My Toyotas (including my 6spd Swapped DCLB 2nd Gen)

Yes that is exactly where Im at. The stud started twisting, so I immediately left it. I will need to apply heat and penetrant. Luckily I have 4 replacements waiting to go in.

 

Smart! Patience always works for me, too. The discipline to use it is my struggle!

 

A bunch of stuff to add:

Finally saved up enough for a re-gear. Here's the new 4.30 front.



Now came the matter of the rear diff. I had gotten some semi-local quotes in town, and everybody wanted around $2000 to re-gear just my rear diff. And if I brought them the diff in a bucket instead of charging me to do the removal, one shop said they wouldn't honor their warranty. Plus, they gave me grief about wanting to add the Eaton True Trac I had purchased elsewhere (on Facebook Marketplace, an open box 8.4" I got years before in anticipation of a re-gear, saving another $300 over new). Since I knew I would want to replace the needle bearing in the front clamshell with the ECGS bushing and also re-do both seals as they both looked slightly damaged from removal, I called ECGS and had a conversation with Brandon, the nicest salesperson on the planet. He had no problems with me sending them the Eaton diff in a separate box and instructed me how to ship out the rear diff, quoting me around $1000 for everything including shipping both ways. That was half the price of the local shops, including ECGS's awesome warranty and zero grief for adding the True Trac. Sometimes it's hard to shop local.

Here's the new front diff ready for bushing and seals and the "old" rear diff ready for packaging (along with 2 transfer cases and a bunch of Toyota parts. I need to have a garage sale!).




What I did next will be controversial here on TW. But with the tires off, I started staring at those drum brakes. The truck is starting to get heavy and the load is becoming constant with the camper and a future bed build-out. I've tried to keep things light going with aluminum bumpers and skids, but the camper is heavy, the sliders are heavy and I'll be adding an ARB fridge I scored on Marketplace along with an aluminum framed cabinet build out this winter. With all that weight and with lots of big expenses behind me (in addition to feeling like I saved thousands with the front diff find, the open-box True Trac and going through ECGS), my Boy Math reckoned I could spend some money on improving brakes. That said, I understand the wisdom on improving front brakes first, but now would be such an easy time to do this, I bit the bullet. I placed an order with SOS Performance for their rear disc brake conversion.

Removing the axle shaft and cutting off the drum backing plate is definitely the most involved part of the swap. Cutting a component goes against my usual M.O. of not making a permanent alteration to the truck but I'm long past that now with the 6-spd swap so it was time to do this step right. The directions mentioned using a cut-off wheel or plasma cutter but didn't mention protecting any of the components behind the backing plate when cutting. I can be a surgeon with my plasma cutter but knew I wanted to protect the axle, bearings, hub and mounting flange better so I had to come up with something. I had a thought to make a shield with some plywood and a slot cut with the jig saw. Here's my shield after using it a couple of times.



And here's the process of cutting off the drum backing plate while protecting the stuff behind it (hub, bearings mounting flange)





The shield worked perfectly for this, I was able to protect the components behind the plasma arc and cut the backing plates in a matter of minutes which many have said is the most time-consuming part of the conversion.

The other finicky part for me was getting the e-brake parts together right. SOS includes some instructions and a diagram but this video was super helpful getting the e-brake done right:

https://youtu.be/JLB0f7b3A2s?si=YnoYnNyNJY3DD5bM


All said and done, it turned out like this:

 

While I was waiting on the rear diff, I took care of some things on the front. I removed the old seals and the needle bearing. I'd done this once before and it was much easier on the bench.







I was stoked to see the Tracking number sent to me from ECGS indicating my rear diff was done and, on its way back, along with new seals and their replacement clamshell bushing. Turns out it got hung up in Portland for a day and when I got home the next day was horrified to see this at my shop door:




Good ole UPS! I contacted Brandon with the pictures and he was apologetic but said it didn't look damaged and that I should try running it. If there were issues, they flagged my invoice with a note about the potential shipping damage and I would be taken care of. Additionally, the seals and bushing had fallen out of the packaging so he overnighted me a new set. Disaster averted.

