theesotericone's Trails and BS Thread

[AssBurns]

Expect your lungs to feel like your not getting a lot of breathe. It's only 2000 feet higher then you've been before but there's another 1% effective Oxygen loss in that 200 feet. Study up a bit on Acute Mountain Sickness. The best way to prevent that is to acclimatize. So drive up a day ahead of time and hike at altitude. Also try and sleep as high as you can that night. The Portals at 8300 feet and will work but Horseshoe Meadows is at almost 10000 and will work better.

Either way you'll be much better prepared to actually summit if you can fit in the acclimazation.

Not sure how soon I can actually make it up there since I am supposed to work the day before. I think we can make it up there by 8pm. Not a whole lot of time. We really haven't planned it out very well so far. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't actually make it to the summit. I am probably in best shape to actually make it to the top out of our group, which isn't saying much. Depending on my work schedule would determine how early we get up there. That's usually one of my busier times of the year, plus I just paid for a class for the Monday of that trip, so it will already be a super short week. I've gotten minor altitude sickness before on the way up to Hungry Packer Lake and it really sucked. Hopefully I can avoid it this time.

When I placed the deposit over 2 weeks ago it sounded like it would be pretty quick. Since then I've called them a few times and left messages. They haven't been returned. I'm getting a little annoyed but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt before I loose my shit. lol

I wasn't going to say anything when you first placed your order with Yota Master's since I've heard a lot of people have really good experiences with them in the past. But my buddy just had them flake on him the morning they were supposed to do his gear and locker install. He called the morning of just to confirm his appointment and they basically said they couldn't do it even though it was scheduled months in advance. He tried to set up a follow up appointment, but they just blew him off and never returned his calls. Luckily he didn't have any sort of deposit. They are super knowledgeable but I heard they've been super busy lately and they can't really keep up, so they are now dropping the ball on customer service. I wheeled with a few guys that know (Eric, I think? the owner) and they've said he is a great guy but just super busy. Not a great excuse in my book to not pick up the phone though...

Got a call and an email from ECGS today. My diffs just shipped. I can't wait to get these things in. I'm sure Fed-Ex won't get them here by Saturday but I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Every time I have worked with ECGS, the shipping has been on time or early.

 

[theesotericone]

My diffs are set for delivery on Tuesday. So the trucks going in the garage once I finish my coffee and the diffs are coming out. Hopefully I'll be able to get some time after work this week to get them in and run the air lines and wiring. I'd really like to have it driving by Saturday.

[MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] I know you've had your front out a few times recently. Anything you've learned that makes the job easier? I'll be doing it solo and have a pretty good idea of how but I'm always game for a better way. Sometimes the little tricks make the difference.

 

[theesotericone]

Got a little side tracked helping the wife plant some more trees and ground cover. You gotta do that to get the time to wrench on the rig. Or at least I do. lol

Anyway the plants are planted and the front diff is broken down on the bench.

I read a lot about how big of a PIA these things are to get out. They are but I managed without any help. My extra set of hands was my trusty floor jack. Truthfully the biggest setback was stripping the drain plug. What an absolute pain but it's out.

Here's that lovely little drain plug. I hope ECGS doesn't expect that to be usable to get my core back. The 12mm hex stripped even with heat and PB blaster and tapping. I tried for about 1/2 hour to be gentle. Then I went breaker bar and stripped it good. Next step was more heat then I beat the shit out of a 1/2" hex into the hole. If you look closely you can see where I hit the impact approved 1/2 socket enough to chip it. Then I put the old 1/2 impact on it with a few extensions so I could come in from the wheel well side. Then I leaned into the impact super hard and it finally backed out. Yeah, it just took me 9 sentences to explain how to get a frikkin bolt out.

Next was the diff wrestling. I wrestled in high school so that was a piece of cake. Here it is flat on it's back.

Then it was a simple as taking the ADD system, stub shaft, mounting arm and rear mounting cushion. That's a done deal.

