Can we talk about 70 series steering columns?
- Thread starter John Young
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Actually the engine I showed the AI is for a different project. The 79 series pickup is staying with a normally aspirated 1HZ, one of my very favorite engines.
It really is true, I do get irritated at rusty steering columns. On a prior 70 project I brush-painted the parts I could easily get to with a brush.
But I was never really happy with it.
We are kind of mid-way through my first 79 series truck and the rolling chassis is done and the body and bed are about to come from the paint shop so we need a steering column pretty quick. And I was looking for something useful to do to help move things along, so I settled on finally doing a complete job on a 70 series steering column.
This is what I meant by unpleasant and rusty.
It really is true, I do get irritated at rusty steering columns. On a prior 70 project I brush-painted the parts I could easily get to with a brush.
But I was never really happy with it.
We are kind of mid-way through my first 79 series truck and the rolling chassis is done and the body and bed are about to come from the paint shop so we need a steering column pretty quick. And I was looking for something useful to do to help move things along, so I settled on finally doing a complete job on a 70 series steering column.
This is what I meant by unpleasant and rusty.
Great art work and story to match
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The parts comprising the steering column come apart surprisingly easily. The only tricky bit is one bolt that hold the lock housing has been ground down presumably for anti-theft purposes, but with a vise-grip you can unscrew it (and later replace with a normal bolt for the next guy).
The pivot mechanism on one side is a little tricky. It is pushed in like a lug nut stud so you have to press it out, or wang carefully on it like I did with a hammer, to get it out.
But things eventually come apart.
What is it for?
The pivot mechanism on one side is a little tricky. It is pushed in like a lug nut stud so you have to press it out, or wang carefully on it like I did with a hammer, to get it out.
But things eventually come apart.
What is it for?
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- #7
I am really focusing on the parts that are unpleasantly rusty. Like these:
I got everything apart yesterday and last night I went on Amazon to get some of my favorite stuff, delivered to my apartment within a couple of hours:
I love Evaporust(tm) but it is very expensive and more so here in Dubai. There are plenty of rust removers available but they are all pretty nasty. I like doing rust removal with electrolysis but it can be a bit messy and lately my favorite has been an 'evaporust' home-brew that is super simple, very inexpensive and you can pour it down the sink without guilt when you are done.
Basically it is four parts citric acid to one part soda ash (washing soda--not baking soda) mixed into water. For this exercise I used four soup spoons of citric acid and one of washing soda. Each of those are 1kg cannisters costing roughly 10 USD each. Also a good idea to put a little dishwashing liquid (not much) into the water to reduce surface tension. This stuff is so cheap it is almost free to make and use.
It foams up when you mix it because the acid reacts with the base.
The idea is to neutralize the acid so that the liquid does not attack metal, only the rust.
I got everything apart yesterday and last night I went on Amazon to get some of my favorite stuff, delivered to my apartment within a couple of hours:
I love Evaporust(tm) but it is very expensive and more so here in Dubai. There are plenty of rust removers available but they are all pretty nasty. I like doing rust removal with electrolysis but it can be a bit messy and lately my favorite has been an 'evaporust' home-brew that is super simple, very inexpensive and you can pour it down the sink without guilt when you are done.
Basically it is four parts citric acid to one part soda ash (washing soda--not baking soda) mixed into water. For this exercise I used four soup spoons of citric acid and one of washing soda. Each of those are 1kg cannisters costing roughly 10 USD each. Also a good idea to put a little dishwashing liquid (not much) into the water to reduce surface tension. This stuff is so cheap it is almost free to make and use.
It foams up when you mix it because the acid reacts with the base.
The idea is to neutralize the acid so that the liquid does not attack metal, only the rust.
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- #8
So last night I mixed up the bath and put the parts in.
Then I went to the gym. When I got back it looked like this:
It helps to take the parts out and use a hand-held wire brush to just clean off the rust already converted to magnetite (FE3O4).
There was still some rust on there even after another hour or so, so I left it overnight. And this morning it looked like this:
There was still a litle bit of deeper pitting.
But some more hand wire-brushing and some more time in the bath resulted in this:
Then I went to the gym. When I got back it looked like this:
It helps to take the parts out and use a hand-held wire brush to just clean off the rust already converted to magnetite (FE3O4).
There was still some rust on there even after another hour or so, so I left it overnight. And this morning it looked like this:
There was still a litle bit of deeper pitting.
But some more hand wire-brushing and some more time in the bath resulted in this:
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I will just go on a little longer about this derusting solution. A month or so back I had to remove the rust from some really nasty old Ford rims.
