Rear Diff Swap

Hello Tundras.com,

I recently purchased a 2008 Tundra after a lengthy ownership of a 2004 4Runner. Unfortunately, my new to me truck has a bum rear wheel bearing and the short warranty coverage from the lot on the truck has declined to repair it (saying it's not a powertrain component, but is in the suspension, idiots!).

Anyway, I'm here because there are plenty of Tundras in the wrecking yard, and I'd like to know what years to look for when I go hunting for one. I know I need the 4.30 gears, but I also see that there are different part numbers depending on wheelbase. Does anyone know which years fit? I would guess I could go up to 2015?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Welcome. Why wouldn't you just replace the bearing? The last time I checked salvage yards sold the whole axle, the center diff, or each axle by themselves. I guess I could understand buying a used axle and swapping it out but even that will get you a used bearing that could last a month or 10 years. Are you planning on doing the work yourself? You could remove the axle yourself and bring it to a shop to have them remove the old bearing and press the new one onto the axle if you didn't have a press.

 

You sound like my neighbor. I went and picked him up and we headed down to the junkyard to see what I could scrounge up. I figured that if I could swap in a 2015 axle, I could deal with reconditioning mine later or shopping around for a shop to do the work when they are slow. Well, one junkyard had an axle off a truck with 200,000+ miles for $1500, so that's not happening! My neighbor called the auto machine shop he uses while we were driving home and asked if he would press new bearings on if we brought the shafts in, and he said absolutely not, but he referred us to someone who will do the work that's close by and who recommends using a replacement bearing from Timken.

I just ordered up all the seals for the job, are there any prevailing opinions on proper bearings to use? It looks like I can get another set of Koyos for $300, but I would spend more if there's something else out there. I suspect the Timken comment from the shop may be related to gen 1 trucks.

 

Well, I went and bought a 20 ton press, the dingle arm thing that the axle goes in, and a bunch of the random parts that need to be replaced while doing this job.

A bonafide rocket scientist is coming over on Friday to assist in doing the job, what could go wrong?

 

Maybe you'll have a rocket powered tundra by the time it's all said and done.

 

Or I'll end up floating in a big tin can in the middle of the ocean!

 

It's so easy to get the axle out!

I got this tool on Amazon and it works as advertised. To get it into the Harbor Freight 20 ton press, I had my helper cut out the bottom cross brace on the press and I replaced it with a pair of 2x6s that also bumped up the press height a little.

I went to my metal supplier and bought two pieces of steel structural channel and four pieces of tubing to act as spacers, then went to the bolt shop to get some bolts to slip through them. This let me make a work surface for the press that would come apart so I could get the press tool stuffed inside.

On Bleepinjeep's video, he talks about using some random scrap he had sitting around to use as a spacer when pressing everything back together. I used the race in the above photo on top of my arbor plates as said spacer and it worked great (the rocket scientist came up with this one). I also stared at that seal and wondered why I hadn't ordered one, then realized it fell out of the old bearing.

My rear end noises are now gone! (but we did have Thai food for lunch)

 

Well, at least that explains the growl.