TLC for my '94 TLC

[80t0ylc]

Well, with over 275 K on my '94, that I've owned for 20 yrs and added 150 K, it's time for some tender loving care (1st TLC in title...lol). It has served me well and to be honest, that's an understatement. I'm 63 and retired, plus the 80 is not my DD, so I'm blessed to be able to work on my rig at my speed, which is slow, and another understatement...lol. I've kept up normal maintenance and, I think, by converting as much as possible to synthetics, put off the inevitable - serious mechanical problems. Nothing lasts forever, but synthetic lubes & oil help longevity in most components. It started with a leaking rear pinion seal and comments by friends and relatives to the effect: Tom, what's that (gear oil) smell...lol! Actually, for almost 2 yrs now, there wasn't that much that needed to be added when the level of the rear diff was checked, but the Amsoil gear oil, being slung out the pinion seal, was doing its job to coat the rear underside of my rig with a layer of a fragrant substance...lol.

I knew axle maintenance was looming on my horizon, so I figured .... let's take advantage of the situation ... the leaking pinion seal. A major obstacle was preventing me from jumping right into this .... called "old man winter" and a garage that, if I remove the RTT, I can park in it, but no room to work on it. In looking for a solution I found a reasonably priced 18' x 20' canopy at Home Depot that would fit perfectly in front of my garage on my 19' wide driveway.

Back to axles, knowing that to properly fix the pinion seal, it would be best to pull the rear 3rd. Faced with that, I thought, perfect opportunity to regear, and since I'd be into the front diff and both are open - no OEM or other lockers, perfect time to install lockers. After research and a better than average (for me) tax return, I went with Harrop, both front & rear along with Nitro gear kits. Several years ago I heard of Ken Francisco or Zuk at gearinstalls.com and I knew that this is the guy to transform my 3rds for me. Also, I'd purchased complete Koyo axle rebuild kits from Curt at Cruiser Outfitters.

Ok, back story told. I pulled both 3rds, using the boxes from the canopy to lay out the parts removed from the axles in an orderly manner. Put garbage bags over the ends of the axles since they were now exposed to the elements. Rigged cardbord covers for the now, empty holes on the diff pumpkins. Packed up the 3rds, left Oregon and headed for Chandler, AZ - for Ken to do his magic.

There's not enough good things to say about Ken, but he agreed ahead of time to squeeze me into his busy schedule, & do them while I waited, if I would bring them to him. It gave me the chance to see my Grandchildren on the way down & back, in Las Vegas. So with my '81 Mini in tow, and my Lance camper on my F350 I could stay at an RV park in Mesa, while waiting, have transportation and not have to have the stinky 3rds in my cab or camper...lol. Had a glass of Yellow Tale wine with Ken both before and after his 2 day conversion of my 3rds. He's very knowledgable and experienced in both diffs and offroading and has built a very capable Tacoma that's been on the cover of at least 1 off road magazine in it's time.

Been back for a week now, and getting some things done on my 80. I'll be adding more pics and sharing experience, but also asking some questions since 1st axle maintenance on an 80. I rebuilt the front on my Mini several years ago, which is similar, so not a complete virgin to birfs and such...lol. To start of with a couple of pics of an inner rear wheel bearing & race with the mileage (275 K). This bearing was lubed with the OEM petroleum based grease for it's life. It'll be replaced along with the others. Still in good shape for the miles.

Had one mishap so far. Driver's side E brake had come apart inside drum during removal and was, more than it's share, a pain to remove drum.

Removed and waiting to be cleaned and prepped for re-install:

 

[Tools R Us]

How unsociable, didn't even want to go wheeling while you were waiting?

 

[80t0ylc]

How unsociable, didn't even want to go wheeling while you were waiting?

Oh, I wanted to, but too busy getting the webs out from between my "Duck" toes...lol. You know - AZ sunshine & my webfeet were un-accustomed to direct sunlight.

 

[80t0ylc]

More pics from teardown, canopy to work under and keeping crap out of exposed axle tubes and diff pumpkins. Birf grease was pretty good shape - not soup. 3rds ready to take to Ken.

