Finally Joining the Club:::Oh Yeah (1 Viewer)

[ewrk1989]

Alright, it was a bit of a McGuyver sort of day. After work I picked up t-case/diff/engine oil, drain/fill gaskets, and a threaded rod from the hardware store.

I knew there'd be some scale inside the frame member so I bought some 5/16-18 threaded rod. Beat on it with a hammer to make a bit of a curved shape and raked it through the hole. The coarse threads did what I wanted, which was to pull out anything loose. Well, normally I like souvenirs but not this kind. The previous owner has a lake house and boat. Looks like at some point they submerged the @$$ end of the truck and some sand/silt got into the holes of the cross member. Because the member is arched a bit, the water/sand/silt mixture stayed there until it dried. And then probably held moisture over time, causing the corrosion. I feel like, a weep hole on the other side of the curve would've rendered this problem nonexistent.

So having discovered this sand, I borrowed my neighbors shop vac and rigged up a little garden hose contraption to pull out everything I could. Fed the hose in through some of the other holes and spent a good 20 minutes being as sure as possible I got everything. One of those colonoscopy cameras might have come in handy to inspect the inside area, but the neighbor didn't have one. What are you gonna do.

Then I did some filing and brushing on the outside portion. Blasted/saturated everything with FF inside and out. Overall, I did a good job with cleanup and was able to look through other frame holes to see that the corrosion did not creep up to the sides or top of the rectangular tube. For now it's probably going to be alright. Later on I might try to find a good welder and see what they think about cutting out the affected area and welding in a "patch". Then again, that could make things worse--don't know about all the metallurgy on these frames.

Spent the rest of the night marveling at the interesting spare tire crank, and how much room I have to work with when the spare tire is removed. Applied FF to the rear axle.

Changed the t-case fluid and everything was fine. But of course I forgot my torque wrench is a 3/8 drive and my 15/16 socket is 1/2 drive. Got the drain/fill plugs snug but not much more until I can get a socket/adapter for my torque wrench.

High tech suction attachment:

Souvenir sand from some lake:

5/16 threaded rod "abrasion" tool:

 

[Snowrydr01]

did you get the fluid film pro gun with the cavity attachment or just the aerosol cans to spray in the frame?

 

[ewrk1989]

I'm just using the aerosol cans. For this and other cavity locations I'm using the straw that comes with it. Fairly easy to flex the straw and get everything. Somebody sells a cavity sprayer on Amazon but I don't see that thing working more than once or twice for how coagulated this stuff gets.

 

[Snowrydr01]

mentioning how coagulated it gets, would you worry it collecting dirt or sand in offoading?

 

[ewrk1989]

After reading the FF website FAQ, it looks like maybe the sprayer wouldn't get clogged anyway. I was sort of thinking in terms of how paint behaves, but not a concern with FF:

"Does FLUID FILM attract dirt?
Because FLUID FILM remains wet, it will get an initial dusting upon application, but because it contains no solvents and will not become sticky, it will not gum up or create a build up of dirt."

"Does FLUID FILM dry out?
No. FLUID FILM is a lanolin based product containing no solvents. It will not evaporate or dry from the surface. FLUID FILM will leave a wet, non-drying film, that will provide long term corrosion protection on all metals and superior lubrication for all moving parts."

I think the claim they're trying to make is that what you see is what you get. In other words, that with no solvents being used to suspend the active product in liquid form, there's nothing to evaporate and leave behind a bunch of gummy/viscous junk.

Pretty cool stuff, I think. Wish I had known about it for some other projects I've done before.

 

[Snowrydr01]

i want to get the gun and the 5 gallon bucket. Its alot of FF but between 3 cars it would still be cheaper then getting all of them done just once.

 

[LouisianaRubicon]

Congratulations sir.

 

[ewrk1989]

Thanks for the congrats, all.

Spent last night doing my research and gathering threads/faqs/youtube videos on how to replace the CV axles and wheel bearings.

Performance seems fine right now but CV boots have been leaking for about 70k miles (customer was notified and declined on an old service record). Going to go with CVJ reman.

Wheel bearings probably don't need replacement but if I'm down there anyway, why not.

Will also do the brakes/rotors at the same time. There's a bit of a pulse during braking, so I'm going to chalk that up to rotors.

But here's the rub--my steering rack needs replacing (leaking), and the vehicle needs an alignment overall. Should I take care of the steering/alignment before doing the axle/rotor work? I'm asking in terms of whether the steering/alignment stuff would disrupt bedding in of brakes, or contribute to warping rotors or anything else?

