Black798's 98 limited build thread

[Black798]

I've never heard of Harrop but just from quickly looking it looks like their front e locker is $1400.

An ARB is 940 + 275 for the compressor which brings the total up to $1215. I know it's still about $200 cheaper, but that's not a huge price difference (~13%)

I'm definitely doing more research on the Harrop's. My cousin runs eatons on his cherokee and really likes it, but to my knowledge they don't make a 7.5" toyota option.

I really like the wheels by the way. They look great.

For me the ARB makes sense just because I already have the compressor as an OBA setup for tires. I think ECGS will build a Harrop elocker front but I'd have to check. They seem to be a good design though. Basically the ARB with a magnet instead of a piston. But they also don't make the little noise of the air releasing which I don't know why but I enjoy it way too much

The wheels were absolutely worth the 1 year I had to try and get a set. They're an amazing product and I can see how they're in such high demand

 

[Black798]

Tore into the rear axle again and came to the conclusion that the diff will need to be sent back to ECGS. I pulled the third and hooked it back up to the airline to test it, flip the switch expectating a leak and got nothing. Heard the locker click and it held pressure for well over an hour before the compressor cycled.

I then stuck the axles back into the diff and rotated them until I heard the locker fully seat with a much more defined thunk and then it started leaking. Unfortunately, it's not the seal housing, copper line, or O rings. I could hear the air leaking out from inside the case so I'm guessing one of two things happened... 1 there is a defect in the case causing the bonded seal to leak, or 2 the bonded seal had a defect. I'm leaning more towards the flaw in the case since it leaks depending on how far it locks. I see how both ARB and ECGS missed it though because without putting an axle shaft in to ensure total lock the locker appears to work perfectly and passes the standard pressure test with flying colors. Hopefully, I can get it back by the end of the week.

Been seeing the truck like this too much...
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I also noticed the ring gear looks a little funky with the small streaks in the pattern. Not sure if this is normal for freshly broken in ring gear or not.
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[Castle_runner]

Awesome truck. Hope you get your locker woes handled easily.

 

[derpiful]

I haven't checked this thread in a bit but wow how things have changed! It looks awesome!

Hopefully you can get the issues sorted out soon...

 

[Black798]

Thanks! After the summer season I had found a lot of things I wanted to change to make the truck exponentially better and had been saving for a long time to be able to do it. It kinda sucks that I'm at the point with the build that if I want to change anything to make the rig better it gets really expensive really fast. But it's cool to look at old pictures and see how far it's come in a year.

The arb is currently on it's way back and should be fixed. ECGS tore into it and found that arb must of had a bad batch of lockers because mine and several others that were on the shelf still had debris and residue left over from the machining process that was causing the piston seal to not function. It's really a pretty basic mistake that shouldn't have been missed on a 900 dollar locker but I get it, mistakes happen. I'm just glad I went through ECGS because their customer service was so great to work with

 

[jmferg]

What/who is ECGS? I hear it referred to a lot throughout the forum and toyota-related Facebook pages


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[I'mStock]

East Coast Gear Supply.

 

[Black798]

Quick update

Not too much new things going on other than just getting the truck ready for Moab here in a couple weeks. Got the rear end back together and it's working great now. Changed the oil and the original power steering fluid last weekend that was black and is now a nice red color. Just need to cut and polish it and start driving.

Also discovered my rack has developed a leak in the driver side boot, can't say I'm surprised since it has 180 thousand on it along with the lower control arm bushings and upper ball joints an all that. So this fall Im just going to rebuild the entire front suspension. King coilovers, TC spindle gussets, spc uppers, whiteline lower bushings, new rack and tie rods, and new tires in the 305/70/16 variety. Will take a bit of cutting but should fit pretty easily.

Also went out on a shakedown run of sorts to make sure everything was running smoothly and took a few pictures

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[Fishwerks]

Not too much new things going on other than just getting the truck ready for Moab here in a couple weeks. Got the rear end back together and it's working great now. Changed the oil and the original power steering fluid last weekend that was black and is now a nice red color. Just need to cut and polish it and start driving.

