Just wanted to share my experience with replacing the front axle on my 94. First off I want to thank everyone on this site for all the information and especially Ewillis for lending me a hand getting a seal out, providing advice and even lending me some tools and an axle lock ring.
I bought my 94 in AZ a month or so ago and within a week the passenger birfield cage shattered with loose bearings rolling around. I decided to upgrade the front axle to the Longfields. This was the first major auto repair that I have done and hope this sheds some light for the guys doing this for the first time.
Special Tools: Impact Wrench (made the job much easier), tie rod puller, race installer, wrecking bar (for axle seals), 3 lb hammer (BFH), long punches, emery cloth, file.
The disassembly of the axle was pretty straight forward, I followed the video for Toyota Nuckle Rebuild, , and everything went as planned. I did have some problems disassembling the tie rods like the video showed using a hammer and a pry bar, I ended up renting a tie rod puller that was so much easier. Also, getting the axle seals out were not too easy using screw drive/chisel and a hammer like what was shown in the video, I may have even caused a little damage but I managed to get them out finally. I pulled up another video that shows a guy using a pry bar to get them out much easier, How to Replace a Rear Axle Bearing and Seal in Under 90 Minutes.
Once everything was disassembled I thoroughly cleaned all the parts with gas, a wire brush and rags.
During the installation I noticed that the area that the areas where the axle seals sat were damaged and had many nicks, gouges and one side even had a flat spot and out of round. I used a combination of a file and some metal sand paper to get that in better shape before installing.
I replaced the wheel bearings myself and even removed the races with a hammer and punch. Next time I think I will take them to the machine shop to have them removed, those races were not easy to get out but some WD-40 helped. I ended up taking my outer axles in to have the ABS ring pressed on, I could have had them remove the wheel bearing races at the same time. The guy ended up heating the ABS rings with a torch and they just slipped right on, didn't even charge me at CARQUEST.
Estimated time spent working on this project......an easy 30-40 hours but I was very meticulous with cleaning the parts and making sure everything was done right. It was a lot of work but I actually enjoyed doing it. On to the next project!
I bought my 94 in AZ a month or so ago and within a week the passenger birfield cage shattered with loose bearings rolling around. I decided to upgrade the front axle to the Longfields. This was the first major auto repair that I have done and hope this sheds some light for the guys doing this for the first time.
Special Tools: Impact Wrench (made the job much easier), tie rod puller, race installer, wrecking bar (for axle seals), 3 lb hammer (BFH), long punches, emery cloth, file.
The disassembly of the axle was pretty straight forward, I followed the video for Toyota Nuckle Rebuild, , and everything went as planned. I did have some problems disassembling the tie rods like the video showed using a hammer and a pry bar, I ended up renting a tie rod puller that was so much easier. Also, getting the axle seals out were not too easy using screw drive/chisel and a hammer like what was shown in the video, I may have even caused a little damage but I managed to get them out finally. I pulled up another video that shows a guy using a pry bar to get them out much easier, How to Replace a Rear Axle Bearing and Seal in Under 90 Minutes.
Once everything was disassembled I thoroughly cleaned all the parts with gas, a wire brush and rags.
During the installation I noticed that the area that the areas where the axle seals sat were damaged and had many nicks, gouges and one side even had a flat spot and out of round. I used a combination of a file and some metal sand paper to get that in better shape before installing.
I replaced the wheel bearings myself and even removed the races with a hammer and punch. Next time I think I will take them to the machine shop to have them removed, those races were not easy to get out but some WD-40 helped. I ended up taking my outer axles in to have the ABS ring pressed on, I could have had them remove the wheel bearing races at the same time. The guy ended up heating the ABS rings with a torch and they just slipped right on, didn't even charge me at CARQUEST.
Estimated time spent working on this project......an easy 30-40 hours but I was very meticulous with cleaning the parts and making sure everything was done right. It was a lot of work but I actually enjoyed doing it. On to the next project!
