Muddy Bean
Breaking something or fixing something
I haven't seen someone do this with pics and some of you have asked so here is my somewhat lame iPhone attempt. My flanges are already machined smooth because I broke my diff but yours will be splined to mate with the CV spline you see in the last photos. Other than that, the procedure is the same. This write up applies to any situation in which you want to drive the truck in 2wd mode due to cv breakage, front diff breakage, front driveshaft breakage (yoke, ujoint bearing, etc) or you just enjoy doing burnouts.
You'll need to remove your front driveshaft to drive around in 2WD until you can get your truck repaired: Before you remove your front driveshaft, mark with a grease pencil or masking tape, a line from the flange on the driveshaft to the output flange of the transfer case and front differential so that you can reinstall your driveshaft the exact same way it was before you removed it. This keeps your splines lined up properly and reduces the chance of creating driveshaft vibration. Once you've marked it, remove your front driveshaft by loosening the bolts and gently tapping the shaft near the flange to knock it loose. Hang on to it because you do not want it landing on your face. Don't ask me how I know. Keep the bolts and nuts organized and set aside with the front driveshaft. You won't be needing this until you fix your busted diff.
Now, remove your drive flanges: 1. To remove the drive flanges, insert a screwdriver into the little rectangular slot of the plastic dust cap near the lugnut and just pop the plastic cover off:
2. You will need to pop off the grease cap to access the c-clip which must be removed before removing the flange. Use a screwdriver and some gentle, prying, hammer taps to remove the grease cap.
3. You'll need to pop off the c-clip snap ring using snap ring pliers or creative use of a flat-head screwdriver and needle-nose pliers:
4. Now you can remove the six nuts on the drive flange with a 14mm socket (you'll notice I tapped the grease cap back on to prevent dirt from getting into the splined area while I'm tapping the drive flange and removing the nuts):
Underneath those nuts are little washers. Remove them as well:
5. Once you've removed all the nuts and washers, you can thread the nuts back on until it's flush with the stud so you can gently tap the ends with a brass hammer (don't use a regular hammer like it did, it destroys the nuts and studs) which should loosen and pop out the cone washers on each stud, another and possibly better method is to just screw the nuts on the studs to prevent the cone washers from flying across the floor when they pop loose, and tapping all around the flange. This requires you remove the tire/rim and if you have the time and ability, removing the tire and rim allows excellent access.:
Close up of cone washer fully seated
Cone washer popped up, success!:
Once you've popped up all the cone washers (this takes a lot of hammering and tapping, gentle but firm, be patient during this step), you can tap on the flange and gently pry at it to get it to slide off the studs. The gasket can sometimes act like adhesive and make it stick. But it should eventually slide off the studs:
Now that you have successfully removed your drive flange, if you want to drive in 2wd for any extended period of time, it is essential to do two things: 1. Have your flanges machined on the inside to remove the splines, then order a new gasket from Toyota, and reinstall your machined flanges in the reverse order using the above instructions. 2. Be sure to reinstall your C-Clip. This is important. If you are having trouble getting the CV splined shaft to stick out of the flange far enough to reinstall the C-Clip, push and turn the CV joint/boot from the inside of the tire into the rim/axle and seat it properly. Once it is seated, you'll have just enough length on the CV splined shaft to get the C-Clip snapped back into place. As a last step, you'll want to put plastic or tape or something to cover, as best as you can, the hub/bearing/CV spline area until you can get off the trail or install machined flanges back on. This will keep as much crud, mud, dust, water, baby buffaloes and other a sundry items out of your greased bearing area. What I was able to do, was pull off the rim, and place a square piece of plastic over the hub area, I poked holes in it for the studs, and then put the rim back on which sandwiched the plastic between the rim and hub. This kept grime out until I could get my machined flanges back on. Putting your Toyota emblem dust cap back on also helps...especially with the baby buffaloes...they are just a hair too large to get by the dust cap.
You'll need to remove your front driveshaft to drive around in 2WD until you can get your truck repaired: Before you remove your front driveshaft, mark with a grease pencil or masking tape, a line from the flange on the driveshaft to the output flange of the transfer case and front differential so that you can reinstall your driveshaft the exact same way it was before you removed it. This keeps your splines lined up properly and reduces the chance of creating driveshaft vibration. Once you've marked it, remove your front driveshaft by loosening the bolts and gently tapping the shaft near the flange to knock it loose. Hang on to it because you do not want it landing on your face. Don't ask me how I know. Keep the bolts and nuts organized and set aside with the front driveshaft. You won't be needing this until you fix your busted diff.
Now, remove your drive flanges: 1. To remove the drive flanges, insert a screwdriver into the little rectangular slot of the plastic dust cap near the lugnut and just pop the plastic cover off:
2. You will need to pop off the grease cap to access the c-clip which must be removed before removing the flange. Use a screwdriver and some gentle, prying, hammer taps to remove the grease cap.
3. You'll need to pop off the c-clip snap ring using snap ring pliers or creative use of a flat-head screwdriver and needle-nose pliers:
4. Now you can remove the six nuts on the drive flange with a 14mm socket (you'll notice I tapped the grease cap back on to prevent dirt from getting into the splined area while I'm tapping the drive flange and removing the nuts):
Underneath those nuts are little washers. Remove them as well:
5. Once you've removed all the nuts and washers, you can thread the nuts back on until it's flush with the stud so you can gently tap the ends with a brass hammer (don't use a regular hammer like it did, it destroys the nuts and studs) which should loosen and pop out the cone washers on each stud, another and possibly better method is to just screw the nuts on the studs to prevent the cone washers from flying across the floor when they pop loose, and tapping all around the flange. This requires you remove the tire/rim and if you have the time and ability, removing the tire and rim allows excellent access.:
Close up of cone washer fully seated
Cone washer popped up, success!:
Once you've popped up all the cone washers (this takes a lot of hammering and tapping, gentle but firm, be patient during this step), you can tap on the flange and gently pry at it to get it to slide off the studs. The gasket can sometimes act like adhesive and make it stick. But it should eventually slide off the studs:
Now that you have successfully removed your drive flange, if you want to drive in 2wd for any extended period of time, it is essential to do two things: 1. Have your flanges machined on the inside to remove the splines, then order a new gasket from Toyota, and reinstall your machined flanges in the reverse order using the above instructions. 2. Be sure to reinstall your C-Clip. This is important. If you are having trouble getting the CV splined shaft to stick out of the flange far enough to reinstall the C-Clip, push and turn the CV joint/boot from the inside of the tire into the rim/axle and seat it properly. Once it is seated, you'll have just enough length on the CV splined shaft to get the C-Clip snapped back into place. As a last step, you'll want to put plastic or tape or something to cover, as best as you can, the hub/bearing/CV spline area until you can get off the trail or install machined flanges back on. This will keep as much crud, mud, dust, water, baby buffaloes and other a sundry items out of your greased bearing area. What I was able to do, was pull off the rim, and place a square piece of plastic over the hub area, I poked holes in it for the studs, and then put the rim back on which sandwiched the plastic between the rim and hub. This kept grime out until I could get my machined flanges back on. Putting your Toyota emblem dust cap back on also helps...especially with the baby buffaloes...they are just a hair too large to get by the dust cap.
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