What to tackle first - Newbie

[chap79]

Considering safety first, even though you've already driven it 800 miles......

Check the nuts on the RF steering arm on the bottom.
Check all fluid and grease levels.
Check tires for safety (tread, pressures, weather checking)

Drive it to make your list of stuff to do.

My list for EVERY car/truck I get:

1) Make it run
2) Make it stop
3) Make it go
4) Make it safe
5) Make it reliable
6) Make it pretty
7) Add the bling

All of mine tend to float between 3, 4, 5 because I have too many and they are all old with lots of miles.

Mine meets #4 as long as this nut isn’t behind the wheel

 

[RFB]

last question. What is the best maintenance resource. Toyo factory service, manual, Haynes...ect.

FSM can be had on ebay for 80 bucks new, its far and away better than haynes

 

[LS1FJ40]

Every new member should go here first. Spend the $20 or $50. Support the Black Hand and thank him for putting this time suck together for us.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/account/upgrades

 

[PNW80Series]

Good question. I should have told you more before hand. 97' $14K, but it is crazy clean and the car fax had steady mileage every year with a lot of maintenance records. One minor accident. I can't believe a truck looks this clean after 20 years. Leather is good and almost everything works. So far the only things I can see off hand that need work inside are DS sun visor, Drive light in dash is out, small slip in DS seat when not all the way back. Vernacular question it doesn't have F/R Lockers. Is that "Unlocked". So your triple locked or unlocked? Technically the transfer case is locked in low so... single locked sometimes.. I need to know this stuff!

View attachment 1604582

Am SO glad I read this. I paid $15k for mine, and was thinking I was nuts. Mine is also unlocked, '97, and 138k miles. Interior is amazing. Like everyone else, started with front end rebuild, O-Ring, and then treated myself to a 2" OME lift to accommodate the 285s the last owner swapped. So not sure if so that over... Some harshness on impacts, but does corner crazy good.

I pulled all the carpet, steamed clean, did dynomat, and put in new carpet. Was a fun job, but like anything else, so many lessons learned.

Next up are new seats with heaters and Slee step sliders (both on way ... Whoo hoo!).

Congrats and enjoy the new beast.

 

[Munsoned]

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.

Thanks, the devil is in the details.

 

[Munsoned]

Every new member should go here first. Spend the $20 or $50. Support the Black Hand and thank him for putting this time suck together for us.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/account/upgrades

Thank you, will do!

 

[Munsoned]

Am SO glad I read this. I paid $15k for mine, and was thinking I was nuts. Mine is also unlocked, '97, and 138k miles. Interior is amazing. Like everyone else, started with front end rebuild, O-Ring, and then treated myself to a 2" OME lift to accommodate the 285s the last owner swapped. So not sure if so that over... Some harshness on impacts, but does corner crazy good.

I pulled all the carpet, steamed clean, did dynomat, and put in new carpet. Was a fun job, but like anything else, so many lessons learned.

Next up are new seats with heaters and Slee step sliders (both on way ... Whoo hoo!).

Congrats and enjoy the new beast.

Was the dynomat worth it? Was the lift the medium or heavy? Sorry, my mind is in the same place. Pic’s?

 

[PNW80Series]

Was the dynomat worth it? Was the lift the medium or heavy? Sorry, my mind is in the same place. Pic’s?

Went with medium - I don't have plans to put on the weight (ARB bumpers, winches, etc.) to justify the heavy and was told swapping coils down the road is relatively easy (if I change my mind). I like height and cornering, but now have to get some slee sliders/steps to help get family in/out, and it's still harsh on potholes (hoping weight of boards will help with that).

RE: Dynamat - when I bought the carpet, I got an extra thick backing (which posed lots of problems when reinstalling the trim pieces and not something I'd recommend). Because the of the thick backing, I opted for the superlite version of Dynamat. Seems to have improved overall, but keep in mind I only did floor boards and rear wheel wells (not roof or doors - which I will do when I tackle speakers down the road). That said, isn't "amazingly quiet" by any means ... but better overall.