Heater tees and hoses will be here today so I'll put those in this evening--stay tuned for pictures on how bad the tees look.

 

[ewrk1989]

Heater tees took me about 1.5 hours. Nothing problematic really, just took time to be careful with everything.

I'm very glad I bought new hoses, as the old ones were hanging on to the tubing for dear life. I basically pulled back the spring clips and made a cut parallel to the hard lines and they peeled off alright. This revealed a bit of "scale", which I cleaned off gently with a scotch-brite pad. I noticed what came out of the hoses was greenish, while the stuff in the reservoir is red...guess I should flush that system?

Lost about 6-8 ounces of coolant like the DIY says.

Built up the assemblies and installed. Passenger side first, then driver for the best accessibility. Parked the car on a hill and let it idle with the cap off the coolant reservoir (I think this is how you allow it to burp? Not 100% sure).

Then I ran it on the highway for a bit, tried A/C and heat full blast, picked up some Bell's Two Hearted Ale, came home and inspected for leaks (none).

The tees were in pretty crappy shape, almost translucent at the ends--weird! Since they didn't crumble, I'll probably keep them as last ditch emergency spares just in case.

Man this thing is fun to drive.

Time to build parts lists for front axle rebuild.

 

[ewrk1989]

Alright now, got the engine, front/rear diffs, and transfer case fluids all up to snuff.

The rear diff breather plug was pretty messy, and the breather hose was kind of gummed up. A healthy amount of brake cleaner and I got the valve working again. Tested by pumping a bit of oil through. When I went to reinstall the hose I noticed the plug was loose in it's threads. That's weird. But I guess that at least partially explains the crap around the plug. Cleaned up the whole area and reinstalled everything.

The rear diff oil was really pretty clean and didn't reveal any nastiness.

I also ordered my front axle bearing kits and CV joints today. Many thanks to Cruiser Outfitters and CVJ Axles for great customer service.

Been looking for local cruiser folks who I could get in contact with in case I get stumped during the bearing/axle service but it looks like it's a bit sparse in my area. Ah well...

 

[ewrk1989]

Alright now. CV axles, wheel bearing kits, and a PFran LED kit for something fun and easy. Getting it all together for hopefully this Saturday.

 

[Leandro]

Take as many pictures as possible of the cv swap.

 

[aging fleet]

Alright now. CV axles, wheel bearing kits, and a PFran LED kit for something fun and easy. Getting it all together for hopefully this Saturday.

Nice job getting after it.

 

[ewrk1989]

Thanks, @aging fleet .

@Leandro , I will do my best. I've also written up step by step instructions for myself. But I'll share everything useful afterwards. It's all pretty much "there" on the forum but I have been scanning about 8 different threads putting all the extra details together so maybe that'll be helpful to someone.

@pfran42 's kit is pretty sweet.

 

[2001LC]

Alright now. CV axles, wheel bearing kits, and a PFran LED kit for something fun and easy. Getting it all together for hopefully this Saturday.

View attachment 1444722

Your rig is coming along nicely.

Looks like you've found all the good stuff. I'd take a close look at hub flange teeth for wear, testing on axle for play (0 is best). Also inspecting end of the flange surface that the snap ring contacts for serviceability, is always good idea.

I can't see, is the dust cover on the inboard axle of front drive shafts (CV's)?

 

[ewrk1989]

It's going alright so far. Slowly but surely. Sort of an "emergency" question. I pulled the CV and noticed this was sitting in the area just beyond the oil seal. Does anyone know what it is? It looks damaged.

 

[ewrk1989]

That is to say, I don't see it on the list of components in the front differential in the FSM.

 

[ewrk1989]

Aha...I should've looked closer at my new diff oil seal. It's part of that--phew. That would just be the part that got mangled when I was taking the old one out.

 

[2001LC]

Make sure you oil that seal with gear lube before installing it. Then grease the lip of the seal with wheel bearing grease, before installing your front drive shaft back in with new inboard axle snap ring open end point down!

Does your drive shaft from CVJ have the dust covers on them?

A little grease to hold snap ring open down is useful.

I may have over greased the lip here, but it doesn't matter, just as long as it's greased.

 

[ewrk1989]

I'm pretty sure both dust seals are on there. Buttoned up the right side except for the caliper. Drive shaft had some inboard-outboard play--something like .125-.200 inches after being seated past snap ring. Another user here noted this on his GX and others said it was ok.

I needed to remove the steering knuckle arm (terminology per FSM) to rotate out the knuckle enough. I removed from diff, then the knuckle. Reverse order when going back in.