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I sure hope my vice doesn’t fail under the boredom of waiting for me to proceed with disassembly.
I made an attempt the other day, but got distracted and angered by the clutter of tools and crap on my work benches, so I cracked a beer and tidied instead.
Planning to buy some powersteering fluid needed for assembly on Monday, and make some actual progress.
Shout out to @finn for a pair of fenders from his viking hoarde!! These are in great shape, and a little cleanup and rust prevention will keep these lookin’ perdy for years
Congrats Steve! Onwards and upwards towards new and exciting things on your time.
How long will it take you to adapt to “normal” hours as opposed to 2nd shift?
Got a little work on the Power steering gearbox yesterday and today. For the most part it was cleaning the grime and sludge off the exterior, then wire wheeling off surface rust. Looks so good as is, thinking about just hitting it with some clear coat. But semi-gloss black is just as easy.
I also rigged up a quick SST to mount the gearbox in my vice for the repair work. I couldn’t crack loose any bolts without the vice, too dang tight.
Before
After
Yesterday I also straightened one of the LCA alignment tabs. A few of them will need some hammering and welding a strip to the exterior.
Haha I wonder how the LC will tow with 35’s. Making a steel run? Sliders? Front bumper?
Pretty fun winter project lined up with the rear storage. Hopefully that rear locker is a cheap fix. I know those e-locker actuators are not cheap parts, fingers crossed it’s a lesser repair for you.
I will see you for sure on my travels this weekend.
I received my ebay resistors from China in the mail many weeks earlier than expected. I’ll tear the gauge cluster apart again and ask my buddy James to solder it up for me.
I got 20 of those to my mailbox for $2.56. That’s a dime for size reference.Replaced pads and rotors on my buddies Subaru Legacy, made a horrible grinding noise pulling in the driveway.
One of the rear brake pads wore through then fell out. Grinding was caliper on rotor. Hour or so later, all 4 corners got new pads and rotors. Easy peasy, only 3 sockets needed. 19mm, 17mm, 14mm.
Thanks Mark! A pleasure talkin’ to ya the other day. I guess it’s time to yank the rear flares and mud flaps off, and start pondering new mud flaps and mounting.
Hey Evan, you’ve been driving the LC for almost two months now, how is it? V8 and solid axles feel pretty empowering? Your Truck looks awesome, just curious if it drives awesome too.
Today I visited my sister and 5-day old nephew. Mom and Baby Boy are both happy and healthy. The snowblower she was gifted by a neighbour was not so healthy. Spent an hour or so on a tune-up, and lucky me the spark plug which I bought yesterday was a perfect match. Now my Bro/law has 8.0 Tecumseh’n Horses at his disposal when the snow resumes its assault on us.
Thanks Evan, that confirms it, a 4Runner does look better without flares. I have not put the front flares into the old extra parts pile….yet. I’m not too worried on colour matching yet, I still haven’t detailed the paint since recovering from the barn. There’s a few spots that’ll need attention from a body repair person.
Thanks Mark, I hope you find a set for me.
Overall Redee is in FANTASTIC shape for her age, but that one frnder is hideous and sharp, there’s a rough spot where a CB antenna mount was wedged between the bed rail and topper many years ago, and a split seam in the a-piller from the former residents.
Yesterday my buddy Dave came by, and did some carpentry in the shop while I wrenched. I completed the balljoint swap, everything torqued to spec where possible. With the 4” IFS lift, I can’t access the upper bj with my torque wrench, nor do I have a crowfoot extension in 24mm. So I made the Upper balljoints really friggen tight and got a cotter pin in place. Done.
I also put most of the steering back together on the truck. Idler arm, inner/outer tie rods with new sleeves, and steering damper. The power steering gearbox rebuild is next to finish the steering mechanical bits. But that’ll be another day.
Thanks Kevin and Steve! Having a blast already this wrenching season. Got an hour to myself today and picked off a couple easy tasks.
I cleaned up the hub faces, and mating surface on the front with my wire wheel, and broke loose all the bolts on the drivers side to do the balljoints.
Yesterday I managed to partially remove a fender flare with the back of my head. So I completely removed it and found the ugliest part of Redee. She’s got the cancer, of the fenders. Drivers side is the worst, torn between covering it back up with the flare, or removing the cancer with a high-speed cutting device.
Drivers fender
Passenger fender
Plumb bob
Plumb bob and square to show exposed tire tread.
Personal preference is NO flares cause I like the original body lines. The Next set of rims and tires will be skinnier to fit inside the wheel wells, maybe a 33” x 10”. Considering I put on 3,600km this year, figure new tires are a decade away haha.
Haha yup, always testing the limits of strength…..by breaking stuff.
Already made the trip to Canadian Tire, just gotta bolt it back down to the workbench. Pretty effortless exchange, even got an “upgrade” cause mine was obsoleted a few years ago.
Last month I had to exchange a handful of taps / dies that were worn out from cutting and chasing threads. Gotta love Mastercraft lifetime warranty, but dislike how often I need to utilize it.
Speaking of Mastercraft, my Dad bought me a welder for Christmas! Just gotta wait for Santa to shove it down my chimney to keep up appearances for the kids.
There were some Lincoln Electric ones one big price cut for Black Friday, but for at least the next couple years the hardware itself will not be the limiting factor….definitely the user. Glad I’ve got a scrap steel and scrap cardboard pile accumulated, I’ve got some plate bumpers to build next year. My winter list is long enough of essential items before I tackle this next challenge.
Completed the passenger side balljoint job, but not without some headaches.
I opted not to remove the brakes and CV from the knuckle, easy enough just a bit heavier to muscle around.
The upper balljoint did not have the studs pressed in. While pressing them in, my 5” bench vice exploded. Lucky it broke on the last stud (for that side), and it has a lifetime warranty.
Also, the upper balljoint made in china, was not dimensionally as perfect compared to the one I removed made in Japan or USA. The pitch between the outter studs was a hair too narrow, so I had to enlarge the clearance hole on the upper control arm one drill size. Was about 5/16” now 3/8”. Not too bad.
Overall, I don’t plan on doing anything differently on the drivers side, except for not breaking my vice. I’ll try to pull the studs into the upper BJ using the nuts provided. Hopefully shave a little time off the job too.
Perhaps I’ll get a chance to finish the other side tonight after the family falls asleep. I still have to torque everything down, and put cotter pins in, but I gotta reconfirm torque specs in the manual.
Freakin’ pitman arm is mighty stuck to the steering box. I gotta buddy with the proper Puller to borrow, but he’s been on an afternoon shift for two weeks and we haven’t managed to complete the handoff. Once the pitman arm comes off, I’ll attempt the Steering box rebuild. Rebuild kit was $8, puller is $25….
Rock Auto carries the Powersteering high-pressure line for about $25, I’ll have have to cut the hardline shorter and re-flare the end. Correction, get the end re-flared. I’ll get the low pressure line (sold by the foot) and V-belts locally.
I’ve made my to-do list much longer, and made no progress crossing things off the list recently.
Maybe I’ll tackle balljoints today.
