Builds Project Resurrection v1.1
- Thread starter hman913
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- Thread starter
- #122
Wiring was started and "finished" on Saturday. A huge thanks to my buddy Nick... in the time it took me to hook up the headlights and the propane solenoid, he basically had the entire dash done. The engine cranked, head/tail lights work, brake lights and the most annoying/very Japanese sounding horn works. The only problem is that the turn signals light up, but don't flash. Apparently this is a fairly common problem with the EZ wire harness and the universal hot rod signal switches. I'll be calling EZ today for the fix, and hopefully I can share some actual useful tech in here. Once that is done the wiring will be cleaned up and stuffed into some wrap where needed.
We would have been able to start the engine, but the needed plug wires are a special order item and no store can look up comparable wires without a vehicle model and computer.
We would have been able to start the engine, but the needed plug wires are a special order item and no store can look up comparable wires without a vehicle model and computer.
- Thread starter
- #123
It occurred to me the other day that I abandoned this thread altogether. So I guess let's bring it up to speed. Rewind to July of 2014...
About 1 week before I supposed to leave for Coal Mine, the truck thundered out of the garage for the first time in nearly 3.5 years, clearing the overhead door by a mere inch with the rear tires flat. In a redneck way, I dig the two-tone scheme.
Some outdoor shots at muffler shop #1, which turned out to be a colossal PITA.
I figured the local "little guy" auto shop would have been able to handle the exhaust system in a timely fashion. Nope. He said if I dropped it off Wednesday, it would be ready Friday afternoon. After a lot of "well this and well that" and absolutely nothing done to it, I picked it up Thursday afternoon and took it to Midas who did a great job on it.
About 1 week before I supposed to leave for Coal Mine, the truck thundered out of the garage for the first time in nearly 3.5 years, clearing the overhead door by a mere inch with the rear tires flat. In a redneck way, I dig the two-tone scheme.
Some outdoor shots at muffler shop #1, which turned out to be a colossal PITA.
I figured the local "little guy" auto shop would have been able to handle the exhaust system in a timely fashion. Nope. He said if I dropped it off Wednesday, it would be ready Friday afternoon. After a lot of "well this and well that" and absolutely nothing done to it, I picked it up Thursday afternoon and took it to Midas who did a great job on it.
- Thread starter
- #124
After the exhaust was done, I buttoned up some things in the engine compartment, tuned the propane and adjusted the timing over the weekend.
Ducked out of work early Monday (leaving Tuesday morning for CMCC '14) for some last minute parts pick-up and final prep for vacation. The front driveshaft, which was a lengthened factory Toyota mini DC shaft, had to be run backwards because apparently Toyota used different pattern flanges for the diff and t-case ends. Not a big deal. Dumped a bunch of tools in a bag, searched for recovery gear, gave a final walk around and loaded onto the trailer.
Coal Mine '14 trip report...
Day 1, Wednesday. I ended up leading a group for green/blue trails, which gave me a perfect opportunity to lightly break things in and check for obvious bugs. The first thing I need to fix is the front shackles are using the frame as a bump stop. At rest, they have a nice angle to them but evidently the springs have more up-travel than I thought.
Day 2, Thursday. Blues are boring, lets do blacks! For the most part everything was point and shoot. 75% of the day was spent in 2wd rear. Spools are awesome. With the front tires stuck in a watery pit and the rear trying to climb, I blew the lower radiator hose off the block. Clamped it back on, refilled with some North Carolina water and winched out. About 50’ further, the steering shaft decided it didn’t want to be attached to the steering box anymore. Another simple, yet cramped fix. Finished that trail without another incident. Onto the next trail… about a half hour into the trail while climbing, the front suspension dropped out and left the driveshaft splines engaged by fractions of an inch. The suspension recompressed, driveshaft tried to do the same but instead egged out the female end of the slip and shock loaded upstream through the transfer case, found the weakest link and cracked the t-case adapter 180* around the bottom. I attempted to back down but the transmission and adapter were trying to separate themselves. Winched backwards and towed out the only rig strong/heavy enough...GLTHFJ60's unlocked 4BT FJ60 on 1 tons. Was a painfully bumpy ride for sure. The carnage obviously sucked, but knowing that I no longer have to rely on my wheeler to get me to work anymore made everything just a little bit more tolerable.
