I’ve put 60,000 miles on my bilsteins listed above.
Zero issues. They’re still great.
My OME 005 heavy springs are sagging. Not happy with that.
Builds Rediscovering an '87 FJ60
- Thread starter LazarusTaxa
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I’ve put 60,000 miles on my bilsteins listed above.
Zero issues. They’re still great.
My OME 005 heavy springs are sagging. Not happy with that.
Add me to OME heavy sag gang.
@LazarusTaxa I’m really surprised you got that metal “hat” fully seated onto the spring plate. Maybe because I run the heavies the spring pack is too thick.
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #143
I finally got the diffs finished up...
Before I glued on the loose carrier bearing, I stippled the carrier a bit with a punch. I read that this is a good way to slightly increase the interference as the punch marks push out a tiny bit of material when they create a crater. This seemed to help a bit as pressing the bearing on afterwards with the loctite 660 was slightly harder.
Once it was glued up I got everything reassembled and crushed down the crush sleeve. This one seemed a lot easier. I did most of the work with the press, but finished up with an impact I borrowed from my neighbor.
My final pattern on the rear for those interested (I ended up using only the factory shim of .053"):
FINALLY, the diffs are finished up and installed.. Feels good
Now I can get the knuckles and hubs together, axles in, and wheels on...
Before I glued on the loose carrier bearing, I stippled the carrier a bit with a punch. I read that this is a good way to slightly increase the interference as the punch marks push out a tiny bit of material when they create a crater. This seemed to help a bit as pressing the bearing on afterwards with the loctite 660 was slightly harder.
Once it was glued up I got everything reassembled and crushed down the crush sleeve. This one seemed a lot easier. I did most of the work with the press, but finished up with an impact I borrowed from my neighbor.
My final pattern on the rear for those interested (I ended up using only the factory shim of .053"):
FINALLY, the diffs are finished up and installed.. Feels good
Now I can get the knuckles and hubs together, axles in, and wheels on...
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #144
next step towards getting the wheels on this thing is getting the axles and hubs put back together. This was all pretty straightforward and for the most part everything went together as expected.
I did not use the knuckle centering tool and instead just reused the existing shims as I've seen others recommend. Using a fish scale, my preload wasn't quite into the FSM specs, but there was some and it felt OK.. I think my preload was ~2 lbs. and the FSM recommends 6-13 lbs.
Axles went in fine and I packed one tube of Valvoline Palladium in each side:
My main headache was getting the preload set properly on the hubs... I got a fish scale and was prepared to follow the FSM as with everything else, but that didn't seem to work.
The FSM states to torque the first hub nut down to ~43 ft lbs and then rotate the hub in either direction a few turns to seat the bearings and distribute the grease. Then, back off that nut till it's loose and use a scale to measure the rotating resistance of the seals (mine was ~2 lbs). Then, torque the first hub nut slightly (35-60 INCH pounds). Put on the star washer and then torque the outer hub nut to ~43 FT lbs... Then, the TOTAL resistance (resistance of the seals plus bearing preload) should be .9 - 7.3 lbs more than the initial resistance measured before.
My experience was that torquing the first hub nut to 35-60 in lbs was fine and left me with just the right amount of preload, but no matter what, when I torqued the outer hub nut to 40+ ft lbs my preload went through the roof.. Like way beyond my fish scale's 20 lb range.
The only way to end up with acceptable preload was for me to either not torque the outer nut past ~15-20 ft lbs, or to leave the inner nut loose. I figured that I dont want these nuts moving and having the outer one as tight as possible was best. So, I ended up leaving the inner nut a bit loose.. Like not even snugged down loose. Then with ~45-55 ft lbs of torque on the outer nut, I was left with 18-20 lbs of preload as measured by the fish scale (and which felt good for new bearings). I figure I'll keep a close eye on the hubs for the first few hundred miles and readjust as needed.
