New life for an old pig...

[Lucy_FJ55]

uglyoinker- I sure hope so!

rsbcruiser- Hmmm, not sure exactly what you mean. The nuts above were the nuts that came with the new TRE's, so they should have fit. Or did I completely misunderstand you?

PabloCruise- I think the cotter pins were correct. I ended up using pins that are actually the same size/length/diameter the second time around. Things just worked the second time around.

I ended up buying everything from SOR originally. They are the ones that helped talk me out of buying new TRE's and a drag link assembly, from them again. I talked to one of their mechanics and I talked to a few friends/mechanics here locally about the situation, and I feel better about runnin' it.

What do you mean by stretched? I'm not sure what that would look like. Hmmm, maybe I'll go search...



I basically ground/ripped the old nuts off the studs without damaging the threads much. The TRE that had the nut and stud rotating together had great looking threads. I think that nut had not been tweaked as much as the other. This TRE has me concerned the most. I decided to restore the threads, spin a nut on it and see how it went. The stud stayed put, I tightened the nut to 55 lbs, slapped cotter pins in and called it good. I may buy a set of TRE's anyway...

The other nut came off the drag link TRE. Same idea, different place. That nut I cranked on the most. That nut was the one that ended up spinning both ways easily but would not loosen or tighten. Those threads did show some sign of wear. The die I used is designed to restore the thread if there is material left. Its not a thread cutting tool. I am no expert, but the stud looked to me like it was not too damaged and could be saved. I think I am gonna run with it and keep an eye on it.

I am debating getting new TRE's anyway, but I'll probably run it this way 'as is' to see how it goes. Am I crazy? Or stoopid? Lemme know. I'll keep folks updated.

Cheers, Carlos

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Mas pics...

New brake pads and springs/pins

New clutch master/slave cylinders and SS braided line

Getting there. Need to bleed both brake and clutch systems. Waiting on new rotors.

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Well, I missed this weekend's trail run on Edison. I am bummed.

Finally got the second set of rotors on Thursday evening and these ones fit! Brought them into NAPA so they could press bearings and seals into them and attach them to the hub assemblies, blah, blah, blah. Picked 'em up Friday and wrenched into the evening. Thought it would be simple, but yet again, I ran into a few issues.

Still had trouble getting the new pads into the old calipers. I was able to depress some of the pistons while the others were frozen. Time for new calipers.

Rotors assembled and installed

Installed the outer hub assembly on one of the axle sides. When I went to install the other, it fell apart in my hands. It was late, I was trying to finish up in time to make the Edison run and I spent the next few hours trying to figure out how to put the hub back together again.

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Woke up Saturday to get after it again.

Decided to buy new calipers from NAPA to replace my old junk. Noticed I had uneven wear on the pads also. Figure probably due to one side of each caliper being stuck. Just a guess...

Finally loaded the new calipers with new pads, rods, and springs. Installed 'em. I have now rebuilt the entire front end; brakes, steering, axle, etc. Land Cruiser projects always seem to blossom this way...

Just need to throw the wheels on, bleed the brakes and clutch system, and then drive it to see how everything turned out!

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Bleeding the brakes went well, but when I bled the clutch the clutch master went dry midway through bleeding. The pedal was loose, became tighter, and then went loose again. My understanding is this is no big deal. You just have to start over and re-bleed. However, the pedal is now loose and doesn't seem to get any tighter as you pump it. Did I screw something up, should I just keep pumping? What's going on?!

 

[PabloCruise]

Land Cruiser projects always seem to blossom this way...

Agreed!

It always falls into the philosophy of "while I am in here, I may as well (fill in the blank)"

For bleeding the clutch master I think you can just crack open the bleeder on the slave and let the fluid gravity bleed.

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Thanks PabloCruise! I did just that and gravity bled it. Works well now. Truck is back together and on the road. Steering is tighter. Brakes are decent, a little mushy maybe? Haven't been able to lock 'em up, but they stop the truck.

