Builds The Story of Blue (5 Viewers)

[AlpineAccess]

Just did this job over the weekend myself!

I will say it makes a noticeable difference in the feel of the road, worth it!

 

[MongooseGA]

This is one of those jobs that actually has a noticeable improvement and ultimately will be very rewarding.

 

[silvarshooter]

Completely agree, I avoided it for a while but so glad I finally did, front end feels so much better now and now has me thinking of more squishy bits to replace.

 

[daohaus]

Just did this job over the weekend myself!
View attachment 2822001

I will say it makes a noticeable difference in the feel of the road, worth it!

I don't even know where to begin with this job. That's awesome that you did it

 

[ClassyJalopy]

While I wait for the shock bushings, I made a small upgrade to reduce the road noise in cabin. Added following parts that were standard on later years of LX. I had previously made the same upgrade to my 98 and it made a noticeable difference.
53866-60060 SEAL, FRONT FENDER TO COWL SIDE, RH
53867-60060 SEAL, FRONT FENDER TO COWL SIDE, LH
67895-60020 WEATHERSTRIP, REAR DOOR, NO.3 RH
67896-60020 WEATHERSTRIP, REAR DOOR, NO.3 LH

A lot more details on this subject here: More evidence why the LX is quieter than the Land Cruiser - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/more-evidence-why-the-lx-is-quieter-than-the-land-cruiser.968566/page-10#post-13898066

@SmoothLC is offering a good deal on the pair of cowl-to-fender seals if anyone is interested: For Sale - SLC: 100 Series Front Fender Seals to Cowl - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/slc-100-series-front-fender-seals-to-cowl.1233221/

Had to drill a small hole on the top of rear door and used a push-clip to secure the seal.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Picked up my shocks from the local machine shop after they replaced the bushings for me. Bushings on the top were trivial to change. The bushing No.1 were really compressed (almost half the size!) but the bushing No.2 weren't too bad.

Front end refresh is almost done and now we start the AHC pressure and height adjustment dance!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

So the driver side CV shaft is fighting me something fierce.

I replaced the oil seals on both sides (90316-72001) and while the passenger side easily settled into its groove and came out enough to put back the C-Clip, the driver side end is not willing to come out of the flange far enough. My first thought was that I must not have driven the new seal in sufficiently and it must be keeping the CV to go in all the way.
So I took the heavy heavy knuckle off again and tried with hammer the seal back in with some hardwood protecting the edges. Put it all back together and it is still not any better!

What am I doing wrong here?

The seal I am talking about:

I even slightly bent @TheForger tool, trying to pull this cursed thing out.

This is what offending side look like.

The passenger side that fits nicely.

 

[mitchjohnson000]

Probably dirt in the CV/Flange splines. Lots of surface area to create friction.

 

[AlpineAccess]

If you "drop" the CV on the lower control arm while it's out of the spindle it will bend in the inner dust shield and can cause this issue - ask me how I know!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

If you "drop" the CV on the lower control arm while it's out of the spindle it will bend in the inner dust shield and can cause this issue - ask me how I know!

Can it be bent back straight? Would you have pic of your issue by any chance?

 

[AlpineAccess]

Can it be bent back straight? Would you have pic of your issue by any chance?

I don't have a pic but let me see if I can find a photo of the lip I bent on mine.

 

[AlpineAccess]

I don't have a pic but let me see if I can find a photo of the lip I bent on mine.

I looked at a parts diagram and I am thinking of the outer dust shield on the CV which has been bent, on the backside of the spindle there is also a lip with a dust shield as well as a rubber seal. I couldn't get a cv to seat as I had bent the dust shield on the lower LCA and it was catching on the spindle. It could be that on the CV itself there is a bent dust shield, or on the spindle side that rubber seal was damaged?

 

[yackowski]

I had the same thing happen to mine.. Frustrating to say the least. I was able to fix the little bend in the dust shield and it still wouldn't seat all the way, but allowed me to put a Clip that I ground in half on the end of the axle. I drove it around with the thin Clip installed and ran a few errands and that seated everything just fine FWIW.

Good luck!
Cole

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Thanks @AlpineAccess and @yackowski for suggestions. I pulled the knuckle off the third time (it gets heavier every time I take it off ) and found no evidence of the bent knuckle seal or CV axle lip. Anywho, just to make sure there are no debris in there, I doused the CV axle shaft and inside of the knuckle with brake parts cleaner, dried it up, then greased up the needle bearing, the brass bushing and lightly coated the spline. I also checked the knuckle seal, the lip was protruding only 3.8 mm from the knuckle. @2001LC has posted elsewhere that his measurement was 4 mm - so I knew the seal was seated all the way in.
Then I put it all back together and it would still not pull through.

Then I did, what I should have tried in the first place. Grabbed the CV shaft with both hands and used my body weight to act as a slide hammer and just pulled on it outwards (towards the wheel) with a few strong pulls. On third pull I heard a 'whoosh' sound of trapped air escaping and the c-clip groove came clear off the flange

Installed the size D (2.4mm) c clip, torqued and re-torqued all bolts and buttoned it all up! Filled up the AHC fluid and let is cycle between L and H a couple of times. I still have to check AHC pressures and cross-level right and left side but at least it is on it's own wheels first time in 2 weeks!