Once that was decided everything else went together quickly.. Looks great:
Putting everything back together is definitely the fun part.. Very satisfying to see all the planning, work, etc come together. It's all looking great:
Once I get the brake calipers and tie rods go on, I'll mark all the bolts.
I did not use the knuckle centering tool and instead just reused the existing shims as I've seen others recommend. Using a fish scale, my preload wasn't quite into the FSM specs, but there was some and it felt OK.. I think my preload was ~2 lbs. and the FSM recommends 6-13 lbs.
Axles went in fine and I packed one tube of Valvoline Palladium in each side:
My main headache was getting the preload set properly on the hubs... I got a fish scale and was prepared to follow the FSM as with everything else, but that didn't seem to work.
The FSM states to torque the first hub nut down to ~43 ft lbs and then rotate the hub in either direction a few turns to seat the bearings and distribute the grease. Then, back off that nut till it's loose and use a scale to measure the rotating resistance of the seals (mine was ~2 lbs). Then, torque the first hub nut slightly (35-60 INCH pounds). Put on the star washer and then torque the outer hub nut to ~43 FT lbs... Then, the TOTAL resistance (resistance of the seals plus bearing preload) should be .9 - 7.3 lbs more than the initial resistance measured before.
My experience was that torquing the first hub nut to 35-60 in lbs was fine and left me with just the right amount of preload, but no matter what, when I torqued the outer hub nut to 40+ ft lbs my preload went through the roof.. Like way beyond my fish scale's 20 lb range.
The only way to end up with acceptable preload was for me to either not torque the outer nut past ~15-20 ft lbs, or to leave the inner nut loose. I figured that I dont want these nuts moving and having the outer one as tight as possible was best. So, I ended up leaving the inner nut a bit loose.. Like not even snugged down loose. Then with ~45-55 ft lbs of torque on the outer nut, I was left with 18-20 lbs of preload as measured by the fish scale (and which felt good for new bearings). I figure I'll keep a close eye on the hubs for the first few hundred miles and readjust as needed.
Once that was decided everything else went together quickly.. Looks great:
Putting everything back together is definitely the fun part.. Very satisfying to see all the planning, work, etc come together. It's all looking great:
Once I get the brake calipers and tie rods go on, I'll mark all the bolts.
dogcruiser
SILVER Star
Were you able to find the plastic trim that accommodates the rear shoulder belts? I have an early '88 with only lap belts and I'd like to upgrade. A fellow mudder had them for $350 but it was a bit too rich for my blood.
LazarusTaxa
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- Thread starter
- #147
Yeah, I got some from @FJ40GURU. Definitely not cheap... But gave me an opportunity to source a few other cool aussie things like an inclinometer and rear sliding windows.
Palladium inside the knuckle....what did you use for the wheel bearings?
I used Valvoline fully synthetic moly fortified grease for the wheel and trunnion bearings: Moly-Fortified Gray Full Synthetic Grease - Valvoline - https://www.valvoline.com/en/full-synthetic-grease/
dogcruiser
SILVER Star
Maybe I just need to bite the bullet
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #149
Maybe I just need to bite the bullet
Yeah... if it makes you feel any better, I got mine almost a year ago. Before that and since then I've kept my eye on CL and MUD classifieds and haven't seen another pair pop up.. They are rare and my guy knows it
Many thanks for the mention.Maybe I just need to bite the bullet
Let me know if I can be of assistance @dogcruiser
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #151
Posting this here since it get a bit more visibility than my thread in the paint forum.
As those following know, I had planned on getting the bottom of my truck painted professionally. BUT, them changing their quote from "around $900" to $3,500 means I'll be doing this myself.
My plan is to lay down some epoxy primer (PPG DP90 or Omni?), then 3M urethane seam sealer, then primer over the seam sealer, and finally cover all that in raptor liner. By now i've got 95% of the undercoating stripped.. Just need to do the wheel wells and touch up the hard to reach corners, brackets, etc. I also need to fix the only real rust I've found in one of the rear wheel wells:
Its right in the seam where the two panels come together. So, I'll get him to cut that part of the seam out and weld new metal in.. Should be quick and easy.
