Nelsonmd's Build Thread
- Thread starter Nelsonmd
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quicksilvr
New member
Oh, I forgot one other little update...
I pulled the parking brakes off a while back, cleaned them up and painted them, then reassembled them practically filling the boots with silicone grease. They look good now and shouldn't rust for a long time.
I also properly adjusted the rear drums, and wow, they were way out of adjustment. The brake pedal is now very stiff and the 'ole girl doesn't nosedive as much when I hit the brakes. The parking brake also has a very good grip now. I was able to hold the car halfway down my ramps and in gear with just the parking brake.
Here's the pic of the new color scheme.
The shininess is the fluid film I sprayed on everything once it was assembled. You can also see the gear oil spray marks on my tire from the leaky axle seal. No new streaks now, so hopefully I seated that seal correctly.
Here's the other side. There are a couple spots of surface rust on my new axle and panhard from where some of the cable mounts broke off and banged against the axle, scraping the factory coating off. I will be wirebrushing those areas and POR-15ing them this spring.
How hard was it do remove the ebrake stuff, clean it up and re-install it? My truck needs this done, as well as my sisters. Problem is I don't have a lot of time to do it, so I want to go into knowing what it entails and "about" how long it should take. I also need my rear drums adjusted as well.
Nelsonmd
New member
It is really easy. You can remove the stuff in about 30 minutes, you just have to remove the wheel, drum, 2 bolts, the parking brake cable, and pull the pin on the actuator cable. I zip-tied the cable into place so I could keep driving the vehicle while I cleaned and painted the parts. I took 2 weeks to clean and paint and order replacements parts. Assembly was just slightly less easy than disassembly. I picked up a big tube of silicone grease to fill the boots.
Nelsonmd
New member
Minor Update:
1) I confirmed that grounding the cut wire will indeed solve the issue of the hesitation on open. Now the moonroof behaves like I want it to, just hold down the button and it closes all the way.
2) The TR7 in the moonroof fried, so no auto close for now. I am debating getting another one or trying something else (not sure yet what). I would like to get a datasheet for the IC on the control board so that I can see what exactly it does, but I havn't been able to find one.
I am not sure why the TR7 fried. The one in my back door will works, though I did something to it while putting the door back together, so at the moment, neither is working...
EDIT:
I think I have decided to make my own trigger and timing circuit. That way I can tailor it to exactly what I want. I am working on the schematic now and will post it as I get it figured out, but likely it will be later this summer when I finally get this finished.
1) I confirmed that grounding the cut wire will indeed solve the issue of the hesitation on open. Now the moonroof behaves like I want it to, just hold down the button and it closes all the way.
2) The TR7 in the moonroof fried, so no auto close for now. I am debating getting another one or trying something else (not sure yet what). I would like to get a datasheet for the IC on the control board so that I can see what exactly it does, but I havn't been able to find one.
I am not sure why the TR7 fried. The one in my back door will works, though I did something to it while putting the door back together, so at the moment, neither is working...
EDIT:
I think I have decided to make my own trigger and timing circuit. That way I can tailor it to exactly what I want. I am working on the schematic now and will post it as I get it figured out, but likely it will be later this summer when I finally get this finished.
Last edited:
GottaBeTRD
New member
hey Nelsonmd with that door panel problem you got there it looks like an easy fix I've done a little bit of upholstery work It looks like its just the material and padding that is comming off the fiberglass. The best suggestion i would make is get some of that Spray on Adhesive in a yellow can, (sorry i cant remember what its called) but spray some of that stuff in there and clamp it down for a little bit. It should work perfectly!
Nelsonmd
New member
Well, after recharging my AC system, the AC belt was slipping a ton, then snapped, so no more AC. This does kind of push me over the edge on the TB/WP kit that I have been expecting to need for a while (at 120k on I assume the original stuff). Ordering from Aircabinman on ebay.
I seem to remember a thread where some said that the kit came with 1 wrong part, and you need to contact the seller before they ship to get the right one. I can't find the thread now, anyone remember what that was about?
I seem to remember a thread where some said that the kit came with 1 wrong part, and you need to contact the seller before they ship to get the right one. I can't find the thread now, anyone remember what that was about?
ameining
New member
Nelson,
I want to do the satoshi mod as well, my question is where you got the grill without having to build it....???
