Back from work for a little while. The weather is getting nice so I can finally work in the garage without spending all of my money on propane...
Rear Brakes
First order of business was to sort out the confusion between the 3rd gen brake differences. The rear diff assembly I used as a donor was from an 01/02 which had the "different" style brakes than what would appear on most maintenance videos on YouTube for example. This got tricky quick as I bought rear shoes for a '98 but did not realize the hardware I had would not work with those shoes. Rather than re-use the parts I had planned on, I went ahead and ordered all of the components with '98 P/Ns.
After doing my initial adjustments with the star-wheel I decided to leave the drums on and install the wheels. I wanted to make a couple more small adjustments through the window on the backing plate but quickly found out that the window is opposite of what would have been on a '98 (confirmed with cross-referencing P/Ns).
Rather than get new backing plates and have to completely go through the axle building process all over again, why not just slot new holes?? Drilled/cut new slots for the brake adjustment and ordered an extra set of plugs to seal it all up once complete.
I installed the new 3rd member studs in the diff housing before putting the axles back in. Clean threads with tap and be generous with the antiseize. The 3rd member will be coming back out after I get finished with the re-geared set. Having the diff installed will let me have some peace of mind after putting the wheels on and rolling the chassis around. Not a fan of the uneven bearing load... even if it's just sitting.
Front Brakes
Went ahead and just did the Tundra brake upgrade:
*OEM rotors
*13WL re-manned calipers
*Akebono pads
I always remembered how much of a PITA the caliper bolts were for me. I was always afraid I'd snap a head off trying to remove one. Cleaned the threads with a new tap and added a small amount of antiseize to the bolts. It's common to add some loctite to your caliper bolts but I don't see it 100% necessary in this case...I'd rather find out something is loose than find out it's stuck forever.
Everything went together as I had hoped and I think the red calipers and dark bronze wheels compliment each other nicely. I'm looking forward to having some extra beefy front brakes.
Rolling Chassis....finally
Spent the rest of the afternoon getting the new wheels on and getting the whole assembly on some dolly's. I have a couple of used CV axles that I may chop up to cinch up the front wheel bearings before moving it all around too much. We'll see about that or just waiting for the finished re-geared front diff. It's finally starting to look like something. Still a ton of little things to get done of course but it's time to start planning for the body swap.
Cheers everyone