I'll first say that while it would be great if this looked nice, it's gonna be on the bottom of the truck and aesthetics are not my goal, or necessarily a big concern. Now, my question has to do with equipment needed to successfully lay down the primer and raptor liner.
I think I'll pickup one of the cheapo $15 harbor freight purple HVLP guns to use for the primer, and have ordered the raptor liner spray gun to use for that. But, I expect both need ~13 CFM @ 40-90 PSI to run. My finish nailing compressor aint gonna do that. And, even if I borrow my buddy's big box special and hook them together, I'll probably still be below 7-8 CFM.
I can rent a gas powered wheelbarrow style compressor with an 8 gal tank and that says it delivers 14 CFM. I know that with such small reserve capacity the compressor will run the whole time, but that should be plenty of volume to run the spray gun. I think my main concern is that with it running that much, the air might be hot and moisture can be a concern.
So for those who know, any suggestions are welcomed? will the gas compressor do the job?
As those following know, I had planned on getting the bottom of my truck painted professionally. BUT, them changing their quote from "around $900" to $3,500 means I'll be doing this myself.
My plan is to lay down some epoxy primer (PPG DP90 or Omni?), then 3M urethane seam sealer, then primer over the seam sealer, and finally cover all that in raptor liner. By now i've got 95% of the undercoating stripped.. Just need to do the wheel wells and touch up the hard to reach corners, brackets, etc. I also need to fix the only real rust I've found in one of the rear wheel wells:
Its right in the seam where the two panels come together. So, I'll get him to cut that part of the seam out and weld new metal in.. Should be quick and easy.
I'll first say that while it would be great if this looked nice, it's gonna be on the bottom of the truck and aesthetics are not my goal, or necessarily a big concern. Now, my question has to do with equipment needed to successfully lay down the primer and raptor liner.
I think I'll pickup one of the cheapo $15 harbor freight purple HVLP guns to use for the primer, and have ordered the raptor liner spray gun to use for that. But, I expect both need ~13 CFM @ 40-90 PSI to run. My finish nailing compressor aint gonna do that. And, even if I borrow my buddy's big box special and hook them together, I'll probably still be below 7-8 CFM.
I can rent a gas powered wheelbarrow style compressor with an 8 gal tank and that says it delivers 14 CFM. I know that with such small reserve capacity the compressor will run the whole time, but that should be plenty of volume to run the spray gun. I think my main concern is that with it running that much, the air might be hot and moisture can be a concern.
So for those who know, any suggestions are welcomed? will the gas compressor do the job?
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #152
No paint experts here??
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #153
I've been inching towards getting turning this frame into a rolling chassis. After I got the front knuckles and hubs together I focused on the rear axle.. Started by getting the brakes put together and cleaned up. The brake cylinders had clearly been replaced and the brakes overhauled very recently. The pads and drum were also hardly worn. I reused the cylinder, drum (repainted), and hardware, but did opt for new shoes just for the sake of being thorough..
The cylinders are crazy easy to "rebuild". It's basically taking a few things apart, cleaning them, and re-lubing with Toyota rubber grease:
I also got my bellcranks rebuilt and cleaned up with some new parts and freshly plated old parts:
Very cool that all these parts, especially the rubber covers, are still available new. Again, I coated the insides with rubber grease.
I cleaned up my old hardware and got new springs from a generic hardware kit picked up at my local auto parts store. I did replace the parking brake wire which had been kind of frayed.
And then, finally, I could get my axles in and diff fully put together, and rear axle sealed up
The cylinders are crazy easy to "rebuild". It's basically taking a few things apart, cleaning them, and re-lubing with Toyota rubber grease:
I also got my bellcranks rebuilt and cleaned up with some new parts and freshly plated old parts:
Very cool that all these parts, especially the rubber covers, are still available new. Again, I coated the insides with rubber grease.
