You will save a lot of money if you do it yourself. You can find adequate instructions on this board although I would recommend that you get the Toyota FSM too. You will want to have: A large brass drift (NAPA), a 54 mm socket, a good snap ring plier, a special wrench to remove the brake line without screwing up the nut, LOTS of rags, some brake cleaner, good metric sockets, a fish scale, Several tubs of multipurpose grease, new gear lube to refill diff, a pickle fork to pull tie rod end, brake fluid, some rubber gloves, ...did I say lots of rags? If you are going to do this, consider this an opportunity to also do the tie rod ends and if needed the front brakes. If you do it Wham/Bam (very little parts cleaning) your cruiser will not be down more than 1-2 days. If you meticulously clean and paint parts, it will take longer. These projects can take on a life of their own..new rubber brake hoses for example. Not an expensive part but something that is easy to replace at the time. Without looking up the exact figures, I believe that I did front end seal and bearings, plus brake pads, lines and calipers, front end alignment for about $400 parts.
wrencher and i managed thru TWO axle jobs 
My only advice to you would be a cheap parts washer (think harbor freight). i would say 60% of the time was just cleaning the parts. 
