Millenium Falcon Taco Build

Picked up a couple of Moog CV Boot kits.
Now to actually do them!

 

I figured I would make an instagram account for the things I'm doing through the business including work on the truck. Feel free to follow if you find it interesting.

echobasegroup

 

Waiting for another projects primer to dry so I'm putting in a car starter in the taco while I wait.
It's been on my to do list.
Nothing exciting really.

 

Been smelling some exessive brake smell and noticing more than usual heat from the drivers calliper. One of the four pistons were stuck in this position holding the pad on the rotor.
Replaced the calliper with one from the parts truck. Seems to be ok for the time being.

 

Good thing it wasn't seized too bad. I had a caliper seize up good and tight on my 1980 Tercel. It always pulled hard one way but that morning it was pulling much harder but I was late for work and figured I could get an alignment later that day. It got real bad on the free way so I took an exit and as I was slowing down, smoke was POURING out of my driver side tire well. I thought the car was on fire (as did at least 10 other drivers that called 911 ).

Caliper was glowing red in the early morning light.

 

Oh my goodness, that is extreme for sure!
Glowing like an F1 rotor under heavy braking...

 

In the shop,finally making the time to rebuild those cv's.
Step one...

 

Could broken CV's be a culprit of 4WD not working?

 

My opinion, if you had a broken cv you would probably notice that at all times. The way the 4wd system engages (in my truck at least) has mostly to do with the from diff/actuator and transfer case.

 

That's what I was thinking. But the transfer case and actuator is good because the 4wd light comes on and you can hear the actuator activate and deactivate, I just don't have power to the front wheels at all. I'll have to keep looking. Thanks.

 

I noticed a difference in the dismantling procedure in the instructional videos on page 20 of this thread and what needs to be done with 1st gen cv's.
You have to pry the clip below the tulip and pull it down far enough to allow you to tap the tulip down the shaft far enough to expose the retaining clip. I used a 1" socket to tap it down.
After removing that you will be able to get the tulip off.
In the third picture the tulip has not been tapped down out of the way to reveal the clip.

 

Yesterday I sandblasted the part of the axle shaft that is exposed to the elements as it was a bit rusted. I painted it black and let it sit over night.
Today I assembled the passengers side axle.
I forgot to mention that I just took one axle off the truck at a time and work on it until complete.
I've attached some pictures of the reassembly steps.

 

Some pictures of reassembling the inner side of the passenger axle.
The boot for the inner cv is a very tight fit so I removed on of the cetaining clips to give the boot no obsticals to getting on the shaft.
Next the clip went on.
Then the tulip was slid on farther than it needs to so the ring clip can go in.
Then the tulip is slid up over the ring clip and the renainer clip is put back in place.
The ring clip needed to be comoressed a bit to allow the tulip to get into place.
Then I put the grease that was supplied with the boot kit in the cup and assembled the rest of the axle and crimped the boot straps.

 

The drivers side axle went the same way until it came to getting the burfield off.
I was unable to get it off so tomorow I'll return the boot kit and buy a replacement non toyota axle.

 

What do you guys think of this drawing I received from my 6 year old nephew?
He said it's my truck with him and his brother in the back going for a ride.

 

I picked up a new aftermarket axle this morning. Pretty nice axle as far as axles go. I wouldn't hang it on my wall or anything but it looks good.

I also drained and refilled the auto tranny fluid. I fugure doing it several times ensured most of the old fluid us gone.

I'm sure this is not normal but I noticed that the front truts do not compress. That's probably a reason why the ride is so crappy and the ball joints and what not keep getting beat out.
Time to lose the lift and go back to stock.
I might lift it again but nothing I do would benefit from the lift, it's just cosmetic.

 

So,
Where have I been? What has been going on in the shop? What is the meaning of life?
Lots going on in the shop but nothing to do with the Tacoma, until recently.
I am now attacking two fronts.

1. Front end vibration/shudder (yes another vibration)
After doing the axle rebuild on the passenger side I started experiencing a vibration in the front end.
At first it was minor and it eventually became more serious to the point where it is now.
Over 70kph the vibration would start and would progressively get worse with increased speed.
Using the brakes at and above 70kph results in violent shuddering/shaking from the front end and it reverberates through the steering.
I've managed to keep it under 70 and be ginger with the brakes unit I ended up making time to solve it.

