Builds Hygge's Sawdust FJ62 (2 Viewers)

[hygge]

I really like reading through everything you've been doing! Great write up!

Many thanks @Borrego this is a labor of love that has become a hobby of obsession. Looks like we have similar rigs at different timelines. I have a 99'LC, a 91' "pickup" pre Tundra or T100 or Tacoma and the 89' LC. Would love to get a 40-series.

If I could get an FJ45, I would get rid of my 89' pickup in a heart beat.

 

[hygge]

Nice job on the birfield!

I found that blowing out the 4 pistons on my FJ40 calipers was quite a challenge. I ended up reinstalling the brake pads in the caliper so that all 4 pistons 'came out' about the same amount at a time (before any came fully out) when I applied air pressure. If you don't, you will likely find that 1 piston pops out early, leaving 3 stuck in their bores. Your goal with the air pressure is to get all the pistons about 95% out of their bores before any single one pops out. Good luck with that!

Once all the pistons are out, the actual rebuild is easy, of course, if messy.

Thanks . @SteveH Yeah, I don't really have a legit air compressor. My Dad has been trying to pawn one over to me for some time, but I don't know if I would use it enough/I don't have a garage or much space. I've been reading that if I put a block of wood in there and some clamps that this is the best way to slowly get them out until all the pistons are almost out.

Appreciate the advice and words of encourgement.

 

[hygge]

Used my trusty Ryobi inflator as my shop air compressor. It worked great to get the pistons out.

The trick that I found was to use the clamps on 3 of the 4 pistons so you pushed out one of them 100%. Then you would push the Piston you popped out just barely back in ( but enough for an air seal) and then reclamp it. Rinse and repeat until all the pistons are popped out. Then use your fingers to finagle them out.

Found some rust on a few of the pistons.

Even after brake cleaner still a bit dirty and rusty on a few of them.

Thinking about an ultrasonic bath for all the pistons.

What does the forum think? Is it okay to ultrasonic the pistons? Since it's a vital component to my braking system I don't want to mess this one up.

 

[hygge]

Spent some time getting these super gross dust protectors to a state that I deemed decent enough for spray paint.

Theses were definitely never ever cleaned in 30 years. Lots of built up grease and grime.

Did the best I could without a media blaster.

There were a few rust spots where it had eaten all the way through. Used a Rust-Oleum primer and a flat black. Finishing these off with a clear coat. Maybe this will make it easier to clean in the future.

Contemplating doing the dust protectors eliminator. Marlin Crawler has one. If I did this is be in for SS brake lines too. We will see.

 

[hygge]

Wondering what to do about this Piston. Is it salvageable?

 

[hygge]

Went for it and used the Centric Parts Caliper kit from Rockauto.

PN# 143.44012

It was pretty easy to put the square rings into the piston cylinders. You just have to take your time and grease everything.

Used permatex brake parts lubricant, but I am sure any high temp grease would work.

Feeling accomplished for the weekend.

Next up is rebuilding the birfields and installing back in the axle shafts. I can then throw these back into the truck and FINALLY finish the rebuild.

Also drove in the Marlin Crawler ecoseals in preparation for the final push.

Some folks have a parts truck, I have a truck full of parts.

 

[hygge]

Couldn't help myself. Stayed up an extra hour and put the birfields back together. Micro jigsaw puzzle. The end is nearer.

 

[SteveH]

Excellent progress. As you discovered, it doesn't take much air pressure or volume to blow out the pistons. If you can get that caliper piston clean and smooth with 0000 steel wool, you can likely re-use it. If it'd badly pitted, then likely not. My pistons looked bad, but gentle cleaning with fine steel wool had them looking like new.

 

[hygge]

@SteveH used brake cleaner and a shop rag. Tried my best. It's worked so far. If it stops working I'll replace the piston new ones are about $40 from Toyota.

 

[hygge]

@SteveH @joebattle1 question related to swapping out brake lines.

I bought new OEM brake lines for the front (L and R), front to differential and rear.

Since the truck has the emergency parking brake engaged, is there any issue with swapping out the rear soft brake line even though I don't have the rear up on jack stands?

The brake system and the e-brake are independent from each other (since the e-brake is mechanical and under tension from the e-brake handle). Correct?

 

[Borrego]

Many thanks @Borrego this is a labor of love that has become a hobby of obsession. Looks like we have similar rigs at different timelines. I have a 99'LC, a 91' "pickup" pre Tundra or T100 or Tacoma and the 89' LC. Would love to get a 40-series.

If I could get an FJ45, I would get rid of my 89' pickup in a heart beat.

I agree 100%, it's definitely an obsession. A 45 would be awesome! I want the unicorn FJ45LV. We do have similar rigs, I also have an 85 Toyota pickup that is some serious fun! chromoly's, dual cases, locked front and rear, 37's, etc... all the mini truck extras. My Dad and I built it about 10 years ago. Tons of fun! I plan to bring it down to the Rubicon one of these years. .

again, great job on everything you're doing. I've never rebuilt a caliper before. I might try it when the time comes now that I've seen your post.

 

[SteveH]

The brake system and the e-brake are independent from each other (since the e-brake is mechanical and under tension from the e-brake handle). Correct?