Nelsonmd
New member
I think it was ebay. My recommendation is to troll ebay and other sources (like part outs here and on yotatech) and wait for a great deal to pop up. Patience can save you alot of money.
ameining
New member
Was it a mesh grill that somebody made, or was it one that was built that way?
Nelsonmd
New member
Oh, no, I had to make it that way. I cut the inner parts out and put the mesh in, and added the emblems. I am not too happy with how it turned out, so some day I will redo it, but it is good for now.
There are a number of satoshi threads out there, do some searching and you will find a number of different ways people have done it.
Nelsonmd
New member
Alright, It looks like I am going to do a major front end replacement.
In hand:
LBJ's
Outer TRE's
UCA/UBJ/Knuckle from parted out 4runner (no rust)
Getting soon:
Inner TRE's
Tundra Brake's
I am not sure of the condition of the UBJ's in the new UCA/Knuckle assembly, but they came out of a wrecked 4runner that got parted. Anyway, I am wondering if I should just press out the old UBJ's and put new ones in since it should be a sinch with the whole assembly off the vehicle. And at $30 each for the UBJ, the price isn't bad either.
Opine away.
In hand:
LBJ's
Outer TRE's
UCA/UBJ/Knuckle from parted out 4runner (no rust)
Getting soon:
Inner TRE's
Tundra Brake's
I am not sure of the condition of the UBJ's in the new UCA/Knuckle assembly, but they came out of a wrecked 4runner that got parted. Anyway, I am wondering if I should just press out the old UBJ's and put new ones in since it should be a sinch with the whole assembly off the vehicle. And at $30 each for the UBJ, the price isn't bad either.
Opine away.
quicksilvr
New member
If I was doing the job, I'd snag some new UBJ's and put them in. Like you said, easier job when the control arm is off. And it'll be nice to know they are fresh.
Nelsonmd
New member
Some interesting pics...
So I finally got around to cutting apart my old rear axle and making my rear diff mounting plate to hold it in my workbench. I took some interesting pics of the axle and diff I thought I'd share with you all.
First, I heard a snap while trying to pry the actuator off the housing, and when I got it off, I found this.
Ouch. I pulled it apart a bit and took a closer look at the fracture surface and found somethings interesting...
Can you see it? There is surface corrosion on the fracture surface most of the way through the thickness of the piece. So it wasn't really my fault it broke as it was already corroded most of the way through. That's kind of a relief, except for the fact that I still have a broken piece.
Here is the outside face of the actuator plate (this is the part that faces the differential housing).
You can see there is a great amount of material loss on the right side. There was alot of junk jammed in between the actuator and diff housing when I took it apart. Lots of corrosion here. Here's the other side of this plate, zoomed in on the corroded area.
It looks like it has actually cracked here. Can't say for sure since there is so much corrosion all over it.
Here's is what the inside of the actuator housing looks like.
Actually looks pretty clean. There is very little grease left, and what is there is super thick and dry, and there is some sand in there.
That's it for the diff actuator. I did take some pics of the inside of the axle housing after cutting it apart. Here is a close up of the main pinhole I patched in the diff housing.
I was surprised that I couldn't really see any other pinholes from the inside despite the fact that I found some from the outside and patched them. I could definitely see some spots that were very thin. It also showed the problem with these things to begin with. The diff housing part (the pumpkin) is a pressed plate that is welded on and is significantly thinner than the rest of the axle. They could have solved this problem by simply using a thicker piece of stock metal.
Here is an overall of the diff. This is after having sat in my basement open for almost a year. For as terrible as the outside looks, the inside looks pristine. I can see the marking paint from when the diff was first set up at toyota.
You can also see here the part of the axle housing I cut off to make the diff mount for my workbench.
So with the broken components, I won't be cleaning this thing up and selling it as a whole unit. As I said, the insides look absolutely pristine, and while the outsides are rusty, they aren't really that bad expect for some of the locker bits. The diff carrier has some rust, but would clean up fine (It's super thick). When I drained the diff fluid the first time, there were no chucks whatsoever, just a shiny goo on the magnet.
So anyway, if anyone out there needs some parts for a locker, drop me a PM and will part the thing out. It's 4.3 gears.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
So I finally got around to cutting apart my old rear axle and making my rear diff mounting plate to hold it in my workbench. I took some interesting pics of the axle and diff I thought I'd share with you all.