2. Suspension related clunking and banging in the front end that has been there since day 1 of owning the truck.
I had it in my mind that I really didn't know exactly what was causing the issues so I would just replace everything in the front end (all ball joints and tie rod ends, all control arm bushings, power steering rack and sway bar bushings, strut and spring assembly) and to do that I had to wait until I had this pile of money to buy all the needed parts.
That has dragged on because, well, I'll never have a lot off money .
So I recently thought, maybe, just maybe the problem is not as big as I think, let's pay a pro to look at it and he/she can tell me what actually needs fixing and what is fine.

For both of these issues I employed the help of my friend who is a licensed mechanic. Big thanks to Ivan!

The result?

Issue 1 Solution: Replace the axle I rebuilt with a new/rebuilt (by a pro) one ($53).
Why? In the disassembly process I discovered that on of the retaining clips was broken, with no time to get one from the dealer I fashioned one and hoped for the best. We've come to the conclusion that hoping wasn't enough and that clip is not holding the axle together as it should resulting in some wobbling and thus vibration.

Issue 2 Solution: Replaced sway bar bushings ($20), power steering rack bushings($12), passenger upper ball joint($6). I will also swap out the power steering rack on the truck that is leaking and has play in it with the one I pulled off of the parts truck.

All parts have been ordered and should arrive in about 7 days.
In the end I hope to have less clunking, no ps fluid leaking and no vibration.

There are several other big things I need/want to do to the truck to be happy with it.
1. Swap the engine currently in it (391,000kms) with the one out of the parts truck (181,000kms).
2. Replace the exhaust from after the cats back, and the gaskets at the same time.
3. Remove the lift. This will involve me getting new struts and shocks as I assume the ones on the truck now (bilsteins) are intended for a lifter truck and would bottom out if I lowered it and kept using them.
4. Put 265/75/15 Tires on it or 265/70/16 if I can find a fourth rim to match the three stock ones I have.
5. Remove the dash and thoroughly clean behind it. Sound odd? There was a smell in the truck when I first purchased it.
I have since removed everything from the truck and thoroughly cleaned it, the smell is still there to a small degree. The only thing I can think of is the vents and behind the dash.
6. Locate and repair the leak in the gas tank.

I appreciate the truck is 15 years old, but I believe it is possible, with a reasonable amount of parts and a lot of labour, to have it running smoothly, efficiently, quietly and reliably.
I love my 2006 Hayabusa (I spent tons and tons of time and materials to get it 95% perfect).
I love my 2015 Nissan Juke Nismo RS (It's new so...).
I want to love this truck but right now there is too much not working as it should that sometimes it bugs me to drive it.

If you took the time to read all of this bravo.

During the upcoming second wave of work I will be taking pictures of the progress (which, I think, is why most of you follow and comment) lol.

Yeah Buddy! Light Weight!

 

42.

Brakes warped too? They are new, right?

Shocks are the same length as stock. Just need to change the coils. If they are Bilstein, you may have the stock coils. There is a snap ring on the shocks that are used to adjust the height of the spring perch, raising the truck.

 

@StAndrew
Awesome that you got the 42.

Brakes wrapped did cross my mind but it is not consistent. If after replacing the axle there is still some kind of vibration while braking then yes perhaps a wrapped rotor.

Very kool about the suspension.
I will just remove the blocks from under the leafs.
I have the coils from the parts truck. The coils on the front are longer (taller) than stock. Should I still be looking for a snap ring?

Thanks!

 

Haha, glad you got it too. Mostly I get a "???"

Yeah, when diagnosing, one fix at a time but I have a feeling the brakes are warped.

If you have 5100's the bottom coil perch should be siting on a snap ring. There should be three levels for the ring, bottom being the stock height. The 5100's ride a lot better than stock shocks btw and if they are blown (very common actually) RCD, the company that owns the rights to them, are very good about honoring the life time warranty.