4-Pinion Diff snapped and I'm Stranded!

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You most likely have everything you need. You can almost tear down and rebuild a 100 with a 12, 14 and 17mm socket. Artwerks got himself parked in a nice level spot after the break, which helped. He didn't have sliders or bumpers, so a HiLift wasn't helpful. I didn't see any pictures of where he parked prior to getting up there, so I thought of things we "might" need, and brought them. RobRed posted a link to his website where he has a nice set of instructions, print them out. No need to matchmark the driveshaft though, but I suppose you could.

In any case, here's what I packed:

Sockets with extensions. I usually carry 3/8" drive and 10-21mm sockets deep and shallow

Wrenches (14mm is really all you'll need for the driveshaft)

A few flat head screwdrivers of different sizes

Snap ring pliers. Not the super fancies, and not the removable tip ones. I prefer these with the flat angled tips http://www.marlincrawler.com/hardware-tools/tools/snap-ring-pliers

Brass hammer for whacking the hub/studs to pop the cone washers (Dan has an old Snap-On one with a wooden handle that's been passed down for 2 generations) I'm determined to find one now that I've used his. For the $ you spend, it will last 3 lifetimes. You've heard it before, but remove the nuts and flat washers, then replace the nuts until they're just past flush with the ends of the studs and hit either the hub or the stud to pop the cone washers loose. Once you see them move even a little, a pair of channel locks can grab them and work them the rest of the way out.

Jack stands (nice to have if you can, in the field you'll have to improvise and be safe)

Ducktape, plastic bag, old water bottle to cover the spindle. Although, there isn't much you can do, just tape up the splines and end, replace the plastic beauty cover and go.

A flat piece 3/4" ply or MDF for under the jack (I didn't think we'd need it, but because of the spacers, we had to raise the truck and remove the wheels) glad I tossed it in.

Heavy Duty ziplocks labeled "left and right" or "driver and passenger" for flange, c-clip, cone washers and nuts

A tarp for laying in the dirt

PB Blaster, brake cleaner, rags/soap for cleaning up.

If you're wheeling, this stuff is already in your truck minus the wood and jackstands. (I don't wheel, YMMV)

This isn't a huge job and is under an hour of work if you don't need to remove the wheels. A few more tips, (if you have to raise the vehicle) once you finish the first side, the wheel will spin free on the other side. So, when you try and remove the spacers (if you have them) or remove the flange nuts, the hub will want to spin on you. Have someone else put their foot on the brake to stop it from rotating and you can loosen them up. (Don't have them jump up in the truck unless it's safely and securely on stands, otherwise the one leg in approach is the safest way.) If your front wheels are planted on the ground, this won't be an issue.

Also, if you can't reach all the bolts/nuts on tcase side, you can move the vehicle 4 or 5 inches to get the driveshaft to rotate enough to access the other nuts/bolts.
 
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The matchmark would mostly help at the slip joint, just in case they happen to separate, you'd at least know where to put it back together so you know it's balanced. But marking the flanges, eh.
 
Another tech item to add...... When I packed up tools and gear to head up, I made 2 quart sized ziplock bags marked "driver" and "passenger" and threw them in my box. It was nice to have a clean, well marked bag for the dustcap, flange, nuts, c-clip and washers for each side. Its something I'll add to my carry kit. Although, when I dropped the flange into the bag, the bottom ripped out and everything fell in the dirt anyway. Don't buy cheap ziplocks, get the heavy duty ones.

That was freakin' hilarious!!! :D

Good times, guys.
 
Carnage!

In case you guys were wondering, here is the carnage...
As I expected, it appears that at least seven of the splines on the ring gear stripped and there is a little damage to the spider gears housing, although it appears to be superficial.
It took me about 2 days to drop the diff housing and cost me some broken caliper bolts on the passenger side. :doh:
I guess the money I may have saved pulling the diff myself will be spent on drilling and tapping the axle hub. s***! I feel like I wasted my time. :bang:
This should be an interesting drive to Slee...

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Did you only have to pull the hub on the one side? In talking with Kurt about putting in an ARB he did comment that I could save a bunch of cash pulling the diff myself. Only having to pull apart one hub would be a little encouraging.
 
Get that thing up to Slee and we'll go back up and run that trail proper!

Glad to see you're making progress.
 
Did you only have to pull the hub on the one side? In talking with Kurt about putting in an ARB he did comment that I could save a bunch of cash pulling the diff myself. Only having to pull apart one hub would be a little encouraging.

If your hubs are up to date on PM, you can actually pull the diff without disassembling either hub. Just pop the snap ring off, break the upper ball joint loose and you can get the axle out. I've done it on a lift where everything was eye level, not sure how hard it'd be in your garage. Something to think about. You do have to be careful not to damage the seals when you're reinstalling though, I somehow managed to do it so I think you should have no problem.
 
Did you only have to pull the hub on the one side? In talking with Kurt about putting in an ARB he did comment that I could save a bunch of cash pulling the diff myself. Only having to pull apart one hub would be a little encouraging.

I didn't have to "pull" either hub to get the CV axles out and drop the diff housing. In fact, you do NOT have to pull the brake calipers off either. Step #5 in the FAQ (https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/388534-cv-boots-replaced-directions.html) is not needed. The FSM also calls for removing the brake caliper. I wish I never did this, because then I wouldn't have broken off the caliper bolts on the PS which caused me to have to buy a new axle/hub knuckle :bang:
It depends on what a "bunch of cash" is to you. It looks like at Slee I will save approximately half of the r/r cost for the diff, which is only about $125. In fact, they said putting the diff back in is more time consuming than pulling it out so, in actuality, you would probably save less than $100 to pull the diff yourself. IMHO, that's not worth it to me. It took me 5 hours to pull the first CV axle, 2.5 hours to pull the second (knowing what I was doing) and another few hours to drop the diff. That's about 10+ hours total or less than $10/hour. Not worth it :doh::doh:

Get that thing up to Slee and we'll go back up and run that trail proper!
...

I'm looking forward to it. I took my truck to Slee yesterday and dropped it off. I should get it back in the next two weeks as they are just about fully booked this week.
Here is the cost break down:


  • Nitro 4:10 Ring/Pinion - $250.00
  • Toyota Diff rebuild kit - $321.10
  • ARB1056 Air Locker - $996.00
  • ARB1007 Air Compressor - FREE! (ARB Promotion)
  • Labor - Regear/Rebuild Diff - $297.50
  • Labor - Remove/Re-install Diff - $255.00 (I should save roughly half of this as I removed the diff myself)

  • PS Steering knuckle - used - $200.00
  • Toyota front end service parts kit - $173.35
  • Labor - replace PS steering knuckle - $142.50
Plus tax and minus about $100 worth of labor since I removed the diff myself, the total cost to me should be about $2,680! :censor:


Aj
 
Good info Art. Ouch on the price..... But you're in good hands at Slee and you'll have a nice setup when all said and done!

Money well spent, IMO.
 

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