Now I sit and wait till FedEx gets my diffs here.

 

[Road Bull]

Nice! Well, that's out of the way. You look about as impatient as I am when I have a new part I want to incorporate on the rig. I see you getting them Tuesday. Install on Tuesday night or by Wednesday by close of business. Then driving it all over trying to rack up 500 miles so that you can test it out on Saturday. Tell me that's your game plan.:dancin:

Stoked to hear how it all shakes out man. I put one of my drum kits up on CL. If that thing sells, then I think I will make the jump up to a locker and gears.

 

[Black798]

Next was the diff wrestling. I wrestled in high school so that was a piece of cake. Here it is flat on it's back.

Maybe I should have wrestled instead of swam in highschool :noidea:
I wrestled with my front diff for almost an hour to get it out. Almost needed a nap after all was said and done

 

[AssBurns]

[MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] I know you've had your front out a few times recently. Anything you've learned that makes the job easier? I'll be doing it solo and have a pretty good idea of how but I'm always game for a better way. Sometimes the little tricks make the difference.

Sounds like I'm a little late to the party. I don't really have any tips besides "Be Careful". Both times I almost smashed the shit out of my hands once it finally wiggled loose and fell to the ground.

Maybe I should have wrestled instead of swam in highschool :noidea:
I wrestled with my front diff for almost an hour to get it out. Almost needed a nap after all was said and done

My arms were so sore after trying to get it out. Definitely needed a long beer break after that.

 

[Black798]

Sounds like I'm a little late to the party. I don't really have any tips besides "Be Careful". Both times I almost smashed the shit out of my hands once it finally wiggled loose and fell to the ground.


My arms were so sore after trying to get it out. Definitely needed a long beer break after that.

When mine finally came out it dropped right on my stomach because of how I was laying, knocked the wind out of me for a second and my arms were just dead. I kinda rolled it off of me and laid under the truck for a solid 10 minutes. By far the hardest thing I have had to do on the truck to date and I'm not looking forward to doing it again to put an ARB in.

 

[Wedgy]

Truthfully the biggest setback was stripping the drain plug. What an absolute pain but it's out.

.

I've seen quite a few stripped plugs and mine were super tight, so much so that when it "cracked" loose it sounded like something broke. I put some Teflon tape on them but I think I will weld a hex bolt head on next time I have them out.
can't wait to see the final product !

 

[phattyduck]

Sounds like I'm a little late to the party. I don't really have any tips besides "Be Careful". Both times I almost smashed the shit out of my hands once it finally wiggled loose and fell to the ground.

My arms were so sore after trying to get it out. Definitely needed a long beer break after that.

A transmission jack, hoist and friend are pretty helpful to the process. And beer helps too:

-Charlie

 

[theesotericone]

Stoked to hear how it all shakes out man. I put one of my drum kits up on CL. If that thing sells, then I think I will make the jump up to a locker and gears.

That's a big step but I know what you mean. I used to climb or fish every second of my free time. Now I'd say a take the rig out at least 30% of the time instead. Priorities change. Having fun doesn't have too.

Maybe I should have wrestled instead of swam in highschool :noidea:

LOL. One of my good friends is a swimmer. We argue all the time about who the best all-around conditioned athletes are. We've at least narrowed it down to swimmers or wrestlers.

Sounds like I'm a little late to the party. I don't really have any tips besides "Be Careful". Both times I almost smashed the shit out of my hands once it finally wiggled loose and fell to the ground.

I managed to figure out how to let my knee take a lot of the weight from the passenger side mounting arm. That helped a lot.

I've seen quite a few stripped plugs and mine were super tight, so much so that when it "cracked" loose it sounded like something broke. I put some Teflon tape on them but I think I will weld a hex bolt head on next time I have them out.
can't wait to see the final product !

