LJ70 Build Thread!

[Maverick]

great write up Ben.

 

[AndyCook]

good report and pics again

i cant believe the washouts on gatesgarth! completely different to a few months ago, and stile end lane

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

What do i need to do?

Send me everything except the whip, so include the bit of casting that the whip fits into that is on the bottom of the whip and the base that screws onto the mount but I don't need the whip itself. When you get it back you won't be able to adjust the angle of the whip because I'll replace that weak casting arrangement with some solid bar

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

What do i need to do?

Send me everything except the whip, so include the bit of casting that the whip fits into that is on the bottom of the whip and the base that screws onto the mount but I don't need the whip itself. When you get it back you won't be able to adjust the angle of the whip because I'll replace that weak casting arrangement with some solid bar

Perfect, thanks John.

 

[Graham]

Hi Ben,

well that's another afternoon I'me not going to see again.
I lost count of the pages, then there was the zillion pages on your mates forum about the Vits bitz.

He writes a good blog, you have a difficult act to follow.
He writes, like he is inviting you along on teh trip.

Any way.
The 37 's how did they perform?
Happy with them?

Gra.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Gra.

have you read this whole thread?

must have taken ages.

Dave does write well, but it was me who originally inspired him, when i wrote a blog which i updated daily of my road trip around Australia.

Starting in Melbourne, following an off road route in a 20 year old 4x4 book that i picked up in a charity shop, we drove through the Vic high country, through the great dividing range all the way to Sydney.

Then all the way up the East coast, had a week on Fraser Island, then all the way up to Cairns. From there i headed West to Tennant Creak and then South through Alice Springs, slight detour to Uluru, where my fuel pump decided to pack up after a few hundred K's of corrugations.

You want to try getting a fuel pump, in the middle of the outback.

anyway truck fixed we headed south through Coober Peady, where we camped at the only underground campsite in the world. Then south to Adelaide, then back to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road.

10,000miles in total.

Ended up being quite a good blog, with thousands of photos.

The 37"s performed faultlessly, although there still catching slightly on full articulation and full steering lock.

I am very happy with them, and just hope they dont wear to quickly.

 

[Ben]

rear wheel off.

brake hose clamp on.

shaft out.

One Koyo bearing which i believe is original, so 130,000+ miles if it is.

new bearing kit from milners.

also got some new brake shoes.

so i got the shaft on the bench ready to start [strike:1podymu7]butchering[/strike:1podymu7]removing the old bearing.

circlip removed, followed by the locking ring, which required cutting off with the grinder.

popped the dust seal off, to revel the bearings.

using a flat screwdriver and hammer i dug the race out.

after grinding a chunk of metal away i was able to pop the ball bearings out.

And finally get the last 2 bits out.

put the shaft in the vice, ready to knock the old wheel studs out.

new studs.

cleaned everything up and got the new studs in and new seal in.

All ready to go to the local garage to have them press the new bearing and locking ring on. I also took 2 pieces of scaffold tube with me, as i wasnt sure if the garage would have any and i knew they need some.

took the garage 20 mins and they charged me £5 cash.

used my oil seal remover tool to pull the old seal out.

new seal in.

got a fitting kit for the shoes.

new shoes in.

and drum back on.

other side off.

new shoes fitted and drum back on.

needed to make a decent exhaust bracket.

broken wing mirror next.

drilled a hole for a dome headed bolt.

and bolted the other bit on.

back on.

still folds in nicely.

I then drove the truck and discovered everything is still not right.

it sounded a lot better, and the rear wheel was no longer shaking violently from side to side, but there was a nasty clunking/banging noise when accelerating.

jacked up and in gear, the banging noise was there when any throttle was applied, or when put in gear.

closer investigations revealed the noise is coming from the diff.

So i removed the rear prop, and have been driving to work and back in front wheel drive.

Will have to strip the diff out, and inspect for damage.

The locker still engages and disengages perfectly, so fingers crossed its ok.

I suspect bearings/broken teeth/ something loose.

I know for a fact when Devon 4x4 built the air locker into the diff for me, they wouldnt have been as precise as Roger was when he did the front one with me.

Doing the front one everything was cleaned till it was spotless, everything was then carefully inspected which revealed a cracked crown wheel, which we replaced, then all bolts had thread lock applied and were then tightened to the exact torque setting in the factory service manual.

Roger built the front locker into the diff with the precision and knowledge of some whos spent a long time as an engineer.

Anyway...........................fingers crossed it isnt too hard, or too expensive to fix.

 

[hairyguy4]

seeing the amount you do to your 70 makes mine feel so neglected lol, those mirrors can be repaired, if you take it apart, you can put the spring washer thing back on the bit that pokes through the hole, i've done mine about 4 times now lol, means not too much damage it cause when it's pulled off again

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Id get that diff out asap, even driving with the rear prop off the diff is still turning and could be doing more damage to your expensive locker!

 

[Graham]

Thanks Gra.

have you read this whole thread?

must have taken ages.

.
Yes, actually took 2 full 16 hour days.
Some times I would download it and read it later.
I kept making book marks at say pg 141 etc so I knew where to carry on from

Gra.

 

[Victor]

Awsome work you do on your 70 Ben, i feel like i have a long way to go until i hae mine as fine as yours, haha.
Anyway, now that i have changed the oil in the front diff's a couple of times it shows even more that the oil seal in the chrome balls is bad, as dif oil is leaking out on them, seeing as you have done this, is there any other seals that i should order and change at the same time except for the oil seal? Will be doing both sides as both is moisty around the balls...

