It's a record, but!!!!

[M35A2]

Well the head went near the end of Feb, and job done 1st week in March. Since then not so much as a sniff of a problem on the truck. I was only thinking the other day that this must be a record, for my Surf at least, to go nearly 5 months without a problem. I even saw that programme the other night about that Afghanistan treasure, and there was a few Surfs there, doing the rounds off road and thought that they probably hardly get any maintenance.

Then today I walked up to the truck in the company car park and noticed grease on the inner O/S front wheel arch. OH NO I said to myself. I knew what it was immediately.

Bl00dy inch long split on the outer rubber drive shaft gaiter on the inner side right by the metal band. Bollo*ks

So the honeymoon is over and I'm now back to the normal reliability issues. Fair dues though, it does look like they are original gaiters and the truck is 13 years old.

So now I'm going to order both the inner and outer gaiters on BOTH sides and do the job in a few weeks when I'm off work. I'm also going to order some new brake discs and pads and fit them too. Hopefully this will solve the shuddering under braking that I've had since owning the truck. I will re-pack the bearings and get the front end sorted.

I've noticed some largish bolts and nuts on the inner side of the drive shaft where it comes out of the axle casing. I presume I undo these and pull the drive shaft out? Do I need to replace the oil seal in the actual axle casing, like you would in a front wheel drive car??

Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[stormforce]

when i done my inner gaitor i took out the 6 bolts your on about and that casing will then slide of the shaft when you got the room.You will then need a circlip removal tool to get the circlip off the end of the spider but mark the spider and shaft so it goes back in the same place.
I don't know if the shaft will pull out from the hub at all as i never wanted to try it

[M35A2]

when i done my inner gaitor i took out the 6 bolts your on about and that casing will then slide of the shaft when you got the room.You will then need a circlip removal tool to get the circlip off the end of the spider but mark the spider and shaft so it goes back in the same place.
I don't know if the shaft will pull out from the hub at all as i never wanted to try it

Cheers Richard.

Looking at the set up, it looks to me like the output shaft from the axle casing stays put and the drive shaft is attached via those 6 bolts. Remove the bolts, pull back and shaft will come out leaving the circular flange with the 6 holes in place???? Am I right?? If this is the case, then I wont have to replace the axle casing output shaft oil seal.

As the gaiters gone I may as well change the lot, as the others can't be far behind. They are all showing signs of cracks in the rubber, some quite deep.

Apart from circlip pliers (which I've got) do I need any other special tool? How are those metal bands secured? I'm going to order genuine Toyota parts, inc the brake discs and pads.

Cheers

[stormforce]

Cheers Richard.

Looking at the set up, it looks to me like the output shaft from the axle casing stays put and the drive shaft is attached via those 6 bolts. Remove the bolts, pull back and shaft will come out leaving the circular flange with the 6 holes in place???? Am I right?? If this is the case, then I wont have to replace the axle casing output shaft oil seal.

As the gaiters gone I may as well change the lot, as the others can't be far behind. They are all showing signs of cracks in the rubber, some quite deep.

Apart from circlip pliers (which I've got) do I need any other special tool? How are those metal bands secured? I'm going to order genuine Toyota parts, inc the brake discs and pads.

Cheers

i found the original bands a pain in the arse to fit back on so i used a jubilee clip in the small end and joined a couple of cable ties together for the large end.

When you undo the 6 or 8 bolts and take the gaitor off of the large end you will see how easy the casing will slide off.The casing is like an open can so when the shaft is lowered enough you should be able to slide the casing off of the shaft easy.The actual 4wd mechanism is the engine side of the 6 or 8 bolts.You shouldn't have to replace any seals at all when the bolts are removed unless they are already leaking.Once you undo the bolts you'll see how easy it seperates.
I'm not that good at explaining how to do it but once the one end is off i reacon you can slide the outer gaitor on first and then the inner gaitor so you shouldn't have to take the shaft off of the hub

[M35A2]

i found the original bands a pain in the arse to fit back on so i used a jubilee clip in the small end and joined a couple of cable ties together for the large end.

When you undo the 6 or 8 bolts and take the gaitor off of the large end you will see how easy the casing will slide off.The casing is like an open can so when the shaft is lowered enough you should be able to slide the casing off of the shaft easy.The actual 4wd mechanism is the engine side of the 6 or 8 bolts.You shouldn't have to replace any seals at all when the bolts are removed unless they are already leaking.Once you undo the bolts you'll see how easy it seperates.
I'm not that good at explaining how to do it but once the one end is off i reacon you can slide the outer gaitor on first and then the inner gaitor so you shouldn't have to take the shaft off of the hub

Nice one. Cheers Richard.