South Texas 97 - New to me (1 Viewer)

[South Texas 97]

While I was in there….
ordered a knuckle rebuild kit from CruiserTeq Along with a 54mm socket, and after doing some measurements ordered new brake disks and pads as well.
After spending some time under the truck, you know there is all sorts of chips and scratches, with rust growing in them. Decided to pull the front axel from the truck and work on it more comfortably.
ABS sensors and harness, did you know there are 10x10mm bolts, and several channels and brackets holding that in.
Sway bar removed (bad rubber mounts ordered).
Prop shaft unbolted and tied up out of the way.
Brake lines detached where they mount to the chassis.
loosen the radius arms from the chassis,
Pop the various steering tie rod ends out.
Built a small wood cradle with some castors.
then spent an hour thinking about the order of operations to jack up, and support the frame, without everything coming crashing down.
jacked up and supported the frame just behind the radius arms.
jacked up the front axel and removed the wheels on both sides. removed the lower shock mounts.
slid the cradle under the axel and lowered the axle until the springs were loose on their mounts.
undid the already loose radius arm bolts, and the axel slid right out

at this point started cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. After a couple of days of cleaning and degreasing.

I decided to use POR15, so spent a lot of time derusting and degreasing. And then a couple of coats. I made a mistake and got gloss instead of chassis black, but better than safety orange, which is an available color.

then while the second coat was hardening, started dismantling the right front hub. Getting the cone washers out was a challenge. So I stopped for the day to do some research.
Seems that using a fine blade in the cone washer split, with a light hammer tap is a reasonable approach. An old wood chisel and a couple of taps did the trick and the cone washers popped loose.
Expected to use the 54mm socket after bending back the lock tab, but no, both nuts were literally hand tight, so spun them off and pulled the hub. While the hubs were on the truck I preloosened the bolts holding the disk brake. So after pulling the hub, and using a 14mm brass rod to drive out the bearing races, it was pretty easy to break loose the bolts holding the disk to the hub.
started scooping out all the grease, the knuckles are both fairly full of the proper grease, as when I first heard the clicks, topped up both knuckles with grease.
Noticed the splines on the shaft were sort of point, and there was some movement between the spline and drive flange.

so after more research jumped on Partsouk, and ordered two new birfs and drive flange.
Lots more cleaning and prep work before it all goes back together.

 

[kdubbya]

Where abouts in South Texas are you? I grew up in kleberg County and am in the Austin area now. You're rig is gonna be darn near brand new by the time your done.

 

[South Texas 97]

Sugarland, southwest of Houston. I want the truck to be reliable, as a project vehicle with some 337K miles on it, there are a few things that need to be done. Plus I am learning a lot….

 

[kdubbya]

Right on. Oh dang. Ya 337k would probably necessitate some heavy maintenance to get it back to the good place. I hear ya on learning a lot. I'm going to attempt a diesel conversion at some point and I know that will be ripe with learning points.

 

[South Texas 97]

Birf and drive flange should arrive today
Rewatched a couple of excellent videos on Knuckle rebuilds to refresh myself on what is needed. Mainly OTRAMM.

Reinstalled the axel under the truck, it is much lighter without the disk brakes, knuckles and birfs, and went in pretty easily.
Reinstalled the sway bar and drive shaft and torqued everything. Although the 130 ft lbf on the arms was more than my torque wrench would do, so estimated it past the limit of my wrench.
Took the hubs to a shop to have the wheel bearings pressed in
Installed the axel seal and the knuckle top and bottom bearing races.
packed the knuckle bearings using #2 grease and the knuckles went on pretty easily.
I did pick up a couple of extra cone washers for both the knuckles and the drive flange, as several were pretty beat up and one knuckle cone was missing completely.

I found it easiest to lay out all my parts, and it all came together pretty well.

With the knuckle and rear seal (felt wipers) installed, the preload seemed to be about right.

the kit had some extra shims, but I don't thing they will be needed.

 

[South Texas 97]

I did notice some pitting on the axel ball, but spent some time with a dremel and some 400 grit polishing wheels, not going to get the pitting out, but at least the surface is smooth.

This is perhaps a 1 banana job, not to difficult, just a little fiddly, although so far I have used a full roll of pig mat, about 5 rolls of shop towels and I don't know how many pairs of gloves!
Found some black satin chassis paint, so went over everything with that to reduce the glare!.

 

[South Texas 97]

Got back my new Birfs and Drive flange from PartSouq - pretty efficient, and exactly what I ordered. Had to pick up a few extra cone washers for both the drive flange and the steering knuckle.
After doing some reading, I packed the birf from the bottom up, using the cake icing method. Use a plastic bag, fill with grease, squeeze into the bottom of the birf and then push the axel shaft into the birf, and the grease gets injected. I did this without the c-clip to get the grease loaded, and then used a small diameter hose clamp to lightly clamp the c-clip and the axel shaft slipped right on. rolled it around a bit and filled up the rest with grease.

