Looking to temporarily convert my 88 Pickup, 3vze from 4WD to 2WD by removing the front driveShaft, Diff, And CV's, in order to do other work.

What I'm Thinking of doing, is adding a CV block-off plate, Like an oversized Washer or Bushing. By Simply bolting it through the spindle & hub, to keep dirt and moisture out until I finish working on everything else. If needed I could leave the hubs locked in. Or Just remove the locking mechanism.. I haven't got enough experience with the front spindles... but it should work... I mean.. Right??

the CV's were designed to be removed without touching the wheels or rotors for a reason. ... So you can to remove them if broken in an off road situation, and still be able to drive back to civilization... Same thing with the Front drive shaft.... .... that Had to be the purpose... Right???

Why? a little Backstory. I've been needing to do... "a Little bit" of work under the truck lol. A few Things I've put off for several years!! about 6 years ago the truck quit running. I paid mechanic to get the truck running again with new Water pump, Timing belt, that water passage pully thing, and new head gaskets. and by incident, EGR Delete. (I did a complete emissions delete later on.) but his price got to be too much when I asked for a new oil pan gasket too.. He really didn't want to do that without pulling the entire engine out. which is where things got too expensive for me. .. He got it running though.. I considered going back to him, But he has since closed shop and retired.. So... 2 projects I'm lining up and doing myself. I've got a pair of New CV's I've had on the shelf for quite some time. Two of the CV Boots were torn, but I don't use 4WD all that often, I tried removing the original CV's when I first got the replacements in the mail, but I couldn't get the 6 inner CV bolts to budge. I also realized I'd need to roll the truck a bit for every bolt. (So temporarily I replaced the boots with those POS Side-Split stile Quick Replace CV Boots. which are now torn as well.) .. I Need the truck significantly higher off the ground, to get a larger breaker bar under there... Pretty Sure these are the original CV's, so those CV and Driveshaft bolts are basically welded. But I Haven't had a way to get the front end very high off the ground.. Well... Now that I built a pair of 11.5" wheel ramps though!!! Hopefully That's high enough?!?!?! .. That, and I can now use the jackstands on the Rear Axle instead.. I think I'll finally be able to do this. (Lifting the rear so I can roll the drive shafts, to it kick it in and out of 4L, helping to bind the CV's without actually rolling or moving the truck.) I Plan on rebuilding the original pair of CVs later on, and simply put them on the shelf for another Quick-EZ replacement job down the line... Well The other job, I REALLY Need to do, and the reason for front driveline removal, will be a New Oil Pan gasket/Sealant.. I'm so Tired of this thing leaking so much oil, and needing to add oil so often. So the plan is actually to Remove the front drive shaft and differential completely, and possibly leave it off, for up to a week, so I can make sure it's sealed well. I'll reinstall the Differential Support / IFS Cross Member without the differential & housing, so that I can at least drive it around for a while, in 2WD without the front drive line. Obviously the front drive shaft is a brake away design just like the CV's, so that shouldn't be an issue with the Transmission or Transfer case. Also, This should all help with cleaning the underside, and keeping it clean, and to help look for leaks before installing the front drive line. Leaving the front driveline out, I'm also considering cracking the Front Differential carrier open, to check out everything inside and possibly rebuild with new bearings.. I don't think it needs it.. I'm not sure the differential Leaks at all. Pretty sure it's only caked with Engine Oil... not gear oil.... but... I can Check.

Anyways, Thoughts?? Ideas?? (Questions?)

Has Anyone else done Anything like this???