These are big, 8-lug rims but they still fit into a standard garbage can.
It is really good at getting rid of the rust but not hurting anything else.
These are big, 8-lug rims but they still fit into a standard garbage can.
It is really good at getting rid of the rust but not hurting anything else.
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And with wire brushing to get the paint removed they turned out very nicely.
And when I was done I just dumped the stuff on the driveway and it did absolutely no harm to anything.
And when I was done I just dumped the stuff on the driveway and it did absolutely no harm to anything.
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- #11
Ok, back to steering columns....
This is where I was at late this morning. Very nice clean metal. I used a little brake cleaner and put the items in the oven to mitigate against flash rust. The metal is quite smooth at this point, but boy will it flash rust fast!
I went over to the garage and primered with Rustoleum professonal.
And then sprayed again with Rustoleum professional gloss black
This is where I was at late this morning. Very nice clean metal. I used a little brake cleaner and put the items in the oven to mitigate against flash rust. The metal is quite smooth at this point, but boy will it flash rust fast!
I went over to the garage and primered with Rustoleum professonal.
And then sprayed again with Rustoleum professional gloss black
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I took some close ups so you don't have to. Both of the bearings are NSK's.
Per the AI:
The 18BSC01 is a specialized single-row ball bearing primarily engineered for automotive applications, most notably manufactured by NSK and various aftermarket producers. Unlike standard metric industrial bearings, it features a unique non-integer inner bore diameter tailored specifically for automotive shafts and steering assemblies.
The 28BSC01 is another specialized automotive ball bearing primarily manufactured by NSK (and occasionally NTN). It serves as a larger sibling to the 18BSC01 you just explored, engineered specifically for steering columns and drivetrain assemblies. Like the 18BSC01, it features customized, non-standard dimensions to fit proprietary vehicle shafts rather than standard industrial machinery.
Per the AI:
The 18BSC01 is a specialized single-row ball bearing primarily engineered for automotive applications, most notably manufactured by NSK and various aftermarket producers. Unlike standard metric industrial bearings, it features a unique non-integer inner bore diameter tailored specifically for automotive shafts and steering assemblies.
The 28BSC01 is another specialized automotive ball bearing primarily manufactured by NSK (and occasionally NTN). It serves as a larger sibling to the 18BSC01 you just explored, engineered specifically for steering columns and drivetrain assemblies. Like the 18BSC01, it features customized, non-standard dimensions to fit proprietary vehicle shafts rather than standard industrial machinery.
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I want to say a word here about my use of AI to help me with this stuff.
When I am in the garage in Dubai it is very, very hot, and I don't have a laptop there (nor would I want one). So I use my phone. Sometimes I take a photo and ask one AI or another for help in identifying something. Sweaty and tired and with a lot of glare I assume the AI will do a better job than I can, and mostly it does. But not today.
I showed the AI several photos of the bearings and it misidentified the part number, mistaking an "8" for the "B". I then spent an hour at the garage calling up bearing houses stocking NSK bearings. They had one of them but never the other. It was not until I got home and had a look at the photos myself and realized the mistake.
And I can verify at least one of the Toyota part numbers in the cartoon above.
The two bearings out of my truck are definitely dimensionally different.
For the Moment I am going with Mister Natural being right.
When I am in the garage in Dubai it is very, very hot, and I don't have a laptop there (nor would I want one). So I use my phone. Sometimes I take a photo and ask one AI or another for help in identifying something. Sweaty and tired and with a lot of glare I assume the AI will do a better job than I can, and mostly it does. But not today.
I showed the AI several photos of the bearings and it misidentified the part number, mistaking an "8" for the "B". I then spent an hour at the garage calling up bearing houses stocking NSK bearings. They had one of them but never the other. It was not until I got home and had a look at the photos myself and realized the mistake.
And I can verify at least one of the Toyota part numbers in the cartoon above.
The two bearings out of my truck are definitely dimensionally different.
For the Moment I am going with Mister Natural being right.
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And if I do a reverse part number look up on Amayama I do in fact find that the 90363-18001 part number is used in Land Cruiser steering columns. But not in 70 series Land Cruisers. So I don't know what to think, really. So I had another long dialog with the AI and now I have some small degree of confidence in what I need to order.
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I must be tired. Not sure what why I am fussing about not being able to confirm the part number on the 18 series bearing. I have the dang thing right in front of me. They came off my truck. I just need to go down to the Bearing Souq (yes, this is a thing) and ask for the NSK bearings.
