On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 16:07:25 UTC Stacey ) wrote:

> > kindly wrote:
>
> > in rec.autos.4x4,
> > Stacey ) wrote:
> > >Thank you Ron. From what I understand newer cars (and even some 91's I
> > >guess) have an access panel on the diff so you don't have to pull it
> > >to check the conditiion. Now why couldn't my truck be designed like
> > >that? [...]
> >
> > IMHO, the toyota diff design is one of the best for easy changes. No, it
> > does not have a cover for easy inspectio, but the whole third member comes
> > out, this allows for fast swaps of gears if you have more then one third
> > member. All you have to do is slide the axels out a bit, take the drive
> > shaft off, and take the bolts out. A really easy process if you have done
> > it before. One guy I know has one that is welded for off-roading, and one
> > that is open like normal, he has the change down to about 20 min including
> > drain and re-fill of oil.
>
> Wow. Yes, the mechanic did say it was one of the easiest designs
> for removing the rear... but that you also had to do that to check it
> (like you say).
>
> IAC my Dad said there were not "tiny chunks" of metal after all --
> just silver dust that had made little clumps that looked like tiny
> chunks until you felt them.
>
> But if it comes to working on the rear end, (and even if it doesn't) I
> really like knowing what I've learned here. It's helped me
> tremendously. Thanks again to everyone.

Glad to hear it's the easy one to work on since I was sure what the
Toy used - I always liked Fords for that feature.

Just to make you feel a little easier, when wheel bearings (and I'm
pretty sure you have roller bearings, not the caged ball type) go,
they tend to spawl the surface of the rollers peeling off really thin
flakes while gears tend to chew off slivers big enough to jab a finger
nicely - poke the wrong place and the digit comes out looking like a
prickly pear and it takes some real doing to get all the stickers out.
If the dust was fine enough to feel more like a really fine grit or
powder, then it's probably spawl from the bearing you already found.

--
Will Honea >