Some pics of lift and dyamat/carpet install.

 

[Malleus]

Out of idle curiosity, how did you get the carpet underlayment off the floor panels so well? I have three 80s and the carpet in all of them are stuck to the floors.

 

[PNW80Series]

Out of idle curiosity, how did you get the carpet underlayment off the floor panels so well? I have three 80s and the carpet in all of them are stuck to the floors.

Oddly enough, most came up with minimal issue - not sure if it's because it was a Cali car and the heat eventually took away adhesion from the padding. There were a few spots where the padding retained adhesion and that nasty fuzzy stuff remained. In those spots, oddly enough, spraying WD40 and letting it sit for a few minutes, then it comes up pretty easily (trick I read on these forums).

 

[Munsoned]

Newbie questions?
Who are most people going to for OEM parts like O-rings, gaskets, Hoses...I have plans to repair the front axle seals and tackle the PHH, HCV, hoses and Oil Pump O-rings.
Also, Does anyone know how much room I need on either side of the LC to redo the seals? I don't want to get into it only to find I parked too close to the wall in my garage.

 

[Red Merle]

Newbie questions?
Who are most people going to for OEM parts like O-rings, gaskets, Hoses...I have plans to repair the front axle seals and tackle the PHH, HCV, hoses and Oil Pump O-rings.
Also, Does anyone know how much room I need on either side of the LC to redo the seals? I don't want to get into it only to find I parked too close to the wall in my garage.

I work with my local dealership for everything OEM, but I think it's Olathe Toyota in Kansas is handing out good pricing. Toyota Parts Online | Olathe Toyota Parts Center

As for the PHH, everyone is saying Gates Green Stripe with the constant torque clamps is the way to go now. I have a chunk of silicone hose and the clamps that I bought as a kit and have no problems to report yet, but the science says they weep, so take that with grain of salt.

@cruiseroutfit has the best kits for the axle that I have come across and they offer good pricing on many other parts. @beno probably has the best skills as far as getting oddball and hard to find items, but he is not taking new Mud customers at the moment because he values his free time and because he has a good client base of people that understand what he is trying to do. There are other great vendors here though, so take a look through their websites to see if you might be better off going with them over just using the local dealership. I will say though that developing a good relationship with your local dealer is worth a lot in my mind. I get 20% off on everything and they don't charge me shipping or restocking if I don't need something I ordered.

For the axle job wall clearance. The axle sections slide out about as far as they slide into the axle housing and then into the differential. The driver's side is a lot longer.

EDIT: Buy the inner axle seal driver that I mentioned earlier. Once you do this job, you will understand why it's so important to get that seal set in there in a new spot on the axle shaft. I am now second guessing all the work I did when I did my axle because there seems to be a bit of grease building up. It doesn't seem like it contains any diff oil, but I am not 100% sure and the thought of ripping everything back open to get to the seal just isn't something that I am looking forward to. I am not experiencing any symptoms, but I also don't know how much grease is normal to be expelled past the felt gaskets and I have my eye on it and I am internally coming to grips with the fact that I may be doing the job over because I didn't get that seal in there quite right. It's a sinking feeling, like knowing your best girl is going to dump you, but you don't know when yet.

 

[DirtScaresMe]

Are the nuts ever an issue for street-driven 80s with stock tire sizes? I've only seen threads where they loosened on modified rigs off-road.

I have stock tires but after my knuckle job they were loose; probably my fault, but they were finger-loose and I just randomly saw some thread to go check on them. Bullet dodged.

 

[DirtScaresMe]

Ditto on the front axle; it's a solid project to tackle and also ensures you have all the tools necessary for most other projects (maybe minus engine / tran work).

 

[Red Merle]

Ditto on the front axle; it's a solid project to tackle and also ensures you have all the tools necessary for most other projects (maybe minus engine / tran work).

