Build 1978 FJ40. Waking up the ol’ girl!

[65swb45]

My daughter spent a few hours working with me today. Turned her loose disassembling the right front. I like to give her jobs and let her figure it out...helping if needed. Usually she does a really good job. She was a bit hard on a brake line! Dang it! Good lesson for us both. Guess I’ll be looking for a new one!

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Was she using a line wrench? I see a lot of those lines damaged from tow truck drivers who put the grappling hooks on the axle without checking first. Whenever a truck comes into the shop on the hook I always walk out and peek at the front axle before they lower it. On a number of occasions I’ve told the driver “You owe my customer a brake line.”

Funny story about those rotors. My first trip to the East Coast to attend the Fall Crawl, Lance had just put in a rock garden at Iron Pig Off Road. Cam Beasley had his FJ62 buggy on the pile and let me play around with it. All of a sudden they yelled at me to stop and they were all staring at the buggy incredulously : the brakes had stopped, but the tire was still turning!

They took the truggy back over to the shop and mulled it over. Said it wasn’t possible, that the tire should have fallen off. When I told them it was possible, they all looked at me as if I was nuts. I explained to them that if the tru had been repaired on the trail, someone could have replaced the FJ62 hub, with the thru-bolted rotor, with an earlier FJ40 hub with the floating rotor.

It was a collective aha moment for them.

 

[EStein]

She was using a line wrench!! Apparently she didn’t see that the brake line was turning as well and she basically turned it into a piece of yarn! Mark, do you stock them?

I got the rotor drama figured out! Jeez! Every day is a new lesson. Can’t wait to get out there in the morning though!

 

[EStein]

Well the day started like this...

 

[EStein]

And ended like this....

 

[DangerNoodle]

And ended like this....

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Lookin good! Birf rebuilds are always fun.

 

[Texas Navy]

Lookin good! Birf rebuilds are always fun.

Fun? Maybe. Rewarding? Heck yes. Great job. I've been following both your threads as I start to re-engage on my 1978 FJ40. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[EStein]

I was just thinking tonight that it’s gonna be a miracle if this all works when it’s back together. I think it’s right!! I used a couple YouTube videos and just had it playing as I went along. Had to take apart the Warn hubs a couple times after having them mounted and buttoned up because of extra parts left over! Hate that. Also one of the calipers didn’t fit. Had to put on my mask and gloves and head down to O’Reilly‘s and get another one. Same model number...different size… They said it was a bad cast. Whatever. Yeah, made in China.

When I took apart the Warn hubs initially, there was no C clip on the axle on one side. The other side had it. Its the one that sits right on the end of the axle and keeps the hub in place. I will try to order one from Warn but is it absolutely critical? I was watching a video on YouTube about taking apart the hubs by Jayson on the 40channel. He had one missing as well. Attaching a picture to show my bad explanation.

I put a bolt in the end of the shaft to pull it out a little bit to get to the groove after having about 20 minutes of panic that there was no groove for the C clamp to seat. Had all sorts of thoughts going through my head that I did something wrong. Then the lightbulb went on.

 

[EStein]

Lookin good! Birf rebuilds are always fun.

Well I have to say it was kind of fun but only because I’ve never done it before. The next one will not be fun! I’m not even sure it will be rewarding! . But I was able to justify getting some new tools! That’s always a bonus.

 

[DangerNoodle]

Fun? Maybe. Rewarding? Heck yes. Great job. I've been following both your threads as I start to re-engage on my 1978 FJ40. Thanks for the inspiration!

I didn't really think anyone was following my build, thats cool! I was a lottle sarcastic there, but the rebuilds are rewarding to do.

 

[65swb45]

The c clip is a Toyota part, and is available from the dealer. Your carb left this morning, or I would have gladly comped yo one in the box.

And no, I don’t stock the metal brake lines. I used a set of SORs lines on the SA beast and they worked fine. Once you see them, you’ll wonder if you should have bought the whole kit. Don’t wonder. The ones that cross the firewall are not plug and play.
I also recently installed a set from Classic Tube on Project Remote Control. They weren’t plug and play either.

 

[EStein]

Thanks Mark. I was actually thinking of just buying one of those full replacement kits. Probably don’t need it though. I will just source the two along the axle. looking forward to getting the carb!

 

[numby]

Worked on the front knuckles today. Taking longer than I’d hoped but I’m figuring it out. Fiddled with getting the axle in for 30 minutes. Walked away for awhile. Came back and tried again and it slipped right in! . Had to add a couple small shims. Initial preload was 15 lbs or so. Got it to 7-8 lbs. Just trying to keep my mind off things. Weird times....

Really hate to add this in so late....