Also discovered my rack has developed a leak in the driver side boot, can't say I'm surprised since it has 180 thousand on it along with the lower control arm bushings and upper ball joints an all that. So this fall Im just going to rebuild the entire front suspension. King coilovers, TC spindle gussets, spc uppers, whiteline lower bushings, new rack and tie rods, and new tires in the 305/70/16 variety. Will take a bit of cutting but should fit pretty easily.

Sounds like East Coast took care of you, that's good.

Throw some poly bushings in the new steering rack when it comes time. My new OEM rack has less than 10,000 miles on it and the rubber bushings already let it move back and forth a bit.

I'm curious about the jump to 305s. It's the height of a 285 but more work to fit due to the width. I'd cut it for 315s and be done with it. Or 37s hahah.

 

[Black798]

Sounds like East Coast took care of you, that's good.

Throw some poly bushings in the new steering rack when it comes time. My new OEM rack has less than 10,000 miles on it and the rubber bushings already let it move back and forth a bit.

I'm curious about the jump to 305s. It's the height of a 285 but more work to fit due to the width. I'd cut it for 315s and be done with it. Or 37s hahah.

Their shipping speed was a little slower than I would have liked but they did take excellent care of me.

My current rack has the poly bushings so I probably will just reuse them on the new rack. I'm debating between a new OEM rack or one from Rock Auto, the Cardone seems to have decent reviews.

I decided on 305s because I want the width of a 35 without the weight. The width specifically for snow wheeling, a 285 was going to give me basically the same width just taller so I figured I can pay 20 dollars and 2 pounds more a tire and get a decent amount more flotation. I'll be sure and leave plenty of room for if I do ever go to 35s but I doubt I will. I've encountered very few things 265s wouldn't get me over so I think 33s will be plenty for my use.

I'm really hoping the E rated 305s will wear better than my current P265s are currently. I love the tires I have but they're over half worn with only 18,000 miles and are warrantied for 55,000 so I'm guessing my 4runner is just too much weight for a P rated tire

 

[Black798]

Just discovered tonight that my alternator decided to completely shit itself. Yesterday I on the way out of the forest service area I was in I had to jump off the road to avoid a head-on collision with a dumbass in a land rover. He was doing probably around 50 on a single lane road around a blind corner where the speed limit is something like 20. I know he saw me go off to avoid hitting him but of course, he didn't stop.

I wasn't really stuck all that bad, just ran up on top of the snow bank in the ditch, so I locked the rear end put the truck in 4 lo and tried crawling out but the entire front end was up in the air thanks to the ifs skid so I got out to start digging but at some point in the past two weeks due to jumping between different vehicles I didn't have any of my snow gear. It was about this time I noticed that a new groaning type noise coming from the motor but I couldn't tell what it was.

Pulled the winch line out and pulled myself off the bank back onto the road. I thought the winch seemed to be kind of struggling and the voltage seemed a bit low (11.4 vs the usual 12) for the relatively easy pull but I didn't think much of it. Anyway, the groan never went away and started getting worse today and I noticed the voltage was still about .5 volts lower than usual and when I tested the alternator it failed without any accessories running.

So I think that giant duralast battery saved my ass yesterday since I don't think the alternator is creating much if any of a charge. I'll be picking up a new reman duralast alternator tomorrow to swap in. I really hope this string of bad luck and broken parts ends before I leave for Moab next Friday.

Thought I had some pictures of the bank but I guess not

 

[Unner]

Just discovered tonight that my alternator decided to completely shit itself. Yesterday I on the way out of the forest service area I was in I had to jump off the road to avoid a head-on collision with a dumbass in a land rover. He was doing probably around 50 on a single lane road around a blind corner where the speed limit is something like 20. I know he saw me go off to avoid hitting him but of course, he didn't stop.

I wasn't really stuck all that bad, just ran up on top of the snow bank in the ditch, so I locked the rear end put the truck in 4 lo and tried crawling out but the entire front end was up in the air thanks to the ifs skid so I got out to start digging but at some point in the past two weeks due to jumping between different vehicles I didn't have any of my snow gear. It was about this time I noticed that a new groaning type noise coming from the motor but I couldn't tell what it was.

Pulled the winch line out and pulled myself off the bank back onto the road. I thought the winch seemed to be kind of struggling and the voltage seemed a bit low (11.4 vs the usual 12) for the relatively easy pull but I didn't think much of it. Anyway, the groan never went away and started getting worse today and I noticed the voltage was still about .5 volts lower than usual and when I tested the alternator it failed without any accessories running.

So I think that giant duralast battery saved my ass yesterday since I don't think the alternator is creating much if any of a charge. I'll be picking up a new reman duralast alternator tomorrow to swap in. I really hope this string of bad luck and broken parts ends before I leave for Moab next Friday.

Thought I had some pictures of the bank but I guess not

Speaking from experience, don't put Duralast or any parts store crap in your truck on a very critical part like the alternator. Take your OEM to a alternator/repair shop and have it rebuilt for $50 or so, or get a new Toyota/Denso one.

I repalced my OEM alternator at 180k with a cheap parts store one, 30k miles later it totally died on me on my way home. Went from charging fine to totally dead in 10 miles. I got it swapped under lifetime warranty and then 10k miles or so later that one started making noise, on my way to Moab. I didn't want to be stranded in the middle of the desert because of a bad alternator so I grabbed a spare in Denver. I didn't have to swap it in the desert, but it was making whining noises the entire time. As soon as I got home I replaced it with a rebuilt Denso I got from Advance Auto.

Long story short, OEM alternator lasted 180k miles, 2 aftermarket alternators lasted less than 40k miles combined, now I've switched back to an OEM Denso.

 

[Black798]

[MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION] thanks for the heads up. I looked around and couldn't find whether the AutoZone remans were Denso or not so I went to Amazon and found a remaned Denso alternator for 20 dollars more and picked that up. And it was for a 99 so I'll be getting a slight upgrade from 70 to 80 amps. Should be here Friday so hopefully, my current one lasts until then or my battery has enough capacity to carry me through.

The duralast parts quality seems to have steadily gone down lately. I picked up a spare CV from them last week, I had to get the new one because they dont offer remans anymore and no one else in town would give me a lifetime warranty (NAPA is only 3 years now), and the inner tripod joint case doesn't even have the little flanges I've always used to hit the shafts in with a hammer so now if I have to use it I have to beat on the entire shaft which I just dont like the idea of.

 

[JBurt]

I don't think you have a string of bad luck. You avoided a head on collision, then you were still able to winch yourself out without an alternator. Seems like good luck to me.

I wish we could get *******s off the road. At least he could have stopped.

 

[jb10]

I finished the tire carrier this last weekend and am super pleased with the results. I had to add some more internal bracing to the bumper but the arm is super solid and doesnt move at all when going down the road. I didnt get to take many pictures because I was on a mission to get it done but heres a quick run down of what I did.

1st, I lowered the tires by 2 inches
2nd figured out the latch hook
3rd added the license plate frame and wiring guides
4th paint an old license plate to fill the stock location
5th paint and install.

For paint I tried something new, I used rustoleum professional gloss black enamel and I sprayed it through a cheap harbor freight hvlp paint gun. The finish came out decent but its a little soft, I think I can refine the technique and get much better results.

great work on this bumper! could i get a close up pic of just the latch and how the arm sits on the bumper?

 

[Black798]

[MENTION=84643]JBurt[/MENTION] those kinds of people really piss me off, they're the reason why a lot of places get misused or shut down because they make it a "safety hazard." Unfortunately, this area is crawling with them, probably part of the reason we don't have many good trail networks here in Montana along with all the tree huggers. You do have a point though it could have been a lot worse. I've just gotten sick of barely getting to wheel the truck and having a lot of high dollar parts break wear out or need to be replaced all at once.

Talked to my buddy that was with me and he got a couple pictures of the snow bank we ended up on. You cant see the turn in these but about 150 feet down the road theres a blind turn that he slid around, over corrected and swung to the outside, so I threw myself to the inside.
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[MENTION=123762]jb10[/MENTION] here are a few pictures of the latch. It is pretty solid and the swing arm is totally supported but if I were to do it again I think Id put the lat on top of the arm and I may do this in the future. I have a feeling it could turn into a rock anchor where it is at depending on the obstacle. We'll see in a few weeks...
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[AssBurns]

but if I were to do it again I think Id put the lat on top of the arm and I may do this in the future. I have a feeling it could turn into a rock anchor where it is at depending on the obstacle. We'll see in a few weeks...

I've always been leery with a latch setup that is hanging off the back like that. So many possibilities of it getting hung up or ripped off when coming off a ledge, or getting smashed when getting rear ended or backing into something. I've also been pretty surprised to see how well they do hold up to abuse. I had a buddy that had his setup like yours and he drug it off a hard dirt ledge and it didn't budge. I was cringing thinking it would for sure get ripped off. I still can't decide what I'm gonna do with mine when I eventually get around to building a spare tire carrier. I have so many ideas, but I can't seem to like any of them enough to spend time executing any of them.

 

[Black798]

I've always been leery with a latch setup that is hanging off the back like that. So many possibilities of it getting hung up or ripped off when coming off a ledge, or getting smashed when getting rear ended or backing into something. I've also been pretty surprised to see how well they do hold up to abuse. I had a buddy that had his setup like yours and he drug it off a hard dirt ledge and it didn't budge. I was cringing thinking it would for sure get ripped off. I still can't decide what I'm gonna do with mine when I eventually get around to building a spare tire carrier. I have so many ideas, but I can't seem to like any of them enough to spend time executing any of them.

I was pretty much the same with the latch design. I had the overall carrier worked out in my head and like the design a lot, it's super sturdy. The latch was the one thing I really couldn't decide on, there are so many ways to do it and each has their advantages and disadvantages. I've smashed this one into a few rocks and its held up fine. If I redo it in the future I will probably do something similar to what [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] did on his or just move the latch up to the top of the arm.

 

[Unner]

[MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION] thanks for the heads up. I looked around and couldn't find whether the AutoZone remans were Denso or not so I went to Amazon and found a remaned Denso alternator for 20 dollars more and picked that up. And it was for a 99 so I'll be getting a slight upgrade from 70 to 80 amps. Should be here Friday so hopefully, my current one lasts until then or my battery has enough capacity to carry me through.

The duralast parts quality seems to have steadily gone down lately. I picked up a spare CV from them last week, I had to get the new one because they dont offer remans anymore and no one else in town would give me a lifetime warranty (NAPA is only 3 years now), and the inner tripod joint case doesn't even have the little flanges I've always used to hit the shafts in with a hammer so now if I have to use it I have to beat on the entire shaft which I just dont like the idea of.

No problem man, I just didn't want you to go through all the headache I went through with my alternators... Same thing with starters on these trucks. Previous owner replaced it with some Chinese parts, the thing was so corroded on the inside I'm surprised it got me back home from California. I put a Denso in and plan to change only the contacts when needed in another 1xx,xxx miles.

That's pretty bad about their CVs. I've got NAPAs, I didn't know they are only 3 year now instead of lifetime. I got them while they were lifetime so I should be grandfathered in. I've got a Toyota boot kit sitting in the garage next to my OEM CV ready to reboot it one of these days.

Glad you didn't get wrecked by the careless driver, and hopefully things start looking up for you truck wise! At least you'll be in sunny Moab in a few weeks!

 

[Black798]

No problem man, I just didn't want you to go through all the headache I went through with my alternators... Same thing with starters on these trucks. Previous owner replaced it with some Chinese parts, the thing was so corroded on the inside I'm surprised it got me back home from California. I put a Denso in and plan to change only the contacts when needed in another 1xx,xxx miles.

That's pretty bad about their CVs. I've got NAPAs, I didn't know they are only 3 year now instead of lifetime. I got them while they were lifetime so I should be grandfathered in. I've got a Toyota boot kit sitting in the garage next to my OEM CV ready to reboot it one of these days.

Glad you didn't get wrecked by the careless driver, and hopefully things start looking up for you truck wise! At least you'll be in sunny Moab in a few weeks!

I do have Moab to look forward to, I need my yearly rock therapy. It's been too long since Ive been able to get out and really use the truck. The three weeks it was down and couldn't even move I started having thoughts of selling the truck and getting a newer Tacoma or something but now that it's back together and working pretty well I don't think that will happen.