Skreddy
SILVER Star
Ya I like it. Different screens make stuff look different but somewhere in that realm of blue will be the next one.
What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (73 Viewers)
- Thread starter IH8MUD
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JDNs78FJ40
SILVER Star
Installed the 4Plus front bumper and tire carrier. Tomorrow 4* shims to tighten up the steering.
Got some energy suspension body mounts because the ones on the 40 are absolutely destroyed.
Also cleaned up the 4x4 hubs and painted my wheels and bezel both in duplicolor wimbledon white. Came out as a 5-footer not bad not bad. 100% better than before.
Also cleaned up the 4x4 hubs and painted my wheels and bezel both in duplicolor wimbledon white. Came out as a 5-footer not bad not bad. 100% better than before.
I left the tires on, jacked up the frame on both sides and put jack stands on the frame behind the leaf springs, and just to be sure, I put a cinder block and some 2x4s under the front bumper. I raised the frame until the tires were just barely off the ground. I zip tied the spring pack, but, because I needed to drill the hole in the springs out a little bit, I ended up cutting the zip ties to drill the springs, and while I was at it, I wire-wheeled them and coated them in Fluid Film. I had to pivot the axle a bit (front to back to get clearance to put the pin in) when I was installing the center pin, so having the tires on helped in that regard. Oh, I used a jack to compress the springs a bit when I needed to get my drill under them. Hope that helps!
So I want to revisit something I posted, because I don't want someone following advise that I have posted and then "learned better". This was the post: This Stuff. Basically I was advising that I thought you should uncap the big port on the driver side of the '78 Carb. But I didn't know why I capped it or what it did. So I researched it and found that it would have originally connected to the charcoal canister, and was basically a vent for any fumes that evaporated off of the carburetor bowl. I also found that @FJ40Jim advised to cap it... uh oh. (He knows his stuff). Now, bear in mind that it DID change the idle and the power output when I uncapped it...
Now, that was just in the back of my mind, but the big thing that needed to be done was the power brake booster. It had power brakes when you fist touched the pedal, but then it went to manual brakes. Took me back to '95 when I was driving a '74 Pinto station wagon LOL. So, research commenced, and I determined that I couldn't get a rebuild kit for the OEM brake booster (a shame). So, I bought the @Racer65 CityRacer brake booster. It's a much smaller unit, but fit well. It was a 1 banana job, no problem, except for that dang cotter pin where I had to stand on my head and hold a flashlight with my teeth! LOL. My one critique for the CityRacer unit: SAE 1/2" nuts x8! That will likely be the only SAE stuff on my whole truck... but oh well, don't sweat the small stuff. Anyway, got it installed:
Now, once it was installed, of course the brakes worked right, but I also noticed the idle was better. Well, duh! I removed a 15 pound vacuum leak off of my firewall! But Raymond, didn't your vacuum gauge show that you had a leak? Nope, 20 inches no problem... but I was hooking it up to the power brake connection
So, much better idle now. And that got me wondering, "What if I recap that port?". So, I plugged it with my finger... no change. I brought the RPMs up with my finger over the port, still no change. So, I went ahead and re-installed the cap. Long story short: if the big port on the driver side of your '78 carb affects your idle and acceleration, you may have a vacuum leak. Replace that 43 year old brake booster! Hope this info helps someone! Have a great night!
Now, that was just in the back of my mind, but the big thing that needed to be done was the power brake booster. It had power brakes when you fist touched the pedal, but then it went to manual brakes. Took me back to '95 when I was driving a '74 Pinto station wagon LOL. So, research commenced, and I determined that I couldn't get a rebuild kit for the OEM brake booster (a shame). So, I bought the @Racer65 CityRacer brake booster. It's a much smaller unit, but fit well. It was a 1 banana job, no problem, except for that dang cotter pin where I had to stand on my head and hold a flashlight with my teeth! LOL. My one critique for the CityRacer unit: SAE 1/2" nuts x8! That will likely be the only SAE stuff on my whole truck... but oh well, don't sweat the small stuff. Anyway, got it installed:
Now, once it was installed, of course the brakes worked right, but I also noticed the idle was better. Well, duh! I removed a 15 pound vacuum leak off of my firewall! But Raymond, didn't your vacuum gauge show that you had a leak? Nope, 20 inches no problem... but I was hooking it up to the power brake connection
So, much better idle now. And that got me wondering, "What if I recap that port?". So, I plugged it with my finger... no change. I brought the RPMs up with my finger over the port, still no change. So, I went ahead and re-installed the cap. Long story short: if the big port on the driver side of your '78 carb affects your idle and acceleration, you may have a vacuum leak. Replace that 43 year old brake booster! Hope this info helps someone! Have a great night!