I cleaned up my old hardware and got new springs from a generic hardware kit picked up at my local auto parts store. I did replace the parking brake wire which had been kind of frayed.
And then, finally, I could get my axles in and diff fully put together, and rear axle sealed up
| Part | Number | Quantity |
| Rubber grease | 08887-01206 | 1 |
| Bell crank pivot e-ring | 90213-06013 | 2 |
| Bell crank boot | 47633-35020 | 2 |
| Bell crank springs | 90506-20033 | 4 |
| Parking brake wire | 47616-60010 | 2 |
| Brake drum retaining screws | 90113-10003 | 2 |
RodrigzCrzr
SILVER Star
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #155
Like many things in life, this build often feels like two steps forward, one step backwards.. The last step to getting the wheels on was putting the steering links together. I painted my gearbox and new 555 rod ends and started pulling the hardware together only to find out that I apparently lost my TRE clamps. GREATTTTT. Now, gotta order those and wait on them. But, apparently there's only one TRE end clamp in the US, so I gotta wait on one from Japan.
Ok whatever, still tons of work to do. Just kind of annoying.. I like to see milestones completed.
In the meantime I switch to brake lines.. I want to get all this stuff done before the body goes on as I'd way rather do this kind of work standing up than laying on my back under a truck. I was going to reuse my existing lines as the lines themselves are actually in great shape.. No real rust on any of the lines themselves, but the nuts on the ends did have some surface rust (and I rounded over one or two getting them off).
I figured with the level of work going into everything else, it makes sense to just replace these now. After all, every other part of the braking system (except the pedal itself) will be new. So far I've ordered a new master, reman calipers, new pads, shoes, rotors, etc.
So I ordered some Nicopp line and M10 x 1 inverted flare fittings from AGS. I also got the fancy "fool proof" flaring tool from Eastwood because I've never made brake lines before, I'm redoing EVERY line on the truck, and I didn't want to have to worry about my flares not coming out correctly.
And, I of course still had issues. I ran a bunch of tests and my flares all came out a little weird. The hole in the middle was ovular and the sides looked kind of crimped:
After a bunch of testing and troubleshooting I came to the conclusion that this Nicopp line from AGS is just too soft.. The first stage in making an inverted flare is to essentially make a bubble flare. The second stage then presses that bubble flare into itself to make the cone of the inverted flare. So, it's important to make a good bubble flare to begin with.
I found that during that first step, instead of 'bubbling' out properly, the flare was kind of collapsing on itself, I think due to the line being too soft. Here you can see where the bubble has collapsed and the face become ovular:
Then, the second step seems to just crush all that together and the line being so soft, the tool effectively remolds it into the flare you see above.
It's definitely kind of frustrating as I specifically went out of my way to find good brake line and thought "Nicopp" name brand line (which i bought directly from the MFG) would be the best... But a deeper dive in google says others have also had issues with this line being too soft. So, maybe try a different brand.
In the end, I fixed the problem by performing the first step of making the bubble flare in two stages. I'd insert the line halfway to where it needed to be, start the bubble, and then insert it the rest of the way. This left a good bubble and ended up with a good flare (I think). Hopefully they don't all leak and I have to redo everything.
Other than the flares, working with the Nicopp line was great.. It bends super easily. I never even had to use any kind of a tool, just my hands. I got good tight clean bends each time.
Ok whatever, still tons of work to do. Just kind of annoying.. I like to see milestones completed.
In the meantime I switch to brake lines.. I want to get all this stuff done before the body goes on as I'd way rather do this kind of work standing up than laying on my back under a truck. I was going to reuse my existing lines as the lines themselves are actually in great shape.. No real rust on any of the lines themselves, but the nuts on the ends did have some surface rust (and I rounded over one or two getting them off).
I figured with the level of work going into everything else, it makes sense to just replace these now. After all, every other part of the braking system (except the pedal itself) will be new. So far I've ordered a new master, reman calipers, new pads, shoes, rotors, etc.
