81corolla

Everything is cleaned up and ready for epoxying.

81corolla

## Epoxying ring back into place

To avoid bending and weakening the tone ring again, I did not put the ring back into place without the epoxy.

I mixed up the epoxy (equal amounts) and applied it generously to the axle only. Then I put the ring on and rotated the ring a little to seat it.

From there slide over the 4” hose clamp and tighten it up. Use 1/4" socket instead of screwdriver to tighten. Clean up the extra epoxy on the end of the axle.

The epoxy I used was 5-minute Loctite Weld Bonding Compound. If there was a slower curing epoxy I’d use it instead. Things moved pretty fast during this step.

Let the epoxy sit overnight.

81corolla

In the morning I took off the clamp and had some cleaning up to do.

Around the break some epoxy found it's way between the gears of the tone ring. This is no big deal as an exacto blade easily scraped off any extra epoxy that oozed around.

The break in the ring was on a diagonal. Keeping the two ends square where they met was a challenge. They wanted to shear away from each other. In the end it didn't really matter as the sensor was seeing the teeth, not the pits. The photo shows the slight misalignment.

If I had to do it again I would have used a thinner hose clamp so I could see more of the ring. Or I might have use some toothpicks to push tone ring into place and keep the break lined up. Another suggestion was to use a piece of surgical rubber to tighten up the ring to give more visibility.

81corolla

## Reassembly

Clean the inside of the wheel sensor as it’s very easy to get to now. A small magnet can help get any metal shavings off the magnet.

81corolla

Apply some high temperature bearing grease to the spindle and axle and reinsert it carefully into the hub from underneath the car. You may need to turn the axle a little to make sure the spindles line up. Let the differential end sit on a block of wood.

81corolla

Start with the differential side. Line up the mark you made on the axle flange and differential. You can barely make it out in the photo but there's scratch marks just below center of axle.

Have differential axle bolts in the 3, 6, 9, 12 o'clock position. As you reassemble the axle you may need to turn the axle a little to get the holes on the flange to line up with the bolts.

Push the axle over the lug bolts just like you did when you removed it. Compressing the C/V joints gives you enough play to get the axle over the bolts.

I applied some no seize compound to each bolt and tightened them up (41 ft/lbs.) Don’t forget the washers.

You probably need to turn the axle 180 degrees to get to the other two bolts to tighten them.

81corolla

Now put the axle nut on and tighten it up.

The person I was working with suggested I "seat the axle." When the axle nut is snug hit the end of the axle lightly (where it pokes through hub) with a block of wood. As I understand it, this seats the axle as you're bumping the axle "in" but the axle "bounces" back and seats itself. Tighten again if necessary.

If you have a chum around, they can apply the brakes and you can torque the axle nut to 159 ft/lbs with the 30mm socket and breaker bar.

Put the wheel back on, tighten up the lug nuts and lower the vehicle. Tighten up the lug nuts. If you didn't have a chum around to apply the brakes, now you can tighten up the axle nut with the 30mm socket and breaker bar.

Truthfully I don't have a tool to measure that much torque so I just used the breaker bar. Point is, it should be tight! :-)

Discussion point: My gut tells me it's not good to put that kind of torque on the differential gear. That is, tightening the axle nut with the car in park, without brakes and raised. But I'm not sure what damage might occur. I don't think the ring gear will break and I don't think all that torque makes its way back to transmission. Anyway one manual says to have friend apply brakes, other one is silent on issue and just says to tighten to torque specs. Please discuss if this topic needs clarification.

81corolla

Put axle lock nut cap back on and install new cotter pin. If the lock nut cap fits over the axle nut but covers cotter pin hole then just rotate lock nut cap. The cap's flanges are offset so eventually it will align to reveal the hole. Inset photos give you idea of offset.

81corolla

## Testing

If you've disconnected the ABS in the engine compartment reconnect it.

I drove the car ~25 mph and placed the two passenger side wheels on the shoulder and hits the brakes hard. The ABS activated. I repeated the process with the driver's side wheels in the shoulder and ABS activated.

Obviously be careful of both oncoming traffic and any traffic behind you. I did this repair in a rural area and there were lots of berms and shoulders that were sandy or rocky so wheel slippage was easy.

81corolla

## Conclusions

In the end the job isn't too bad. You don't have to repair the reluctor ring. You can install a new or used C/V axle with a good reluctor ring on it. This would make the repair a whole lot easier.

Or you can order a new ring and install it using either epoxy or welding it in place.

Removing the front axle is probably a little different. If anyone does this for the front axle feel free to add photos.

81corolla

## Update

It was only a couple of days after the repair that I noticed the grinding chatter on the turn home. My heart sank as I knew the epoxy had probably failed.

A couple of days later, as the chatter got more common, I put it up on blocks, took off the axle nut and knocked the axle in to reveal the reluctor ring. Sure enough the epoxy couldn't hold the centrifugal force of the ring where the original break was.

I have several photos of the re-break. It was much worse than first. In fact, it was bad enough that the axle would not fit back into the hub as the reluctor ring was expanded and exceeded the circumference of the hub. I took the axle off to get the reluctor ring off.

81corolla

I've disabled the ABS for now. I'm debating my choices:

• drive with ABS disabled until C/V joint wears out and replace axle then
• install a new Toyota rear axle
  • part #42340-48011 for '99-'00
  • part #42340-48020 for '01-'03 (possibly same as '01-'03 Highlander)
  • left and right axles are interchangeable
  • unclear what axle differences are between years
  • best to call dealer, give VIN and ask for correct part #
• install a used Toyota rear axle
• purchase new reluctor ring and repeat the repair
• install a new cheap axle from a parts store. The rumor on the street is the cheap axles often are poorly machined and out of round so they shimmy easily.

Personally I think the epoxy would have held up with a new ring; no break for centrifugal force to weaken.

Another option is to spot weld the ring into place. I'd check with a welder first to see if they thought the weld bond would hold. Maybe for a new ring, not sure about a broken ring.

Sorry I don't have better news to report. I hope the writeup will encourage folks to try the repair themselves and contribute any tips from their experience.

Good luck.

81corolla

I did push in the front axle to verify the reluctor ring on the front wasn't broken. It really only takes about 15 minutes to check. Same process of removing axle nut and tapping axle out of hub.

Here I tap a screwdriver on ring to see if it rotates. Also put car in neutral and rotate axle by hand to visually inspect for breaks.

carguy07

Thanks for the write up and all the pics. Sorry that the epoxy did not hold. I wonder if it was just the heat from the brakes that made it fail. Metal and glue are always a tough to bond. It's a shame that those rings are such a ***** to fix. Almost makes you wish they were plastic and could just be snapped on and off. Let us know if you find a permanent fix. This is bound to happen to lots of us.

maxSteel

This is a great write up. Thanks much for all the details and photos.

I have had a new ring sitting on my desk for months waiting for me to get around to it.

It did not occur to me to disconnect the shaft at the differential. I was going to disconnect the hub and slide it off the shaft. I am really worried about breaking those old bolts though.

I'm pretty bummed about the outcome. Maybe a new ring will hold up better.