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Yep. But you don’t need to take the tires off. Hopefully ordered new center pins/bolts as the old ones likely won’t be long enough with the addition of the shims. You will then need to cut off the excess length of the center pins (I use an angle grinder with a cut-off blade).
Driving home from the bank tonight in the 40 (ironically, I was withdrawing money to pick up more 40 parts), my front drivers side brake caliper let go...literally sitting in the ATM drive through. Pulled away to loud “clacking” in the front driver side wheel. Limped it 10 mi home with one foot on the brake holding light pressure on the caliper and one on the gas.
In the driveway, I discovered the top bolt was gone. Tried to replace it and figured out why - the new bolt wont even thread.
my question to the peanut gallery - would you trust a helicoil here? Or should I start planning to replace the knuckle?
On a related note - anyone have a drivers side 60-series knuckle they’re looking to part with? If so - shoot me a PM.
In the driveway, I discovered the top bolt was gone. Tried to replace it and figured out why - the new bolt wont even thread.
my question to the peanut gallery - would you trust a helicoil here? Or should I start planning to replace the knuckle?
On a related note - anyone have a drivers side 60-series knuckle they’re looking to part with? If so - shoot me a PM.
4Cruisers
SILVER Star
On my '86 FJ60 build I had the same issue. I repaired it with a TimeSert, much better than a helicoil.
noted - how has it held up? More importantly, how does this even happen??
JDNs78FJ40
SILVER Star
Thanks @Trigger6 ! My lift is the 2.5” OME heavy duty and I removed a leaf prior to install to soften it up so my fingers are crossed the center pin it came with is long enough. Fingers crossed.
4Cruisers
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No problems, and it's been almost four years now, including a couple of Solid Axle Summits. I don't know how it happened, the axle was from my '89 FJ62 donor vehicle, which was my daily driver for several years before I started my build. It could have been that way when I bought the vehicle from the original owner.
funny, my knuckles are out of an 89 FJ62 as well. I’ve wheeled the truck a little so I guess anything is possible, just seems weird that with all the abuse it takes off road the bolt decided to give up in a parking lot!
Looking at Time Serts - they cost almost as much as a new axle would! I’ve used EZ Loks in the past (in less crucial places) but I’ve had a couple back out on me... definitely not something I want happening here (again).
Someone locally has to have a time sert “kit” they’ll let you borrow. they go by keen serts too.
4Cruisers
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You can borrow my kit.
Vae Victus
Posting more than I know
Worked on roof rail (welded on new front piece, repaired holes, POR 15 inside), and started restoring my steering wheel.
Helicoil is what we used professionally in aerospace, as called out in original design and fabrication, not repair.
Why, what they called dynamic loading - http://dbroberts.d2pmagazine.com/pdfs/1117-HeliCoil.pdf
I wonder if the knuckle housing is damaged beyond the thread, a half-inserted bolt would be a major stress.
I’ll definitely be inspecting the whole assembly further before I make a call on the repair - there is obvious scoring on the outside of the rotor - I suspect it was busy trying to saw through the caliper - so I suspect I’ll find an issue there as well.
I didn’t pull the tire last night or inspect too far - just did enough to confirm what has happened. It was getting on 10pm by the time I got home, and my daily driver is currently taking up my garage for repairs of its own.
Luckily I’ve got a company car/work vehicle to drive because my fleet of beaters is really letting me down lately!
that may be an offer I can’t refuse - thank you for offering! I’ve got to wrap up some repairs on the daily driver, then get the 40 back in the shop and see what is salvageable - I’m worried about fractures at the lobe and brinneled wheel bearings but if I’m going to go that far to inspect I might as well just put a new knuckle in it.
rambling aside - let me figure out exactly what broke, if a time sert will fix it, I’d welcome the option to borrow your kit.
Vae Victus
Posting more than I know
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