What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

[Endlessblockades]

Did the valve cover gaskets and installed some fender flares and a box up top

Since you do a good bit of underhood work, have you considered hi-lift hood struts?

Didn't want to leave the Pick-N-Pull empty-handed, so I grabbed a pair of black Lexus headrests. Barely qualifies as a Mod and def not a #sicmod LOL.

 

[96RedRunner]

nice! i'm getting ready to do mine with dynamat, probably wont be quite as thorough as yours

Dynamat only decent stuff because of cost. Floor only a 1/4-1/3 of what causes inside noise n heat.
I didn't want to have to use a decibel meter to tell a difference. My experiment using alternative $100 cheap chit payed off.
With headliner out was good time to do 200k mi service on sunroof, Ha.

 

[clearock]

VintageAir/Custom crowd, hose/hardline connections might get Idea'ers.

Ive been looking through their site and anything I can find online, not sure but from what I've seen parts seems to be geared towards LS swaps and other USDM systems, with everything on r shit being metric I've been trying to c if I can salvage/reuse fittings from the 4runner/Tacoma/2jz/Lexus parts I have on hand...

 

[picantesauce]

I have the same flares. It's just manufacturing tolerances. The factory flares mount to the body with through holes to minimize gaps. Mine have been on for 15+ years and still look good, so I'm happy about that.

Great looking truck, BTW.

Cheers.

Thanks man! Good to know. I know it's just my OCD kicking in right now. Although the front driver fender flare gaps were more than just manufacturing tolerances. That was just poor manufacturing. Fortunately this is just a trail vehicle

 

[picantesauce]

Since you do a good bit of underhood work, have you considered hi-lift hood struts?

Didn't want to leave the Pick-N-Pull empty-handed, so I grabbed a pair of black Lexus headrests. Barely qualifies as a Mod and def not a #sicmod LOL.

Funny you mention the hood struts. I have a pair of Red Line Tuning hi-lift hood struts sitting next to me right now. Going to install them one of these days!

 

[96RedRunner]

I've been trying to c if I can salvage/reuse fittings from the 4runner/Tacoma/2jz/Lexus parts I have on hand...

Yota fittings are 2 piece fittings Swaging collar and hardline end's.
All you need is correct size hose and swaging collars use your end fittings. Industrial Hose place where I'd go.

 

[Rushthezeppelin]

Finally did everyone's favorite classic service, LBJ replacement with OEM. Had moogs on before. I think I might have dogged a bullet there because it was obvious some absolut moog put them on there. Driver side had 3 17mm head bolts and one 14mm. Didn't seem like anything was stripped but there was definitely some rust up in the threads. Now I have the peace of mind of knowing that I have much more solid OEMs with OEM bolts that are torqued properly. Seriously that is such a relief not having to worry about these now. On a side not though why does Moog call them "Problem-solvers". I don't even want to know the problem these are supposed to solve....perhaps the problem of needing an emergency LBJ right freaking now and you are nowhere near a Yota dealership but you have a Napa close by lol. I think they were actually a little more worn than I suspected too. One of them kinda felt gritty and after putting OEM on my front end feels a tad less clunky. LCAs with new poly bushings that are sitting in my garage should be the last piece of the puzzle to really cleaning up the front end. Then I'm going to start working on the rear.

Speaking of rear end stuff. Has anyone use both the panhard drop bracket from Yotatec and the PCK from Eimkeith? Curious if the $50 drop bracket is pretty decent or if the Eimkeith is that much better that it's really the way to go. Definitely getting tired of that weird rear steer I'm getting back there.

 

[Zhehan]

The drop bracket from Toytec is a rip-off of the Sonoran Steel design. I've had mine on for 20+ years. The Eimkeith version is better because it raises the roll center since it's a 2-part design and will make the truck feel less "tippy".

With that said, the SS version does center the axle and helps with tracking and drivability.

EDIT: My truck doesn't feel "tippy", by the way. Good suspension bushings, springs and shocks along with JBA or SPC UCAs and upgraded rear links along with good sway bar hardware go a long way towards truck stability.

 

[96RedRunner]

[MENTION=720569]Rushthezeppelin[/MENTION], had the Sonoran Steel on 96Red, have the EimKeith on 01.
Eimkeith design is the better keeping panhard bar level, which is how it should be
at any given lift height. The factory bar is used and centers axle perfect.
If welded on correctly.

 

[Zhehan]

[MENTION=720569]Rushthezeppelin[/MENTION], had the Sonoran Steel on 96Red, have the EimKeith on 01.
Eimkeith design is the better keeping panhard bar level, which is how it should be
at any given lift height. The factory bar is used and centers axle perfect.
If welded on correctly.

Did you have the adjustable bar? I have the original drop bracket that Steve designed. My track bar is level with the rear @ 3" of lift.

 

[infamousRNR]

Since you do a good bit of underhood work, have you considered hi-lift hood struts?

Didn't want to leave the Pick-N-Pull empty-handed, so I grabbed a pair of black Lexus headrests. Barely qualifies as a Mod and def not a #sicmod LOL.

sicmods don't have be big to be siccccc


. just saying



.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Did a bit of as refresh on the alternator including a coat of paint, and threw in a new brush set, PN 27370-35060.

 

[96RedRunner]

Did you have the adjustable bar? I have the original drop bracket that Steve designed. My track bar is level with the rear @ 3" of lift.

