What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Before and after a park called mounds here in Michigan
Oh and happy fathers day to any dads on TW

 

I wouldn't say it's like stacking washers, though that could be all it is, I see it more as a solid spacer. A washer would be more for spreading and distributing that face load. That spacer is there and doesn't spread that force, just transfers load directly. But yeah that all makes sense and sounds spot on to me man. Glad that all worked out smooth for ya.
So the pitman arm puller is the best to use you'd say? Just an Amazon cheap work? Or does it need to be decent quality so it doesn't deflect?

 

Defintely don't use a pickle fork that's for sure, unless you don't mind damaging the ball joint/boot in the process of taking it off.

The pitman puller as long as you slide the jaws underneath the boot, it pops the joint out with ease. The pickle fork you have to hammer in between the two and it slides around alot.

 

Yeah I messed with a stupid pickle fork once when I was doing something on my first 80 series like 15 years ago. I don't remember what though, maybe the steering stabilizer? But anyway it sucked and I haven't used it since. On cars I've always been able to get them to pop out just from giving the arm a few whacks with a sledge. But if a pitman arm puller really works and works well for our setups then I'd like to get one

 

Yeah I first tried doing it with a hammer, but with the trucks on jack stands and I'm lying on my back or side I just couldn't get any really good whacks on it. Plus I was reusing my tie rods so I didn't want to whack those and mess them up.

 

Pitman arm pullers are the shit! I bought a cheap $12 one from auto zone a dozen years ago and it refuses to break. I hammer away on it with impacts and it works everytime, screw pickle forks and beating on things with hammers!

 

Perfect. Just the kinda answer I was hoping to hear

 

Hard to see clearly in the photo, but the threads on the portion of the bolt you removed look pretty fubar'd. Are you sure it wasn't cross threaded, or that the threads inside the spindle are in good condition? I know you already installed another bolt, but it might be worth chasing the threads with a chaser tap to make sure the LBJ bolt is fully seated. Having galled threads or corrosion in there could prevent the bolt from seating correctly, but it would allow you to get the right torque reading on your torque wrench without actually being torqued correctly.

 

The broken one certainly didn't fell cross threaded as I was threading it on, I even went by Timma's advice in his video of threading them all the way in by hand first to avoid cross threading. But, I did have an awkward angle on it with my Torque wrench...wasnt underneath the bolt and instead reaching over and under from the other side of the wheel. The slight angle while torqueing it may be what caused it to break, I dunno. Or it was just simply a flawed OEM bolt to start with

 

Eh. Probably. In reality is just molded into the boot to hold it on

 

Yeah mine broke off long ago so it just looked like another washer to me. Glad we solved that mystery lol

 

Definitely worth getting a puller. Or a set.

I've used them several times

• Shop Day: Installing new Lower Ball Joints (LBJ's)
  
• Slowly Turning the 4Runner into a Tacoma...New LBJs and OTREs
• SPC UCAs and ADS Coilovers w/Resis for the front

Always work great. I've used three pullers from this OTC set - OTC 6295 Front End Service Set - which, while pricey is a really nice set.

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Was getting ready to ask for set people liked best. And I believe I just added to my Amazon cart a clone/knockoff of that OTC set you have. Folks sure seem happy with them
Orion Motor Tech 5PCS Ball Joint Separator Tie Rod End Remover Pitman Arm Puller Service Splitter Removal Tool Kit (BL)

$49 Orion Motor Tech 5pc Ball Joint Separator, Pitman Arm Puller, Tie Rod End Tool Set for Front End Service, Splitter Removal Kit (BL06)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F34PJFX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FINbDbZ8DBJM0

 

I'm always willing to shell out a little extra on quality tools since I figure that they are saving me money in the long run from a labor and frustration perspective, so hopefully that works out. 'cause it's always nice to save a few bucks as well.

I think I also got my set for about $100, when there was an warehouse deal.

 

Well, with the bolt fiasco yesterday it took me damn near 7 hours to my passenger side LBJ.

Today I got the driver's side done in an hour.

But I was sweating bullets each time I torqued one of the 4 LBJ bolts, holy hell

 

I have this set and it has been pretty good to me so far

 

Cut and glued some kicker bars to the front bumper. Still have to pull the front bumper off to finish welding and to clean it up and paint. And when I do that, I'll weld the reinforcement plates on for the recovery points. Still waiting on parts for the rear shock relocation, my fault for ordering the wrong shit, so that won't get finished until next weekend.

 

I almost bought a similar set at Harbor Freight yesterday before I got started, but opted for just the Pitman Puller instead. It worked great on the tie rod and the LBJ, though it took some muscle to get it to fit around the LBJ underneath the boot. That kit probably has a better fitting option in it

 

Got to represent @TOTAL CHAOS at the @Toytec Lifts Customer Appreciation Day.

 

I think you’re right, it was part of the boot/dust cover. Mine was the same way when I replaced the a few months ago.