Todays wrenching

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will see what brakes first!
 
Disaster Averted, but Disappointment Reigns.

Took the 40 out for a pre FG shakedown cruise and noticed it was handling awful after a short run through a rocky trail.

When I got home, I jacked it up and got the weight off the axles. I was wobbling the tires back and forth and turning the steering wheel back and forth and there was a lot of slop and a clunk at each end. Turns out the center arm pivot housing had 2 loose bolts and a third bolt loose because the welded nut had broken off the inside of the frame cross member. On top of that, the rod end on the center arm was loose and wobbling back and forth.

It wouldn't have taken much more wheeling for the whiole thing to come loose and lose all steering control. On the trail that would have been bad, but on the highway it might have been deadly.

I was able to tighten the pivot housing back up without any problem. I will put checking those bolts on my inspection list from now on along with u-bolts. (Last year I discovered my rear u-bolts were all loose enough for the axle to rotate slightly.)

I tightened up the rod end and the slop there is gone. There was some wear on the rod end shaft, so I ordered a new one. I should have it Tuesday. I went aftermarket, only $25, liftetime warranty. The local stealer wanted $105 after discounting, that's a sin!

I also noticed my brake pedal was low and I could only get the fronts to lock up on a dirt road. I figured the rears needed adjusting. More unhappy discoveries. Not only were drums in the rear filled with caked on dried mud, but the innards were pretty rusty and the shoes are getting thin.

When I step on the brake, only the back cylinder on the left rear wheel activates momentarily. It moves the shoe and then collapses again. The front cylinder on that side doesn't move a millimeter. My wife is away, so I have no way to see if the right rear cylinders are working. I imagine not.

I bled the lines, but no change. It isn't leaking on either side. I ordered hardware kits and shoes, Tuesday arrival again. New aftermarket wheel cylinders are $200, twice that for the Toyota ones. I'm going to get the kits and rebuild my own. I should be able to refresh the rear brake system for $100, a lot cheaper than dropping $360 into them or converting to disks for $450. If my plan was to keep the truck long term, I would do the disk brake route.

Based on the lack of motion at the rear cylinders, I'm thinking my master may be on its way out. If that turns out to be the case, I doubt the 40 will be at this year's Fall Gathering. I was going to tow it over behind the FJC, but now it may still be on jackstands when I leave on Thursday.

Whoever buys it may wind up with a nice new braking system, at least the rears and possibly master. The fronts were already done awhile back.

Has anyone come up with a way to flush out the rear brake drum assembly after wheeling in mud short of pulling the wheels and drums?
 
Sooo finally after ten years I broke down and bought some new tires for my rig, 35,12.5's good smear mtrs no more dry rotted craked up mud kings on the 60 now, had Kina bend up new exhaust for it hopefully no more tearing it off he did an awesome job and it sounds sweet, even knocked out some of the dents in the doors, see if I can push them back in next weekend:lol:
 
LCCRUISER said:
Took the 40 out for a pre FG shakedown cruise and noticed it was handling awful after a short run through a rocky trail.

When I got home, I jacked it up and got the weight off the axles. I was wobbling the tires back and forth and turning the steering wheel back and forth and there was a lot of slop and a clunk at each end. Turns out the center arm pivot housing had 2 loose bolts and a third bolt loose because the welded nut had broken off the inside of the frame cross member. On top of that, the rod end on the center arm was loose and wobbling back and forth.

It wouldn't have taken much more wheeling for the whiole thing to come loose and lose all steering control. On the trail that would have been bad, but on the highway it might have been deadly.

I was able to tighten the pivot housing back up without any problem. I will put checking those bolts on my inspection list from now on along with u-bolts. (Last year I discovered my rear u-bolts were all loose enough for the axle to rotate slightly.)

I tightened up the rod end and the slop there is gone. There was some wear on the rod end shaft, so I ordered a new one. I should have it Tuesday. I went aftermarket, only $25, liftetime warranty. The local stealer wanted $105 after discounting, that's a sin!