 

[80t0ylc]

Rear 3rd in surgery at Ken's; 5.29 and Harrop kit:

 

[80t0ylc]

Front high pinion getting 5.29 and Harrop:

 

[ThomasMore66]

Harrops are the cats meow. I have them in both of mine.

 

[Ronny Grady]

Slick Willy

 

[80t0ylc]

Not too far from re-installing rear 3rd. Question: Is the paper gasket sufficient or better to use FIPG or both? (FSM just says paper gasket for both front and rear diffs) IIRC I used both re-installing the 3rd on my Mini. Also picked up a helper at Harbor Freight. It's a small transmission jack rated at 450 lbs. Reading through the reviews on this product was kinda depressing if you change to sort by "lowest rated" first. But, I think it'll work for a differential, being less than 25% of rating. Castors roll smooth and easy, so lining it up should be doable. I'll give some feedback afterwards. It was $80 with my 20% coupon.

 

[80t0ylc]

Well, did my own research, like I should've in the 1st place and bypassed the paper gasket installing the rear 3rd. Used Ultra Copper High Temp RTV. The tranny jack was of good assistance. Rear axles and rear spindles have some wear from the seals and bearings, but acceptable for 275+ K, as far as I was concerned. Rear axle is back together, except brakes. I'll be replacing E brake shoes after mangling DS to get the drum off. Disc pads are more than 50%, so they'll go back on. New wheel bearings, seals, Marlin pinion seal, and pretty much new 3rd member with the Harrop & Nitro R & P. With the Amsoil Severe Gear synthetic 75w-90 (which is the exact weight that Harrop recommends) rear axle should be good for another 1/4 million miles or so... lol. On to the front diff and axle after a brake day tomorrow, or 2. Hey, I'm retired, no rush here.

 

[80t0ylc]

Excellent time to add these 2 upgrades to the front axle. https://trail-gear.com/trail-safe-knuckle-ball-wiper-seals.html & https://trail-gear.com/spindle-bearing-nut-kit.html. Ken Francisco (Zuk) suggested the wiper kit and I just saw the thread for the spindle nut. Ordered both today from Trail Gear.
Edit: You’ll have to search the TG website for seals & spindle nut kits. They’re both still available, but the above 2 links won’t work now for some reason.

 

[ajax1]

Make sure your diff breathers are not plugged. When they are they usually will blow out the pinion seal first

 

[80t0ylc]

Make sure your diff breathers are not plugged. When they are they usually will blow out the pinion seal first

Thanx for bringing it up! Several years ago I extended both breathers. Rear extension ends and is tied to vent hose behind fuel fill nozzel. Checked before re-installing 3rd. It was clear. I'm thinking what might've contributed to my pinion seal leaking was me overfilling the slip joint on rear drive shaft. I've read that can cause pinion seal problems. Appreciate your suggestion!!! I can get carried away with a grease gun in my hands...lol...Here a zerk, there a zerk, everywhere a zerk zerk.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

That Oregon weather is something else The canopy was a smart investment.
Ken

 

[80t0ylc]

Well, the the spindle nut and knuckle wiper kit arrived and it looks like not only is the wiper kit superior for keeping grease in and water & dirt out, but simpler and easier to install. I went down to a local hardware store & picked up panhead screws for the spindle nuts as I'm staying with full time. E-brake is done, but might need some adjustment to tighten cable.

Spring weather here, has not been real cooperative, but I've got all the front axle in my garage, except the housing, suspension, brake calipers & steering box link. Mostly dissasembled except rear wheel bearings & seals. New inner seals are installed in axle tubes. Next sunny day, I plan to install trunion races & front diff, but for now it's clean, clean and more clean parts & pack bearings in the warm & dry garage, heated by a couple of halogen work lamps.

