Inner wheel bearing stuck on spindle, tie rod help (1 Viewer)

[Murman]

First off I am resurrecting this 1971 FJ 40 for my older brother who just had a baby boy. This will be a surprise for him as he has no idea I am working on it. It was his daily driver in high school and as you would think it was sunk in the mud plenty of times. It has been sitting for 10 years and it needs a lot. I have been working on it for months doing little things here and there.
Bad thing is I can't ask my brother any questions that I have about it with it being a surprise. So I am looking to ya'll for help. This has a front disc conversion from what my research tells me is from just a newer FJ40 that came with disc brakes? Along with that the steering arms have been changed. And now except a tie rod with a bigger taper. Are these always changed when you do the disc conversion or do ya'll think he did that to add strength to the steering?

Finally to the issues I need help with:
Tore down front drivers side knuckle and the inner wheel bearing is stuck on the spindle. As far as I know it is not supposed to be this way. Does this indicate that something has failed? Also the axle shaft did not have the clip installed on the outside. And the clip that keeps the cv joint and the inner shaft together was not there either. (teenagers are not very smart lol) Could this be why the bearing is stuck on the spindle because there was side to side movement?

So what do I do about the wheel bearing?
And I have attached a picture of the tie rod that I am having trouble finding. The picture shows a factory tie rod next to the one that is on it. What should I do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

little bit of info on it.
1971 FJ40
4" lift 35" tires
350 conversion
3 speed factory tranny and t case
front disc brake conversion
warn locking hubs
no power steering (ugh)

 

[4Cruisers]

In the second photo, take a look at the steering arm (the one on the vehicle), at the end towards the back of the vehicle. Notice how it's been cut off. That's a Toyota mini-truck steering arm, from an early to mid-80s 4WD pickup. The FJ60 and mini-truck disc brake conversions are almost identical w.r.t. knuckle housings, Birfield joints, etc. One exception is the steering arm, that's a dead giveaway as to the conversion. When I converted my '71 FJ40 to disc brakes more than 20 years ago I used '84 or '85 mini-truck knuckles and Birfield joints, FJ60 vented rotors, and early '90s 4-Runner ('91 IIRC) IFS calipers. I used the FJ40 tie rods and TREs, and fabricated my own tapered shims to fit the FJ40 TREs into the mini-truck steering arms. Do searches here on MUD and Pirate4x4 for mini truck disc brake conversion. And BTW, that's a great present for your brother!

 

[reddingcruiser]

The missing c-clip is not the reason that the wheel bearing is stuck. Unless there are signs the bearing core has spun on the spindle and galled the surface, it's more likely rust. So, if you are creative you can try a press or puller to remove the bearing. Otherwise, remove the spindle and clean it up and put one of the spindle nuts back on the end to protect the threads, then firmly tap the end of spindle downward against a soft wood block resting on a firm surface, keeping the spindle square with the block, to see if the bearing will drop off or at least move. If you can get it to move then it will come off with a little extra effort.

When they are really stuck on I'll strip the cage and bearings off and heat the bearing core to expand it so it will come off, being careful not to transfer too much heat to the spindle.

I got a real stubborn bearing off by getting a piece of pipe just large enough to fit over the bearing core (minus the bearings and cage) and about 3" long and welded it to the core. Then I welded to two pieces of angle iron to opposite sides of the pipe, set it in my press resting on the angle iron, placed a piece of flat stock on the end of the spindle and pressed the bearing core off of the spindle.

 

[Murman]

In the second photo, take a look at the steering arm (the one on the vehicle), at the end towards the back of the vehicle. Notice how it's been cut off. That's a Toyota mini-truck steering arm, from an early to mid-80s 4WD pickup. The FJ60 and mini-truck disc brake conversions are almost identical w.r.t. knuckle housings, Birfield joints, etc. One exception is the steering arm, that's a dead giveaway as to the conversion. When I converted my '71 FJ40 to disc brakes more than 20 years ago I used '84 or '85 mini-truck knuckles and Birfield joints, FJ60 vented rotors, and early '90s 4-Runner ('91 IIRC) IFS calipers. I used the FJ40 tie rods and TREs, and fabricated my own tapered shims to fit the FJ40 TREs into the mini-truck steering arms. Do searches here on MUD and Pirate4x4 for mini truck disc brake conversion. And BTW, that's a great present for your brother!

Ok so I understand that I have mini truck steering arms thank you for that. On a search for 84 mini truck tie rods I can’t seem to find one that looks like this which is about 8-1/2” long. The new tie rod end in the picture next to it is a for a factory Fj 40. I also have a weird repair sleeve in the middle of the tube that goes from the passenger side tie rod to the center link. I don’t know if it was damaged and repaired or maybe made longer or shorter. The length of that tube without tie rods is about 27-1/2”. The tube that goes from side to side without tie rods is about 39”. So what is the deal with the repair sleeve and how do I find this the rod?
Options I see:
Make new length tubes and used tapered sleeves to work with the new fj 40 tie rods I already have.
Or make new tubes to work with mini truck tie rods.
Or am I dumb and someone has a bette idea?

 

[4Cruisers]

I can take some photos of my '71 FJ40 set-up in the morning, it's a little too dark now. Hoping my camera functions in the cold morning air tomorrow, it's supposed to get down to 22* F tonight .

 

[65swb45]

Looks like you inherited a cobbled together mini truck tie rod setup like @tdskip . I just got done setting him up with the correct components for his rig.

 

[tdskip]

@65swb45 - so you did! Steering is massively improved with the stock set up.

I haven’t had chance to read the whole thread yet but there is a lot of merit in getting it back to a stock set up.

@Murman - don’t assume that you need power steering. I assumed I would as well, and my rig is very similar to you were set up, it turns out the steering is totally fine without power assist.

 

[Murman]

Looks like you inherited a cobbled together mini truck tie rod setup like @tdskip . I just got done setting him up with the correct components for his rig.

Ok I have also found that there seems to be some broken off tie rods down in 2 of the ends. Maybe there is enough threads to install new tie rods but I’m not sure because I don’t have the correct new ones. Is there a kit out there that will replace these tubes and tie rods that work with the mini truck steering arms and factory steering box and factory center link?

 

[65swb45]

I have fully assembled tie rod assemblies on the shelf . Give me a call tomorrow and I will set you up. Contact information is in my signature line, visible on desktop devices and Apple products.