A New Lease on Life

[77mustard40]

Yeah, as Dan said, that spindle is junk.

If the other side has been run as loose as the first one, there is a high likelihood it has been grooved as well. It was the sealing surface for the hub seal that killed it, not the surface where the bearings rest. The bearings had obviously been run EXTREMELY loose to cut that surface like that.

Agreed, the outer locknut was lose on both sides, I think I could have turned them with the 54 by hand. So my bet is that whoever was there last skipped torque inner to 47 foot pounds, rotate the hub and re-torque and rotate followed by loosening and then setting the preload, not to mention assembling the axle correctly.

 

[77mustard40]

PS was in better shape, spindle had some minor discoloration but no scoring or grooving like the DS. Birf and axle were assembled correctly. Only thing I noticed was the scoring inside the bottom of the bell. Looks like I need one spindle for the DS.

 

[77mustard40]

Washing up my dirty parts after an overnight soak and getting everything laid out. I think I figured out why the bearings were so loose on both sides. Thrust washer were missing, but they are optional right?

 

[77mustard40]

Had some free time today so I swapped the birfs and axle shafts. Long side separated when I disassembled the knuckle so I pulled out my 2” steel cheater pipe and separated the short side, about 5 big whacks onto a 2x8 and it dropped out and lucky me the clip was undamaged. Loaded the birfs with Valvoline synthetic blend moly and got the axles assembled. First time doing this and I was successful on the short side with the hose clamp method but struggled with that approach on the long side so I switched to the electrical tie strap and it worked first try. Picked up a seal & race driver kit on sale from HF and installed the inner seals and trunnion bearing races. Freezer was my friend with the races, they went in straight without having to mess with them too much. I’ve got the wheel bearing races left to go then I’m waiting for a spindle, thrust washers and wheel hub nuts (mine have been chiseled and are a mess)

 

[77mustard40]

New spindles and thrust washers from Cruiser Outfitters showed up Friday evening. We had our grandson for the weekend so I didn’t have a lot of free time. I slipped out last night after he went to sleep and finished the axles only to find I’d misplaced one of my tie rod end castle nuts. I’m sure I put it somewhere I wouldn’t lose it. Sourced one from a friend today and took her for a spin, what an improvement, I’m sure the wobble I used to feel was no preload on my old wheel bearings. New brakes are nice too.

Need to order some new brake lines, mine are prolly original and are cracked. Up next replace all the brake lines and get a new suspension installed.

 

[bottombracket]

Kelly, awesome job! I went with @NLXTACY ’s stainless brake line kit for my 80. It has everything you need, especially if lifted.

 

[77mustard40]

Installed some Wagner 9011’s to replace the 9005 low beams tonight, nice upgrade.

 

[77mustard40]

The adventure continues... thought I’d take a look at the condition of the ATF so I started by dropping the contents of the pan. Found this, looks like a 10 X 1.75 bolt, not the 1.50 thread pitch that Dan and others say is correct. I guess if you misplace a bolt just grab something close and run it in with an impact, right?

Pulled the pan, retapped to 1.50 and got a bolt in there. Upside was that the ATF looked good so I dropped 5 quarts of Valvoline Max Syn in her and went for a nice drive to heat everything up and topped her off. Won’t be pulling that plug again, I’ll recycle off the cooler from here on out.

 

[77mustard40]

Had a few hours to myself over the weekend so I got a CDL switch installed and did the Pin7 mod. Also shored up the busted front DS flare, didn’t go crazy on it since I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with them long term. At least it’s not flapping in the wind anymore.

 

[Bloomer]

Nice work so far. Just purchased back my first 80 series land cruiser (my first land cruiser) I sold to someone in Austin back in 2012. Going through the same process. Keep us updated!

 

[77mustard40]

Worked on the 40 Saturday but did manage to Flush out the old PS fluid, she’s now running Valvoline Syn Max. Lost a whine when cold and groans when hot, while driving experience is much smoother and quieter.

Also broke out a couple of scotch bright pads and went after the wheels. I’m not sure if they have ever seen any attention. They were pretty dark and stained with who knows what. Hit them with a little diluted purple power and elbow grease and saw about a 75 percent improvement.

Up next, line up a Saturday and some manpower for a suspension and new brake lines.

 

[77mustard40]

Well I finally got some new shoes and installed my suspension today. Old springs were probably original and the shocks had been changed once, maybe twice. You could push on the truck and it would rock like a swing. Tires were shot so you can imagine how it drove.

I’m trying to keep the cost down so after some reading I went with Milestar Patagonia’s 315’s and an Ironman lift. I’ve got some stink bug but have plans for a rear bumper with swingout so I will wait before worrying about leveling the stance. As for the tires, they seem great after all of one day. Very quiet for an aggressive mud tire and track nice. They are actually quieter than my old worn out tires.

Up next Landtank caster correction plates via Joey.

 

[77mustard40]

Still haven’t installed my caster correction plates but I did replace the distributor o-ring, cap and rotor. Also replaced the oil pump cover seal, crank seal, belts and idler pulley today. Messy job. Hopefully with gets rid of the last oil leak.

 

[77mustard40]

Well I waited for a nice 100 degree day to tackle the LandTank caster plates. The 80 is too tall with its new stance ( and roof rack) to fit in the garage so it was a driveway endeavor. I opted to leave it on the ground, wheels chocked and go after one side at a time. I used a little gold spray paint to mark the location of the new front holes. After grinding slots into the bottom of the axle housing I assembled the arms by anchoring to the frame followed by the rear axle bolt. I used a piece of lumber to lever the opposite arm using my leg on the wood, this rotated the axle and kept my hands free to get that last bolt through and make it up. On the PS, I ended up needing to ratchet strap the axle to line up that last hole. Rotating the axle added about a quarter inch to the ride height on each side, I’m now sitting at 22 1/8” up front and 23” in the rear.

Still need to hit up a friend for a weld across the front of each plate.

 

[77mustard40]

Installed a Delta VS Panard Lift Bracket today. Dealing with the rear link bolt was a PITA both on the tear down and assembly but otherwise straight forward. Just a few miles on her to test it out and it’s a great product, no more nervousness in the rear end.

 

[Spurlock]

I really like where your going with this. It’s cool that it has been in your family the whole time and you are the one getting to put new life back in it.

 

[thatcabledude]

A fzj80 with no factory tint! I wonder if it's because it has non-sliding windows in the back?

Great looking truck.

 

[77mustard40]

A fzj80 with no factory tint! I wonder if it's because it has non-sliding windows in the back?

Great looking truck.

Thanks! Fat Jimmy was a litigator and represented Toyota for years in Texas. He had employee pricing privileges for a few years and ordered the truck from TEQ and was able to pic and chose options. Has cloth interior as well, sort of a poverty pack on steroids.

 

[cruiserdan]

A fzj80 with no factory tint! I wonder if it's because it has non-sliding windows in the back?

Great looking truck.

Vehicles without third row seats have fixed quarter glass and no tint.

 

[Fj80Ringo]

Way to go. You are making some serious headway.