Tundra/Tacoma Rear Lockright

Aside from welding up the spider gears and side gears, the Powertrax lockright is possibly the cheapest and easiest way to gain traction.  The pics below are from a Tundra installation, a Tacoma will be pretty much identical.

    Tundras and Tacomas have pretty much the same rear axle.  Tundras are just a bit wider.  Jack up the truck and secure with jackstands.

    Disconnect the driveshaft.  Match mark the splines in case the driveshaft comes apart.

    Drain the gear oil.  It's probably a good idea to make sure you can get the fill plug open before draining the gear oil.

    Disconnect the e-brake cable and brake lines.

    Unbolt the four axle flange bolts and slide the axle out a few inches.  Be careful with the seals.

    Once both axle shafts are out of the side gears, remove the third member. 

    Lockright parts ready to be installed.

    Break the four bearing cap bolts loose and remove them.

    Once the bearing cap is off, the carrier can be removed.  IMPORTANT!  Keep the shims separated.  If the shims get mixed up during re-assembly, the gears will no longer be set correctly and early failure is possible.

    Stick the carrier in a vice being careful not to damage the bearings.

    The ring gear bolts are really on there.  Use only 6 point sockets to avoid potential aggravation.

    Once the ring gear bolts are out, gently tap the ring gear off the carrier being careful not to damage the teeth.

    The cross shaft retaining pin is held in by slightly deforming the edge of the hole.  A 1/4" drill works well to clear the way for the pin.

    Once the retaining pin is out, the cross shaft can be removed.

    With the cross shaft out, the spider gears and side gears can be removed.

    Make sure to keep the thrust washers from the side gears and use them behind the lockright couplers.

    Use some grease to keep the pins in the drivers during assembly.

    Once everything is in place in the carrier, install the springs.  Be careful not to launch them across the garage in the process!

    Re-install the cross pin, retaining pin, and ring gear.  We heated the ring gear in the oven at about 200* to make it easier to get back onto the carrier.  Use locktite and torque the ring gear bolts properly.

    Bolt everything back up and take it for a test drive!

[ mike@toy4x4.net ]