Next was installing the knuckle and fill 3/4 with grease. The recommendation of one can of grease per ball seems to be spot on.

It looks fuller than it is, there are a few voids.

With that done, the front is all back together and under the truck. There is a LOT less slop (angular movement) with the new birf's and drive flange.
Rebuilt the brake caliper, installed and did a quick brake bleed.
Took it for a little road test to bed in the brake pads, and everything seems normal, and in fact a bit smoother, but that might just be my imagination......

On to the back axel.

 

[South Texas 97]

The disks were a bit frozen, but with a couple of bolts (8x 1.5?) not much torque was needed to unlock the disks and remove them. Both disks were within spec by 1mm, so I decided to order new disks. The E-brake shoes looked almost new, so nothing to do there.

Getting the axel out was a similar routine as the front, loosen the nuts and remove the washers, put the nuts back on and tap on the side of the flange, and ping, the cone washers release. I did use the same bolts to put some tension on the axel, I suspect that helped a bit.

the E-Brake was good, and cleaned up really well with some brake clean. There did not seem to be too much wear on the axel housing.

The rear caliper rubber (where they slide back and forth) was shot - the kit to rebuild both sides was ordered to give piece of mind later on. I jacked up the truck and removed the sway bar and shocks, ABS/speed sensor wiring and calipers. The parallel bars and panhard rod took some leverage as they are torqued to 130 ftlbf. a long breaker bar did the trick. the top drivers side bar is on top of the LVL lever, so I took that out last. Lesson learned was to drain the diff oil BEFORE removing the axel. Must have saved one roll of pig mat and two rolls of shop towels.
I loosened all these bolts before removing the wheels and tires, so was not leveraging on a truck that was on jack stands. The axel came right out.

There was mostly surface rust, although some parts of the axel were not painted at all, and there was weld splatter everywhere.
Wirewheels and some small wire wheels with a dremmel got into all the tricky bits.
Learned my lesson and took it outside to pressure was the worst of the crusty stuff.

After de-greasing and more washing, the wire wheel work and flap disk cleaned up nicely.
I was using POR15 metal prep (a fairly mild acid), washed that off and then use a 4oz can and a small brush to paint on a layer of POR15. including all the nooks and crannies.
Let it dry for 24 hours and flipped it over and did the other side and let that dry for 24 hours as well.
After that, put a coat of semi-satin black sprayed over the POR15 and rolled it back under the truck.

Punched out the old seals and bearings on both sides, and cleaned everything up with a wire wheel. Bearing surfaces and seal surfaces seemed pretty good.
Took the new bearings to my local shop to press in the races.

 

[South Texas 97]

Getting all the parallel bars back in was not too bad, although the panhard rod did not want to align easily, so a bit of persuasion with a pry bar and the bolt slipped right in.
All bolts were cleaned and scraped- no rust, but a layer of what looked like calcium? anyway, it came off easily and all threads where cleaned prior to reassembly.
Brake lines and ABS/wheel sensor line were reinstalled, along with the E-Brake line.
There is a pivot bolt for the E-Brake just behind the diff housing, that was very loose in it's mount, could not find a part number, so used some plastic rod and made a small bushing to get rid of the slack.

Replaced the sway bar bushings on the axel and where the link mounts to the frame.

With the hubs back and the races pressed in place, filled the bearings with the appropriate wheel bearing grease per the FSM, and filled the area between the bearings level with grease. Installed the dust seal on the hub, and the oil seal on the inside lip of the axel, and installed the Drive axel into the housing.

Replaced all the rubber bellows on the calipers and greased up the appropriate bits with brake grease.
Reinstalled the calipers, and torqued everything per the manual.

Was about to start the truck, when the note on the drivers seat reminded me to fill the diff with oil!!!!

Bled brakes and the LVPV, few bubbles, not much given the entire system was apart.

Took it for a short drive to bed in the brake pads.

Looks like the E-Brake will need some adjustment. A good job for tomorrow.

 

[South Texas 97]

All painted and ready to reinstall

the e-brake and axel shafts were wrapped and the axel shaft was wrapped with foam, just in case it dropped off the dolly, did not want the ends of the axel getting dinged up.

Getting the drive shaft off was a challenge, ended up cutting off one bolt, so ordered four new ones. For some reason they seem to get on there extra tight, and there is not much room for leverage.

 

[FMC80]

The truck is looking great, going to be good for another 300K at the rate you're going.

