NAPA HD CV Upgrade

For hwy driving the Tundra is more comfy and smooth. It also has far more power than the Jeep (4.0L). They are different animals. Jeep build is still pretty nice on the hwy and has a/c, not bad on long trips. Now that I have the Tundra I prefer it for long trips. Offroad... there is no comparison, Jeep TJ wins... bigly. The double wishbone Tundra is my highway star, hands-down. I just get frustrated working on it because I'm used to working on solid axle setups. I'm learning and warming up to it. You guys have helped me TONS along the way. Fun journey so far.

 

I have the standard ones. They suck. I know a few people running the HDs on the tacomas and 4runners. Those seem ok.


They’re splines on the shaft to allow more articulation than just the birfeilds

 

Yeah. Iirc SurfSpearsMex axles went south on him once he crossed the border and since Mex hasn’t a NAPA he was scrambling to find a new pair asking someone to drive them to him in exchange for a free boat tour.

 

Ya - IFS is for driving. This is why I take the Toyota to the store. The Ford has a nice solid front axle, leafs, and will pull a house down. But, it also rides and has the turn radius of a box truck and will not fit in my garage. The Toyota will also fit in almost any space in the city garages - there are maybe 20 or 30 spaces for full size trucks and they are always full.

There's a reason that they are all IFS now, 99.9% of people never use any of these trucks off road (well, intentionally).

1st Gens aren't that wide - I imagine you could swap in a reverse Ford 9in, although a different vehicle would be cheaper in the end.

 

What is the issue with them?

 

Haven’t done one in the Tundra, but ran a NAPA HD on my Tacoma. HDs are good, use TPR boots so should be comparable to stock.

Just avoid the neoprene boots if possible, they don’t seem to last as long.

 

The standard one I have is just inferior to the oem by design and binds

 

You get the new or the remans?

 

wooooooooooooooo!
Gonna shy away from those OEs. I'll probably end up getting the NAPA HDs and the ECGS bushings recommended by @FirstGenVol. I'll update when I pull the trigger. Doesn't look like the install is terribly difficult.

 

Questions: Are these these three things that I need from ECGS? https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/c-1207130-toyota-clamshell-bushings-99-06-tundra.html
Plus.... a couple seals like this?

$9 National 710596 Axle Shaft Seal

https://www.amazon.com/National-710...33------------&vehicleName=2000+Toyota+Tundra

Am I on the right track?
Help me spend more $$

 

Always. Toyota. Seals. Always.

 

I'm hoping ECGS is sending me OEM seals. paid a little extra out of convenience for theirs so it would arrive with my bushing.

 

You know it brah.

 

What exactly did you order?

 

No ragrets.

 

Ordered the Clamshell 7.5 bushing for the driver's side for $60, and the axle shaft seal from them for $22. Sprinkle in some shipping cost as well.

 

Let me know if they sent you an OE seal... I'll be ordering within the next week or so.

 

Conclusion: Dorman replacement inner CV boot - $23
I decided not to replace/upgrade my axles. They are functioning well, just a torn inner boot. I thought a CV upgrade would be a good idea and a fun project but it's just not necessary. When it becomes necessary I'll dew it.
From what I understand, thanks to this thread, the NAPA HDs aren't any better or worse in functionality than most CVs. They incorporate a stronger/more flexible boot which is less prone to tearing... granting them "greater articulation" as NAPA advertises "for stock or lifted trucks". That's not a huge CV upgrade for what they charge for those CVs ($200+ each).
So I'm just gonna clean it up, slap that Dorman boot on, pack it with grease and call er good fer now. I'll be keeping a keen eye on all four boots. Catch em early and.... no harm-no foul. Truck is on the lift every week or two for something or other anyway.

 

For future reference Toyota sells a really nice boot replacement kit with all the grease and clamps.

 

Conclusion to the conclusion:

Pulled the axle, pretty easy.
2021-04-15_06-16-13 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

Removed inner boot and separated inner bearing assembly.
2021-04-15_06-20-32 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

Washy washy inner bearing assembly. Dawn only... no petroleum-based cleaners.
2021-04-15_06-24-02 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

I won't lie, pain in the arse... it took me a couple of hours to extract all of the grease then rinse and dry it. Obviously not dry in this pic, air compressor helped a lot for the drying process.
2021-04-15_06-26-51 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

I crafted this grease extraction tool from a wooden dowel. Worked well for getting grease out of all the inner bearing cavities.
2021-04-15_06-30-10 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

New boot from NAPA came with a pre-measured grease pack. New bands installed with this handy crimper thingy. Done deal, reinstall of the axle was easy.
2021-04-15_06-31-32 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

 

You aren't the first person that says replacing a boot sucks. Looks unpleasant. Thanks for sharing.

 

The only sucky part was cleaning out that bearing assembly. Messy and time consuming.

 

I didn't lose any front diff oil when I pulled that axle assembly and think something should have spilled out when I removed it. I haven't checked that level since I got the truck but its been on my list. I don't know its history so I'd like to remove and replace whatever gear oil is in that front diff.

Question: Looks like an allen plug on the front of the diff. What size allen-wrench fits into that plug?

 

That's a 10mm allen wrench.

 

Thank you! Looks to be pretty froze in there. Gonna give it the PB treatment, don't wanna strip it. Kinda difficult access.

 

Yeah, I wish you luck getting it off. If it doesn't come off you can try siphoning out the old fluid from the fill plug.

I tried to get mine off recently, but it is frozen for good. Dealer was the last one to touch it before that. I'll have a diff shop repair it when I regear.

 

I have doubts that I'll be able to remove it. Not enough room to get an impact wrench in there or I'd be more optimistic. Where is the fill plug located? I just assumed that plug was the fill plug.

 

facing the passenger side on the side of the case if I remember correctly?

 

Scratch that. appears to be on the front of the case facing the front bumper