeable? Meaning the bolt pattern and centering ring. What I mean to ask is could you just use the 100 input flange with the 200 shaft, even if the spliced section is smaller and presumably less strong..

Yup, after a few more measurements and critical eyeballing, that's the what I'm doing. The bolt pattern of the pinion drive flange to driveshaft is the same. Carriers seem to be the same at all critical dimensions. Just the pinion at the splines and closest tapered bearing inner diameter are smaller (roller bearing and outter race diameter are same).

Gotta order a LC100 tapered bearing and pinion seal.
 
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Ah. I'm not familiar with the 8", but the retention on the 9.5 seems very sound. Neither of the 9.5 carriers I disassembled, including the '02 with 172k miles, had any unexpected play. They were both drum tight.

If you can see in this pic grabbed from Otramm's vid, it's clamped firmly by the carrier main bolts, with pressure from the side adjusters, that's then locked down with the stop.

View attachment 2360446
That fixture is awesome. Did you weld that up? Nice!
 
That's Otramm's shop. Grabbed a frame from his vids.

I'm working on the floor on some cardboard. I did fashion up a wooden support to keep the carrier upright. :)
 
I’ve seen two 2x4s clamped to a work bench with the appropriate holes drilled in them work pretty well.
When you get to setting back lash, pinion preload, and some other stuff having it attached to something solid is extremely beneficial
 
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That's Otramm's shop. Grabbed a frame from his vids.

I'm working on the floor on some cardboard. I did fashion up a wooden support to keep the carrier upright. :)

You can see if the carrier housing fits into a 5 gallon bucket. Really depends on the size, but worth a shot for a cheap stand. Cut a hole in the bottom side of the bucket to turn the pinion.
 
Not as comfortable on the floor but it's short term. I've got a couple blocks of wood to help stabilize the diff as I'm working it. The whole carrier is not a great shape to stand in any orientation itself, but it's workable.

Initial setup bringing the case, gears, and carrier together. Things are looking pretty good including run-out and backlash. Pattern checks out without any change to the pinion master shim that belonged with the 4.3 pinion. I didn't measure them other than to note the LC200 3.9 master shim was incrementally thinner. I used some bright blue marine grease that I had in my cabinet to check the pattern, did the job, but hard to photograph.

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More parts came in including the LC100 outer pinion bearing and seal. I think I've got everything I need now to have her back together possibly by weekend. I'll add a list of part numbers to this thread once I verify all is good.

Drilled 29/64" hole for locker harness to pass through (at top right of housing)
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Crush washer level. This thing took some serious convincing. Better have some leverage.
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