 

[South Texas 97]

On another thread I asked if anyone has rebuilt the internal seal on the Distributor. I got some answers, but there is no DIY as such, so after struggling a bit with my wallet, ordered a new OEM distributor from PartSouq and installed it. This was my insurance for taking the perfectly functional but leaking one apart to see what I could find. Several folks commented on the 'odd' seal that goes behind the bearing, so as they are only a couple of dollars each, ordered several that look like they fit the design.
the bearing is a KOYO 6000 RS, it still looks to be in good condition, but a new one is not that expensive. The seal is also a Koyo, but in getting the seal out, I pretty much destroyed it so cannot read the numbers.
Other than needing some sort of press to put it all back together, it does not look like and insurmountable job. (and making sure it all lines up - there is no keyway on the shaft for the gear and the dimensions (spacing and orientation) seems to be important
will put up a DIY when done.
On to the next project - Body mounts. Most of them are pretty crusty and badly cracked. Reading through the threads it seems the only real pain is lifting up the carpet (again!) to get to some of the locations. Not to mention having the secret decoder ring to get from these numbers to the actual part numbers.

 

[clx16]

I have been meaning to open my old one up to see what that seal looks like. Might do it and let you know if I can see numbers etc. However can you get measurements ?

 

[flintknapper]

I have been meaning to open my old one up to see what that seal looks like. Might do it and let you know if I can see numbers etc. However can you get measurements ?

Yes, someone please do this.

 

[lacasd]

On another thread I asked if anyone has rebuilt the internal seal on the Distributor. I got some answers, but there is no DIY as such, so after struggling a bit with my wallet, ordered a new OEM distributor from PartSouq and installed it. This was my insurance for taking the perfectly functional but leaking one apart to see what I could find. Several folks commented on the 'odd' seal that goes behind the bearing, so as they are only a couple of dollars each, ordered several that look like they fit the design.
the bearing is a KOYO 6000 RS, it still looks to be in good condition, but a new one is not that expensive. The seal is also a Koyo, but in getting the seal out, I pretty much destroyed it so cannot read the numbers.
Other than needing some sort of press to put it all back together, it does not look like and insurmountable job. (and making sure it all lines up - there is no keyway on the shaft for the gear and the dimensions (spacing and orientation) seems to be important
will put up a DIY when done.
On to the next project - Body mounts. Most of them are pretty crusty and badly cracked. Reading through the threads it seems the only real pain is lifting up the carpet (again!) to get to some of the locations. Not to mention having the secret decoder ring to get from these numbers to the actual part numbers.
View attachment 2968563

There's a decoder ring? I have a 96 LC and hopefully didn't order the wrong parts from PS.

#	Number	Name	Make	Qty	Qty Supplied	Price
1	9020110112	WASHER, PLATE	Toyota	14	14	1.72$
2	9418401000	NUT(FOR FRONT STABILIZER BAR)	Toyota	10	10	0.85$
3	9017910015	NUT	Toyota	10	10	0.79$
4	9010510017	SHAFT, BRAKE PEDAL	Toyota	6	6	1.71$
5	5220660010	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, CAB MOUNTING, NO.3 LOWER	Toyota	4	4	26.60$
6	5220560010	CUSHIION SUB-ASSY, CAB MOUNTING, NO.3 UPPER	Toyota	4	4	9.79$
7	9010910139	BOLT(FOR BODY MOUNTING NO.1 CUSHION)	Toyota	2	2	3.53$
8	9011910536	BOLT, W/WASHER	Toyota	8	8	1.02$
9	5220160021	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, CAB FRONT MOUNTING	Toyota	2	2	52.30$
10	5221635010	STOPPER, CAB MOUNTING CUSHION	Toyota	2	2	7.52$
11	5220360042	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, CAB MOUNTING, NO.2 UPPER	Toyota	2	2	12.26$
12	9056012233	SPACER(FOR BODY MOUNT NO.2 CUSHION)	Toyota	2	2	2.83$
13	5220460042	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, CAB MOUNTING, NO.2 LOWER	Toyota	1	1	11.02$
14	5220460061	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, CAB MOUNTING, NO.2 LOWER	Toyota	1	1	10.98$
15	9044017054	TUBE	Toyota	4	4	7.45$
16	5220960050	CUSHION SUB-ASSY, REAR END BODY MOUNTING, UPPER	Toyota	2	2	5.06$
17	9338118020	SCREW	Toyota	2	2	1.00$
18	9010510040	BOLT(FOR BODY MOUNT NO.2 CUSHION)	Toyota	2	2	1.59$
19	9020110073	WASHER	Toyota	2	2	4.00$
20	5224160020	CUSHION, CAB REAR MOUNTING, RH	Toyota	1	1	36.88$
21	5224260010	CUSHION, CAB REAR MOUNTING, LH	Toyota	1	1	36.88$
22	9056110014	STOPPER, CAB MOUNTING CUSHION	Toyota	2	2	6.09$

