Best Gen-ECGS bushing tool

I really thought it would be the wheel bearing, and it could be. But the stethoscope don't lie. The only noise I hear is what sounds like small metal pieces getting squished around right at the union of front CV axle and front differential. No noise from the boot area (once I Armor All'ed it to make the rubber stop squeaking), No noise from the wheel bearing, and zero play at the tire any direction. All bearings on the truck are factory with 21 years and 260k miles on them, could certainly be a wheel bearing, just not diagnosing that way.

 

Bushing ordered, ordered the new axle seal from ECGS as well. About a C-note delivered. Looking forward to not feeling the grinding under my feet and hearing the noises when driving. Hopefully don't have to follow this with a new wheel bearing as well.

 

That was fast. Good news on the axle seal from ECGS, factory OEM Toyota Motor Corp. made in Japan replacement.

 

Thank you @FrenchToasty for the tool loan! I'm headed in to replace this bearing, wish me luck! I'll giver her an oil change and tire rotate while I'm in there. Then I'll probably be so proud of her I might *gasp!* wash her. for the first time this year

 

Take some pics, I wanna see how the bearing replacement goes. Good luck!

 

All done. Good news, the job was pretty straight forward and made possible with the loaner tools from @FrenchToasty .
Bad news, it did not fix the problem. Still got the wuh wuh wuhs. Next project is CV axle shake down, and then likely wheel bearing replacement, although other than the noise, I have zero wheel bearing symptoms. No play in the bearing and no noise from the bearing when spun. Puzzling. The needle bearing in the front diff likely needed replacement anyway due to the amount of play in the CV axle at the bearing.

 

Had to remove the wheel spacer / center cap combo, then the duct cap and axle nut.



I was rolling solo, so I needed a hand with the brakes while I broke the lugs and the axle nut loose. A sawzall case wedged between the seat and brake pedal worked.


Side note: lug on the left is for the wheel to spacer. The lug on the right is the deep shank lug for the spacer to hub where the factory studs are so short.


Back of the spindle / hub assembly. Does that seal look right? seemed to be some loose thready bits of rubber in there when I took it apart. Like some of it had broken down

 

Tool with magnet used to align it inside the diff


Rag stuffed into opening to keep from losing the puller back plate. My beautiful Royal Purple fluid leaking out.


Rear back plate positioned inside the diff behind the bearing

 

Tool in action


Bearing removed



New bushing with insertion tool


Flat side out


exposed bushing sleeve side in


Rolling solo, had to get some arm extension to reach up to the diff from below



After many strikes with a BFH, the new bushing was seated. Had a nice dull thud once it was fully seated.


Seal removed, you can see the lubrication holes

original seal had a metal ring around it.



New seal placed using the 2" PVC that came with the loaner tools. Truly a full meal deal, thanks again @FrenchToasty

 

Amount of diff fluid that leaked out, the truck was leaning towards the drivers side because the jack stands are a little short from floor to frame. The pan was dirty before (keep it outside) Fluid looks dark, cause it's purple.



Had some left over from before, so I used it to refill the diff



10mm allen wrench to remove the fill plug on the diff




Found some wetness at the bellhousing. Appears to be leaking out of the small weep hole in the bell housing cover. What's the likely culprit here? (please don't say rear main seal). It doesn't drip, and may live the rest of it's life out without repair if it's not easily serviceable.

 

Nice job @KNABORES! Will be useful in the future.

 

Super good write-up @KNABORES, THANK YOU!!!

 

Nice work and pictorial walk through. Bummer on the noise still present. Might be the Wheel Bearing. My driver rear bad (you could hear it) but presented no other ‘classic signs’ other than noise.

 

When the noise started, I was sure it was wheel bearing. But I don't get any other signs when the truck is up off the ground. Could be dry in there after all this time, but not worn out yet. I'm also suspicious of the CV axles which are relatively new. Has anyone else had rumbling or roaring noise from a bad CV?

 

Guess this might be a candidate for my mysterious drive line vibe nobody can find. I-joints, carrier bearing have all been done. Checked to make sure driveshaft is “in phase”.

shows up between 35 and 45 mphs almost like truck studders

thoughts?

 

Does it disappear in 4wd? That’s the tell tail sign of the needle bearing taking a dump

 

@FrenchToasty cant say for sure, I’ll have to try and see then report back

 

Am I the only one that has a really hard time getting the cv axle back in? I watched the youtube videos where they hit the pry bar one or to times and it pops in, but last time I I fought with it for over half an hour. Is there a trick I'm not using?

 

I haven’t had any issues and I’ve pulled mine twice, per side. I make sure the splines are in/lined up, and use the cv itself as a slide hammer, usually only takes a few bumps. Also make sure the C clip opening is facing the ground

 

I'll bet that's my problem. I read somewhere about a part facing the ground, but couldn't see anything. Thanks!

 

Even getting a little assembly grease on the clip to help it stay up in the relief better when your trying to slide it past the first bump. Again I use the weight of the cv to bump itself in with a few slide hammer motions, it’s definitely not easy, but it’s not bad either

 

Mine just popped back in. The video I watched mentioned pointing the open end of the C-clip down for easier insertion. Worked great for me as well. I was also looking for it to be flush with the front diff housing, but there's a slight gap between them.

 

No I had the same issue and wrote about it back in May. I literally thought it wasn't going to go in. I eventually got it back in by lightly twisting it while tapping it and it popped back in. Something must not have lined up correctly.

 

Same here. I kept hammering wondering why it wouldn't go flush. I realized that gap has to be there otherwise the axle would rub the diff housing as it spins.

 

That gap on the Import Directs compared to OEM CVs is huge.

 

Just make sure you don't push the seal in with it - I'm still dumbfounded why they didn't put a lip to stop the seal (im assuming bc the diff is a crossover to/from another vehicle with a different scenario) or just make a damn thicker seal that sits all the way inside against the housing when pressed all the way in. I had to hammer mine in pretty well the first time to get it to seat but I was doing it myself - it leaked like a b!tch bc it pushed the seal in too far.
Second time I had my dad help me and it popped right in with very little effort, both times I had the gap on the ring facing down, just better luck I guess.

 

Today I noticed my upper CV boot on the driver's side tore sometime recently. I really need to fix this before I make the 7 hour trip to Denver this Sunday. Should I throw in an ECGS bushing while I'm in there. No weird noises right now coming from my front end, other than my LCA bushings but that's for another day.

 

If you compare the pictures of the difference in width (surface area for the inner axel shaft to contact) between the oem needle bearing and the ecgs sleeve it's a no-brainer to me. I replaced mine bc I had it all apart when my cv axle was shot and the swap itself was probably the easiest part of the job overall.

 

I'm thinking yes... I'll be putting the ECGS bushing in when I replace the LH-side CV soon.

 

Thanks @KNABORES for getting the tool back and the 6 pack was the icing on the cake!!! I really appreciate the other doo-dads you sent! But I really like your addition to the seal driver! Cheers!