Lotta the same tools though. It's all just bolts. The only tool that I had to source that was outside of what I would consider a hand tool set and good collection of power, air and hand tools was a torque wrench that could get me to the 304 ft-lbs that will be needed to get the crank bolt set when I get to doing the crank seal this spring. I ended up finding a massive torque wrench on CL after looking for 6 months for $75 and being patient until the seller realized that not many people need a $600 wrench. That dog will hunt...

 

[Munsoned]

Thanks. I have a lot of tools, but no 300+ lb TR. they are hard to come by. You need one for the axles too? The seal driver tool is on its way, so is the green stripe. As always, thanks.

 

[Munsoned]

I work with my local dealership for everything OEM, but I think it's Olathe Toyota in Kansas is handing out good pricing. Toyota Parts Online | Olathe Toyota Parts Center

As for the PHH, everyone is saying Gates Green Stripe with the constant torque clamps is the way to go now. I have a chunk of silicone hose and the clamps that I bought as a kit and have no problems to report yet, but the science says they weep, so take that with grain of salt.

@cruiseroutfit has the best kits for the axle that I have come across and they offer good pricing on many other parts. @beno probably has the best skills as far as getting oddball and hard to find items, but he is not taking new Mud customers at the moment because he values his free time and because he has a good client base of people that understand what he is trying to do. There are other great vendors here though, so take a look through their websites to see if you might be better off going with them over just using the local dealership. I will say though that developing a good relationship with your local dealer is worth a lot in my mind. I get 20% off on everything and they don't charge me shipping or restocking if I don't need something I ordered.

For the axle job wall clearance. The axle sections slide out about as far as they slide into the axle housing and then into the differential. The driver's side is a lot longer.

EDIT: Buy the inner axle seal driver that I mentioned earlier. Once you do this job, you will understand why it's so important to get that seal set in there in a new spot on the axle shaft. I am now second guessing all the work I did when I did my axle because there seems to be a bit of grease building up. It doesn't seem like it contains any diff oil, but I am not 100% sure and the thought of ripping everything back open to get to the seal just isn't something that I am looking forward to. I am not experiencing any symptoms, but I also don't know how much grease is normal to be expelled past the felt gaskets and I have my eye on it and I am internally coming to grips with the fact that I may be doing the job over because I didn't get that seal in there quite right. It's a sinking feeling, like knowing your best girl is going to dump you, but you don't know when yet.

I have a ton of build-up around the trynuan and down to the nuts so I’m pretty sure the seals are gone. I have seen videos. I can’t imagine having to dive into that mess shortly after finishing.

 

[DirtScaresMe]

Thanks. I have a lot of tools, but no 300+ lb TR. they are hard to come by. You need one for the axles too? The seal driver tool is on its way, so is the green stripe. As always, thanks.

I forget how high the torque settings are on the wheels/axle/bearings (everything up front) but I don't remember anything over 50lb. I got one on amazon that seems to work just fine.

 

[Red Merle]

I forget how high the torque settings are on the wheels/axle/bearings (everything up front) but I don't remember anything over 50lb. I got one on amazon that seems to work just fine.

I think the knuckle studs are like 71ftlbs(?). I used to use one of those Craftsman beam style torque wrenches, but that was hard to use in some places because you needed room to swing it and it was sometimes hard to see where the line was. I switched to a Harbor Freight clicker type and that has been much easier to work with and I think it is accurate since I tested it against the Craftsman and it seemed about the same. You don't need the big boy wrench unless you are doing the crank seal and even then, there are ways to get around needing it, at least to get the bolt off. Some people use a torque multiplier, but that would have been more expensive than the wrench I found, so I went with the wrench.

Here is the HF unit I bought. Works fine and the price is great!
1/2 in. Drive Click Type Torque Wrench

 

[Heckraiser]

x2 @cruiseroutfit for the front end rebuild kit.