I purchased a project 1990 LJ78 in 2024. It needed a lot of work, but the frame and body had little to no rust, and the price was right. So far, I've replaced or upgraded most of the deficiencies, and the Prado is currently undergoing a heart transplant to a turbo PZ with an R151 manual.
One of the most finicky things to fix along the way was the auto-locking hubs. The contact rings are easy enough to replace if installed carefully. Mine still had the instruction sticker showing how to insert a pin to hold back the brushes during installation. The problem was that the brushes that contact the rings have worn away, and the assembly is out of production. I get why they are most often replaced with manual hubs.
I thought I'd give it a go at rebuilding the brushes before I'm forced to do the manual conversion. Here is what I did, and it wasn't that difficult.
-I disassembled the plastic housing that holds the brushes. There is a two-pin plastic part that's the hold-down for the brushes on the inside of the part that can be pulled out in order to release the brushes from the housing.
- With a bit of wiggle, the brushes will be free from the housing.
The top and bottom little tabs are stoppers to seat the brush material. The longer side tabs are the hold-down clamps.
I measured the area between the stoppers and the clamps to make new brushes according to it.
Then I shaped some little copper bricks from a rod to fit as new brush material. Copper is softer than brass, so it should wear nicely against the contact ring. Finally, to make sure they don't fall out, I soldered the new brushes onto the springs.
Reinstall the housing and Voila, you got yourself a new auto-locking hub.
The manual hubs are definitely more reassuring psychologically. But I'm curious to find out if this old Toyota tech is any reliable or just made for the city folk! haha.
One of the most finicky things to fix along the way was the auto-locking hubs. The contact rings are easy enough to replace if installed carefully. Mine still had the instruction sticker showing how to insert a pin to hold back the brushes during installation. The problem was that the brushes that contact the rings have worn away, and the assembly is out of production. I get why they are most often replaced with manual hubs.
I thought I'd give it a go at rebuilding the brushes before I'm forced to do the manual conversion. Here is what I did, and it wasn't that difficult.
-I disassembled the plastic housing that holds the brushes. There is a two-pin plastic part that's the hold-down for the brushes on the inside of the part that can be pulled out in order to release the brushes from the housing.
- With a bit of wiggle, the brushes will be free from the housing.
The top and bottom little tabs are stoppers to seat the brush material. The longer side tabs are the hold-down clamps.
I measured the area between the stoppers and the clamps to make new brushes according to it.
Then I shaped some little copper bricks from a rod to fit as new brush material. Copper is softer than brass, so it should wear nicely against the contact ring. Finally, to make sure they don't fall out, I soldered the new brushes onto the springs.
Reinstall the housing and Voila, you got yourself a new auto-locking hub.
The manual hubs are definitely more reassuring psychologically. But I'm curious to find out if this old Toyota tech is any reliable or just made for the city folk! haha.