Toyota 4WD Front-end Maintenance - Disassembly

Author: Scott Wilson - June, 2000

This section will guide you through disassembling the hubs down to the spindle. This section is important for any front end maintenance you will be doing. Begin by removing the wheels. If you have hubs you should now remove the 6 bolts with 10mm heads that hold the dial in place, and pull the dial off. Depending on when your truck was made you will either have a 12mm bolt in the end of the axle, or a c-clip on the axle, preventing it from pulling out of the hub. This bolt or c-clip should be removed. If you have ADD plates, remove the metal cap in the center of the plate, and remove the 12mm bolt behind it. If you have AUTO hubs click here for information on removing them.

Use a brass bar to remove the cone washers

Now remove the 12mm nuts and lock-washers holding the hub or ADD plate in place. The cone washers can be difficult to remove, especially if they have rusted. The best method is to use a brass bar and a HEAVY hammer. The brass bar will insure that you don't damage the threads on the stud. Don't be gentle with the hammer, it sometimes takes a lot of force to pop the cone washers loose. Once the cone washers have been removed, the hub can be pulled off the wheel hub.

2-17mm bolts hold the caliper

To remove the caliper, first remove the 2 bolts with 17mm heads bolts on the back side that hold it in place. The caliper can then be pulled off of the brake rotor. If you are trying to replace your brake pads, and do no other work than that, the pads can be changed without disassembling anything in the hub. Designs changed over the years, but you basically want to remove the thin wire or thin metal retainers, then slide the two pins that hold the pads out of the caliper. Once the pins have been removed the pads can simply be pulled out of the caliper.

A bungie cord can hold the caliper

Unless you are replacing the caliper it is not necessary to remove the brake line attached to it. Simply hang the caliper from a bungie cord (or other) and let it 'hang out' while you do the rest of the work you need to do.

Here's the order of removal

Once the hub is removed we can work on removing the wheel hub (with attached rotor). A 54mm socket is required to do this work. The pieces come out in the order you see pictured. 1)54mm nut 2)lock washer 3)54mm nut 4)flat washer 5)outer bearing.

Now the wheel hub can be pulled off the spindle

You can now remove the wheel hub from the spindle. Take hold of the wheel hub or rotor, and pull the assembly off of the spindle. If you have not yet removed the outer bearing, be careful it does not fall out as you pull the assembly off of the spindle.

Inner bearing seal

Once the wheel hub assembly is off of the spindle, remove the seal in the back of the wheel hub. A seal-puller is handy, but a screw driver can also be used to pry the seal out. Do not worry about damaging the seal, a new seal needs to be used when you reassemble the front end. Once the seal is out you will be able to remove the inner wheel bearing. Clean all the parts you have removed and inspect for wear. If the bearings and bearing races (located inside the wheel hub) look worn, discolored, or damaged they should be replaced.

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