Build Another Prado in Montana

[GTSSportCoupe]

I've been meaning to get the rear sway bar put back on but need to make 1/2" spacers for the brackets on the axle before I can do that; correcting the pinion angle caused interference between the sway bar and radius arm.

Good to know about the front sway bar, once I've got the rear back on I'll try pulling the front and see how it does. Some extra articulation would be nice.

I forget what you have for bushings; but if you get softer in the front, your articulation will also drastically improve. Took me years to figure that one out, lol.

If you want good quality OEM bushings, try the 80 series ones, as they have little hole reliefs in them to allow the bolt to twist in the bushing and allow easier articulation. The LJ78 ones I think are the hardest ones out there and half the problem with front axle articulation on these trucks. I believe Toyota did this to make the 70 series platform as carlike as possible for the urban LJ78 market. The LJ78 is also basically factory lowered. And the sway bars are HUGE. When I first wheeled my truck stock-ish, I always had wheels in the air. If not for the rear locker I would never have got anywhere, haha. Now with soft bushings, springs and no sway bars, I almost never have a tire in the air.

 

[AirheadNut]

I forget what you have for bushings; but if you get softer in the front, your articulation will also drastically improve. Took me years to figure that one out, lol.

If you want good quality OEM bushings, try the 80 series ones, as they have little hole reliefs in them to allow the bolt to twist in the bushing and allow easier articulation. The LJ78 ones I think are the hardest ones out there and half the problem with front axle articulation on these trucks. I believe Toyota did this to make the 70 series platform as carlike as possible for the urban LJ78 market. The LJ78 is also basically factory lowered. And the sway bars are HUGE. When I first wheeled my truck stock-ish, I always had wheels in the air. If not for the rear locker I would never have got anywhere, haha. Now with soft bushings, springs and no sway bars, I almost never have a tire in the air.

Excellent information. The suspension bushings are totally stock all around (probably the same ones that it left the factory with). I'll have to remember to get 80-series bushings for the front when I go to do suspension work there.

The sway bars are big, pretty sure the front is 25mm and the rear is 23mm! I've been thinking about trying to make sway bar disconnects, since most of my driving is on pavement and quite a bit of higher speed highway; I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of handling and safety for gains off road.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Excellent information. The suspension bushings are totally stock all around (probably the same ones that it left the factory with). I'll have to remember to get 80-series bushings for the front when I go to do suspension work there.

The sway bars are big, pretty sure the front is 25mm and the rear is 23mm! I've been thinking about trying to make sway bar disconnects, since most of my driving is on pavement and quite a bit of higher speed highway; I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of handling and safety for gains off road.

You're welcome. Now of course the 80 series ones won't correct caster angle; so if you need correction, you will need to do something else to solve that issue.

I went to this type of caster correction rubber bushing and LOVE them for comfort and articulation. I'm told they do wear out faster though. I put them in both front and rear radius arms.

If you design a nice sway bar disconnect, you should manufacture a bunch and sell them. I'll be first on the list!

And this is the OEM 80 series one I was talking about that is an improvement over the LJ78 type:

 

[AirheadNut]

Went camping last weekend with my brother and enjoyed some unusually warm weather for the time of year. Crawled the Prado up a very steep and very narrow track up a mountain to a couple of old unnamed mines. I was quite impressed with how well it did in large, loose rocks and snaking through boulders and rockfall, but I'm still getting used to offroading with a manual transmission. Definitely not the same as having an auto and twin lockers!

 

[AirheadNut]

Yesterday I was finally able to treat the Prado to some new front wheel bearings. The original ones were getting pretty loose and causing quite a bit of wander on the highway. Overall the process was pretty simple, the manual does a pretty good job of providing all the necessary information. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very many photos since it was a pretty messy job. Here's the parts list I used:
43531-60031 Free wheel hub gasket
90311-62001 Inner Oil Seal
90311-62003 Outer Oil Seal
43422-60040 Gasket
90368-45087 Outer Bearing
90368-49084 Inner Bearing

Fortunately the cone washers popped out with a few seconds each of air hammer action:

Here's the critical part, making sure the tiny little brushes for the electric hub motors are properly retained for reinstallation:

I made sure to thoroughly clean the brushes and contact ring of grease and oil before reassembly, but forgot to clean the two spring contacts between the contact ring and the spindle and as a result at least one of the hubs is no longer working Fortunately total disassembly is not required to remedy the situation, and I should be able to reuse the paper gaskets.

Went for a 300 mile test drive this morning and the new bearings feel great! Got to soak up some great scenery and a bit of rain too.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Yesterday I was finally able to treat the Prado to some new front wheel bearings. The original ones were getting pretty loose and causing quite a bit of wander on the highway. Overall the process was pretty simple, the manual does a pretty good job of providing all the necessary information. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very many photos since it was a pretty messy job. Here's the parts list I used:
43531-60031 Free wheel hub gasket
90311-62001 Inner Oil Seal
90311-62003 Outer Oil Seal
43422-60040 Gasket
90368-45087 Outer Bearing
90368-49084 Inner Bearing

Fortunately the cone washers popped out with a few seconds each of air hammer action:
View attachment 2851960

Here's the critical part, making sure the tiny little brushes for the electric hub motors are properly retained for reinstallation:
View attachment 2851961

View attachment 2851963

I made sure to thoroughly clean the brushes and contact ring of grease and oil before reassembly, but forgot to clean the two spring contacts between the contact ring and the spindle and as a result at least one of the hubs is no longer working Fortunately total disassembly is not required to remedy the situation, and I should be able to reuse the paper gaskets.