First, I heard a snap while trying to pry the actuator off the housing, and when I got it off, I found this.
Ouch. I pulled it apart a bit and took a closer look at the fracture surface and found somethings interesting...
Can you see it? There is surface corrosion on the fracture surface most of the way through the thickness of the piece. So it wasn't really my fault it broke as it was already corroded most of the way through. That's kind of a relief, except for the fact that I still have a broken piece.
Here is the outside face of the actuator plate (this is the part that faces the differential housing).
You can see there is a great amount of material loss on the right side. There was alot of junk jammed in between the actuator and diff housing when I took it apart. Lots of corrosion here. Here's the other side of this plate, zoomed in on the corroded area.
It looks like it has actually cracked here. Can't say for sure since there is so much corrosion all over it.
Here's is what the inside of the actuator housing looks like.
Actually looks pretty clean. There is very little grease left, and what is there is super thick and dry, and there is some sand in there.
That's it for the diff actuator. I did take some pics of the inside of the axle housing after cutting it apart. Here is a close up of the main pinhole I patched in the diff housing.
I was surprised that I couldn't really see any other pinholes from the inside despite the fact that I found some from the outside and patched them. I could definitely see some spots that were very thin. It also showed the problem with these things to begin with. The diff housing part (the pumpkin) is a pressed plate that is welded on and is significantly thinner than the rest of the axle. They could have solved this problem by simply using a thicker piece of stock metal.
Here is an overall of the diff. This is after having sat in my basement open for almost a year. For as terrible as the outside looks, the inside looks pristine. I can see the marking paint from when the diff was first set up at toyota.
You can also see here the part of the axle housing I cut off to make the diff mount for my workbench.
So with the broken components, I won't be cleaning this thing up and selling it as a whole unit. As I said, the insides look absolutely pristine, and while the outsides are rusty, they aren't really that bad expect for some of the locker bits. The diff carrier has some rust, but would clean up fine (It's super thick). When I drained the diff fluid the first time, there were no chucks whatsoever, just a shiny goo on the magnet.
So anyway, if anyone out there needs some parts for a locker, drop me a PM and will part the thing out. It's 4.3 gears.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
BrianSD_42
New member
Put it on ebay, I am sure someone will bite.
Nelsonmd
New member
I am going to go Napa. I think they are about $60 each there.
Nelsonmd
New member
I noticed that I had some rubber, or tar or something kind of splashed on my sides right behind the front tires (since I removed the running boards), so I decided I needed to get some mud guards to prevent this. Picked up a pair from AutoShephard.com (Highland Contura Splash Guard | Mud Flaps & Gaurds for Cars and Trucks) for $20/pair.
After a bit of trimming, here they are mounted.
A couple other folks have used these before...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/78352-mud-guard-installation-front-limited-flaps.html
I had to do alot more trimming than Bishop did, so maybe their design has changed a little since then. Also, his pictures make it look like the guard is full width, but it isn't, I have a couple inches of tire on the inside that go beyond the guard. This is more visible in the second photo, though the tire is turned a bit that way.
The edge goes almost straight down, following the line of the flare. I had to position it the way I did to prevent the top edge of the guard from pulling away from the flare (it would be better if it flared in a tiny bit at the top).
Anyway, for $20 I am pleased as they will protect the sides of the body from kick-up, but they certainly aren't a perfect fit. Others might be able to trim better than I did and make it fit better, but that was my best shot at it. Trimming is pretty easy with a razor blade.
After a bit of trimming, here they are mounted.
A couple other folks have used these before...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/78352-mud-guard-installation-front-limited-flaps.html
I had to do alot more trimming than Bishop did, so maybe their design has changed a little since then. Also, his pictures make it look like the guard is full width, but it isn't, I have a couple inches of tire on the inside that go beyond the guard. This is more visible in the second photo, though the tire is turned a bit that way.
The edge goes almost straight down, following the line of the flare. I had to position it the way I did to prevent the top edge of the guard from pulling away from the flare (it would be better if it flared in a tiny bit at the top).
Anyway, for $20 I am pleased as they will protect the sides of the body from kick-up, but they certainly aren't a perfect fit. Others might be able to trim better than I did and make it fit better, but that was my best shot at it. Trimming is pretty easy with a razor blade.
SCRunner12
New member
Nice work. I may have to do this at some point.
