Just did work on 290,000 80 - comments. (1 Viewer)

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My bro in law now lives here and today we did some major preventative maintainance. Some comments.

Repacked the rear wheel bearings. They had NEVER been done and the original Koyo High Capacity bearings were immaculate. Running in 100% gear oil, of course. Slight spindle scoring on right side, but less than mine. Put new seals in and slapped it together.

Bled the brakes, lubed the drive shafts, drain and fill tranny, squirted 3/4 tube grease in each knuckle, changed the oil, fresh gear oil in all three diffs, adjusted the parking brake. Completely uneventful - no stuck bolts, leaks or surprises anywhere. I felt like Tim Allen the comedian in that "Tool Time" episode where he's bored and begs his wife to "break something".

These things are freaks of nature....

DougM
 
I would almost be worried.......sometimes cars with little love in the past don't like new love.......they might die from the shock of it ;)
 
It's a 93 and lived in SoCal for about 200k, Michigan for 90k, and Idaho for about 5k (last I saw it had about 290, forgot to read odometer - late night when finished.). It's been on a lot of cross country trips, Moab a half dozen times, and other similar moderate wheeling in SoCal as well. Always completely stock. He's such a goober, at around 200k the front diff gave out from low gear oil, so you can see I'm mildly surprised nothing else has gone awry. They drive it briskly, are always late wherever they go, and it's been worked on by (shiver) Jiffy Lube for oil changes and such (first oil change under my care, we nearly had to punch a screwdriver through it to get it off, once changed his diff oil for him and had to use the car jack to break the diff drains loose, etc). So, it's had average care.

Here's another example of how tough it is. When I opened the RR wheel bearing, I fully expected to see damaged bearings because a visitor from Europe backed it into an 18" stump so hard it blew the tire (think about how hard that is - I heard the rears both left the ground and it never got over the stump). Ever since then, it's worn the rear tires with a "toe in" pattern because he bent the spindle forward slightly. I know this because I measured it a decade ago when it happened. Nope - not even a mark on the spindle from the hit mashing the bearings into it that hard. That was some 200,000 miles ago with nary a complaint!!

It's never towed (no hitch), has never carried any weight to speak of other than camping gear and hasn't been in any accidents. AFAIK, original knuckles, water pump, alternator, A/C compressor, and every other major component save the mentioned front diff gears, starter (I think) and I pulled the original radiator in June due to simple leakage of the top tank O-ring.

As I've mentioned before, when I drive it, it actually feels smoother than my anally maintained 150k
'93, which annoys me to no end. The thing is frankly amazing. I'll be caring for it now, and it's pretty much baselined now that he's been here for 6 months.

Pimp,

I know what you're saying. We put normal dino oils in it and such to avoid disturbing the seal gods. Which reminds me - no leaks either......

DougM
 
I just spent the day working on my 93 with 270k. mine doesn't sound as nice. The motor compression is low but even, I've got oil leaks and it feels like i've got some sort of vacuem leak at idle, it idles a little low with a slight miss. I was doing a tune up a few days ago and accidentally broke the bypass hose off the radiator. That plastic gets brittle with that type of use. I did notice a little bit of gear oil coming out of the rear axle drivers side. Looks like I'll be fixing it here soon.

trent
 
Gear oil would would be the paper gasket and rubber axle seal. Get those, plus the wheel bearing inner grease seal and repack the rear wheel bearings, which are clearly running in gear oil at this point. For a vacuum leak, check at the tranny fluid dipstick handle area to see if someone accidentally pulled the one off that goes between the intake runners. It's actually a skinny long hose, and a shorter thick hose bundled together. Commonly happens when carelessly pulling an oil filter up, or checking the tranny fluid.

Better update your sig line.....

DougM
 
IdahoDoug said:
Better update your sig line.....
DougM

IdahoDoug- speaking of sig lines, yours is missing your 93's mileage!

BTW do you know your bro-in-law's tranny-service history? Has he only done drain-fills, or has he done neutral-pressure flushes? Has he removed the pan and cleaned the screen?

:cheers:
 
I'll find out - I wanted to read through his file of receipts. He's almost certainly had the pan off and screen cleaned at least once, but dunno about a flush. If he had asked me over the years I know I would have advised against it.

The 93's got 152k, the 97 138k. Sig updated as soon as I advised Trent - heh!

DougM
 
a little better.
 
IdahoDoug said:
These things are freaks of nature....

DougM

I'd hope so for the sticker price....what exactly where you getting for $50K+ if not running gear durability? You get power locks and windows on a Corolla these days :flipoff2:

Nay
 
Nay,

I know what you're saying, but you could pay $50k tomorrow at a Lincoln dealership for a loaded SUV that will puke up some expensive parts by the time it gets to 100,000 miles. And at 300,000 miles all of its non serviceable suspension and drivetrain parts (the ones I grease every 30k at home for $6 and 30 minutes) would have been replaced twice. Not to mention the seats would be badly sagging, engine smoking, power windows and locks intermittent, etc.

So it isn't JUST spending $50k that gets you a LandCruiser reliability level, but putting that $50k toward an actual LandCruiser......

Of course, a new Cruiser is likely closer to $60k, but you can also spend that for a Lincoln/Cad/GMC SUV.

DougM
 
IdahoDoug said:
Of course, a new Cruiser is likely closer to $60k, but you can also spend that for a Lincoln/Cad/GMC SUV.


Our `94 stickered at $40K, loaded with lockers. Our `04 stickered at $63K, loaded but minus the rear entertainment system. (Well, we didn't quite pay those prices, but you get the idea.) Big price difference, but still worth it as we plan on having both vehicles when my daughter graduates from high school (in 18 years...).

I must like old, reliable vehicles (if you look at the sig line). :cheers:
 
dclee said:
Our `94 stickered at $40K, loaded with lockers. Our `04 stickered at $63K, loaded but minus the rear entertainment system. (Well, we didn't quite pay those prices, but you get the idea.) Big price difference, but still worth it as we plan on having both vehicles when my daughter graduates from high school (in 18 years...).

I must like old, reliable vehicles (if you look at the sig line). :cheers:

10 years, 50% higher cost, 5% per year incl. inflation, not so bad, much more stuff in the vehicle too
 

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