I almost feel like the seal driver he sells is a must have now. I really wish it would have been invented when I did mine. I will definitely be picking one of those up with my tax return for the next time I do it.
What to tackle first - Newbie
- Thread starter Munsoned
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Oh hell no! That leak is my anti-rust prevention mechanism.
Lazy, yet effective. That's the American way!Oh hell no! That leak is my anti-rust prevention mechanism.
Right? It just doesn't leak enough for me to warrant a repair, especially when I have a spare engine slowly getting refreshed for a complete swap.
Congrats on the new ride. I think I remember this rig on CL. Nice and clean indeed!. Everyone else on here is much better than me with regard to what to do first. Aside from their comments, I'd take off that bug guard. My wife's 80 came with one and it was damaging the paint below it. I was able to salvage the paint with some proper paint correction pads and compounds. my 2 cents.
You'd be surprised, but it depends on your terrain. My '95 was 3x locked and came bone stock rolling on passenger car tires (not even LT tires), and did some serious work with them. It surprised myself and just about everyone else that saw what it could do out of the box with the car tires. My initial plan before I started wheeling it was 35s, 5.29's, 4" lift, bla bla bla... but then once I began wheeling it, I realized how overkill that was and decided to see how cheap I could go. Turns out, sway bar removal, a set of 33s, 1.5" spring spacers and a 1" body lift gets the job done for the terrain I wheel on. I can do more with this setup without touching the lockers than most of the rear locked IFS Tacoma bros around here. Like I said... wheel it stock and go from there. I would remove the mud flaps and running boards, though. If your rear tire comes down off a rock big enough, it can jam the mud flap up and pop the fender flare off. Your rig is too clean to start rhino lining to cover up the fender flare removal patches, so do what you can to preserve the flares.
My '95 had 207k stock street driven miles on it when I bought it and the lower nuts were finger loose when I got it home. Another 50ish miles and the drivers knuck might have separated from the axle. Coming from mini trucks that aren't prone to loosening the trunnion pin hardware, I never gave their condition a thought when inspecting the truck pre-purchase.
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ti_home_page&contextType=external&username=string&password=secure_string&challenge_url=https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/login/techinfo&request_id=-1202511630450265458&authn_try_count=0&locale=en_US&resource_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechinfo.toyota.com%2F
$15 for 48 hours. Best money you'll spend on the truck. I downloaded FSMs, campaign pubs, EWDs, Tech briefs, and dealer maintenance publications for two year models in less than two days, and that includes the time it took to organize the data.
TIS directories for downloaded files (1)
TIS directories for downloaded files (2)
The free pdfs are nice, but they aren't searchable and they don't have all the info TIS does.
welcome...gotta love a clean 40th
best bang for my buck so far:
1) replace headlight bulbs HIR bulbs = more light down the road
2) bluetooth cig.light adapter = $15 no muss, no fuss stereo modernization upgrade
3) @LandCruiserPhil jack adapter
4) and lots of new tools, a good floorjack and jack stands +trollholes FSM download + joining mud
= easily has saved me $5k so far.
best bang for my buck so far:
1) replace headlight bulbs HIR bulbs = more light down the road
2) bluetooth cig.light adapter = $15 no muss, no fuss stereo modernization upgrade
3) @LandCruiserPhil jack adapter
4) and lots of new tools, a good floorjack and jack stands +trollholes FSM download + joining mud
= easily has saved me $5k so far.
They are ABSOLUTELY an issue.
I bought my truck with 196K and very poor maintenance. I drove it like I stole it for 20K miles and one day at work, I happened to look under it and noticed that the right side had fewer studs than the left. So I crawled under it and there was only (1) stud remaining and it was on the verge of falling out. I tightened it the best I could with the limited tools and drove it home very slowly on non-populated streets.
The incredible thing is that it had been close since I bought the truck and the steering still felt as tight (or tighter) than all the non-LC solid axle 4x4's I had driven to date, so there was nothing "abnormal" about how it steered.
Turns out one had broken off, two had fallen out, and the fourth was barely screwed in and had wallowed out the threads a bit. I replace the three studs that were not broken off with new studs, nuts, cones, and flats and reassembled until I could get to my front axle rebuild. Then I went all out and replaced ALL of them with new (both sides) and carry three spares now.
I have read of a number of trucks that didn't catch it in time. Based on the design of the steering arms, when it comes off, you lose ALL control. The GM's you still control the LF wheel, but with these you lose it all. The RF wheel cocks out to the right, bends the end of the housing, locks up the wheel, and the LF wheel will go whichever way it decides at the time, and can determine where you go and if you end up in a roll.
That's why the comment is always "Check your nuts and lube your shafts!"