Item(s) Subtotal	522.38$
Shipping	98.37$
Total	620.75$

 

[South Texas 97]

On the distributor info

these are the dimensions when I took it apart. The sensor rotor (Hall effect?) lines up with the top of the sensor

the bearing is a Koyo 6000 RS which is sealed on both sides.
the seal I pretty much wrecked but it would probably also be a Koyo or equivalent.
looks like it could be one of these, so I ordered both

Motion Industries 02336323 10X20X6 HMSA10 RG DBL GREY..Double Lip Oil Seal - Solid, 10 mm Shaft, 20 mm, 6 mm motion Industries 02362378 10X20X7 HMSA10 RG DBL GREY..Double Lip Oil Seal - Solid, 10 mm Shaft, 20 mm, 7mm

More when the parts show up

 

[South Texas 97]

also I marked up the shaft, although there are some wear marks that help line up the gear on the shaft. There are 13 teeth, or 27.7 degrees per tooth, so there is some adjustment with the distributor housing. I will have to remove the new one to confirm it before pressing on the gear vs. rotor orientation.

 

[ColoradoBoy]

I don't know how I missed this thread until now. Thank you for taking the great time and effort to document and explain your process for the rest of the group to learn from. I always find that due to my inexperience and lack of time, that things that I would like to document on the rig get pushed aside. I suppose being the wife's DD doesn't help, effectively putting me on repair time constraints. Maybe someday I will be able to have enough time and money (although at that time parts will be even more NLA than now) to get it right. Enjoy the ride!
Cheers!

 

[South Texas 97]

Well, just got back from an epic trip.

took my TR1ke up to Washington State with the aim of titling it up there. It weights around 800lbs and the trailer another 1500 or so. I was a bit worried about transmission temps so installed a transmission temp gauge, and along with my Scan II kept an eye on the water and trans temps. WT stayed around 193-195 most of the time, if it went over 200 I would turn off the AC for a bit, and it would come down. The Trans temp was pretty consistent at around 160, but would occasionally peak to 200. Funny, but it did this in Las Vegas on the afternoon freeway slow traffic. But pretty quickly dropped back to 170.
I used a website called flattest route, the RV folks use it to minimize the steep routes with their RVs. It gave me a route that was a pleasant drive.
once in Seattle, trying to get a VIN inspection was impossible, tried for 4 weeks to get an appointment. Stayed with my son and daughter-in-law and a 2 year old grandson so all was not lost.
flew back to South Texas and left the 80 in Seattle while I planned my next move.
decided on a Montana title, had some paperwork to do, but it went pretty smoothly.
In the meantime had been looking for an FJ40 for a while as my next project. Found a fair 76 on MUD, in Idaho. Spent some time on the phone and bought it. Wife was not happy. Arranged to pick it up and trailer it back to Seattle.
My son Keith and I headed off on Saturday morning from Seattle to Spokane. Picked up a uhaul car carrier and truck, and picked up the FJ.

He headed back to Seattle with the FJ and I went on to Helena to title and register the TR1ke.

Why the odd spelling of trike? It uses a Yamaha R1 engine and rear swing arm, the frame comes from a company in the UK.
it was fun to build, and even more fun to drive.

After a couple of days in Helena, back on the road to South Texas, and other than a right rear blowout near Amarillo Tx, a slow but uneventful trip back to Texas. The spare was good, had checked it prior to leaving Seattle, and I had the right lug nuts and wrench to change the tire.

on the road got two phone calls, one from Montana DMV telling me they approve the TR1ke, and about 20 minutes later the Washington state license office called and told me they had the papers for the FJ40 ready. I just need to pay the bill, and the title was transferred.

I decided to transfer the title to my name in WA, although ultimately it will come to Texas. Probably in December, but it need a Texas inspection to title it in Texas.

Back in Houston, added some SeaFoam to the engine oil, and to the gas tank, drove around a bit and changed the oil and filter.

perhaps I am just a slow driver, but it seems the 80 runs very nicely at 60-65. Yes it will do 70-75, but I just stay in the right lane and keep an eye on my mirrors.

The distributor now has about 7k on the internal rebuild, no leaks or angry pixies so far.

I will replace all 4 tires in the near future.

Had a stone chip on the windscreen, picked up a little kit to fix it, but while pressing on the donut, crack went the windshield. Stonechip fixed, cracked window.. oh well.

 

[South Texas 97]

Picked up on of the lonky steering wheel recover kits, not much of a needle and thread guy so took it over to Paxtor Auto Upholstery
in southwest Houston. They did a great job with the steering wheel re-cover, and re-did the gear shift as well.

along with the steering wheel - should have done this ages ago. Gives a whole new look and Feel from the drivers seat.

There is a slight color difference but waaaayyyy better than the previous janky cover.