I've heard some people have found the same plug but with a nut instead of a hex. I'll call my local dealer and have them cross reference it with other 7.5 IFS diffs. If I find it I'll post the part number. I need a new one regardless and I'd much rather not put the same shit design back in.

A transmission jack, hoist and friend are pretty helpful to the process. And beer helps too:

-Charlie

Yeah, I'm sure that lift helped a lot as well. It wasn't that bad on my back. I just jacked up the tranny 1/2" to let the mounting plate bolt clear the cross member. Once that was clear it was just finding the correct rotation to clear the flange.

You have one of the cleanest front ends I've ever seen man. Those cam bolts look brand new.

 

[phattyduck]

I managed to figure out how to let my knee take a lot of the weight from the passenger side mounting arm. That helped a lot.

You have one of the cleanest front ends I've ever seen man. Those cam bolts look brand new.

I can't remember which, but one of the mounting arms seemed like it was in the way of getting the right rotation on the diff easily. That might also be one of those 'secret' things to figure out in the future when I'm doing it on my back instead of at my buddy's house...

As for that front end... It had an easy 2WD life of California fire roads and commuting before got it. Pressure washing on that same lift (it is/was outside) also got it pretty nice under there.

-Charlie

 

[theesotericone]

These showed up today. I'll give ECGS some serious high fives for packing those bad boys. I planned on shipping them back in the same boxes. That will work because there's almost no damage to the boxes at all.

I also won't be able to do crap with them till Thursday. I hate having stuff sit on my garage floor. Life is life though.

My wife roped me into a dinner with friends this evening. I've blown off the last two. I tried to blow this one off and got that look. That look that means comply or sleep in a hotel till we get the divorce settled. I like hotels but I choose to do the dinner thing.

Then today my boss tells me where having a company dinner tomorrow as a reward for kicking some serious ass on a few projects we have going. I'm a carpenter, not some office type, so the company dinner thing never happens. My boss is a great guy who bonuses me out way more then he has too so I couldn't really say no.

Hears the irony. In the past two months I've had ZERO social obligations that I couldn't blow off. The week my diffs arrive I get two. Oh well, at least I won't have to do dishes for the next two nights. lol

 

[AssBurns]

Man I'm jealous and excited about this. Going from stock gears and open diffs to 5.29 and dual locked (and soon to be dual cased...) is really getting me stoked to make this Dusy Ershim Trip in August. I need to really focus on some savings so I can finally get mine put back together. Unfortunately I just blew $350 on metal yesterday for my 4-Link setup, so my BeerRunner fund just dropped back down to zero. Luckily I will be paying off one of my larger debts next paycheck, so that really opens up room to save.

 

[theesotericone]

[MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION]

I'm pretty happy it's coming together. The bonus is it'll still be fun to drive on the road. That's the one reason I haven't SAS'd it. My wife really likes the way it handles and drives currently. So it's staying IFS.

One day I'll get a 86-88 mini truck and then the real build will begin. That's a long way off though. I plan on just finishing this one and wheeling it for a long time.

I saved for a year to get this all together. I literally purchased almost nothing for myself other then work pants. lol

The Dusy will be a blast man. We'll make it happen regardless of how long it takes to make it happen. It'll be fun to compare your rig to mine on the same obstacles. I have no idea if I'll get to the dual case before it happens. It's a lot of work and not having a body lift is gonna make it even more so. lol

 

[AssBurns]

Building a 2nd gen pickup is my future goal someday down the line too. Unless I somehow have a lot of extra money, then I'll build an Jeep LJ. No way I'd ever SAS my 4Runner. I love the ability to drive it down the highway at 80 mph with one hand on the wheel and not fear for your life constantly. Especially once the rear suspension is done with no roll steer.

I should be able to still make the Dusy trip in August at this point. I should be getting a decent bonus check this month, so my reserve and play funds will bounce back enough to pull the trigger on fixing the front end within the next month or two.

