KRos_+

Ive been around yotatech for over a year now. THe things ive learned from the people who have helped me has kept my truck running good and on the road! I am very grateful for being a part of this awesome community!!

Ive been wanting to start my own build thread to help me keep track of everything ive done and when i did it. Also so ppl can see what ive done to hopefully help them. Since so many of you guys have helped me! Ive done a bunch already and plan on doin more this spring and summer. Like painting everything to prevent rust. Por15 on the frame and axles. Bondo the few spots on the body, patch the bed with steel. It has a few holes where the PO cut out to get to the mounting bolts. And more stuff like new wheel hubs up front (1 lug broken off both). And more!! LOL

My rig is a 91' pickup DLX, regular cab, 22re , 5 spd (w56), 4wd w/ manual lock hubs, UNKNOWN MILES!. All stock with factory original parts. Besides what ive replace so far everything appears to be 21 yrs old!! not very well maintained.....

I bought it from a scam artist dealer in southern ohio who charged me way to much. I was blinded by the light of the yota gods after test driving.....It was also my first time buying from a used dealer. I learned some valuable lessons. But ive wanted a truck like this for so long and im happy i have it. It also hasnt been chopped or mangled like most ive seen around here. I will have this truck forever. I tell my family and my GF that i will live in it before i sell it or get rid of it for any reason! LOL

Heres a link to my first thread. It has some info im not gonna repeat as well as things im gonna repeat here LOL. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/introduction-need-advice-help-235592/

I did a tune up right after i bought it and didnt have any major issues for about 7 months. That was daily driving at 30+ miles a day. I did have to change the t-stat but that was about it. Soon after the 7 month mark i started having bad idle issues and a brake master cylinder failure. After searching here for weeks and testing things i found the high/ surging idle was from a faulty AAV. So i plugged the whole in the throttle body with duct tape. It now idles wherever i set it and has NO cold high idle at startup. Its good enough for me until i can afford a new AAV (theyre expensive!!!).

Once i started looking around and checking everything out like steering components and balljoints i noticed everything was in bad shape. So i started replacing things as i could afford them and what i felt was more important for road safety. I still have not gone wheelin and ive never used 4wd LOW. I have used 4wd high on snowy/icy roads and it worked great. Believe me i cant wait to use LOW! But i am worried about weak points. Since everything looks original. The frame has been sufficently repaired/ patch welded from the PO. In 2 spots.

I was lucky my mom went to california and let me use her car while she was gone. It gave me time to get my truck running good and fix any weak points over the winter. Im glad we had a mild winter since i would have been tempted to drive my truck and would have possibly broken something.


Heres what i have replaced ( not in this order) Pics at bottom of page.
- shocks (new frnt, used rear)
- sway bar links (heavy duty)
- factory relay rod/ TREs (recall)
- bed and rear bumper (used/custom)
- radiator (brand new plastic type)
- plugs, wires, and thermostat
- brake pads and new brake master cylinder (1" bore)
- lowers and 1 upper balljoint(s) (other is goin on soon!)
- Filled transmission with MT-90 (shifts so much smoother!)
- rear diff breather extender mod (factory part #90930-03136)
- exhaust (from manifold - back / custom)
- Oxygen sensor ( custom welded in threaded bung for thread in type sensor)
- 3 smd led dome light festoon bulb (ebay!!)
- smd led license plate bolt lights (also ebay! Theyre bright! I love em^)
- 30x9.50 BFGs (soon to be 31's!)

I think that is everything if not i will add later. Im gonna be documenting and taking pics of eveything i do from here on out and i will post here. Any advice or criticism please feel free! I enjoy hearing other points of views. Especially from you guys!!


Thanks for reading!!










Sorry about the way the paragraphs are. I had to write it outside of internet explorer and im a newb when it comes to using word doc!!

KRos_+

I just wanted to add a few details......

