Yeah, I saw that comment on the ET axle thread, it's valid. I think you'd just have to pry against the dust shield when the time comes, then try to straighten the dust shield.

Nice. I'll be doing mine on the truck tho. I might use a pipe to drive it in so I can keep it straight at a distance.


I pulled one as a test. Without the trilobe cup to pry against it's a challenge not to bend the dust seal ring on the half shaft.


Wet heat is best for meat, not humans. Sounds like you're cooking low and slow lol

So you found your HAM forever home?



Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Did the oil pan seal + arb locker, took advantage of the bench time.
If it helps the advantage of that particular cap wrench is the lip being thick enough to contact both the seal and, when it was in the right spot, the lip in the tube. Surely a pipe can do the trick, maybe something pvc-like?

Doing as much as I can outside before the sun gets me, lucky me gets to go into the a/c and pop out only as needed- whack-a-mole style. I have a lot to do indoors, but somehow keep ending up...here.

I ended up with an Anytone AT-779u/v gmrs. We have the license and it mostly fits the bill for what we do. Still want to take the ham test, it's offered pretty often around here. Mostly for the because can. May have to get one of those inreach dealies to (hopefully never) use for medical emergencies, we're gettin' kinda old.

Heh, today me and the kid used our old Uniden frs/gmrs handhelds to communicate between the basement and the garage. Needed to figure out which poorly marked circuit breaker the garage door opener of stuckedness uses and didn't want to run up and down stairs a bunch. Worked pretty good.

Oh yeah, that's another thing I got done on my '99. Pulled out the mini-CB that rarely worked well, and even when working was full of static, buzzes, hisses, short range, etc. And installed an Anytone 779UV mini GMRS. About as easy of an install as possible. It was a tiny bit wider than the mini CB, so I had to dremel on the dash bezel for a bit (it's where the ashtray was) and in it went. And I used the same antenna cable as the CB used, going to a bracket on the rear of the truck, just to the side of the hatch. I had to drill out the mount a modest amount, and installed a GMRS antenna.

Tested it out with a handheld FRS radio and even with the motor running, and the A/C fan running (things that would cause noise on the CB) it was crystal clear. Range should be dramatically better as well, the 779UV puts out 20 watts on some channels. I'm not sure what the CB transmit wattage was, 4?

The 779UV can be used in 'easy' mode (1-30 GMRS channels), but you can also get into programming it via a PC app and do more sophisticated things with it. For example, programming in other channels outside the GMRS frequencies. I guess legally speaking you shouldn't ever transmit on them, but for example the GMRS setup also brings in the weather radio channels as receive only channels.

It was a bit confusing when I first powered it up, it seemed to be setup as a dual band Ham radio. Cycling through VHF and UHF frequencies, but not the GMRS range. Habanero looked up online and found you need to do a hardware 'secret button' trick to access a setup menu that allows you to set it to GMRS configuration. I kind of thought that the hardware was licensed (as well as the user) for ham or GMRS usage, but... I guess with a secret setup you can sell a radio that does both?

Anyhow, high hopes for clear trouble-free communication on our trip this year.

here you go

Attached Images

   

Learned to stop drinking beer while working on my car
Went to get an alignment today and halfway through the tech comes out an asks if I ever had trouble getting it aligned before (I have) then lets me know my struts are set to different positions, and that's almost certainly causing my problems. I went with him to look and a quick glance at the clip positions would show he's right; #3 on passenger side, #4 on driver's side... but a tape measure says otherwise (both sides within 1/4in of each other even at full droop), and that would be really super weird for me to do... But at the same time, I think I very vaguely remember setting one higher last summer to compensate for driver's side lean... I kinda remember being like "damn why hasn't anyone done this before?" and thinking I was slick more than anything else
Guess we'll find out this weekend. I need to throw in some new top hats anyways

Pretty common for people to set the driver side higher than the passenger side when possible. Bilstein 6112 instructions even tell you to do just that. As long as the fender to hub height is good then I would leave them that way.

This is probably not preventing alignment. I have both my shocks on the same circlip but with a 1/4" top hat spacer on the driver side. My alignment is darn close to perfect.

If the tech can't align it empty, put 150-200# in the driver seat to level the truck out; or sit in it.

IMO, issues preventing proper alignment would likely be upper ball joints, lower control arms (cams, bushings) or tires.

Put a trailer on her.

15 months ago I hadn't done anything more than change oil and plugs. I didn't think I could do any of the things I've done since then. With nothing major pending on the 4Runner, and some time on my hands, I suddenly realized I just might have the chops to get my '85 FXRS running again. I inherited the bike from my Dad in '94 and stopped riding when I moved from MI to CA in 2000. I've been damn near bankrupt twice but couldn't stomach the idea of getting rid of her. So glad now that I never did.

I'm by no means done with the 4Runner. I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for helping me get to this point.

Awesome, dude!

I don't have much T4R-related but I sold a bumper and hitch today to a cat that really needed it!

Attached Images

 

Unbolted the rear door latch and then dissolved rust/displaced crud with wd40 and got the internal lever thing moving again and also springing back by working it with vice grips for a while.
Now the rear handle opens the hatch again.
For good measure i got the key cylinder on the back door working again as well.
I even popped off the hatch trim and lubed up the Window mechanism.
These actions made the short wife happy.
Stupid dirt roads.

Bought new NGK plugs (BKR5EKB11) and wires (TE66) since I’m about 7K~ overdue. Currently running OEM Denso plugs and wires, which I’m pretty sure are just copper ones. Purchased those directly through Toyota last time. We’ll see if any noticeable changes take place. Not showing any codes or misfiring right now but they need to be done (every 30K) so I’m trying to be diligent with that.

Added a transmission temp gauge and Spiker Engineering gauge mount.

One more thing for me to obsess about.

Went for a drive to test out the gauge and was seeing about 175 around town and 135 freeway, OD on. Coolant temp 194. Outside temp 98+. After returning I added about 1/3 quart ATF. Lost more than I thought during install and repositioning my Magnefine filter. Was about to order a B&M 70264 but started looking at other options and now I'm at the edge of another rabbit hole.

One of these days I'll take off those protective covers and push that bolt cover all the way in.

Attached Images

 

Looks good. I myself changed out my 70264 I had been running since 2010 for a 70266 last year. Much more rapid cooling. A tighter fit but it will work with some ingenuity.

What was supposed to be an A/C compressor clutch replacement became an A/C compressor replacement when I found the collar sheared. This one's probably going to a shop to finish, sadly.

Attached Images