Yes - if your parking brake is working well and solidly locked in place, you may safely disconnect the service brakes to work on them. As always, block up the truck well and chock all over the place, just in case. I replaced all the soft lines on my '62 and it wasn't a bad job at all - went quickly, and bled easily. I feel better knowing the lines are not rotted and 30 years old...

 

[hygge]

The brake system and the e-brake are independent from each other (since the e-brake is mechanical and under tension from the e-brake handle). Correct?

Yes - if your parking brake is working well and solidly locked in place, you may safely disconnect the service brakes to work on them. As always, block up the truck well and chock all over the place, just in case. I replaced all the soft lines on my '62 and it wasn't a bad job at all - went quickly, and bled easily. I feel better knowing the lines are not rotted and 30 years old...

Thanks @SteveH for the confirmation. That is exactly what I thought. Its in the middle of my driveway right now ( has been for three weeks under the knife). And the driveway is at a slope. I tried to compensate for that with a 6" plastic ramp from harbor freight. Its "fairly" level, but probably sketch for some folks. You can see the white stucco wall for comparison of slope.

I have had the e-brake on for multiple weeks now with no issue. But, like you want to get all the soft lines swapped at the same time. Would rather have to do the bleeding once.

 

[hygge]

Alright experts what is your preferred method for getting the inner axle c-clip installed into the birfield?

I've tried doing the zip tie method (went through about 10 zip ties.

And I also tried using a clamp to get it cinched into the thin crevice. The clamp seems to be too big to get the end of the axle into the inner race area.

Anyway, this is the next step before I put the axle back into the housing. Got the knuckle back on.

 

[hygge]

Also started replacing soft lines last night. Since my truck is in the front yard essentially and not on a lift, it required some contortionist activity to get the leverage to take off the brake clip and to get my head and arms into a good location in the Passenger inner-wheel fender area to take off and put on the new chassis to axle soft line.

Almost sorry about the dark photos. It was late, like 3am late on a Friday.

 

[hygge]

Monday updates:

Received new to me Bilstein shocks Saturday from a local FJ60 owner. Only have about 2k miles on them. Threw these on the front last night. Not sure if the rear shocks will fit. The eyelet size between 1985 model is 16mm and on my 1989 it's a 19mm. Might need to buy new shock eyelets.

Had help from my brother to get the c-clips installed on both axles. Officially done with the birfields! Put the axles back in and buttoned up the wiper seals and felt backers. Pro Tip: grease the felt before install so it doesn't wick water.

Received my first issue of Toyota Trail magazine.

Next step is to install the spindles, freewheel hub and bleed the brakes!

 

[hygge]

And that's a wrap.

After a month plus of non-op Sawdust is back in the road. Finished my multi-step rebuild.

Happy to have completed my first knuckle job. Also glad with a few other bonus items: rebuilt the calipers, installed new Bilstein shocks, new soft brake lines OEM. Rebuilt the free wheel hubs, axle, cleaned the birfields and bled brake lines for the first time too.

Overall a great experience. Happy to be through it. So many other projects to hit.

Likely rust is the next big project. I'll be selling the entire brown entire of my FJ62. If anyone needs interior parts that are brown, please let me know.

Thanks for insights team!

 

[hygge]

The same day I get the truck back up and running after the knuckle job, I start tearing up the interior.

The winter project is to get the rust addressed and get this truck ready for a paint job.

I'll be doing some welding ( I don't know how to weld, but I will learn), some bodywork (never done this before). And then after the painting is done (exploring my options), I will look to add back a sexy grey interior.

I'll be attempting to do this on a budget (mostly by myself late at night) and while balancing full-time job, two kids, wife and four chickens.

Would like to still take the truck camping and do some wheeling while I am doing all of this stuff to the truck. So I have that going on too.

 

[hygge]

Further destroyed the interior so I can find rust and kill it.

Still need to get the headliner and the door cards out, but otherwise its pretty stripped down and ready for a nice scrub and cleaning.

I"ll be buying some dry ice to get the old flooring cover off.

I guess in order of operations I'll do the following:

1. Get out headliner
2. Take off door cards
3. Unscrew anything left that I think needs to go so I can clean all the old jute
4. Buy dry ice and get the floor cleaned
5. Sanding/cleaning up rust
6. Weld where necessary
7. Treat with POR15
8. Bang out any stuff on the exterior

Sounds easy. Just kidding.

 

[hygge]

Been "enjoying" the clean up of the floor throughout the truck.

As I peel back the jute backing, I am finding surface rust throughout the floor. There are a few areas that I don't really understand. Like for instance, why is there rust on the passenger side around the transmission? There should not be water getting into the truck two feet away from the door. There is no obvious culprit. Any ideas on this one?

There are other spots that make sense, like rust on the bottom of the doors. I am guessing this is from dirt building up and not allowing any of the water to dissipate. Then the water sits and creates rust over time.

I didn't expect to find standing water in the driver's side area. I am pretty sure its from the A-Pillar, which I already knew was leaking from the windshield gasket.

On both left and right wheel wells there is rust to the degree that I can look outside. Its like extra little hidden windows to the outside world, but without anything stopping the rain, dirt, mud from getting into the truck.

I started taking out the door cards so I can access the doors and do some light body work.

Okay, 2:21am should go to bed.