The reason i did the extended breather mod was because my old exhaust/ muffler fell onto the original breather plug. Which caused it to seize up and stop venting out. The new plug allows it to vent out and breath fresh air in to regulate pressure inside the axle/differential. I read about it here and other sites and figured why not do it!!??

I noticed something was wrong when i could hear my rear end howling at certain speeds and decelleration. So i started looking for things that could be wrong and saw the dented seized up breather plug. Also when i first drained my gear oil from the rear diff last summer, it was black and had a lot of metal shavings in it. Then when i just recently changed it ( a week ago after doing mod) it had no metal shavings in it.

COuld this be a good sign or is the damage already done if it was howling bad??

Also, CAn i mix MT-90 which is GL-4 gear oil with 75w90 GL-5>?? Its for the transfer case...FSM says to use either. Bad idea to mix them? Need some pros lol

Thanks again for reading!! Please feel free to post any thoughts!!

KRos_+

THe old ones were realllly BAD!! Loose as hell. So i changed the driver side upper last week and just did the passenger side earlier today. And it went so much smoother since we had the right tools this time around.

I used grade 8, 5/16 1" bolts with nuts and lock washers (also grade 8 of course). Since my new ball joints were el cheapos from rockauto they did not come with the studs pressed in and 1 didnt even have the studs. Also they did not fit the holes right on either balljoint. But they are greasable and seem to be decent quality. Im not gonna be doin any hardcore wheelin/ climbing. Just trail driving through woods and maybe 18" of water at most. Only if i cant avoid it that is.


Heres after we got the old one out



And heres old and new side by side. (the old ones looked like original factory parts just like everything ive replaced so far..)


New one in.....


The new factory relay rod and tie rod ends (installed last fall)

KRos_+

TOY89

Keep up the good work man. I see you've invested quite some time and money into this build don't give up on it! As for fluids go I would never mix them! I like you completely straight style exhaust! Lol

Duartizzle

I'd drain all tube existing oil out of the transfer case and replace with fresh stuff. I don't think you want to be mixing them.

KRos_+

Thanks Toy89, I have invested a lot of money, blood, sweat, and time into this thing over the course of a year. And as i said before, i will have this truck forever so giving up is outta the ? lol I went with straight exhaust tubing to be cost effective and i liked the idea. It was like 13$ at summit racing for 7 feet of 2" straight pipe. And i live 10 mins from the very first retail store, so no shipping $. I get a lot of stuff there on sale or just cheap. Thanks I will post some more/better pics of it and maybe try a video so u guys can hear it. Its kinda loud but not bad lol.


Duartizzle, The more i thought about it i dont want to mix oils either. So i will take ur both ur guys advice, and just go buy another qt of MT-90 for the transfer case. IIRC, the t-case only holds a little over a qt so that wont be bad.

Thanks for posting/reading!!

KRos_+

just wanted to add some more pics and details.........

New brake master cyl. 45$ no core charge from rockauto. Its beck/arnley and its a reman. AISIN 1" bore for the V6. (now i need the booster upgrade but it works well without)



I had to mount my plate there cuz i got pulled over twice saying they couldnt read my plate thru the bumper. So i wired led bolt lights with the wires from the old lights. No more getting pulled over for that.



heres my engine bay.



I just cleaned everything really good to see where oil is leaking from. Looks like the oil pan, valve cover and possibly timing chain cover are all leaking very slightly, and only under pressure im assuming. Dealership said timing chain cover was leaking and quoted me like $400+ to fix just the gaskets and seals im assuming. And that was about a year ago. But ive been researching doing the timing chain and cover gaskets and all that. The FSM says to remove the head so im assuming the dealer would do that. I would be worried about head gasket once they remove the head. Im sure thats where they suck me into paying more for more work done! Ill most likely do it all myself.....hopefully without removing the cylinder head.



another pic of my straight exhaust with no cat, just a muffler.