About 50 yards from the parking lot… PRANG! I see a tow strap and a kinetic strap flying through the air and something big and metal smash into the windshield frame directly in front of my wife's face. She was a little shaken up. My first thought was one of the recovery points I welded to the front crossmember/bumper failed. Hopped out and see the tabs are still there and show no damage, straps didn’t fail either. Come to find out the threads stripped out of one of the d-rings on my end. Yes they were checked prior to hooking everything up, and no they weren't some Chinese off-brand POS... but a very well known winch company who probably still has shackles made in China. Winched myself onto the trailer and there it sat for the rest of the event.
Day 3, Friday. Got to spend the day spotting which was fun. Unfortunately near the end of the last trail, the aforementioned tow truck snapped the rear output yoke on his Dana 300 which resulted in a combination of 1 wheel drive, winching and towing to get to flat ground.
Some pictures…
Radiator hose go boom
Me and the eventual tow truck
Broken!
All in all, I couldn't have been happier with how the truck worked (when it was still operational). Tires hooked up real well, first gear/low range is great, my wife didn't feel the need to get out when I tried something stupid, and I was finally back in my own truck.
Ducked out of work early Monday (leaving Tuesday morning for CMCC '14) for some last minute parts pick-up and final prep for vacation. The front driveshaft, which was a lengthened factory Toyota mini DC shaft, had to be run backwards because apparently Toyota used different pattern flanges for the diff and t-case ends. Not a big deal. Dumped a bunch of tools in a bag, searched for recovery gear, gave a final walk around and loaded onto the trailer.
Coal Mine '14 trip report...
Day 1, Wednesday. I ended up leading a group for green/blue trails, which gave me a perfect opportunity to lightly break things in and check for obvious bugs. The first thing I need to fix is the front shackles are using the frame as a bump stop. At rest, they have a nice angle to them but evidently the springs have more up-travel than I thought.
Day 2, Thursday. Blues are boring, lets do blacks! For the most part everything was point and shoot. 75% of the day was spent in 2wd rear. Spools are awesome. With the front tires stuck in a watery pit and the rear trying to climb, I blew the lower radiator hose off the block. Clamped it back on, refilled with some North Carolina water and winched out. About 50’ further, the steering shaft decided it didn’t want to be attached to the steering box anymore. Another simple, yet cramped fix. Finished that trail without another incident. Onto the next trail… about a half hour into the trail while climbing, the front suspension dropped out and left the driveshaft splines engaged by fractions of an inch. The suspension recompressed, driveshaft tried to do the same but instead egged out the female end of the slip and shock loaded upstream through the transfer case, found the weakest link and cracked the t-case adapter 180* around the bottom. I attempted to back down but the transmission and adapter were trying to separate themselves. Winched backwards and towed out the only rig strong/heavy enough...GLTHFJ60's unlocked 4BT FJ60 on 1 tons. Was a painfully bumpy ride for sure. The carnage obviously sucked, but knowing that I no longer have to rely on my wheeler to get me to work anymore made everything just a little bit more tolerable.
About 50 yards from the parking lot… PRANG! I see a tow strap and a kinetic strap flying through the air and something big and metal smash into the windshield frame directly in front of my wife's face. She was a little shaken up. My first thought was one of the recovery points I welded to the front crossmember/bumper failed. Hopped out and see the tabs are still there and show no damage, straps didn’t fail either. Come to find out the threads stripped out of one of the d-rings on my end. Yes they were checked prior to hooking everything up, and no they weren't some Chinese off-brand POS... but a very well known winch company who probably still has shackles made in China. Winched myself onto the trailer and there it sat for the rest of the event.
