I noticed some grease being flung from the left CV when I did the LBJs a year ago. It ceased the next day but I noticed it happened again a few days ago. I was all set to pay $300+ for OEM but between T4R.org and Timmy’s video I decided to go with a reboot instead. What could go wrong?
But to do this, I’d have to drain the front diff. At least I’d prefer to properly drain it instead of making huge mess when pulling the axles. Trouble is, I’d been unable to get the front diff drain plug since doing a 30k refresh 10 months ago.
On top of that, I’d found a torn outer wheel bearing seal when doing the UCA bushings and UBJs so I needed to replace that as well.
I also got new inner axle seals. Figured it’d be good to them while everything’s torn apart.
In there but good
I rounded this out several months ago. I’d tried heat and extractors with a 30″ breaker bar but couldn’t get the car high enough to be able to use the breaker bar. It somehow didn’t occur to me to sacrifice a 1/2″ ratchet if need be.
This time I went down a size in extractor bit, hammered it in there with a socket on it, gave it some heat for a couple minutes and used a new Chinese Craftsman 1/2″ ratchet with my jack handle as a cheater.
I also replaced both diff plugs with Lexus versions that have a hex head instead of the inset allen. Hopefully that’ll save me some headaches in the future.
What went wrong? After I got everything put back together it was dark. Using a flashlight after a test drive I saw the outer boot looked like it had grey grease in all the folds. But it didn’t look like grease when I tried wiping it off. After my panic subsided I looked at earlier pictures and noticed it was there from the start. Maybe just dust from sitting around the parts dept. Either way, I was good.
What I didn’t think about before replacing the diff plugs and refilling the fluid was that I’d now lose some fluid when I did the right side. Since the right side appeared fine I decided to put that reboot kit in the garage for a later date.
Front UCA Bushings, UBJs
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