If you added new knuckle shims to correct your knuckle bearing preload then you'll need to re-center the knuckle to keep the inner axle shaft rotating cleanly and prevent leaks of diff fluid into the knuckle cavity. This requires a Toyota specific SST. You can usually borrow one from a Mud member. Probably not a big deal If you matched (or reused) the original stack and only added a small shim to both the upper and lower shim pack to raise your preload.

Keep an eye on your knuckle wiper seal area. If you're getting a consistent oil drip then gear oil has migrated past the inner seal and is thinning out the birf grease. Marlin Crawler makes an inner axle seal that was designed to allow a little more leeway when centering - or not centering - the knuckle. Some folks have had good luck with them. Me? I've had a small leak for years simply because I didn't know about the very specific arrangement of shims to each knuckle and axle housing when I originally rebuilt my front end. I just repack and refill every half dozen years. Next time I will go the full monty and get the SST. I swears it...

 

[EStein]

Really hate to add this in so late....

If you added new knuckle shims to correct your knuckle bearing preload then you'll need to re-center the knuckle to keep the inner axle shaft rotating cleanly and prevent leaks of diff fluid into the knuckle cavity. This requires a Toyota specific SST. You can usually borrow one from a Mud member. Probably not a big deal If you matched (or reused) the original stack and only added a small shim to both the upper and lower shim pack to raise your preload.

Keep an eye on your knuckle wiper seal area. If you're getting a consistent oil drip then gear oil has migrated past the inner seal and is thinning out the birf grease. Marlin Crawler makes an inner axle seal that was designed to allow a little more leeway when centering - or not centering - the knuckle. Some folks have had good luck with them. Me? I've had a small leak for years simply because I didn't know about the very specific arrangement of shims to each knuckle and axle housing when I originally rebuilt my front end. I just repack and refill every half dozen years. Next time I will go the full monty and get the SST. I swears it...

thanks for that. I was afraid something like this was coming…. I added one of the smallest shims on the upper and the lower hoping that would keep it centered. At this point I’m going to take a chance. If it starts to leak then I will address it then… I can’t bear to go back in!

 

[numby]

That's the perfect solution! An even sized shim on top and bottom should keep the knuckle centered. I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong. Good going!

 

[Texas Navy]

That's the perfect solution! An even sized shim on top and bottom should keep the knuckle centered. I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong. Good going!

I mean, it is going to leak anyway, eventually. It shouldn't be tomorrow though. You are crushing projects in a way I wish I could! Great job.

 

[EStein]

That's the perfect solution! An even sized shim on top and bottom should keep the knuckle centered. I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong. Good going!

I was hoping... It’s possible on the other side though I may have only taken one of the very thin shins off the top.... I may have lost track!

 

[EStein]

I mean, it is going to leak anyway, eventually. It shouldn't be tomorrow though. You are crushing projects in a way I wish I could! Great job.

Well...we were supposed to be on vacation. That got cancelled so I could watch the news all day or work in the shop. My wife’s not happy with my trips to the auto parts store. Says I’m not good at sheltering in place. That’s true but I do have gloves and lots of Clorox wipes!

 

[Texas Navy]

Well...we were supposed to be on vacation. That got cancelled so I could watch the news all day or work in the shop. My wife’s not happy with my trips to the auto parts store. Says I’m not good at sheltering in place. That’s true but I do have gloves and lots of Clorox wipes!

Just make it the same parts stop and you're not exposed to new bugs? I am "Mission Essential" for work, so I guess I have an out. Good luck, or practice your Zen patience with the online things...

 

[EStein]

Ok so let’s start with the good..... got her pushed outside and pressure washed. Would like to paint the front part of the frame before putting parts back on. I love that stuff cause it’s instant gratification. Tried really hard to blast through the red and expose the white on the roof but only exposed a few little chips. Darn it.

 

[EStein]

Now the bad....

I spent five hours today trying to get the brakes working. So I ruined two of the hard brake lines. The ones that run along the axle and hook to the flexible line at the caliper. My daughter killed one of them and I may have killed the other when I wrapped the chain around it to bring it home on purchase day. Oops. Went down and bought a couple straight lines and just planned on bending them to fit. Got them home and realized the fittings weren’t exactly the same. The threads worked but the flare is different. Used a countersink tool to flare it. Looks the same. What do you think? I plan on ordering real ones from SOR but they are shut down right now...it’s just temporary. Thoughts? Don’t want to do anything dangerous.

Update...after doing some research on this forum, I see I bought European lines and not Japanese. Ordered new ones and another bottle of fluid. My mods may have worked fine but I’d lose sleep. Another lesson learned.