Sure did, if you want to call it adjustable having both ends RH threads. Steve cheaped out on his
design by not using LH & RH threads so you could adjust it attached at both ends on truck.
8 wrap = 4" lift plus shortened cone bumps adds 3/8" = not being level.

Steve a OG in this but times change, You dig into the the arc swing of rear axle as it droops and stuffs
you'll see the benefit of Eimkeith's design.

 

[96RedRunner]

Did a bit of as refresh on the alternator including a coat of paint, and threw in a new brush set, PN 27370-35060

Dude you didn't dress up the pulley nut and end of shaft that gona stick out like a sore thumb. j/k

Gotta ask you, did you address the most critical part of a slipring/brush application?

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Dude you didn't dress up the pulley nut and end of shaft that gona stick out like a sore thumb. j/k

It certainly crossed my mind - but I need to stop somewhere, right?

Gotta ask you, did you address the most critical part of a slipring/brush application?

I'm not sure, what do you mean by that?

 

[96RedRunner]

I'm not sure, what do you mean by that?

Most DiY'ers don't know this, I carried it over from my career.
Commutator gets dressed using same paper you don't want black rings on it.
Applies to alternators also.

"By properly seating in the carbon brushes it allows you to use rated current almost immediately."
Check out How to & purpose.
Garnet Commutator Paper | Helwig Carbon Products, Inc.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Most DiY'ers don't know this, I carried it over from my career.
Commutator gets dressed using same paper you don't want black rings on it.

"By properly seating in the carbon brushes it allows you to use rated current almost immediately."
Check out How to & purpose.
Garnet Commutator Paper | Helwig Carbon Products, Inc.

Thanks for that! I have to admit that I did not do that, and since I have the alternator back in the truck now, I'm not sure I want to yank it back out to do this. I'll just remember to try to not push the alternator too hard early on after firing up the engine.

 

[Zhehan]

Sure did, if you want to call it adjustable having both ends RH threads. Steve cheaped out on his
design by not using LH & RH threads so you could adjust it attached at both ends on truck.
8 wrap = 4" lift plus shortened cone bumps adds 3/8" = not being level.

Steve a OG in this but times change, You dig into the the arc swing of rear axle as it droops and stuffs
you'll see the benefit of Eimkeith's design.

Thanks for the detailed answer. I appreciate it.

 

[JohnMc]

I was left unattended next to a computer for too long and ordered some parts from ECGS.

4.88 geared front diff with a Harrop e-locker
4.88 geared rear e-locker diff

I have the old 4.10 front and (slightly whiny) rear diffs sitting in the basement, so I can get my $1300 in core charges back right away, then swap out the 4.30 diffs in the car whenever the weather is nice.

Got a shipping notice from East Coast Gear for these today. w0000t!

 

[Rushthezeppelin]

Well LCAs are now replaced and I have poly bushings. This job was the worst yet on time estimate too. I think I guessed 3 hours and it ended up being I think 9 or 10 hours. Back is absolutely killing me right now. My bonehead almost killed my battery too because I left the key in for quite a while to keep the steering from locking up on me while I was disconnecting the rag joint so that I could move the rack out of the way. Had to use my jump box to get her out of the garage. Seriously annoying that you have to take the whole rack out in order to take the rear cam bolts out but I understand where they want the tie rods to move as closely as possible to the lower suspension so that it doesn't toe in and out too much as the suspension flexes. Kind of wish I had been ready to do this job when I was doing the rack but that job took a long time too so it's probably better that I broke the jobs up. Def recommend the Milwaukee carbide blades too, they held up really well cutting the cam bolt sleeves out of my passenger arm. Was going to get the diablo blades but a Milwaukee rep was on the aisle and recommended I try their new blades out instead as they are supposed to last twice as long. Just made sure to stop fairly frequently and cool them down with some lube, at least on the far front and far back side of the arm as I had to cut through both the bushings sleeve and the cam bolt sleeve which was quite a bit of hardened steel. Inner ones were easier as I had enough room to slip the blade outside the bushing itself and it cut those like butter.

The washers were a big pain to get slipped in, I think it's because the frame tabs that hold the back of the arms in where slightly bent. Managed to figure out some tricks to get them in and aligned enough for me to slip the cam sleeve in there. Lubbed everything up with a liberal helping of marine grease too. From all my research that seemed to be lube that washes out of the bushings the slowest so I'm hoping for a long time before they squeak and no more frozen cam bolts.

Ended up taking a paint pen to the self-refurbed cam bolts and matched the paint marks from the last alignment so I was able to set the cams about where they were before (with some changes I'm sure due to stiffer poly bushings vs what I'm now pretty sure were clapped out rubber bushings). Either way the alignment was definitely good enough to go down the highway so should have no problem making it to the alignment shop tomorrow. Hoping I can get some really good caster numbers without rubbing and hopefully there's still enough room for me to fit 33s on when my current 31.5s are done for. If not I might be investing is some high caster UCAs next. That's the only component now not replaced on my front end.

As far as the ride I love it. I can definitely feel the road very well, not that I couldn't with the clapped rubbers that were on there before, but I would in no way describe it as harsh. It's actually kind of soft IMO but probably nowhere near as soft as a new set of OEM rubber bushings. Either way it's an improvement in ride quality and I like the idea of it not relying on binding but sliding to articulate the arms.