I'm not doing that unless I have to. Mine weeps a little, but I don't get any drips. I have waaay better things to do with my time and to the truck before I even think about tackling that project.
first thing to tackle is setting up Direct Deposit between your work and Beno or your other favorite oem parts supplier
Second thing would be Googleing local marriage counselors and shopping for package deals.
Second thing would be Googleing local marriage counselors and shopping for package deals.
- Thread starter
- #32
Y’all are awesome! Tons of great information. Thanks. Yes, the bug guard will be gone very very soon.
- Thread starter
- #33
The fact that my wife didn’t blink when I told her I was leaving for Denver with a few hours notice to buy a truck tells you enough about both of us. She’s a keeper.first thing to tackle is setting up Direct Deposit between your work and Beno or your other favorite oem parts supplier
Second thing would be Googleing local marriage counselors and shopping for package deals.
Much more so than a gal that demands a new car every three years. Both the trucks and people that understand what this is all about are keepers.
I just bought 2 97's in October/November. My wife's is in pristine condition, 127k miles, and all the service records. incredible find, but also expensive. I purchased my 97 a month or so later, 137k miles, but it needed work. The guy I bought it from had done a lift, and placed both front and rear bumpers on it. When I took it over, the first thing I did was get it over to Slee and have them align and check the lift. I also baselined the entire drive line:
1. alignment: I ended up replacing all tie rods, ends & drag link to their heavy duty versions
2. new brakes: new pads, rotors all around, then we found out more work was needed.
3. differential/axle service: new birfields, axles, bearings, diff service front and rear. I also had Slee install new rear control arms.
next week i'm having the front portion of the engine serviced (all new gaskets and crap that can leak repaired).
...and wheel spacers.
What amazes me is the difference between our two trucks. One was well cared for, the other was a little more neglected. so I'm base lining the truck. With my s***ty socket set, I usually end up taking it to Slee for most of the work... they are two blocks away.
Learning from our mistakes a long time ago (we had our first 1997 we bought in 1998), only have Toyota experts do the work. Big O tires did a brake job and put the wrong fluid in it. destroyed everything related to the brakes.
1. alignment: I ended up replacing all tie rods, ends & drag link to their heavy duty versions
2. new brakes: new pads, rotors all around, then we found out more work was needed.
3. differential/axle service: new birfields, axles, bearings, diff service front and rear. I also had Slee install new rear control arms.
next week i'm having the front portion of the engine serviced (all new gaskets and crap that can leak repaired).
...and wheel spacers.
What amazes me is the difference between our two trucks. One was well cared for, the other was a little more neglected. so I'm base lining the truck. With my s***ty socket set, I usually end up taking it to Slee for most of the work... they are two blocks away.
Learning from our mistakes a long time ago (we had our first 1997 we bought in 1998), only have Toyota experts do the work. Big O tires did a brake job and put the wrong fluid in it. destroyed everything related to the brakes.
It was 1998 for God's sake! How the hell did they put something "DIFFERENT" in it? Did they seriously pour in hydraulic oil for hydraulic brakes or ATF?
We had a hired hand do that once on a grain truck and added hydraulic oil to it (air over hydraulic system.)
It never ceases to amaze me how morons like that actually GET a job to work on cars. How did they apply? Who HIRED them?
She is. My wife was an 80 series fan since they came out. She was looking at the (then) new dodge durango, test drove and dropped the transmission during the test drive (wasn't her fault). I then marched her into a toyota dealer and said "look at this truck (97)". She's been a fan ever since. We traded in our 97 for a Audi Q7... nice, but boring. Everytime she saw a 80 series LC, she'd cringe and want one again. So, we found the right one and thus re-introduced us to the 80's. I tried to sell her on the 100's... but wasn't having it.
A month after, I became an 80's fan, sold my Audi A8, and bought my 97. She told me after I bought my 97, "It took you a while, but I'll keep ya"
I don't know, but I will never use them, or any other general mechanic ever again. Lesson learned.
Another funny story with our first LC. We bought it used (1 year old) from the toyota dealership, which at the time offered free lifetime oil changes. At about the 12 year mark, the service people had to constantly check to see if that was a thing. They honored it until we sold it. Damn I miss that service.
"Those are all fluids, right?"- guy at the local oil change joint, probably.
Once you dig into what you think is a rear main seal leak, will probably turn out to be the rear arch of the upper oil pan that's leaking. Most members just live with the leak if it's not to bad. That's because it's a PAIN to remove that upper oil pan. If it does turn out to be the pan arch that's leaking, and you decide to fix it make sure you buy the correct sealant from Toyota. Last i checked the correct Toyota part number for FIPG sealant was 00295-00103, cost was about 13 bucks for each 3 OZ tube.
