Summer is a time in the northwest to paint parts. With humidity down to a much more reasonable 25%, painting in a day or two with primer is a real treat. That means I can pull off parts, rebuild, and have them back on the truck within a few days. My goal for the rest of the summer is to get everything on the undercarriage done leaving me with all interior mods (Seat brackets, window runs, stereo upgrade, roof sound deadening, winch, lights etc) for the winter.
For the undercarriage, I am starting with the bushings. Ordered up all the necessary parts from cruiserparts (great shop to work with, fantastic support before and after purchases) and got the stereotypical Harbor Freight 20 ton press. I also got Trail Tailors bushing press kit, I highly recommend it, made everything go a lot faster.
First up are the upper control arm bushings. Man they were shot! I could move the sleeve back and forth with my finger! No form of stabilization at all. Pulled the arms, pressed out the bushings and primed and painted using the ubiquitous John Deere Primer and Blitz Black paint (really nice product btw).
The bolts were worn, and while I am sure they were fine I went ahead and followed the FSM and replaced them. At the same time, I took the new bolts and tried a new anti corrosion technique for me; black oxide. I’ve wanted to do something about the recent rust that has started showing up on my truck. I’ve got some good $$ and a lot of time and some good memories in this rig and it would be a shame for it to start having rust issues in 5 or 10 years.
The black oxide worked pretty well but you had to be very thorough in your assembly line like treatment. ANY left over soap or oil would distort the finish.
After doing a couple sets a few of the bolts immediately got surface rust/flashing. Tried a specific finishing oil for black oxide parts and while it helped, it missed on a few parts. So I decided to up the anti-corrosion properties and had a shop cerakote all my fasteners. They blasted them and cerakoted in a satin black that matches very well. I also did the fasteners for some interior panels, brake parts, rear tie downs, and other bolts. All it all it was the best $300 s I spent for just time alone let alone the durability properties. I ended up doing over 60 parts and fasteners done because it was cheaper to do them in batches.
After the upper control arms were done, I moved on to the lower control arms. Those were a little bit easier but I had to jack up the truck higher and use straps to pull the rear axle forward a bit. This video helped me quite a bit:
Timmy the Toolman Lower Control Arm Bushing replacement
Now that the upper and lower control arms are done I am moving on to the rear panhard bushings, followed by the Dissent Rear Bumper install and new Whiteline Rear Sway Bar along with Land Cruiser Phil Brackets. Once I've finished everything on the rear, I'll move on to Front Lower Control Arm Bushings, Front Panhard Bar Bushings, and Tie Rod Ends. Thanks for following along.