Servicing Pinion (1 Viewer)

[franken60]

The other day I heard a squeak, crawled underneath to give it all a shake and discovered an extremely worn pinion. Damn near 1/4" of play side to side.

Full float rear axle

I've removed the shafts and hubs off each side and plan to service the wheel bearings while I'm here, re grease should be all, they are tight and in great shape! Amazingly considering my lack of maintenance on them.

Now...to the pinion. I've never dealt with serving the third member and it's my first time ouylling one. I have it out of the axle housing now, all seams well in the housing and no noticable wear as of yet on the gears.

What parts will I need to service the pinion? Are there complete kits or will I have to get individual parts? Anything worth replacing while I'm this far into it anyways?
Bearings...seals...what else?

This is the "nut" on the hub. No 54mm with locking tabs. Is this normal or a full float? Hj61 axle.

 

[bikersmurf]

Nut Kit, Rear Axle Bearing Lock, 79-98 FJ BJ HJ FZJ HZJ HDJ

Nut Kit, Rear Axle Bearing Lock, Full Floating 1/79-4/86 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, FJ45, FJ55, HJ45, HJ47, BJ40, BJ42 8/80-3/92 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, FJ62, BJ60, HJ60, HJ61 1/90-1/98 Toyota Lan...

www.fjparts.com

Was there a retainer washer?

My ‘77 used a different setup.

 

[bikersmurf]

Full float axle infrequently asked questions

questions, info and available parts for the less common full floating rear axles.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[franken60]

View attachment 2035231

Nut Kit, Rear Axle Bearing Lock, 79-98 FJ BJ HJ FZJ HZJ HDJ

Nut Kit, Rear Axle Bearing Lock, Full Floating 1/79-4/86 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, FJ45, FJ55, HJ45, HJ47, BJ40, BJ42 8/80-3/92 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, FJ62, BJ60, HJ60, HJ61 1/90-1/98 Toyota Lan...

www.fjparts.com

Was there a retainer washer?

My ‘77 used a different setup.

Ya I have the retainer, guess it is common. Just assumed it would have a locking nut like front axles.
Thanks!

 

[franken60]

Full float axle infrequently asked questions

questions, info and available parts for the less common full floating rear axles.

forum.ih8mud.com

Cheers! I'll give it a read

 

[too tall]

You need to remove the carrier before you can remove the pinion. Loosen the bearing caps and remove the carrier. unbolt the pinion nut and the pinion will come out. Inspect the bearing surfaces for wear, If you are lucky you will have a solid pinion spacer in between the inner and outer bearing. I have seen some pinions with the spacer built into the pinion shaft itself. They are very strong.
If it is a crush sleeve then you will have to set it up. You should replace the seal before compressing the new crush sleeve. I use a bit of red loctite on the pinion in addition to the stake nut. If it is a solid pinion spacer then replace the bearings (if they are bad) and re-install the shim pack that came out off of the pinion shaft when you took it apart.
Was the pinion nut loose? If it was just loose and you do have a solid spacer then all you have to do is tighten the pinion nut back up to spec (add red loctite) and re-stake the nut. Reinstall the carrier, loosely insert the carrier bolts with the caps to align and make sure the adjusting nuts are seated properly in the caps (they should spin pretty easily) At this point use a dial indicator on the ring gear tooth to set backlash between the ring and pinion gears. Adjust the carrier toward and away from the pinion by spinning the two adjusting nuts on the outside of the bearings. It takes a bit of practice to get preload on the side bearings correct while maintaining backlash. You will notice when you tighten the caps the preload will go up. I would suggest doing it with somebody who has done it before so you get it setup properly. I like to put a bit of blue loctite on the 8mm bolt that holds the adjusting nut lock tabs in place.