 

[Ben]

seeing the amount you do to your 70 makes mine feel so neglected lol, those mirrors can be repaired, if you take it apart, you can put the spring washer thing back on the bit that pokes through the hole, i've done mine about 4 times now lol, means not too much damage it cause when it's pulled off again

Thanks.

I didnt realise they could easily be repaired.

Although i did find the 3 Philips headed screws on mine were rusty and seized, so maybe mine wouldn't have been so easy?

I prefer the mirrors that are standard on all UK 70's, rather than the electric prado ones, they seem a bit tougher.

Id get that diff out asap, even driving with the rear prop off the diff is still turning and could be doing more damage to your expensive locker!

I know Dave, fingers crossed i havnt done any more damage.

last day driving it tomorrow, going to hopefully get it stripped down this weekend.

Thanks Gra.

have you read this whole thread?

must have taken ages.

.
Yes, actually took 2 full 16 hour days.
Some times I would download it and read it later.
I kept making book marks at say pg 141 etc so I knew where to carry on from

Gra.

Thats crazy.

hope you enjoyed it.

Awsome work you do on your 70 Ben, i feel like i have a long way to go until i hae mine as fine as yours, haha.
Anyway, now that i have changed the oil in the front diff's a couple of times it shows even more that the oil seal in the chrome balls is bad, as dif oil is leaking out on them, seeing as you have done this, is there any other seals that i should order and change at the same time except for the oil seal? Will be doing both sides as both is moisty around the balls...

Thanks Victor.

Ive stripped my hubs down loads of times now and it is a messy horrible job.

My advice, if you can afford it, would be to totally strip and rebuild both sides with all new seals, bearings and grease. I wish id done that in the 1st place.

Oh and the oil seals from milners are shit! I fitted a new one and it started leaking immediately.

The rest of the milners front axle parts seem good, just not the inner oil seals.

 

[Graham]

Thanks Gra.

have you read this whole thread?

must have taken ages.

.
Yes, actually took 2 full 16 hour days.
Some times I would download it and read it later.
I kept making book marks at say pg 141 etc so I knew where to carry on from

Gra.

Thats crazy.

hope you enjoyed it.

.
Worth every page.

Gra.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Gra.

 

[Ben]

So today i decided to get the diff out and diagnose the problem.

Id noticed the brakes slowly getting worse over the last few days.

So the brand new milners oil seal that i fitted last week has failed and leaked diff oil over the new brake shoes.

This means that every single milners non genuine oil seals ive ever fitted has failed!

A few have failed instantly, like this one. Others have lasted a few hundred of even thousand miles, but theyve all failed.

So genuine Toyota oil seals only from now on.

Took the diff drain plug out next and found it covered in swarf and chunks of metal.

Half shafts out, followed by diff.

I then hauled the heavy diff out and got it on the workbench.

4 teeth destroyed on the crown wheel.

When me and Roger fitted the front locker we discovered after cleaning the diff a hairline crack in the crown wheel.

I suspect the rear was also cracked, and Devon 4x4 didnt spot it when they fitted the locker.

Maybe Toyota had a bad batch of crown wheels, hence why my truck had a cracked one front and back.

I hope Karl has got a rear axle i can buy.

Karl

 

[hairyguy4]

damn thats not good, goes to show how strong they are though that you were driving around with it like that , a quick question, when you did your front bumper, the bolt holes on the side of the chassis that you used, are they fine or normal thread?

 

[sae70]

Nasty m8

Makes me shudder all over the image of your Christmas tree drain plug thinking about when my front axle went!!!

I guess you already have had a good trawl through eBay, but I also had a great deal of success with online car parts finder services and would Give them a go if Karl or Steff can't help you out.

The other thing that's work a look is to see if Toyota fitted that crown wheel on any other models of vehicle using the part comparison thing on ToyoDiy.

Good luck m8

 

[Ben]

damn thats not good, goes to show how strong they are though that you were driving around with it like that , a quick question, when you did your front bumper, the bolt holes on the side of the chassis that you used, are they fine or normal thread?

there fine thread.

I got the bolts from my local bolt place, they wernt very expensive, and there high tensile.

If you struggle to get any, give me a shout and i will see what i can do.

Nasty m8

Makes me shudder all over the image of your Christmas tree drain plug thinking about when my front axle went!!!

I guess you already have had a good trawl through eBay, but I also had a great deal of success with online car parts finder services and would Give them a go if Karl or Steff can't help you out.

The other thing that's work a look is to see if Toyota fitted that crown wheel on any other models of vehicle using the part comparison thing on ToyoDiy.

Good luck m8

Thanks Steven.

Im hoping Karl will get back to me soon with good news.

I know he sold me the front one as a favour, as normally he only likes to sell axles in pairs. So if all goes to plan i will have bought the pair off him.

I didnt think about cross referencing the part number, good idea!

I need to go on there anyway to get the part number for the oil seals.

 

[hairyguy4]

damn thats not good, goes to show how strong they are though that you were driving around with it like that , a quick question, when you did your front bumper, the bolt holes on the side of the chassis that you used, are they fine or normal thread?

there fine thread.

I got the bolts from my local bolt place, they wernt very expensive, and there high tensile.

If you struggle to get any, give me a shout and i will see what i can do.

nice one cheers

 

[ModelMakerMan]

So today i decided to get the diff out and diagnose the problem.

Id noticed the brakes slowly getting worse over the last few days.

The shoe on the left (the front shoe) looks like its not properly engaged in the cylinder and the seal is getting damaged. Are you sure the oil seal has failed and its not brake fluid from that seal?