I also noticed my brake pedal was low and I could only get the fronts to lock up on a dirt road. I figured the rears needed adjusting. More unhappy discoveries. Not only were drums in the rear filled with caked on dried mud, but the innards were pretty rusty and the shoes are getting thin.

When I step on the brake, only the back cylinder on the left rear wheel activates momentarily. It moves the shoe and then collapses again. The front cylinder on that side doesn't move a millimeter. My wife is away, so I have no way to see if the right rear cylinders are working. I imagine not.

I bled the lines, but no change. It isn't leaking on either side. I ordered hardware kits and shoes, Tuesday arrival again. New aftermarket wheel cylinders are $200, twice that for the Toyota ones. I'm going to get the kits and rebuild my own. I should be able to refresh the rear brake system for $100, a lot cheaper than dropping $360 into them or converting to disks for $450. If my plan was to keep the truck long term, I would do the disk brake route.

Based on the lack of motion at the rear cylinders, I'm thinking my master may be on its way out. If that turns out to be the case, I doubt the 40 will be at this year's Fall Gathering. I was going to tow it over behind the FJC, but now it may still be on jackstands when I leave on Thursday.

Whoever buys it may wind up with a nice new braking system, at least the rears and possibly master. The fronts were already done awhile back.

Has anyone come up with a way to flush out the rear brake drum assembly after wheeling in mud short of pulling the wheels and drums?
Click to expand...


Wifey got back from Florida today so I finally had someone to pump my pedal while I could just stand there and watch. :hillbilly: I only have 3 of the 8 ends on the 4 rear wheel cylinders actually showing any movement. I found a source for new wheel cylinders for $100 for the 4, so I will swap them out and save the others for rebuilding later in case I need them.

The Master Cylinder is definitely the problem on top of wheel cylinders that are frozen. I re-bled the rear brakes and then bled the fronts. With everything full and bled, the master is showing a noticeable leak.

I'm still wondering if anyone has a solution to the drums getting filled with mud in the first place and flushing them out other than converting to rear disk brakes?
 
cruiserland said:
don't go in mud?
Click to expand...

Jees, why didn't I think of that? Thanks Kina! (BTW, I'll be hunting you down to run some ideas past you and offering up some brewskies in thanks for the Summer Solstice. You like Pumpkin?)

I'm thinking there has to be a way to add a couple holes to the backing plate, or better yet the drum, that would let the stuff drain away or make it easier to flush out. Disk brakes are often drilled on cars, trucks and motorcycles. Why can't a drum be drilled to allow the water and crap out? I would think the centrifugal force would throw it out. That crap eats up brake shoes and the drums.

Scored a good find today for my FJ40. The last rebuilt Aisan master cylinder in the entire Sanel Auto Parts system. $31.50 after core charge deducted. Sure is purty!

Rock Auto (one of our fine Fall Gathering Sponsors) has already shipped the 4 wheel cylinders via Priority mail as of today. Just under $100 for all 4 with S&H.

I should have the center arm rod end here tomorrow from A-Z, plus the shoes and hardware kit from Robbins tomorrow as well. With any luck, I will install the new master tomorrow and the stuff to finish rear brakes will arrive Wed morning and it will be all done in the early afternoon. Then it will be out for a shakedown run.

I will also have to see how the new tow dolly works with the 40 on it behind my FJC. If all goes well, I may actually have my tan 40 over at the Gathering after all. It may also be sporting a For Sale sign. I need $ for a diesel 45 project with 60 axles, or sumthin like that :D.

By the way, Rock Auto gives a 5% discount through 9/30 if you use the code #65984515480936. When I buy stuff online, I always google "(company name) discount code". You never know what you might find.
 
Did the TREs and other wiggle joints on the Troopy today. (I should have done them years ago it made such a huge difference.) Fresh grease all around, ready for the FG.
 
Truck is back from Rick and running fantastic.
Also no more driveline vibes or shaking.
Everything feels great.
Got some wrenching to do tomorrow, throwing on a new set of sliders from Jason at Cruisin Offroad.
reinstalling my cargo barrier and my primitive drawer system for this weekend and next weekends Fall Crawl at Rausch.

Bob
 
You wheeling it out back?
 
Yeah and they are 40's.
 
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