 

[franken60]

You need to remove the carrier before you can remove the pinion. Loosen the bearing caps and remove the carrier. unbolt the pinion nut and the pinion will come out. Inspect the bearing surfaces for wear, If you are lucky you will have a solid pinion spacer in between the inner and outer bearing. I have seen some pinions with the spacer built into the pinion shaft itself. They are very strong.
If it is a crush sleeve then you will have to set it up. You should replace the seal before compressing the new crush sleeve. I use a bit of red loctite on the pinion in addition to the stake nut. If it is a solid pinion spacer then replace the bearings (if they are bad) and re-install the shim pack that came out off of the pinion shaft when you took it apart.
Was the pinion nut loose? If it was just loose and you do have a solid spacer then all you have to do is tighten the pinion nut back up to spec (add red loctite) and re-stake the nut. Reinstall the carrier, loosely insert the carrier bolts with the caps to align and make sure the adjusting nuts are seated properly in the caps (they should spin pretty easily) At this point use a dial indicator on the ring gear tooth to set backlash between the ring and pinion gears. Adjust the carrier toward and away from the pinion by spinning the two adjusting nuts on the outside of the bearings. It takes a bit of practice to get preload on the side bearings correct while maintaining backlash. You will notice when you tighten the caps the preload will go up. I would suggest doing it with somebody who has done it before so you get it setup properly. I like to put a bit of blue loctite on the 8mm bolt that holds the adjusting nut lock tabs in place.

Thanks! I'll look for someone to help out, I don't own a dial indicator.

 

[franken60]

Does anyone have the tool for setting wheel bearing preload for the late model for axle?

 

[stevebradford]

Yeah I do. I can lend it to you. also still have those 5 speed drive shafts. You got the rear shaft off good time for the 5speed swap!

 

[seapotato]

Is that lazy bastard still driving around with a 4 speed?

Yeesh. Hipsters.

 

[franken60]

Yeah I do. I can lend it to you. also still have those 5 speed drive shafts. You got the rear shaft off good time for the 5speed swap!

Awesome thank you! And I keep forgetting! That 5speed is slowly recieding into my storage locker. Not yet. Out of curiosity, what is the shaft length difference? My rear has a spacer at the axle flange

 

[stevebradford]

These are the measurements I have
Drive shaft lengths.
1985 - 1986 front 26-3/4" rear 42-3/8"

Did I hear you say you have a spacer in between the drive shaft and the front of the rear axle housing? I have never hear of that and wonder if that could have contributed to the pinion bearing failing. Course they all have enough k’s on them it’s not unexpected.

 

[franken60]

These are the measurements I have
Drive shaft lengths.
1985 - 1986 front 26-3/4" rear 42-3/8"

Did I hear you say you have a spacer in between the drive shaft and the front of the rear axle housing? I have never hear of that and wonder if that could have contributed to the pinion bearing failing. Course they all have enough k’s on them it’s not unexpected.

Ya, about 1" spacer. Possibly a driveshaft from an auto?

Unsure

 

[bikersmurf]

If it’s too much trouble, I’m sure someone else could make use of the five speed.

 

[franken60]

If it’s too much trouble, I’m sure someone else could make use of the five speed.

That very well might be the case

 

[Rigpig]

Sounds to me like those are "rabbits" in the making right there...
PS: when you do, hook a brother up!

 

[stevebradford]

I will start the bidding at 100$

 

[seapotato]

I opted not to get one of those when I ordered my bearings for the ff, because it looked too easy to make to waste 50 bucks on.

Being somewhat frugal may have influenced my decision.

 

[stevebradford]

I opted not to get one of those when I ordered my bearings for the ff, because it looked too easy to make to waste 50 bucks on.

Being somewhat frugal may have influenced my decision.

I though you got an older full float housing? So you have a 70 series of a late 42 series full float? The older housings use a standard shaped nut. You can even use the front hub nuts and star washer on a 40 series full float if you don’t care about the leaky axle seal nut.

 

[seapotato]

My 61 has the newer style.

I have the full kit to do it, but just haven't gotten around to it. It's on the list for the next block of time off.

Gotta give the old bitch some love before it gets jealous of the green thing and pitches a fit. The trouble with two cruisers. 40 year old lumps of iron throwing girlish tantrums.


With Lachlan's driveshafts, I seem to remember samurai's using spacers a lot. It's definitely not the best solution, it adds a lever to your pinion basically. Certainly won't increase it's life expectancy.

You can get an extra inch cheaply by using half of a minitruck slip yoke. If you have the round flanges it's easy to redrill for the different bolt pattern.