How to Remove Rear
3rd Member from
This write-up is provided solely for reference purposes. Any modification or maintenance that you do to your vehicle is not the responsibility of All-Terrain Armor. Work done to your vehicle is done AT YOUR OWN RISK!
This write-up shows how to remove your rear 3rd member for installation of a locker or new gears. This was performed on a ’94 Toyota Pickup, but the process is very similar for any Toyota Tacoma, Pickup, or 4Runner rear axle.
1. Place rear axle securely on jack stands (chock front tires), remove rear tires, and drain differential fluid. Be sure to remove the fill plug before removing the drain plug so that you know you will be able to fill it back up.
2. Next, disconnect brake line (green), e-brake cable (blue), and 4 bolts (red) from the backing plate on the rear drum.
3. Once those are removed, you can simply pull the axle shafts out of the housing. Be sure not to pull the shafts partially out and let them rest on the axle seal because it will ruin your seal. If you are replacing an axle seal, this is the time to do it.
4. Disconnect the rear driveshaft from the pinion flange and remove nuts around the perimeter of the 3rd member. Some trucks may have a rear abs sensor on the top of the differential. This will have to be disconnected as well.
5. With axle shafts removed and everything disconnected from the differential, you can pull the 3rd member straight out from the housing. Be careful because it is heavy! Place it on a piece of wood or cardboard to work on it.
Removing the Carrier from the 3rd Member
This
differential from an 8”
This is where the process changes for the 8.4” axle found in newer 4Runners and Tacomas. There are simply shims on the ends of the carrier instead of the spanner setup. These do not need to be marked but you must make sure to keep track of which side is which!
6. Use a punch to mark the location of the spanner (green arrow) relative to the 3rd member by making a mark in the spanner and a mark next to it on the 3rd member housing. With this marked and the backlash checked, you can remove the brackets holding the spanners in place (blue arrow). Now unscrew the spanners, counting how many rotations until they are out. Write this number down for each side because it is crucial in reassembling the carrier correctly. Then you can remove the 4 bolts holing the carrier into the 3rd member (red arrows).
7. At this point, you can simply pull the carrier out of the 3rd member. BE SURE TO KEEP TRACK OF WHICH SIDE IS WHICH FOR ALL PARTS! This is extremely important when reassembling the carrier into the 3rd member!
8. If you are installing a locker or limited slip device, you would then take apart the carrier to replace the internal spider gears. This is the reason we removed this 3rd member but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of that part, but the instructions that come with your locker should be very clear how to remove the spider gears and install the locker assembly.
Reassembly
9. To reassemble, place carrier assembly back in 3rd member housing. Bolt in the brackets that hold the carrier in the 3rd member. Screw the spanners back in the same number of rotations that they were removed on each side so that they are aligned with the marks that you made. This will align the carrier in the same location it was in before. Check backlash to make sure that the carrier is in the correct position.
10. Follow steps 1-6 in reverse to install 3rd member back in the axle. Fill the differential with appropriate fluid and if needed, bleed the brakes. If installing a locker, change the fluid again after about 500 miles.
This write-up is provided solely for reference purposes. Any modification or maintenance that you do to your vehicle is not the responsibility of All-Terrain Armor. Work done to your vehicle is done AT YOUR OWN RISK!