Also just got word that we were able to get permits to do Mt. Whitney for an overnighter June 14th. That should be way better in terms of acclimating and taking our time to complete the trail even if conditions are pretty shitty still. Pretty stoked on that.

 

[theesotericone]

The great thing about going to eat with guys that have to be up at 6am is everyone just wants to eat and run. Plus we'd already spent 9.5 hours together today when we all bailed. lol

Front diff is in. I still need to torque everything down, connect the driveshaft then put the front end together. That can wait till tomorrow.

Here's my messy bench and a very clean 7.5 IFS diff with an ARB RD90 and 5.29's

First up was putting the ADD tube back on. Easy as can be. Here's she is all buttoned up and ready to go in. Notice the drivers side mounting arm isn't attached? Notice how the bottom mount isn't attached? Yeah, I had an idea it might be easier to install the diff without them on it.

And because pics or it didn't happen. lol

I'll briefly touch on how I did it. The way I did it made the install way easy but getting some bolts in a lot harder. Since I was solo it made the most sense to just get it hung then get everything tightened.

I left the drivers side mount arm off. I left the rear mount off the diff but installed it loosely to the cross member.

I lifted the diff up and over the cross member to see if it was going to clear easily without the bottom bolt from the rear mount in the way. It did and I knew I was all set. I let it back down.

I got a bolt and nut for the passenger side mount arm ready and pressed the diff back up in place. Using my knee I held the diff up by the arm. Then I got the bolt through the arm and cross member. I got the top nut started by 3 threads. The back of the diff is held up by the flange at this point so I slowly let it down and it stayed put. Perfect.

I installed the drivers side mount arm loosely with the same 3 thread engagement. Then I tried to get the rear mount lined up and started. I did the upper bolt first. Then I realized the lower bolt wouldn't clear the cross member to come in from the bottom. I took out the upper bolt and spun the mount. Then I put in the lower bolt and spun it back. It lined up and I barely got it started.

Doing it this way there is almost no room to tighten that lower bolt. I ended up jacking the diff up till the flange touched the trans. That allows just enough room to tighten it 1/32 at a time. It's a huge PIA but I feel it was easier then trying to clear the lower mount bolt over the cross member. With the lower tight I did the upper rear mount bolt. That ones easy.

With those tight I reinstalled all the front mount arm washers and top side bushings by taking on bolt out at a time then reinstalling. Next was getting the add vacuum tube lined back up and bolted back in. That wasn't too bad.

My plan from the start was to bypass the factory diff breather tube connected to the vacuum line mount. My plan was also to put the hose on first. Well, I forgot. So the last, and possible hardest, thing was to fish the 5/16th flame resistant line onto the diff breather tube.

For those of you who have seen where that thing comes off the diff you have an idea of how much of a hassle it is to get too. Now picture having to get a flexible 5/16th line in there and then over the damn thing. After about 15 minutes of swearing I finally got it lined up. Then I was able to get a 2 foot pry bar on the line and lever into the diff tube. I got it full seated finally.

I was amazed it worked and am still kicking myself in the ass for forgetting something that would have been orders of magnitude easier to install on the bench. With that done I called it a night. lol

So that's how I did the front. Leaving the drivers side arm off made it super easy to get it in. Your mileage may vary if you try it this way.

 

[Road Bull]

Bad azz. Great work banging out the front so quickly by yourself. Now, I have never attempted such a feat, but it seems like the front would be the trickier of the two diffs with all the things that have to fit in such a confined space. I am sure it's handy to have the Taco around so that you can pull off such a mod and not feel like you are marooned till you get it sorted. I am interested to see what you think about the 5.29s. That... And I want to hear about you being able to continue on with your expedition where the open diffs left off. That thing is going to be pretty unstoppable. :snacker:

Hahaha. I had a simple oil change turn into a pain in the ass one rainy afternoon. I had my 4Runner half in and half out of my garage. The damn oil filter would, not, come, off. At the time, I didn't have a set of oil filter pliers to get good leverage. Normally I can just bare hand it off no problem, but I had jacked up my hands playing drums and it wasn't happening. And living alone made it sketchy in my neighborhood to leave with my garage open so that I could pick up a better tool. I got it sorted, but it made me miss having my 1994 Toyota Extended cab that I could just hop in for a run to the store.