Went for a 300 mile test drive this morning and the new bearings feel great! Got to soak up some great scenery and a bit of rain too.
View attachment 2851967

View attachment 2851981

Great job! Did you remember to put a electrical slip ring grease on the ehub slip rings before reassembly?

 

[AirheadNut]

Great job! Did you remember to put a electrical slip ring grease on the ehub slip rings before reassembly?

I was thinking it was odd that there would be no lubricant on those parts; I must have totally skipped over the part where the manual said to apply the Castle Body grease. I guess I should know better than to try doing a job like this when I'm in a hurry. I'll pop the hubs back apart and see if the brushes and slip rings are salvageable, if not it looks like a manual conversion is in my future.

 

[AirheadNut]

With the vehicle shut off I can hear the RH hub motor operating, so I assume that side is working. Haven't been able to listen for the LH hub motor yet, but I did take the hub cover off that side. Not much to see, everything looked normal but I didn't have any wire to retain the brushes so taking the hub body off wasn't a good idea. Hopefully I can just clean and lubricate the contacts and brushes and have them both working again.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

With the vehicle shut off I can hear the RH hub motor operating, so I assume that side is working. Haven't been able to listen for the LH hub motor yet, but I did take the hub cover off that side. Not much to see, everything looked normal but I didn't have any wire to retain the brushes so taking the hub body off wasn't a good idea. Hopefully I can just clean and lubricate the contacts and brushes and have them both working again.

We once cannibalized one of those small electric motors out of curiosity. There are gears in there that would embarrass a Timex watch.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

With the vehicle shut off I can hear the RH hub motor operating, so I assume that side is working. Haven't been able to listen for the LH hub motor yet, but I did take the hub cover off that side. Not much to see, everything looked normal but I didn't have any wire to retain the brushes so taking the hub body off wasn't a good idea. Hopefully I can just clean and lubricate the contacts and brushes and have them both working again.

I have all my old e-hub parts still if you need anything... But really, it might be the perfect excuse to go to manual hubs. Parts from pretty much any disk brake mini truck, 40 series, 60 series or 70 series (6 bolt wheels to ~'99) works.

 

[AirheadNut]

We once cannibalized one of those small electric motors out of curiosity. There are gears in there that would embarrass a Timex watch.

Yeah, it is a pretty minuscule setup. I pulled the LH side hub fully apart this afternoon and was able to test the slip ring contacts for continuity; they all checked out. The brushes were a little worn down but still within spec, and there's a bit of wear on the contact surfaces of the slip ring but it looks serviceable.

I was able to scavenge some extra grease out of the hub cover to smear a thin layer on the slip ring, but the locking splines and inner hub body don't have much grease any more. I ordered a tube of Molykote 44 Light and will take them both apart and thoroughly lubricate all the parts when it arrives. Once it was all back together I gave it a test, with the hub lock button pressed I checked for rotation on the front driveshaft. It would turn one direction but catch going the other way, so the motor was working but the splines weren't quite engaging. A few cycles of the button with gentle rotations of the driveshaft between got it to fully engage each time. I think with some extra lubrication in there it will be in good shape.

 

[AirheadNut]

I have all my old e-hub parts still if you need anything... But really, it might be the perfect excuse to go to manual hubs. Parts from pretty much any disk brake mini truck, 40 series, 60 series or 70 series (6 bolt wheels to ~'99) works.

I can definitely see a manual hub conversion in my future, but would like to make the electric ones work for the time being. That will probably be a project I tackle when the knuckles need rebuilding.

Depending on what kind of wear I find when I open the RH hub I might have to hit you up for some of those parts.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Even Toyota felt like it was time for a “work-around”.

 

[AirheadNut]

Got the RH hub pulled apart and inspected and greased the slip ring and brushes with a bit of the extra grease in the hub cover. At least it should help the brushes last until the tube of grease arrives next week. The whole thing didn't take much more than half an hour.

One tip for anyone working on hubs or axle flanges with cone washers: upon reassembly make sure to put the split in the cone washer pointing out, this makes it much easier to get the cone washers out next time. After loosening the cone washers with a hammer and drift or an air hammer poke a screwdriver into the split and it releases the grip on the stud.

 

[AirheadNut]

Spent the day wheeling with the local Cruiser club, had tons of fun but not a lot of time to take photos.

 

[pradoblivious]

dang that's quite a turnout!

 

[AirheadNut]

dang that's quite a turnout!

It was pretty impressive! 18 vehicles in a convoy does take a while on any technical obstacles though.

 

[AirheadNut]

Took the Prado up into the mountains to cut a Christmas tree and enjoy some fresh, fluffy snow.

 

[pradoblivious]

What kind of lights are those again?

 

[AirheadNut]

What kind of lights are those again?

They're the IPF SuperRally 930. Normally they come with 100/170W dual filament bulbs, I have 55/100W bulbs in them right now and they are pretty bright. The yellow lens is great in fog or snow.