My smd led dome light. Bulbs from Hong Kong $1.68 total for 2 shipped. Gotta love ebay!

westjohns yota

not to bad of a start rig, and no you dont have to remove the head to do the timing chain cover, some do, some dont, check out ians rebuild (irab88) i think thats his user name, he has a very detailed rebuild, as does mark (chefyota4x4) both very contributing members on here, as for the oil pan, losen the motor mount, jack the motor up a few inches, and slide the oil pan out, just dont damage the oil pickup tube, if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for it?

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

It kinda looks like you already have the dual diaghram brake booster. Hard to tell in that pic, but I thought the later trucks came with it...

KRos_+

Thanks westjohns yota, I remember readin somewhere on here about timing chain replacement without removing the head. I think it was marks(chefyota4x4) thread. He has done some amzing work and is famous on this site, ive referenced his threads a bunch already. Id be honored if he posted on my thread lol. Also, i wil use ur tips when i do the oil pan gasket. It seems to be the only thing leaking and very slow. Ive been driving all week 30+ miles a day somewhat hard driving at 3k+ rpms. And i havent lost any oil yet.........only a bit of seepage around the oil pan. Which all the bolts were loose until about a week ago when i checked them. So it may be sealed up for the moment. I am using Mobil super high mileage 10w40 oil.

rokblok, i dont think i have a dual diaphram brake booster, but i may be wrong. Ill check and post a better pic. THought that only the V6 came with them.??

KRos_+

Since westjohns yota asked and brought it up i am going to tell my story about buying the truck. Im still angry about only because im still paying for it, but like ive said im happy i have the truck and i enjoy working on it and driving it..................


I found it CL for $3000 so i called the used dealership which was 168 miles away from my home. And asked as many details as i could about it. I also had a 96' Corolla auto trans with 182k that i drove the hell out of for three yrs. I was gonna trade it towards the truck. They gave me an estimate over the phone of $1100 - $1500 for my car. And i would finance the rest thru them....Bad idea i know but i had no other way and really wanted the truck. ANd my car was starting to need a lot of work incuding HG and transmission( like i said i drove it hard, beat suped up civics all the time). I got the car from my dad who had it since 01' 68k miles. I got it with 132k and put a ram intake and stainless header and downpipe, magnaflow cat and magnaflow straight thru muffler. The key was stuck in the ignition when i traded it. And one rear triangle window was broke.

Sorry about all the details on the car.......i miss it lol but i love my truck. Anyway back to the story.............



It was February in ohio (cold and snowy). I took the day off work and me and my GF drove 168 miles to go get my truck and trade my car. We get to the dealer and its in the middle of nowhere. 2 guys dressed like farmers running the place. (nothing against farmers). We test drive the truck and it drove decent but it wasnt in the best shape. Seats torn, bed rusting bad, tailgate rusted bad, rear bumber broken in two. Exhaust loud and no cat converter, speedo doesnt work(still doesnt). And i didnt realize the Odometer didnt work(and still doesnt) Until the ride home!!!! They said in very fine print on the sales paperwork. TRUE MILEAGE UNKNOWN! Didnt notice that until i got home that night as well....

After driving the truck i was like a kid. I got so excited and just wanted to take it home. I wasnt thinking clearly and since it was my first time buying from a dealer he took advantage of me..........He didnt even look at my car and only gave me $400 for it...and i had to put $300 cash down as well. After finance charges it came to a grand total of about $3300. Minus the $700 for trad-in and down payment, $2600 to be financed thru the dealer. 18 months of payments, $85 every 2 weeks EFT from bank, $170 a month. I will own my truck this august, only 4 more months!!

When they sent me the memorandum title they put ACTUAL MILES on it which is false. Im not sure what i can do about it. I tried contacting lawyers and even the attorney general but couldnt get any help. I keep meaning to try again and find a lawyer that can help. I know odometer fraud is a big deal in ohio as well as many places for that matter.

I feel i got ripped off, but have had to justify it by reminding myself that i have an awesome TOyota truck that is becoming rare and collectible. I will have it forever.........


