Rear axle housing mounting bolt torque

Hey folks,

Can someone verify a torque spec for me? I swapped my rear differential out and in the service manual I found the torque spec for the 4 mounting bolts on the back of the rear axle housing. It said 33 ft/lbs… Well, I either had two busted axle seals or that torque spec is wrong… because I had gear oil coming from the inner seals this morning after my first break in drive.




The nuts/bolts I’m talking about are the ones marked with my yellow marker to verify the nuts don’t move. In the manual I found them labeled as “rear axle shaft w/ backing plate to rear axle housing.”

For good measure I just swapped both rear axle o rings and the rear axle oil seals. When I pulled out the old ones I didn’t see anything particularly wrong… Maybe a little dirty?


Toyota p/n
90310-48003
90301-83002


If anyone has experience with this let me know. I torqued them to the same spec but I’m hesitant to drive until I verify my axle wasn’t just loose. I have some time as I need to bleed my brakes now. Swapping those seals was pretty messy. Thanks!

 

33 ft*lbf is correct. You either damaged your deals or it was just residual mess seeping out.

 

Looks like 27 ft*lb... but @tonered is good at this.

 

From FSM

 

Okay thank you guys. Maybe I overfilled? It’s the 8” rear without e locker. It’s something like 3-something quarts. I might have filled it so full that oil was shooting into the axle housings and giving me a false reading? I thought I nailed this install.


Could have been some janky seals. The truck sat with the seals exposed for 3 weeks.

 

It won't be from over filling. Pack it full, it's supposed to run down the axle tubes.

 

You got it, bud!

27 'Murican units.

 

It's possible the axle shaft running surface was scored (sand mixed with oil makes a nice grinding compound). Inspect that surface and polish out any scoring with fine emery cloth.

Make sure the axle tube cavity where the seal OD sits in is clean. If there's rust jacking, oil can get under the seal and leak out. Sand smooth with sandpaper if you see rust. Apply your favorite sealant to the seal OD before installation.

The O-ring is for protecting the wheel bearing against external contaminants. If the axle shaft seal is leaking, gear oil will get into the drum brake area, completely bypassing that O-ring.

 

Maybe check and make sure the breather on your diff isn’t plugged....

 

Wide open. It’s actually my 3rd one because everyone suggests that any time something goes wrong with my differential.

Well we have another problem. I appreciate everyone’s help — hopefully the seals are good. Unfortunately I just bled my brakes and now I have no brakes. The pedal goes all the way to the ground. I bled all 4 corners with the truck on so the vacuum works (I don’t have a brake booster; this is a base model). No air in the lines. Resi has been at decent levels and topped at each corner. Went through probably 7 oz of DOT3. Truck won’t stop unless I pound the pedal to the ground. It’s one thing after another here

 

I just looked at this area of my truck...this thread has good photos of area of concern.

Didn't see anything described in current recall...my truck is not on notice.

 

This is incorrect.

The 33 call out torque is Nm, it’s NOT lbs ft

the proper toque is 27 lbs ft

 

According to the service manual in post #4 you're incorrect - it is 33 lbs ft, plus with what you are saying 33Nm would equal 27lbft and it does not.

 

if you care to look at post three and post for their two different charts. Looks like you’re speaking of one and I’m speaking of the other

**My apologies….. I was quoting the chart from the other post. I just looked up the torque for the rear backer plate and you are indeed correct 33 pound feet

 

Is this supposed to be torqued to spec while truck is on ground or up off the ground?

 

When the dealer re-torques the axle nuts for the recall they do it with the truck on a lift. Also note that the 2022 and 2023 recall changed the torque spec to 41 ft. Lbs.

 

The slightest funkiness will jack up those axle seals…

they gotta be set in true, seated perfectly and a perfectly clean axle slid in perfectly straight.