Topic: How to remove IFS diff side shafts

[Brenjen]

How the H-E- double hockey sticks do you get the snap rings off the intermediate & side gear shafts to extract said shafts from the diff?

I can't SEE the snap rings so I'm guessing they are recessed into the spider gears?

I've pushed & pulled & wiggled & spun the carrier & the spider gears & both shafts thinking they might be visible if I held my mouth just right but I'm stumped.

The FSM says the snap rings are there & jumps right to pulling the shafts with SST's & doesn't mention how to remove the snap rings like it's either A: obvious as heck & I'm just missing it or B: the SST's pull the shafts with the snap rings intact - (not sure how the heck that would work without mangling something)


This is the stock ADD front diff w/ factory 4.88 gears btw


P.S. I thought for sure I could just hammer out the pin holding in the pinion shaft & badda-bing badda-boom; I'd have enough room to push the shafts in so I could see & then remove the snap rings holding the shafts in the spider gears....no such luck.

[Brenjen [OP]]

Disregard this. I found the info I needed on Zuk's simple yet life saving site - http://www.gearinstalls.com/ifsinstall2.htm


Took all of 10 seconds to get them out once I knew they could be wedged out w/o damaging them.

[Rocksurfer]

Just in case someone actually searches and gets this thread the best way to get those axles out is to place a piece of 2x4 wood on the inside of the axle flange and hit it with a hammer until it pops out.

[Brenjen [OP]]

A large screwdriver or chisel between the pinion shaft & the end of the side shaft as shown in the link from Zuk's site worked fine too & it only took a couple seconds.

Getting them back in is more tricky apparently!  I shattered both c-clips doing what the FSM said to do; a Toyota tech was standing in the parts lobby when I went a few minutes ago to order two new ones & he said the trick is to put the clip on & use grease to hold it with the open end down & don't let it droop & give it a whack. He said they break them all the time.

[Rocksurfer]

Hmm, I've never had an issue popping them back in but I do get  new clips every time I take them out and I do grease them heavily. I use the same method that I use to remove them but I place the 2x4 flat against the flange and then just lightly hammer them back. This also works when you hyper extend the axles and pop them out on the trail.

[Brenjen [OP]]

The 2x4 flat against the gear (& flange on the other side) was how I tried it & I broke both clips. It looked like the clip hung down & got sheared off.  I need to grease it more heavily to hold it centered I think.

[Plekto]

Note - a plastic bag or thin towel draped over it helps a lot - since the pieces tend to go flying.

[Brenjen [OP]]

I didn't have anything go flying....but I could have used a plastic bag over my left foot when I removed the ADD vacuum switching mechanism. I forgot oil would drain out even though I had already drained the diff & got a shoe full. Lucky for me I wear an old pair of lazy mans house shoes (bedtime slippers) & no socks while I'm kicking around fiddling with stuff. It was a nasty feeling mess but I didn't ruin a pair of leather new balance shoes either lol