Lots of parts. What should be my order of operation? What can I tackle this weekend? (1 Viewer)

[Red Beard]

Long post ahead.

I have acquired all the parts I'm expecting to need to refresh my front end and rear end components. I was a little shy about doing all of this but I figure I might as well commit and get all the parts at once so I can do more stuff "while I'm in there". The question is, what should I attempt to tackle this weekend?

You’ll see I have the steering rack but I’m thinking that might be too much for all this stuff. So I may come back do that another weekend once I get these components in. But I have the Tie Rod Ends (TREs), so I feel silly putting brand new TREs on an old rack I know I’m going to replace.

The Toyota Parts I have are below. I'm only listing the bigger parts but I also bought the smaller pieces I thought I should replace and the "non replaceable" parts according to the FSM as well.

Front End:

• Steering Rack
• Tie Rod Ends (TREs)
• PS Lower Control Arm (LCA)
• PS Upper Control Arm (UCA)
• Front Sway Bar Parts:
  • DS/PS Cushions
  • DS/PS Bushings
  • DS/PS Links
• DS/PS Bearings (planning on changing the races as well)
  • Including snap ring kit
  • Mobil 1 Bearing Grease
  • Seals
  • Claw Washers
• DS/PS Hub Flanges and Gaskets
• Toyota Reboot Kit
• McMaster-Carr Clamps

Rear End:

• Lower Control Arms
• Upper Control Arms
• Lateral Control Arm
• Sway bar components
  • Brackets
  • Bushings/Cushions
• Fuel Tank Skid Plate
  • New straps

Tools I got for these jobs to hopefully help me:

• Milwaukee Impact Wrench + Sockets
• Crowfoot Flare Nut Wrench Set
• Pitman Puller
• 8" Brass Drift
• Brake Cleaner
• Handy Bearing Packer Tool
• Gloves
• CruiserTeq Hub Socket

My loose plan is this:

1. Jack up front, wheels off, skids off
2. Do both bearings (~5 hours?)
3. Remove Torsion Bars (not sure how yet) (1 hour)
4. Change Swaybar bushings (1 hour)
5. Replace PS Control Arms (4 hours?)
6. Reboot axles? (3 hours)
7. Decide whether I want to commit to the steering rack. (2 days? Haha )
8. Tie Rods even though I didn't do Steering Rack?
9. Put everything back together in front (2 hours?)
10. Wheels on, lower front
11. Change out rear control arms and sway bar components (3 hours?)
12. Get alignment

Maybe another weekend I’ll come back for:

1. Fuel tank skid plate
2. Reboot Kit
3. Steering Rack?

Some shoddy photos of the parts:

Would love any input on these projects as well! Thanks.

 

[aging fleet]

That list makes my head hurt. I’d probably start with the rack and tie rod ends because those seem more daunting to me, then move to the front suspension and CVs. The work at the rear will be a walk in the park after all that.

 

[Red Beard]

That list makes my head hurt. I’d probably start with the rack and tie rod ends because those seem more daunting to me, then move to the front suspension and CVs. The work at the rear will be a walk in the park after all that.

Yeah, its been making my head hurt too. Tonight I decided I should catalog everything to help make sense of it all.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I'd start with rear. Control arms and sway bar links are probably the easiest projects on your list. Depending upon your mechanical aptitude this may be an afternoon project. It will give a big boost your confidence too!

 

[suprarx7nut]

Agreed to start with rear arms because they're easy.

I think your time estimates are all a little optimistic. On all those jobs you're one or two stubborn bolts away from a lengthy extension to the clock. Telling yourself it's an hour task is just plain frustrating when you snap a bolt and spend 3 hours on it.

Maybe double your time estimates and then feel like a champion if you beat them.

If you don't already have the Toyota manual, get one. Or at least download all the needed pages. You'll need a ton of torque specs and reading through the manual, for me, is critical when stacking tasks like this. Otherwise it's way too easy to skip step 4a of a 14 step process only to realize you forgot it as you torque the final 2 bolts.

General advice, just take your time and give yourself as much cushion on the clock as possible. It took me a solid 10 years of DIY wrenching to figure out I was always taking off a bigger bite than I should - and then getting stressed for the final 50% of the task at hand. I've greatly reduced how much I try to squeeze in per session and my life (and marriage) is better for it.

Good luck!

 

[Red Beard]

Agreed to start with rear arms because they're easy.

I think your time estimates are all a little optimistic. On all those jobs you're one or two stubborn bolts away from a lengthy extension to the clock. Telling yourself it's an hour task is just plain frustrating when you snap a bolt and spend 3 hours on it.

Maybe double your time estimates and then feel like a champion if you beat them.

If you don't already have the Toyota manual, get one. Or at least download all the needed pages. You'll need a ton of torque specs and reading through the manual, for me, is critical when stacking tasks like this. Otherwise it's way too easy to skip step 4a of a 14 step process only to realize you forgot it as you torque the final 2 bolts.

General advice, just take your time and give yourself as much cushion on the clock as possible. It took me a solid 10 years of DIY wrenching to figure out I was always taking off a bigger bite than I should - and then getting stressed for the final 50% of the task at hand. I've greatly reduced how much I try to squeeze in per session and my life (and marriage) is better for it.

Good luck!

Great advice - maybe I''ll just do the rear stuff and go from there.

I do have the FSM books. Its pretty useful except for when it says "remove torsion bar" – and that's all it says for that step haha. I have read through it the procedure for the front control arms which seem way harder than the rear control arms, so I agree, the rear stuff would be the right move to start with.

Maybe another weekend I can tackle the front end or if I have time this weekend. Or slowly do it during the week (and hope for no rain). It's my DD but I'm not going anywhere but hockey at odd hours.