I need to swap in longer front brake lines. I have new SS braided lines (9" long) on there now that are longer than stock, but since I got rid of the brake dust shields I now run the brake lines directly to the caliper. The lines on there are taught when the wheels are fully cranked. Looks scary and I will be replacing with slightly longer lines ASAP.

Pic of the SS braided lines I have on there now-

 

[PabloCruise]

Glad it worked!

For brake lines, try NAPA p/n #38881 - supposed to eliminate the hard line at brake backing plate.

Good luck!

$14.41 each

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Aha! That's the part number I was looking for! Started a thread about it and all in 40/55 Tech. Any idea how long that line is?

I ended up finding a place here locally that can custom build some SS brake lines for me. Very reasonable price and they can build 'em while I wait. I'm going that route. For the time being, I'll by driving my truck without making any sharp turns!

 

[PabloCruise]

I think they are about 16-18" long.

Let me know how much your custom, braided SS lines are!

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

PabloCruise- The NAPA brake lines above you posted are 16" long and would definitely work. Of course I wanted SS braided lines, so I found someone local who can make them. The ones below are also 16", SS braided, clear (also came in 'smoked gray')plastic coated, and DOT approved, etc... Also only cost $20.02 each! Not bad.

 

[PabloCruise]

Interesting design.

Is the hard line length designed to clear the caliper before the flex starts?

Those look nice!

Will they produce more and ship? I might mike some of those.

Please post pics when you get them installed!

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Interesting design.

Is the hard line length designed to clear the caliper before the flex starts?

Those look nice!

Will they produce more and ship? I might mike some of those.

Please post pics when you get them installed!

Hmmm, my other thread about these in the 40 and 55 Tech forum has me nervous that these may not be the best design. I noticed you posted on the other thread so I'll let you read the rest. I guess I might as well link it here now...

Link to SS Brake Line Thread:https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/410117-part-number-extended-ss-front-brake-line.html

So, I had reservations at first about that fitting. The shop I purchased these from came recommended locally for being trustworthy and knowledgable, etc. They seemed to answer all of my questions reasonably, but honestly I don't remember exactly the reasoning. Something about the tube extension being stronger and being able to take more abuse than the flexible ends on the other brake line I brought them as an example. Supposedly they should bend, hopefully before braking, or something like that?

I need to decide whether to run these or use them as back-ups and order something else. Still thinking about this one...

 

[PabloCruise]

Same reply I gave in the other thread:

I think these would be great questions for the vendor who made them. Let them answer your questions.
It may be that they were unclear about the original app you wanted them for, in which case they may want to swap them out for something else.
Or it may be that they understood exactly what you wanted and thought this was the best solution. In which case you'll have to follow your intuition after talking with them.

Either way, get rid of those short brake lines you have pronto!

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

Same reply I gave in the other thread:

I think these would be great questions for the vendor who made them. Let them answer your questions.
It may be that they were unclear about the original app you wanted them for, in which case they may want to swap them out for something else.
Or it may be that they understood exactly what you wanted and thought this was the best solution. In which case you'll have to follow your intuition after talking with them.

Either way, get rid of those short brake lines you have pronto!

Thanks again for the advice Pablo! I'll deal with this soon...

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

So, I decided to run the custom lines I had made locally.

Here's a couple pics. First is of both lines, the second is the newer, longer line installed.

Been driving around with these for a few days. All is well so far.

 

[PabloCruise]

I bet it is nice to just be driving it after all the love you put into the front end!

 

[Lucy_FJ55]

I bet it is nice to just be driving it after all the love you put into the front end!

It really is fun to drive! Definitely tightened up the front end. My steering wheel is off center, but I plan to pull it and spin it.

More to come...

 

[inkpot]

It really is fun to drive! Definitely tightened up the front end. My steering wheel is off center, but I plan to pull it and spin it.

More to come...

Howdy! Can't you just adjust the steering wheel rotation by spinning the tube between the pitman arm/bellcrank and the opposing steering arm? JOhn

 

[PabloCruise]

Howdy! Can't you just adjust the steering wheel rotation by spinning the tube between the pitman arm/bellcrank and the opposing steering arm? JOhn

Yes...