Interesting note, when disassembling knuckles, I broke loose the 2 top bearing cap bolts and 4 knuckle studs, removed the top trunion bearing cap & bolts leaving the steering link & knuckle stud hardware attached to the knuckle. (Also the tie rod was removed to make front diff easier to remove.) The top of the knuckle can be rolled toward you and removed with steering link. I found it easier to do it in this manner, as opposed to pulling knuckle stud nuts, washers and cone washers. Then breaking loose and removing steering link from knuckle while still on axle tube. I could then finish removing knuckle hardware and steering link and separate them in my bench vice. Lower trunion bearing needed to be persuaded from lower bearing cap, so this method really worked well. The lower trunion bearing on both sides were like this. So obviously, I needed to remove the third TRE from steering box link on passenger side to allow steering link to be free. I'm hoping to reverse this on assembly, if I can get knuckle studs torqued correctly on my bench. I realize that I'm doing more than the average 60K mile maintenance and there is a quicker way. I haven't cleaned the old trunion or wheel bearings yet to see what condition they're in. However, before removal of trunion bearings, both sides felt like there was the typical flat spot. Comparing front wheel bearing wear to the rear bearings will be interesting because at about 130K, I repacked them with Amsoil synthetic grease when I replaced the front rotors.

 

[80t0ylc]

Weather was a little more cooperative today, not what you folks from AZ & SoCal would call shirtsleeve weather, but able to work in for an old fart. So, I got trunion races installed and front 3rd into diff housing. I am jazzed with my little tranny jack from Harbor Freight. It worked perfectly. I took a little more time and care setting up 3rd on it this time, plus 2nd time used - I'm a effing expert now...lol. The only lifting was putting it on the jack. The only issue was un-doing the strap, which I was warned about in the reviews - no room to work the buckle! The strap is overkill for the size & rating of the jack. I think I'll cut it off & replace with a smaller size and place the buckle down near the tie point on the bed. Anyway, I was able to roll the 3rd right into the diff housing after height adjusted correctly. Put a couple nuts on to secure while I fiddle-farted the strap loose enough to slide off the end and finished installing nuts, washers and torquing 'em down. For medium weight lifting in the limited space under a rig, this little guy will be quite useful.

Waiting for RTV & 3rd

Installed

 

[80t0ylc]

Well, my front wheel bearings are not original. They must have been replaced in the 1st 125 K miles, before I bought it. They are Bowers, but they will be replaced by Koyos. Left side shown, right side are soaking in solvent. The even bigger surprise are the trunion bearings. The lower ones are in the worst shape. The right lower one was just unbelievable. They are Koyo, but don't know how much longer they would have lasted.
Left wheel bearing and race.

Right lower trunion. Funny that only these 2 rollers were this bad. The rest were just worn.

Bad spot on race for right lower trunion.

 

[80t0ylc]

Top left trunion bearing and race:

 

[80t0ylc]

Well, cleaning of parts, packing of birfs and bearings complete. I swapped birfs and overdrove the inner axle seals after looking at wear. Tightened knuckle studs and torqued knuckle nuts to 71 ftlbs. On to re-assembling tomorrow.

 

[80t0ylc]

Driver's side done - small issue with the Trail Gear spindle nut kit. Had to file the locking tang on both thrust washer and lock washer. Either a TG QC issue or the locking groove on my spindle is shallow. Another owner with a '93 had same issue. Knuckle housing & trunion bearing seating held me up a little bit, too. My method of installing steering link, torquing knuckle stud nuts in a vice on my bench and tapping lower bearing on to cap was going rather well until I got to the upper trunion bearing cap. I set the upper bearing in it's race, guided the bottom of the knuckle housing with lower bearing already installed into lower bearing race by tilting the top back towards me. Then rolling the top in and over the top of the upper bearing, which I could see through the bearing cap hole. The last action is to seat upper bearing cap. To do this you need to concurrently seat cap into knuckle housing and cap into upper trunion bearing. Doing both at the same time is tricky, but can be done. If trunion bearings weren't so tight on the caps, it would make it easier. Also like the Trail gear knuckle ball wiper kit. It eliminates the felt washer by subb'ing the rubber seal with a poly seal. Supposed to do a better job of keeping grease in and dirt out.