So I ordered some Nicopp line and M10 x 1 inverted flare fittings from AGS. I also got the fancy "fool proof" flaring tool from Eastwood because I've never made brake lines before, I'm redoing EVERY line on the truck, and I didn't want to have to worry about my flares not coming out correctly.
And, I of course still had issues. I ran a bunch of tests and my flares all came out a little weird. The hole in the middle was ovular and the sides looked kind of crimped:
After a bunch of testing and troubleshooting I came to the conclusion that this Nicopp line from AGS is just too soft.. The first stage in making an inverted flare is to essentially make a bubble flare. The second stage then presses that bubble flare into itself to make the cone of the inverted flare. So, it's important to make a good bubble flare to begin with.
I found that during that first step, instead of 'bubbling' out properly, the flare was kind of collapsing on itself, I think due to the line being too soft. Here you can see where the bubble has collapsed and the face become ovular:
Then, the second step seems to just crush all that together and the line being so soft, the tool effectively remolds it into the flare you see above.
It's definitely kind of frustrating as I specifically went out of my way to find good brake line and thought "Nicopp" name brand line (which i bought directly from the MFG) would be the best... But a deeper dive in google says others have also had issues with this line being too soft. So, maybe try a different brand.
In the end, I fixed the problem by performing the first step of making the bubble flare in two stages. I'd insert the line halfway to where it needed to be, start the bubble, and then insert it the rest of the way. This left a good bubble and ended up with a good flare (I think). Hopefully they don't all leak and I have to redo everything.
Other than the flares, working with the Nicopp line was great.. It bends super easily. I never even had to use any kind of a tool, just my hands. I got good tight clean bends each time.
g-man
SILVER Star
Hmmm, I'd go back and tighten ...(adjust the inner nut) to make the right tension. Also make sure you have no play axially in hub bearings. Like move the hub in and out a and make sure it's snug. Looks like the initial rotating resistance and the .9 -7.3 lbs with the fish scale should be measured BEFORE you put the second nut on, and after. And the second nut goes to 58ft/lbs. Don't do this right and the nuts come loose in 4wd, then you have bad stuff happening.
g-man
SILVER Star
The first nut is for setting the tension. the second nut is like a lock nut to keep the first from moving. Then the locking tabs on the washer lock them both together. Make sure that while you tighten the outer nut, friction between the nut and the locking washer are not turning the inner nut. Maybe make a mark at 12 oclock with whiteout or a silver sharpie to make sure it's not moving.
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #158
I did do all that.. followed the FSM to a t.. greased the star washer and faces of the spindle nuts, etc.
No matter what, as soon as I torqued the outer nut down the preload would be so tight I could barely move the hub.
No idea what the deal is.. but, even now with my modified method, I think that if anything the preload is still a bit tight.
I'll put the wheels on and see how it feels and then just keep a super close eye on it and re adjust after a few miles.
I had the exact same experience yesterday when I did mine. Followed the FSM to the letter…the preload with the first nut would be spot on and then every time I tightened the lock nut the preload went really high.
I kept the first nut a little looser than I would have liked (not loose, but good and hand tight) then torqued the lock nut to the proper torque and pinned the star washer. Final preload was around 14lbs. I’ll go back in there in about 100miles and make sure everything still looks good.
LazarusTaxa
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #160
ok, quick update so people don't think I totally gave up... Fast forwarding through a LOT of work:
It works again.
I can't believe I was actually driving it just now.
And it works pretty well, knock on wood... No leaks, no weird noises, it stops, it goes. Can't believe it.
I'll go back and provide updates when I have some time to devote to it. Since my last posts I've just been spending every free second getting this thing running again and haven't had time to update the thread.
It works again.
I can't believe I was actually driving it just now.
And it works pretty well, knock on wood... No leaks, no weird noises, it stops, it goes. Can't believe it.
I'll go back and provide updates when I have some time to devote to it. Since my last posts I've just been spending every free second getting this thing running again and haven't had time to update the thread.
