ROTM- klinetime574

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AFAIK, Toyota moved from solid spacers in the earlier trucks to crush sleeves. If the 84 had solid spacers, then it was real close to the changeover point to crush sleeves. IIRC my 87 diffs had crush sleeves and I know for a fact that the FJ62 and FJ/FZJ80 9.5" diffs had crush sleeves.

Crush sleeves are much faster to use in set up at a factory, hence the switch.
 
Wait - I have an FZJ80 rear diff in my front axle and an FJ62 front diff in my rear axle - are you saying they both have crush spacers?!?!?!
 
cruisermatt said:
Wait - I have an FZJ80 rear diff in my front axle and an FJ62 front diff in my rear axle - are you saying they both have crush spacers?!?!?!
Click to expand...

Yup! It's really not a big deal unless you're wheeling hard enough to drop your companion flange on a rock.
 
....
 
Lol wrong thread.
 
Made some slow progress on this thing over the past two nights. Got the third member in the axle housing. And if you guys have never cleaned off one of those paper gaskets... prepare yourself. 30-45 mins with a razor blade!

Then last night I pulled the rear springs out to replace the bushings. Of course one of my spring eyes came out with the bushings still in it. Cutting with a Leatherman, wedging a flat head screwdriver in-between the sleeve and bushing while prying around the circumference finally got both of them out.

Keep in mind these are OME Springs I installed back in 2007. The kit was bought from MAF and included black bushings. These were still on the rear springs/hanger, I had replaced the fronts when I installed the 4+ Flip Kit. Now I'm doing the same for the rear. These black bushings did not allow proper distribution of grease to my shackle pins or the exterior of the bushings. The OME bushings are designed so that grease can get distributed. I'm pretty sure these black bushings seized to the shackle pins and then the sleeve was rotating in the spring eye.

Moral of the story here. Buy the right parts the first time. Now I get to clean up the shackles/etc with a sanding disc.

I have only removed 2 of the total 12 bushings on the rear... hopefully they don't take as long as the first two did.

How I had to cut the bushing up to be able to get this shackle off. Bushings and sleeve in place! This is the one right next to the exhaust so I had limited room.

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Custom cut bushing inside of the sleeve.

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Before that last picture I had to pound out the pin after disassembling the shackle.

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And lastly, some of the parts I get to clean up!

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Sorry if the pics are gigantic. I know some of them might be.

More after tonight.

A
 
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I've now gotten the springs ready for install. Removed all the bushings. Using the claw of a hammer works pretty well when prying with the springs on the ground. Came up with some pretty creative ways to remove bushings as well. Knife on my Leatherman inserted with sharp side towards the pin hole and then hammer through in two spots to cut out a small wedge. Rest of the bushing came out easily.

Cleaned spring eyes and spring hangers with 180 grit sandpaper. Lots of corrosion cleaned away.

3 out of 4 sleeves came out with no effort.

image.webp


Loaded them up in the Corolla

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Got some sweet TIG welds done by my friend.

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Had some good beers too.

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Also cleaned up my shackles. Both pins that were on the spring end were more corroded than the ones in the spring hangers. Makes sense because the spring hangers weren't being flexed around, etc.

Examined the bushings that were in the truck. Some of them were oval-ed out :rolleyes:

image.webp


You can see the wedge cut one top right. Third on the bottom row is the worst oval. But definitely bad lol.

These are marked with 2187 opposite of the wide end. Would not recommend these bushings for use with greasable shackles. I'll do some research so I can figure out who makes them.

A
 
Put in some long hours yesterday/ last night.

Rear axle painted. Rebuilt front brakes. Rear Springs and U-Bolt Flip Installed.

Just a few things left to tie up before driving it.

image.webp
 
^ Holy moley i have the same bushings and i hate them. Have a full set of OME's just waiting for me to install them.

nice work!!
 
Thanks @Miloslavich

I would definitely recommend welding those spring eyes in place too. The rear end no longer squeaks. And the ride is 100% improved. I realize bad bushings alone can cause this problem, but if the sleeves can rotate they will squeak.

