I was adjusting my parking brake on my 2001 SR5 4WD to get it to pass inspection last weekend when I noticed some black "grease" on the rotor face between the rotor and wheel, as well as plenty within the parking brake when I adjusted the star nut. My suspicion is that this is a mixture of brake dust and gear oil from the diff, indicating that my axle seal is leaking. I have done some research and it appears that replacing the wheel bearings is a PITA, requiring splitting retainers and the ABS tone ring and a bunch of hastle with the parking brake assembly, as well as tools I don't really have. If I have caught it early, is it possible to just replace the axle seal and O-Ring by pulling the hub and axle out of the axle tube as one unit? or do I have to remove and replace the tone ring, retainer, and possibly the wheel bearing? if I have to go that far, I would likely have a shop do it, but I am trying to save for a wedding. At the end of the day I will pay what it takes to keep the thing running, as buying a new-ish vehicle isn't really an option, and i feel like it has lots of life left even at 250k.
I really appreciate any feedback or advice anybody could offer, as there aren't many resources for the toyota rear axles with disk brakes, which seem to be quite different from the systems used for the vehicles with drum brakes.
I really appreciate any feedback or advice anybody could offer, as there aren't many resources for the toyota rear axles with disk brakes, which seem to be quite different from the systems used for the vehicles with drum brakes.