Sorry for the long story, but it was a big moment in my life that has changed things forever.

Heres some pics of my Corolla that i traded for my truck ^

pruney81

You have to be careful with those small used car lots for sure, oh well you live and learn. Have you run a Carfax on the truck at all?

KRos_+

Pruney, I have definately learned a valuable lesson about used car dealers. I know what to expect and what to do now in the future. I just searched CArfax and they have 14 records for my truck. Unfortunatly, I dont have the funds right now for the 35$ charge to look at the records. BUt i will check it out when i can afford it. Im curious if it will show when the odometer broke and give me an idea of how many miles may actually be on it based on service records and dates and stuff. But the condition the truck was in shows that it didnt have much service if any in 20 years......... Thanks for the tip, carfax never crossed my mind lol. Is there any other things like Carfax that are free and reputable?

pruney81

Carfax is the only service I know of but definitely well worth it. I bet it will give you a pretty good idea of how many miles are on the truck and how many owner's it's had. I always run one before buying a used vehicle

KRos_+

Thanks again pruney ^



I got bored saturday evening and decided to rip apart my dash and swap out radios. I had my old factory Toyota cassete deck head unit from my 96 Corolla laying around(for 4+ yrs) and figured it was time to stop hearing the music from the 22re and get some real tunes goin. The radio hadnt worked since i bought the truck and the factory kick panel speakers are missing. And someone had spliced into the wires and ran them behind the seat.

I wasnt sure if my corolla unit was gonna plug right in or not. So it was more just to find out. Glad to know its all the same plugs and toyota didnt change anyhting in 5 years. The corolla unit was about 2 inches deeper but i was able to shove it back there with no problems. Also i was able to reuse the bracket and keep the little cubby hole. Everything matched up perfectly.

Heres the old unit


Looks like someone spilled pop or something like that on it( probably when the cup holder bracket broke)


Noticed the sticker says assembled in USA by Fujitsu Ten Corp. (but my truck was assembled in japan )


THe Corolla unit in my truck dash ( works great!)



Sorry i didnt take more pics during or before but it was dark (830pm) when i started. Kind of a spur of the moment thing lol. I also wired up some 5" 120w clarion speakers i had sittin in my brothers garage for years. They sound ok. I use a tape thingy that enables me to plug it into any headphone jack ie: mp3 player or smartphone and things like that. Im sure u guys have seen theml, probably 10 years ago lol. So i have tunes again YAY! And i think its cool i put another factory TOyota head unit to keep it original!!


Thanks for reading!!!

KRos_+

Well some bad news.......

Its definitely my timing cover thats leaking oil. Seems to be very slow and only under pressure. I also noticed a weird small spot on the very bottom of the block where the timing cover meets the block and in between the the cover and the lip of the oil pan. If that makes sense! Sorry lol!! ill just post a pic 2morrow.............Ive been checking my oil every day when i get home and im not losing any noticeable amounts. I just can see drips on the bottom of the timing cover. And where oil is leaking as im driving and running back on the oil pan. Its also coated my skid plate a lil.

Also, my rear gears are bad. Im assuming its from the breather plug failure ^. But good news thanks to 3mph_toy(pete) i have a new to me(used lol) 3rd member(stock 410 gears) on the way!! To be installed soon with pics!!! Check out his awesome garage sale
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f109...l#post51905739


IM going to continue to drive my truck since its my only vehicle until either my mom goes back to california(maybe in may) or until around august when i will be able to afford another car. I am gonna save up and do the whole timing kit (chain,sprockets, steel guides, etc..) not just the gaskets and seals. Any tips and links would be much appreciated and save me some time of researching/ finding them myself. I am still trying to find a good thread on doing the timing cover and chain and everything WITHOUT removing the head.


Thanks



P.S. If the famous Corey or any other moderator could please move this thread to the "Build-Up section". Im sorry i didnt post there I forgot about it Thanks guys!!