Rear diff went in easy peasy and when the new seals and bushing arrived a few days later, I went to work on the front. I mentioned I'd already done the clamshell bushing years ago when I first lifted this truck and I also replaced the seal but I must have either damaged the new seal or didn't get it in straight or to the right depth because it began to weep a few drops a month shortly after install. I ended up replacing the seal again a year or so later and was much more careful about getting it in but I've never been good/lucky driving in seals. So when I noticed this new (and expensive) product from Cruiser Patch, I plunked down the funds and ordered it.



Apparently Toyota uses this diff seal in a lot of their diffs including IFS Land Cruisers. It fits the seal perfectly and allows you to drive it straight and to the perfect depth without even trying. Worth the money to get it perfect.



But before I put in new seals, I installed the ECGS clamshell bushing. I always freeze press-fit bearings and bushings and placed the bushing in the freezer overnight. Years ago, I replaced wheel bearings on my 1st gen where I froze the bearing overnight and heated the spindle in the oven on 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. When it came time to press the bearings, they basically just fell into place. From that day on, I've never NOT done it this way.

I didn't have a fancy tool to drive the bushing so looked around for what I could use. I found some PVC fittings (two coupler parts) with the right O.D. and I.D. that looked like this:



I also found a random 1 1/8" impact socket which looked like this. It fit everything perfectly, having a nice shoulder for the lip of the bushing to sit on and the right I.D. to hold the bushing straight and in-place.



I heated the diff housing with a torch for a few minutes, then ran to grab the bushing out of the freezer and quickly got to pressing the bushing after lubing it. It slid in to place pretty easily, but the PVC only got it started. I changed over to the socket and easily drove the bushing home, resealed both sides of the diff using the Cruiser Patch tool (so easy!) and got to work installing the front diff.

All in, discounted re-gear and (hopefully) better brakes for cheaper than the price of a local job. Time to go test drive!

 

Didnt know you had a build thread. I really enjoy your story telling and the accompanying photos.

Sub'ed

 

Thanks Eddie! Your truck and build thread are inspirational. I'll be using your Tundra booster info when doing that and the front BBK next. As for your supercharger mods, I try not to look! LOL! I miss having boost on this truck but like having funds for other things so neeeeed to not look.

 

It's cold in my un-heated shop in the winter, so I generally don't get a whole lot done over the winter months. But I did take advantage of a Black Friday deal and got an OEM Toyota 14WA big brake caliper set with Toyota pads and another deal on some StopTech 338mm slotted rotors. I used a VHF high temp blue to try to match all of my KING suspension and, although it's not a perfect match it turned out great. Pics to follow.

I also changed out the trans and transfer case oil with some Redline MT90 fluid. Not sure if I'm a believer in it yet, but only have a couple hundred miles with it in.

In other Toyota news, just happened to be on Marketplace looking for Toyota stuff and found this little 1995 single cab not far from home. I knew the head gasket was cooked so I beat the seller down to half his asking price and took the truck home. It managed to make it home in a cloud of white smoke but just barely. Wish I had done a bit more research beforehand because I didn't realize used JDM 3RZ motors had basically doubled in price since the last time I was looking for a buddy of mine. Oh well, thinking of ordering a new long block from Sunwest and having a nice little farm truck out of the deal. It's not the original motor (has coil packs instead of a distributor) so I'm not sure if it's OEM and worth rebuilding but if any of you looking have advice on 3RZ stuff for cheap, please let me know!

 

Forgot...I also "installed" a Christmas present from a buddy.

Ok, ok. I get the point. Maybe I'll call the 2014 Tacoma done and stop bolting more crap on! (but then I catch myself going through the JD Fab Long Travel catalog a couple of times per week...)