 

[Sventvkg]

wow....My head hurts looking at this!! As a Noob, is there a thread where someone lists all the general maintenance tasks one should do when acquiring a 100 series? I'd love to have a guide to go by as I'm kinda at a loss as to where to start myself.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

wow....My head hurts looking at this!! As a Noob, is there a thread where someone lists all the general maintenance tasks one should do when acquiring a 100 series? I'd love to have a guide to go by as I'm kinda at a loss as to where to start myself.

Check out the sticky at the top of this sub-forum!

By far the best thing you can do when you get any used car is get a competent mechanic to inspect it. Then divide the list in three parts:
1. Immediate: Only the items that are safety concern or could leave you stranded
2. Long Term: Refreshing rubber parts, cooling system, perhaps any suspension clunks etc.
3. Nice to have: Any upgrades, cosmetic issues, masculine jewelry

Then go after only what you have time/budget for. This is not a shade on the OP in any way - but the worst use of your money is to throw new parts at an unknown rig without making a plan!

 

[Sventvkg]

Check out the sticky at the top of this sub-forum!

By far the best thing you can do when you get any used car is get a competent mechanic to inspect it. Then divide the list in three parts:
1. Immediate: Only the items that are safety concern or could leave you stranded
2. Long Term: Refreshing rubber parts, cooling system, perhaps any suspension clunks etc.
3. Nice to have: Any upgrades, cosmetic issues, masculine jewelry

Then go after only what you have time/budget for. This is not a shade on the OP in any way - but the worst use of your money is to throw new parts at an unknown rig without making a plan!

Thanks. That's kinda what I was aiming for.

 

[menancyandsam]

Here is a good thread on dealing with torsion bars. For those with torsion bar questions - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/for-those-with-torsion-bar-questions.491948/
It's for non AHC but the removal/install is the same. And make sure you loosen the Adjuster bolt all the way before you remove the lower control arm bolts, ask me how I know.

I would go ahead and reindex while you are there so you don't have to later if you run out of adjuster threads.

Also if you are going to wheel it's recommend to put these reinforcement brackets on for piece of mind. Moab disaster turned best experience. Grandpas Garage!!!! BUY THE BRACKET! - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/moab-disaster-turned-best-experience-grandpas-garage-buy-the-bracket.1137306/

 

[Mike NXP]

You really took the " do it while your in there" saying to a new level =]

 

[peacesells63]

Just do it all, you'll be surprised how fast the garbage can fills up when you stay busy. I'd start by tearing the front end apart, do the rack first and get that out of the way. Do everything on the passenger side next, that way if you have to bail on the rest, everything that will require an alignment will be done. The rear stuff can be done on a weekday after work. Mark your UCA adjusters and set the back to where they were after replacing the UCA's. Set the steering wheel to center and do an eyeball alignment, it will be good enough to drive until your alignment shop can get you in. Look it over now and decide if you want to paint or do any rust mitigation wile you have it apart, that takes a lot of time and will destroy your schedule.

 

[Red Beard]

Just do it all, you'll be surprised how fast the garbage can fills up when you stay busy. I'd start by tearing the front end apart, do the rack first and get that out of the way. Do everything on the passenger side next, that way if you have to bail on the rest, everything that will require an alignment will be done. The rear stuff can be done on a weekday after work. Mark your UCA adjusters and set the back to where they were after replacing the UCA's. Set the steering wheel to center and do an eyeball alignment, it will be good enough to drive until your alignment shop can get you in. Look it over now and decide if you want to paint or do any rust mitigation wile you have it apart, that takes a lot of time and will destroy your schedule.

Yeah, I'd love to get any of the requires-alignment stuff out of the way. I'll think it over. It will depend how much time I think I'll have to do this stuff. Appreciate it

 

[Red Beard]

Update: It took way more than just 1 weekend, but I have a lot of shiny new parts installed on my front end finally.

• New Steering Rack and Sunsong Hoses
• PS Lower Control Arm
• PS Upper Control Arm
• Front Axles (realized my axles weren't Toyota so I decided not to reboot)
• Front Sway Bar Links and Bracket bushings
• New Bearings both sides and PS side got new races

That was a lot of work, I'm glad I had the luxury of being able to leave the cruiser on jack stands for a couple weekends. The steering rack wasn't too bad. The other front end work was probably the most challenging. Only 1 broken bolt, which was the sway bar bracket mount bolt.

I didn't have a way to measure preload, but I followed the FSM and torqued the hub nuts up to 47 ft lb after spinning the wheel a bunch of times. Seems solid. The DS hub nuts were hand loose when I opened it up, which was wild.. It looks like the dust cover for the PS spindle was falling apart so I think I can hear it now sometimes when the wheel spins. I might have to dig back in and replace that.

Also I bought the wrong diff seal for the driver side. So I had to reuse the one I pried off. So its leaking just a tiny bit. So unfortunately, I'm going to have to jack the cruiser up again to fix that diff seal. I'm hoping I can get away with changing the diff seal by just popping off the upper control arm and removing the bolts that connect the tie rod end to the back of the spindle.

I still have an odd click on the driver side when turning or turning up into my driveway. Something is loose on that side that I haven't touched. If the alignment shop doesn't notice anything tomorrow, I'll have to dig in a little more over there.

Torsion bars are torqued and pressures are within spec before going to the alignment tomorrow. Rear parts will go in another weekend!

 

[awesomeissquid]

I had a similar plan to refresh my entire front end minus the steering rack and new axles and thought I could do it over the long 4-day thanksgiving weekend. That was optimistic, but it does feel great to get it done. Nice job getting it all done!

 

[Red Beard]

What do I do with the old parts? I have a lot of metal sitting around!