 

[phattyduck]

Then I tried to get the rear mount lined up and started. I did the upper bolt first. Then I realized the lower bolt wouldn't clear the cross member to come in from the bottom. I took out the upper bolt and spun the mount. Then I put in the lower bolt and spun it back. It lined up and I barely got it started.

Doing it this way there is almost no room to tighten that lower bolt. I ended up jacking the diff up till the flange touched the trans. That allows just enough room to tighten it 1/32 at a time. It's a huge PIA but I feel it was easier then trying to clear the lower mount bolt over the cross member. With the lower tight I did the upper rear mount bolt. That ones easy.

So that's how I did the front. Leaving the drivers side arm off made it super east to get it in. Your mileage may vary if you try it this way.

After doing it with all the mounts attached, this is kinda what I though would be the 'right' way to do it. I'm amazed you were able to get that rear mount bolted to the diff with it already in the truck!

When I did mine, I was able to leave everything on the diff (including ADD VSVs!), but that was with a trans jack, hoist and a friend helping. It was very tight getting it all in there and figuring out what angles work.

-Charlie

 

[derpiful]

That's awesome! Excited to heat what you have to say about it.

I'm impressed with your front diff work. I worked on @%1;'s and that was tough to get in with 3 people.

 

[theesotericone]

I should be able to still make the Dusy trip in August at this point.

Also just got word that we were able to get permits to do Mt. Whitney for an overnighter June 14th. That should be way better in terms of acclimating and taking our time to complete the trail even if conditions are pretty shitty still. Pretty stoked on that.

I'm still game for August. The hard part for me will be getting the week off but I'll manage something.

Your gonna enjoy the overnight so much more. It'll give you plenty of time to get adjusted and it's splits the 22 miles up over 2 days. It's a way better plan.

I've never actually done the 22 mile hikers trail. There's a climbers trail that goes up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek. That puts you at the base of Whitney in about 6 miles. Then you climb it. Then you go down the Mountaineers Route back to Iceberg Lake and the trail. Total of about 12 miles. Way easier to do in a day. If you can climb. lol

And I want to hear about you being able to continue on with your expedition where the open diffs left off. That thing is going to be pretty unstoppable.

That's the plan. It'll never be a true crawler but that's the goal. I want it to be able to drive on the highway wherever I want. Then do what I need it to off road. And I need it to do a lot. lol

After doing it with all the mounts attached, this is kinda what I though would be the 'right' way to do it. I'm amazed you were able to get that rear mount bolted to the diff with it already in the truck!

It lines up easily enough. It's just getting that lower bolt started then tightened. To "torque" it I had to lever a pry bar against the wrench and the diff. I also loctited the shit out of them both. I flex head ratcheting box wrench would have made it a whole lot easier. I don't have one in the 17mm size and just did it the old school tighten 1/32 and flip the wrench and repeat method.

I'm impressed with your front diff work. I worked on @%1;'s and that was tough to get in with 3 people.

Thanks man.

I have a really spatially minded brain. I can see something and just understand how and what needs to happen usually. When I started to remove the diff I looked at the 3 bolts holding that arm in. I thought about removing them but didn't. I got it out but I wouldn't call it easy.

So on the install I decided to follow my gut. It worked perfect. I had it in to test fit. Out. And back in well under 10 minutes. The rest was getting that lower mount bolt and diff breather back in. If anyone has 2 people doing it they could just leave the drivers mount arm off but bolt the rear mount up before install. That would make it super easy. Having the DS arm off allows it to tilt and pop in with no fight.