Torque specs for the front end:

 

[unleashd]

I have been struggling with figuring out my preference for rear swing outs. Truck came with ARB bumper with dual spare wheel swing out:
View attachment 2813611

Very first thing I realized was that taking the spare off impossible without tools! I literally had to unbolt the rear license plate holder, backup lamps and disconnect all the wires, before I could even start taking off the spare!! Imagine having to deal with all that at the Interstate when it is -20F
So the first iteration was to move the spare to it's own swing out!

View attachment 2813612

Soon I realized, having to deal with two swing outs every time I need to open the hatch was just not practical for daily use. Then I added a hitch mounted bike rack and basically gave up on using the hatch. So I decided to remove at least one swing out (at least for daily duties). Taking off the swing out was fairly straight forward (a single 30mm M20 bolt!). I ordered a blank cover for the left side but quickly realized that ARB calls for removal of the whole bumper just to install the cover!
So now that where I am with left face of the bumper missing!
What do you guys think, just run without cover (I am not too concerned with the looks) but if there is another way to install the cover.
View attachment 2813613

Love that setup. If you are having second thoughts about the dual spare wheel setup, I'll be happy to take it off your hands

 

[OwnerCS]

Thanks @AlpineAccess and @yackowski for suggestions. I pulled the knuckle off the third time (it gets heavier every time I take it off ) and found no evidence of the bent knuckle seal or CV axle lip. Anywho, just to make sure there are no debris in there, I doused the CV axle shaft and inside of the knuckle with brake parts cleaner, dried it up, then greased up the needle bearing, the brass bushing and lightly coated the spline. I also checked the knuckle seal, the lip was protruding only 3.8 mm from the knuckle. @2001LC has posted elsewhere that his measurement was 4 mm - so I knew the seal was seated all the way in.
Then I put it all back together and it would still not pull through.

Then I did, what I should have tried in the first place. Grabbed the CV shaft with both hands and used my body weight to act as a slide hammer and just pulled on it outwards (towards the wheel) with a few strong pulls. On third pull I heard a 'whoosh' sound of trapped air escaping and the c-clip groove came clear off the flange

Installed the size D (2.4mm) c clip, torqued and re-torqued all bolts and buttoned it all up! Filled up the AHC fluid and let is cycle between L and H a couple of times. I still have to check AHC pressures and cross-level right and left side but at least it is on it's own wheels first time in 2 weeks!
View attachment 2824315View attachment 2824316

Torque specs for the front end:
View attachment 2824318

Congratulaitons. My new OEM CV axles use size D on both sides. Actually the groove cut on the CV axle is a perfect fit for size D while following all of the procedures for installation. Now I have a handful of c-clips of various sizes that I doubt that I will ever use. I would like to order a few size D only to keep on hand.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Cross leveled the truck at stock height (19.75") and checked the AHC pressures - 11.0 MPa!! Quite a few turns later, I have pretty much run out of tension bolt and the pressures are still at 7.6 MPa. Which means I will need to re-index the bars. I must have missed the matching mark I made for the torsion bars.
Since I am a little tired of working on the truck, I will just run 7.6 front (5.8 rear) for a short while and then come back in and re-index the TBs.

 

[ramangain]

7.6 is good enough for government work. Enjoy the cushy ride

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Been traveling for a while so no new updates lately.
I did notice the battery voltage reading jumping up to 15.3v (on my Scanguage) and called the DC Power folks to ask if they think the voltage regulator has again given up the ghost. This is an almost 10 year old 270amp DC power alternator that was rebuilt with new bearings and new voltage regulator this summer.
They assured me that in super cold weather when the batteries might be running a little low, the voltage can spike up to 15.3v - nothing to worry abt. I took their word and decided to run with it.
But today I noticed the battery charging light came on and the Scanguage reading over 16v . That can't be good for the 12v circuits in the car! So parked the car and am now trying to figure out my next move.
Is it time to just buy a Denso reman and not try to rebuild this alternator once more? I don't really need a 270A alternator anyway.

 

[daohaus]

Been traveling for a while so no new updates lately.
I did notice the battery voltage reading jumping up to 15.3v (on my Scanguage) and called the DC Power folks to ask if they think the voltage regulator has again given up the ghost. This is an almost 10 year old 270amp DC power alternator that was rebuilt with new bearings and new voltage regulator this summer.
They assured me that in super cold weather when the batteries might be running a little low, the voltage can spike up to 15.3v - nothing to worry abt. I took their word and decided to run with it.
But today I noticed the battery charging light came on and the Scanguage reading over 16v . That can't be good for the 12v circuits in the car! So parked the car and am now trying to figure out my next move.
Is it time to just buy a Denso reman and not try to rebuild this alternator once more? I don't really need a 270A alternator anyway.

View attachment 2874144

When in doubt go OEM