[bestatchess]

The manual and a few pics are here: http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-faq-howto-area/123384-replacing-axle-seals-w-pics.html

You can buy shoes + hardware kit to do both sides at rockauto.com for about $60 (they have a 5% discount code in their section of the forum)

As far as adjusting, I just adjusted the star (with a screwdriver) until I could barely get the rotor back on.

I found needle nose vice grips to be essential for my primitive method.

 

[bestatchess]

I moved to right side and when I popped the right rotor The entire parking brake area was covered in some kind of fluid or grease it was very black:huh:. My concern was the fluid or grease on the parking brake shoes. On the shoes themselves it was kinda caked on and seemed more like grease than diff fluid. I was wondering when I was lubing everything in the brakes did I get carried away and put to much caliper grease somewhere and it get sucked into the P-brake shoes. Or is the seal leaking already:crying:

I am 99.99% sure that nobody is retarded enough to use enough brake grease to grease the parking brake shoes. So there is a very high probability that it is gear oil contaminating the brake shoes. Since it is caked on, rather than oily (currently leaking), it sounds to me like the dealer did a lousy job on the last seal replacement and did not replace the brake shoes.

Also should I put the factory breather(still brand new) back in when I bring it in or leave the axle mod vent in place????

Yeah, if you want to be in the best possible position to do battle with the dealer.

Also could the axle mod do anything to cause this.

Only if the vent line gets plugged or maybe you used a filter with a check valve.

Did I need to put any kinda sealant on the threads on the Toyota part??

A little Permatex thread sealant woudn't hurt, but make sure not to clog the nipple.

 

[bestatchess]

Even with no breather at all and it had a plug...should the seal have lasted more than 734 miles?????

If it is plugged, it has to vent somewhere. Available options include axle seals and pinion seal.

I did not think I got carried awy with the grease but was just wondering if it was possible??

If you get 10,000 monkeys and put them to work doing brake jobs, probably eventually one of them will get brake grease on the parking brake shoes. As far as sane humans go, they are putting a small amount of grease on the caliper slide pins (encased in a rubber boot and far remote from the brake shoes) and a small amount of grease on the pad slide rail (outside of the rotor and far remote from the parking brake shoes) and a small amount on the skids for the parking brake shoes (remote from the friction surfaces of the shoes). If they are just changing rotors/pads following the how to thread, they may not even think to grease the parking brake shoe skids. So no, as a practical matter, I think it is essentially not possible.

 

[bestatchess]

The parking brake shoes can be adjusted with out removing the rotors. Just adjust the 'star' wheel inside the rotor/drum assembly, while rotating the rotor, keep adjusting until you feel a slight drag on the rotor while turning it. Then back off the adjusting star 1-2 clicks.

Unfortunately not. There is no access slot or hole, so you can't turn the star wheel w/o removing rotor.