I was reading some other Mud threads about the always-corroded parking brake bell crank and I thought it would be good to share this information that I came about when I did mine a few months ago.
1 ) The Dorman Parking brake bell crank kit from Advanced Auto, which supposedly only fits some 4-Runners, seemed to work fine for my FJ60. It is part number 924-750; I found no differences in the hole location or shape from the OEM. Other than an immaterial extra little "hump" in the lever, the only differences I observed were the following:
a) the Dorman version has the housing as one solid piece, unlike the OEM which is a solid piece with an different metal insert that most Mudders remove from what I've read. Other than that, which I find inconsequential, the Dorman housing and rubber cover are identical to OEM.
b) the Dorman version provides some sort of plastic washers to separate the lever from the housing at the pin pivot, something old crank on my FJ60 did not have.
c) The Dorman pieces are painted or finished with some gray looking stuff. Seems like they know the issue of the dissimilar metals corroding.
d) The Dorman Crank and housing, while finished with paint or something else, are still two different metals per a magnetic test I did. Just like the OEM.
e) The Dorman kit comes with what looks like silicon grease. As it is vital to use not just any grease, but rather non-metallic grease (i.e. NO MOLY) to prevent further dissimilar metal corrosion, this is a good thing to come with the pack. Since I had the OEM Toyota 'Red Rubber grease" that Toyota specifies for this piece, I opted for that instead.
f)
Here are some pics:
Old Bell Crank that won't budge.
Bell crank housing after wire wheeling and removing the metal housing insert:
Dorman set from Advanced Auto:
Contents of Dorman set that I purchased, notice the painted gray finishing on the main metal pieces and the white plastic pivoting washers:
Pieces of old bell crank after wire wheeling. Compare the new lever piece above with the old below and notice the holes are in the same place even though there are a few more odd random "humps" in the new piece which didn't make any mechanical difference from what I saw:
1 ) The Dorman Parking brake bell crank kit from Advanced Auto, which supposedly only fits some 4-Runners, seemed to work fine for my FJ60. It is part number 924-750; I found no differences in the hole location or shape from the OEM. Other than an immaterial extra little "hump" in the lever, the only differences I observed were the following:
a) the Dorman version has the housing as one solid piece, unlike the OEM which is a solid piece with an different metal insert that most Mudders remove from what I've read. Other than that, which I find inconsequential, the Dorman housing and rubber cover are identical to OEM.
b) the Dorman version provides some sort of plastic washers to separate the lever from the housing at the pin pivot, something old crank on my FJ60 did not have.
c) The Dorman pieces are painted or finished with some gray looking stuff. Seems like they know the issue of the dissimilar metals corroding.
d) The Dorman Crank and housing, while finished with paint or something else, are still two different metals per a magnetic test I did. Just like the OEM.
e) The Dorman kit comes with what looks like silicon grease. As it is vital to use not just any grease, but rather non-metallic grease (i.e. NO MOLY) to prevent further dissimilar metal corrosion, this is a good thing to come with the pack. Since I had the OEM Toyota 'Red Rubber grease" that Toyota specifies for this piece, I opted for that instead.
f)
Here are some pics:
Old Bell Crank that won't budge.
Bell crank housing after wire wheeling and removing the metal housing insert:
Dorman set from Advanced Auto:
Contents of Dorman set that I purchased, notice the painted gray finishing on the main metal pieces and the white plastic pivoting washers:
Pieces of old bell crank after wire wheeling. Compare the new lever piece above with the old below and notice the holes are in the same place even though there are a few more odd random "humps" in the new piece which didn't make any mechanical difference from what I saw:
