Nelsonmd's Build Thread

[theizzardking]

just had another look at this, dam man that's some rust! haha, good work on all of it though and have to admit i like your style choices, main reason i'm posting is i saw your awesome tap handle and thought you could use a set of these as that probably wont be the last time that happens to you.

tap sockets
Tap Socket LIS70500

one of my favorite tools in my quiver, you can use any socket wrench now to tap a hole out, so much more room to maneuver, 2x as quick as the old straight handled ones and more torque which can be a bad thing if you don't know what your doing, but you obviously do so that shouldn't matter.

keep it coming man and the tie rod ends are cake just did that myself not to long ago and was fairly simple.:fishing:

 

[Nelsonmd]

Well I finally got started on the eventual replacemnt of my UCA's, knuckles, LBJ's, TRE's, and brakes.

Step 1 is getting the knuckles ready. I used a chisel to pry the hub seals off without damaging them (they are about $40 each), they came off pretty easy.

First off, need to take care of the existing rust, and prevent future rust, so painting with POR-15:

Here is one of them before:

I closed off the hub area and ABS port using foil tape, this worked great. The wet patch is PB-blaster I used to remove the brake softline mount.

Then in for a scrub:

I was careful to keep the hub side up so as not to get water flowing in from the outside, which I didn't seal. I left a heater blowing on them for a while to dry them out, then moved on to paint.

This is just 1 coat. Going to put 1 or 2 more one after roughing it with sane paper it a bit either tonight or tomorrow.

I did screw up a bit though, and in the process of moving last fall, I allowed some flakes of rust, and other dust bits get into the hub area (behind the oil seal I removed). I want to clean it out (like behind the ABS) before putting it back together, but I am not sure the best way to go about this. I was thinking flush some fluid back there, but what would be best to as to not hurt the bearing? I think the bearings are sealed, but some stuff could seep in there. I was thinking perhaps some DI water, then put the heater on it to dry it out quickly (wouldn't wash out the grease, should be able to dry completely out and not rust anything). Any thoughts? I don't want to have to pull the hub apart and replace the bearing as I don't think there is anything wrong with them right now.

EDIT: Also just bought a pair of 13WL calipers, so I can get going on the tundra brake upgrade...

 

[1985taylor1925]

Hey Nelson. Now that youve been running those ironman coils up front for a while, what do you think of them? overall impressions of the ride?

 

[Nelsonmd]

I like the Ironman suspension pretty well. It gives the front good feel going over bumps, seems smooth and well damped. I did noticed today that one of the shock boots has broken, so I will have to find a way to fix it.

I decided that I want to replace at least the one bearing, probably both. In order to do that I went to harbor freight and bought a 8" 3-jaw puller, and I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality. It fit onto the hub very well.

The hub really didn't want to budge, even though I left some Pb-blaster soaking into it. And in the end, Harbor freight didn't let me down, and one of the links on the 3-jaw puller snapped...

Going to get some strip steel from Home depot tomorrow and make some new links.

Anyone got any tips for getting the hub out with damaging anything?

 

[Nelsonmd]

A little progress...

So I made a little bit of progress today. Made 6 new links out of steel stock from Home depot (2x as thick as the original ones). Also bought new bolts as the ones that came with the tool I assumed were weak. I wanted shoulder bolts that would have shoulder through the shear points instead of threads, but they didn't have any of the right length, so I just went with standard bolts.

I still couldn't get the hub to budge even with using my breaker bar on the puller, so I decided I needed to use a thermal differential between the hub and knuckle to get it out. So I came up with this setup:

I have a heater on the knuckle, and I am using my gear oil pump to pump icy water from one bucket up a tube to the top of the inside of the hub, so the water trickles down and cools just the hub. It actually works pretty well as I can feel a definite temp difference. I still wasn't getting any results, so I just picked up the whole assembly and pounded the back end of the puller with a hammer. Lo and behold she broke loose!

So I tried to keep the momentum up, but it ended up just getting stuck again, and not long afterwards I had this happen:

Sooooo, I am going to go to Home Depot again and get some of the too-long shoulder bolts and either use washers as spacers, or try to thread up a bit farther to get them to work. Hopefully the shoulders won't shear as easily as the threads (well, I know they won't).

 

[Nelsonmd]

Victory!

Well I finally got the hub off. It took a while, but it came off.

Here's what the bearing looks like

So the next step is removing the bearings. I also have to buy new bearings, then decide if I want to do the same thing on the other side, or just leave it as is and see how long the bearing lasts.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Hey Nelson. I remember that you put on your ironman coils about the same time I installed my PP coils. Now that youve had those on for a while, how is the ride? And also how are the 906's in the rear? I know theyre suppose to give around 2" lift, and I believe theyre suppose to ride a bit softer than the other rear set ups.

 

[troy_279]

fuel filler pipe

I'm battling P0440, P0441, and P0446 and thought I would replace the fuel filler pipe like you did. Only problem is is that my 4runner is an 02 and I can't seem to find a part listing anywhere for anything other than 2000 or older. Does anyone know if there was a design change or anything like that?
Thanks

 

[quicksilvr]

Due to the bump, I saw your front wheel bearing fight. I was wondering when someone was going to tackle this and take pictures of it. Interested to see how the rest of the process goes. I had actually bought new dust covers for the front brakes of my old rig, not realizing that I had to pull the hubs off to install them. Needless to say...those dust cover/backing plates are still sitting on my shelf, and I don't even own the truck anymore. lol

 

[Nelsonmd]

I'm battling P0440, P0441, and P0446 and thought I would replace the fuel filler pipe like you did. Only problem is is that my 4runner is an 02 and I can't seem to find a part listing anywhere for anything other than 2000 or older. Does anyone know if there was a design change or anything like that?
Thanks

I think it should be 77201‑35700. Have you confirmed you have a hole in your filler pipe? It could also be a bad gas cap, or a leaky joint between the filler pipe and the tank (there's a rubber piece in between the 2).

Due to the bump, I saw your front wheel bearing fight. I was wondering when someone was going to tackle this and take pictures of it. Interested to see how the rest of the process goes. I had actually bought new dust covers for the front brakes of my old rig, not realizing that I had to pull the hubs off to install them. Needless to say...those dust cover/backing plates are still sitting on my shelf, and I don't even own the truck anymore. lol

Yeah, I decided to pull the other side apart too, been working on that. I used the old bearing races to make some nice tools to do the job, and now it is pretty easy. I finished the other side, then realized I forgot to put the retainer clip back in, so I have to tear the whole thing apart again (which ruins the bearing, and the bearings just went up to $65). Expensive mistake.

I will take more pictures when I fix my screw-up. I am going to make another fixture so that I can use my press to remove the hub instead of the 3-jaw puller. Should make disassembly much easier. After all this, I feel like I could do both in half a day, including removing the knuckles. It really isn't bad if you have the right tools.

 

[quicksilvr]

I hear you on the expensive, dumb mistake thing. I punctured my A/C condensor once. That's an expensive mistake. A/C service plus a new condensor....all because I slipped with a screwdriver. lol

When I ever do front bearings on my rig, it'll be nice to have this reference of what tools you used for the job...start on the right foot at least this way.

 

[1985taylor1925]

I think it should be 77201‑35700. Have you confirmed you have a hole in your filler pipe? It could also be a bad gas cap, or a leaky joint between the filler pipe and the tank (there's a rubber piece in between the 2).



Yeah, I decided to pull the other side apart too, been working on that. I used the old bearing races to make some nice tools to do the job, and now it is pretty easy. I finished the other side, then realized I forgot to put the retainer clip back in, so I have to tear the whole thing apart again (which ruins the bearing, and the bearings just went up to $65). Expensive mistake.

I will take more pictures when I fix my screw-up. I am going to make another fixture so that I can use my press to remove the hub instead of the 3-jaw puller. Should make disassembly much easier. After all this, I feel like I could do both in half a day, including removing the knuckles. It really isn't bad if you have the right tools.

That sucks. Ive been thinking about doing this as well, but after seeing the trouble you had Im re-considering. I only have one vehicle, so if get part way into the job and brake a tool, or discover that I need more supplies I would kinda be stuck.

Im not sure if you already posted this or not, but what made you decide to replace the bearings? I ask because I wonder if my (probably original) bearings with almost 190k may be contributing to my vibrations at high speeds.

 

[Nelsonmd]

That sucks. Ive been thinking about doing this as well, but after seeing the trouble you had Im re-considering. I only have one vehicle, so if get part way into the job and brake a tool, or discover that I need more supplies I would kinda be stuck.

Im not sure if you already posted this or not, but what made you decide to replace the bearings? I ask because I wonder if my (probably original) bearings with almost 190k may be contributing to my vibrations at high speeds.

Yeah, I could never have one this if I didn't have the extra set of knuckles (this is why I bought them). I decided to replace the bearings because I let the knuckles sit for a long time in my garage, and they ended up getting alot of dust and surface rust on them. The backside of the knuckles is normally between dust/grease seals, so I didn't want to reassemble them with all that crap in there, and I didn't think I could clean it out effectively.

All in all, I don't regret doing any of this. I regret the mistakes, but I have learned alot, and have gotten the chance to practice welding up some jigs, which is one of the reasons I bought the welder in the first place. So it's been fun. PLus, the end product is going to be awesome. I will basically have an entirely new front end.

 

[Nelsonmd]

One step forward, two steps back...

Well, I made some progress tonight, then totally screwed up and set myself back...

First, I finished my jig for pressing out the hub from the knuckle, here is it in use in the press (yes, I also forgot to put the dust shield on,so it isn't shown here...)

Those posts are sections cut out of my front sway bar.

The hub popped out with the hub side inner race still stuck on it. I don't have a gear splitter, so I decided to improvise. I also had to pound out the lugs to manage this part.

Well, that only ended up popping off the pressed on metal caller from the race, leaving a very small lip on the race to grab onto. I knew this would never suffice to get it off, so I knew I'd have to cut through it. Got the dremel out to cut through it carefully, but I turned the dremel on and POP, she blew...

sigh...

so I had to take the angle grinder to it with a cutting wheel. I tried to be super careful not to go too deep. I was pretty sure I had nearly gotten through it,then took a chisel to the cut to try to pop it apart. Got it popped apart and pulled of, and here's what I found

missed by a mile, ruined my hub.

So now I get to decide whether to go buy a new knuckle from a salvage yard and use that hub, or just use one of the hubs on my 4runner right now, but that means I will have to add pressing out the hub and replacing the bearing the same day that I do my front end overhaul instead of having both knuckles ready and waiting for the big day.

Probably going to use one of my existing hubs to save money, which I need to do now that my dremel is fubar too. Bad night...

 

[quicksilvr]

:redbrick:

 

[BrianSD_42]

Well I finally got started on the eventual replacemnt of my UCA's, knuckles, LBJ's, TRE's, and brakes.

Nelson, what made you want to do this? It looks like a huge amount of work.

 

[4-Ripcord]

I am so impressed by how much work you still manage to get done despite all the rust. I would have thrown in the towel long ago, lol.

Keep it up!

 

[Nelsonmd]

Nelson, what made you want to do this? It looks like a huge amount of work.

I wanted to do it all because I am pretty sure the TRE's need replacing, the brakes are so rusted I can't break the bleeder valves loose in front to bleed, and overall the knuckles are so rusted, the I figured I might as well troll for some cheap knuckles. I picked up the knuckled for basically just shipping, which wasn't as much as I expected. Then I left them around so they got dust and crap in them, then I accidentally got water in them, so I had to replace the bearnings. Plus I might as well since they are out of the vehicle.

It is alot of work, but next time I have to do this, or do it on a friend's, I will be able to do the whole thing really easily.

I am so impressed by how much work you still manage to get done despite all the rust. I would have thrown in the towel long ago, lol.

Keep it up!

Thanks. It's amazing what you will do when you back yourself into having to do it.

 

[Nelsonmd]

2 more steps back...

Well, today sucked. I started taking apart my front end last night since I have the whole weekend free and all my parts are in. I didn't really pay attention to the order I was removing stuff, and I realized I should have done the axle nut first since I need to hold the hub to get it off. To fix this I just welded a little bracket onto one of my old rotors as an anti-rotation device.

This was the only thing that worked today...

I finished disassembly around 2 this afternoon, and so went to press out one of the hubs to move over to my new knuckle, and while pressing it out, the whole thing shifted and flew out of the press. I found that the press post was bent at the weld (actually the sliding arm of the press was bent around the weld of the press post). Since I need the press to do the bearings, I had to fix it, so I cut out the post and cleaned up the sliding arm...

Then welded the post to a piece of thick steel I had lying around...

Then welded the post assembly to the sliding arm and re-installed the sliding arm...

I put it back together and tried to finish pressing out the hub, but it started going crooked again. I took me a while to figure out why, but I believe the top of the jack is not sitting flat because the cup that it sits inside of is mangled a bit, so I need to grind down the inside of the cup so the jack will fit in it again. BUT! my dremel broke last night, so I can't grind down the inside of the cup...

PLUS, I cleaned chipped rust off, cleaned, and rinsed everything in prep for POR-15, then went to dinner figuring it will dry while I eating. Well, the humidity must be pegged right now, because it didn't dry at all.

So now my plan is to go to home depot tomorrow morning and fork over the dough for a new dremel, grind out the cup on the press, get the press working, take care of the remaining bearing, paint everything, and get it all back together, bleed the brakes, and if I have time (which I highly doubt), get an alignment.

Yeah right.

I bet I will have to ride my motorcycle to work this week (40 mile commute), and it's supposed to rain tuesday.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Progress...

Well,I actually made some progress today, despite further difficulties.

I started the day by fixing my press. I pounded out and ground out the cup that the top of the jack sits in, and ground down the cap on the jack to make them fit together, eventually got it to sit all the way down, re-assembled, and it actually worked. With the press working again, I pressed the new bearing into the other knuckle. I actually remembered to put the C-ring in this time, then followed up with the seals, and set the complete knuckles aside to await installation.

The sun finally came out and dried everything out, so I ended up putting on a bunch of POR-15, then starting the knuckle installation.

While that dried, I went about getting the ABS sensors out of the old knuckles. They were really stuck in there, so I had to pop them out from this inside, which means I had to press the hubs out of both knuckles to get access to them from the inside.

Put a 12mm socket over the inside and hit the socket with a punch and hammer and they came out pretty easily.

Put on the TRE's, LBJ's, etc. I managed to lose one of the LBJ bolts, so the pass side only has 3 on right now, hopefully I can pick one up tomorrow at a dealer. I found that when I hit hammered on the axle's to pop them out of the old knuckles, I mangled the threads, so I had to take some time to clean u the threads with my dremel. The nut was still super tight going over the outer couple threads, but they got on eventually. Got the rest assembled and mounted back in (including my new stainless steel brake lines). Started torquing everything correctly. Finally looks good!

I ended the night having torqued everything correctly, and semi-bled the breaks (just bled the fronts enough to get some grip so I could tighten the axle nuts). The plan is tomorrow to call some dealerships for the LBJ bolt, and hit autozone for some other little bits and pieces I want to replace. I will probably take the afternoon off and get an alignment, then I should be good to go!