Matt's 1997 fzj80 "Build" thread

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Matt made my sliders and did a fine job. If anyone would like to see them let me know. See the links above.
 
Ever since I swapped the mtr's for the bfg at's I have noticed a whine under load and tracked it to the rear output bearing on the transfer case. It gradually got louder and louder and became an off the gas on the gas whine so this past weekend I skipped the ride and pulled the rear housing of the transfer case to replace the bearing. I also thought I would replace the front pads, since they were squeaking, check the front bearings, and rebuild the power steering pump if there was any time left over(there wasn't :grinpimp:)

brakes were mostly uneventful - 100 series pads required some sanding and the passenger wheel bearing was loose. Tightened that, ate some lunch and started on the transfer.

Removal was uneventful and teardown was way easier than expected. The lock ring pliers everyone borrows for the front axle pulled all the snap rings no problem.

didn't put this back in:

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lots of new space:

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culprit:

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the old bearing seemed ok, but it did have a lot of drag compared to the new.

Night time rolled around and I went to put everything back together. I should have waited for day light but...there are two shims that just float on the back of the oil pump. I couldn't get the case to seat by the exact thickness of one shim. Instead of patiently tightening all of the bolts in sequence, I cranked on one and CRACK. Cracked the rear housing.

In another hasty decision I pulled the thicker shim out, rtv'd the cracked piece back on and threw it together. Bolted the rear DS in and went for a test drive. Made it about 10 feet before I was sure the spacer was needed. It was howling like it had no oil in it. pulled back in and called it a night.

the next morning I pulled it all apart, properly epoxied the case(one of the "ears" for the bolts broke off up by the oil pump - not the major part of the case itself) , went to church while the epoxy set up, came home and bolted it all back up with the spacer back in place.

So far the whine is 90% gone and it is leak free for now. I am going to help Scott replace his entire TC this week hopefully and will at some point replace my rear housing with his (assuming it is ok), but for now I am just going to run mine and cross fingers that it doesn't leak.

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Oh, and the most surprising part is how much lighter the steering is without the viscous coupler. I debated throwing it back in, but considering I have only driven the truck in the snow a total of two times I decided to leave it out.
 
the super stout lower control arms I custom fabed that he never installed.

You did all the work while I was wrestling with my front control arms. Those rear LCAs are sick, I dont know if even speeder could bend them.
 
You did all the work while I was wrestling with my front control arms. Those rear LCAs are sick, I dont know if even speeder could bend them.

Dang, if I had known you still had those LCAs I would have bought them from you... I have bent 2 stock ones. I am gonna have to just break down and buy a set from landtank I reckon.
 
Dang, if I had known you still had those LCAs I would have bought them from you... I have bent 2 stock ones. I am gonna have to just break down and buy a set from landtank I reckon.

I wanted to give them back to Matt, I still owe him for my rack and I really wish I had kept my sliders before I let the 80 go.

I wouldnt buy the landtank arms

even with buying junkyard 95+ LCAs, the hardware store pipe, the bushing set and having matt figure out how to press everything together I dont think I was $300 into them. I am 99% sure I wasnt 435 dollars into them.

If I could fab, and I wheeled enough to justify it (Jynx I think you fall into that category) I would make something like Binksfab did with custom frame mounts wide enough to use with heim joints.
 
Only one way to see if I can break them LCA's.

Also, I'd never give up my stock toyota bushings in favor of heims. While I've seen all sized heims fail, I've never had a bushing fail.

Matt, I'd like to help with this xfer case swap!
 

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