Day 3, Friday. Got to spend the day spotting which was fun. Unfortunately near the end of the last trail, the aforementioned tow truck snapped the rear output yoke on his Dana 300 which resulted in a combination of 1 wheel drive, winching and towing to get to flat ground.
Some pictures…
Radiator hose go boom
Me and the eventual tow truck
Broken!
All in all, I couldn't have been happier with how the truck worked (when it was still operational). Tires hooked up real well, first gear/low range is great, my wife didn't feel the need to get out when I tried something stupid, and I was finally back in my own truck.
- Thread starter
- #125
After the rush of getting the truck ready, I had no problem letting it sit in the garage when we got home. The front of the seat cradle had to be cut out to pull the transfer case. I've had some 1" tube clamps sitting on the shelf for a few months now for this exact situation.
Opened up the t-case and found some fine metal-ly bits on the bottom of the pan, but almost positive that's just from the new gears breaking in. The forward gear on the front output shaft has some noticeable, yet very small burrs on the back edges of the teeth, but there is no direct contact with anything else so really I'm not going to worry about it. Other than the flange, it looks like I escaped any additional expensive repairs with the t-case.
While I was being towed off the trail I saw that the front output flange had a noticeable wobble to it. Did some fancy non-machinist quality measuring and found out the face of the flange is about 3* off of flat.
The splines on the flange appeared to have a slight bow to them in the middle, but it slides on and off the output shaft with ease so it would seem the bow is an illusion? I dunno.
Now the bad part...
I was originally thinking about having this one cleaned up and welded for a spare, but it doesn't look like that will be a cost effective solution because of the machining needed for the "steps" around the transmission mainshaft.
I sourced a replacement adapter, a replacement transmission because the mainshaft got bent which I'm pretty sure was the cause of the cracked adapter, and new front driveshaft from Tom Woods. It was about this time that I decided to go to Fall Crawl. Got the drivetrain put back together, and found a knocking somewhere downstream of the engine. Pulled the t-case to rule that out, stick knocked. Ended up being something binding inside the replacement transmission. Yay! Needless to say I never made Fall Crawl.
Opened up the t-case and found some fine metal-ly bits on the bottom of the pan, but almost positive that's just from the new gears breaking in. The forward gear on the front output shaft has some noticeable, yet very small burrs on the back edges of the teeth, but there is no direct contact with anything else so really I'm not going to worry about it. Other than the flange, it looks like I escaped any additional expensive repairs with the t-case.
While I was being towed off the trail I saw that the front output flange had a noticeable wobble to it. Did some fancy non-machinist quality measuring and found out the face of the flange is about 3* off of flat.
The splines on the flange appeared to have a slight bow to them in the middle, but it slides on and off the output shaft with ease so it would seem the bow is an illusion? I dunno.
Now the bad part...
I was originally thinking about having this one cleaned up and welded for a spare, but it doesn't look like that will be a cost effective solution because of the machining needed for the "steps" around the transmission mainshaft.
I sourced a replacement adapter, a replacement transmission because the mainshaft got bent which I'm pretty sure was the cause of the cracked adapter, and new front driveshaft from Tom Woods. It was about this time that I decided to go to Fall Crawl. Got the drivetrain put back together, and found a knocking somewhere downstream of the engine. Pulled the t-case to rule that out, stick knocked. Ended up being something binding inside the replacement transmission. Yay! Needless to say I never made Fall Crawl.
I think you've got the root cause backwards. The front driveshaft didn't have enough spline, so it bound at full extension (wouldn't collapse), which drove the driveshaft into the transfer front output, which caused the bottom of the transmission output housing to open up and the transmission's mainshaft to bend.
It was pretty gnarly when it happened
It was pretty gnarly when it happened
- Thread starter
- #127
Whatever the order of things, there was some bending and breaking which led to towing. It was gnarly, as well as a bit disheartening.
I had fun towing you out 
That d-ring was scary though!
That d-ring was scary though!
- Thread starter
- #129
I need to dig through any untouched bags/bin and try to find that thing. An impressive breakage for sure.