Drove the truck to work today after a late test drive last night of ~20 miles to break in the new bearings on the rear axle and then parked overnight. This is the procedure for new ring and pinion, but I am playing it safe with these rear axle bearings and following the same procedure. Bearings would be replaced then too.

Front brake rebuild seems to have made a difference in pedal feel. Used to be firm from the top but now is softer and then gets more pressure as you clamp harder. No leaks anywhere. The pistons/ cavities were rusty. All parts cleaned with brake cleaner and brass brush. Re-installed with all new seals/covers. Passenger side was definitely bad and leaking profusely. Rusted parts. Busted boot one of the 4 cylinders.

Was pulling to the right under braking, but that issue fixed itself. Not gonna complain about that. All good now!

A
 
So are those bushings (old ones) the Energy Suspension ones? I put those in with greaseable shackles (stock size) and pins and was able to get grease coming out all over...
 
gregnash said:
So are those bushings (old ones) the Energy Suspension ones? I put those in with greaseable shackles (stock size) and pins and was able to get grease coming out all over...
Click to expand...

I forgot to report on this. I believe they are Man-A-Fre bushings. HTH
 
Ah ok... I was just wondering because I put new polyurethane bushing (Energy Suspension) in my truck this year with greaseable shackles and pins from Man-A-Fre and was just wondering if I was going to run into any issues down the road. Took the rear apart last night to get new springs on the truck and everything came apart just fine after a little over 600 miles of use.
 
Greg,

i put in the black bushings from Man-A-Fre when i did my OME lift back in 2009. about 2012 I started developing a rear end clunk any time i changed directions, which after some discussion with Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters determined to be failing bushings and the rear spring eyes bangin around on failed bushings.

I did not have any grease problems with mine, but alas, they failed in a short time. ( ~ 20k miles in 3 or 4 years)

havent put my OME's in yet bit i will be doing that soon
 
Oh... Interesting about the black bushings. But i've had the opposite experience. I've had two rounds of OME bushings fail prematurely, with good grease adding intervals, even removing them to grease up. The greasing action is not noticable for me after a week of use. they will bind and wear fast, maybe it's my driving conditions and climate with lots of water and dirt.
And what is supposed to be the moving part here? Only the pin should move in the bushing, the bushing should not move in the spring eye.

I've now moved to the black bushings, done in the front end and the solid end of rear springs.
The old OME bushings were not looking bad, but a bit oval in the pin hole.
Mine are marked 2033, and i cant imagine the grease beeing able to lube the pins in a good manner, so i'll remove them after some use to inspect. Eager to see what i find.
Handling and road feel/comfort seems better with theese, compared to OME and a no-name i've had before. Theese were sourced through @lcwizard
2015-08-29 15.51.15.webp
 
^ i believe those are the exact same bushings i have in my truck,, when i pull them out i'll report on the part numbers stamped into them.
 
klinetime574 said:
I've now gotten the springs ready for install. Removed all the bushings. Using the claw of a hammer works pretty well when prying with the springs on the ground. Came up with some pretty creative ways to remove bushings as well. Knife on my Leatherman inserted with sharp side towards the pin hole and then hammer through in two spots to cut out a small wedge. Rest of the bushing came out easily.

Cleaned spring eyes and spring hangers with 180 grit sandpaper. Lots of corrosion cleaned away.

3 out of 4 sleeves came out with no effort.

View attachment 1156013

Loaded them up in the Corolla

View attachment 1156015

Got some sweet TIG welds done by my friend.

View attachment 1156020

Had some good beers too.

View attachment 1156021

Also cleaned up my shackles. Both pins that were on the spring end were more corroded than the ones in the spring hangers. Makes sense because the spring hangers weren't being flexed around, etc.

Examined the bushings that were in the truck. Some of them were oval-ed out :rolleyes:

View attachment 1156025

You can see the wedge cut one top right. Third on the bottom row is the worst oval. But definitely bad lol.

These are marked with 2187 opposite of the wide end. Would not recommend these bushings for use with greasable shackles. I'll do some research so I can figure out who makes them.

A
Click to expand...

So the piece you had welded in, was that part of the spring and not attached or par my of the shackle kit and decided to weld it solid?
 
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