 

The oil pan should be sealed with FIPG, not an actual gasket. Some aftermarket kits do include a traditional gasket for the pan, but I strongly recommend the sealant. I always use the black Toyota FIPG, but others here have used other brands with success. A few tips to a good seal:
1. Both the block and oil pan mating surfaces HAVE to be 100% free of any oil residue. The slightest oil residue will negate any effective seal. So clean well, and make sure no oil beads down the inside of the block to ruin everything. This has to be the single biggest cause of FIPG failing to work.
2. You don't need to lay down a ton of sealant. Toyota recommends a bead 5mm wide down the center groove of the the oil pan mating surface. When you get to a bolt hole swing to the inside with your bead, then back to center once past the hole.You don't need to go around the entire hole.
3. FIPG sets up fairly quickly, so have everything in place (tools, bolts, torque wrench,etc) to install once bead is on. Toyota recommends no more than 5 minutes before installing.
4. My 1987 22re oil pan is held on with short bolts, except for two nuts that go onto studs in the block on either side(center) of the pan. These studs are great to have, making lining up the pan pretty easy without "smudging" the FIPG around. If someone has pulled the studs and replaced them with bolts it might be worth the time to put studs back in. i checked, and the 3VZE had those studs, too. You also have an oil baffle plate sandwiched in there. Maybe someone how has done a 3vze pan can give tips on that.
5. Torque on the pan bolts is 9 ft/pounds. Done well, you'll have just a little bit of sealant squeezed out along the perimeter once torqued.

If by rebuilding the CV you just mean new boots, that's fairly quick. Messy, but quick. And yeah, those split boots aren't great. Aftermarket CV shafts seem to be of very poor quality. Best to redo your oem. Definitely don't discard.

I dunno about the conversion to 2wd. Seems like a lot of work and expense. If this Runner is a daily driver I'd think it'd be easier to borrow or rent something for a few days. But your call on that.

 

Hey!! Thanks for all the info.

Definitely not going to trade or discard my the original CV's!!! I know I got these new ones cheap.. But I don't have a Vice large enough for working on the originals tho. (Some Day.. .. .. Some day..)

Oh... Wait.. ... .. the Toyota FIPG is 5 Minute Set time??? WHAT?!?!? I was planning on just using Permatex-UltraBlack. Hmm.. Yeah... Think I'm going to get the Toyota stuff .. here in a bit...

(Using another vehicle.) Someone stole my Awesome Suzuki C90, Which I had JUST Finished Repairing & building up and was my main ride for about 2 years, even while working on it... Hoping to have my New Bike running soon, eventually for a primary vehicle (a VTX 1800 I purchased with a dead cylinder and few other issues. but issues turned out to be FAR more serious than I hoped.) I wanted to be able to ride it before I got into this project, and the bike project(s) is getting there.. but even after I get the Adapted ignition system and Carb right, LOL (Its was Fuel Injected). She's may still need more work. So this year, the truck has become my main ride, (With Issues) . ... .. again. ugh.. Well that situation helped inspire the concept of driving the truck without the front drive line (with other added benefits) for this project. ("Always Think on the bright Side!!" Right??)

But also, or mostly, when I really think about it. I'm doing it this way Because I Really want to KNOW the oil pan won't leak... after only a week of driving. -- Pretty sure a PO did reseal the oil pan, (Maybe 15 years ago?!? At least 13 years ago?). pretty sure they lowered the front differential, leaving the CVs and front Drive shaft all attached, and disconnected all the steering stuff. To me tho, That way really seems like it would be VERY frustrating, and possibly with ineffective results because of that difficulty. This thing has been leaking on me since 2011! Haven't driven nearly as much in the last 5.. .. Till now tho.

More on how.
Well.. .. the inner Wheel seal is right about 100mm.. 90 inner diameter 101 outer (I think?).. That's the size of the seal on the New CVs I have, which have an inner Wheel Seal attached... (Non Remove-able) Which Also, angers all the nerves! I'd much rather, Simple Small consumables, Actually BE... $5 to $25 Simple Small Consumables! Instead of This BS ... " OH NO!! The Wheel Seal is gone!! I need to replace the CV again!!! " ... Anyways, All the research I've done, and diagrams and photos I've looked at, is telling me this should work. 100mm flat steel plate, with a hole in the center. Local Pipe & Steel stock and Welding supply should have something I can use.. Dang I wish I thought of that yesterday!! Then A pretty long and Large bolt Maybe a Carriage Bolt, or a bar of All-Thread. and a washer. The Spindle, spindle nuts and spindle lock washer don't rotate with the wheel -- So, As long as I don't really Crank the thing Down, It should be fine. ... further Re-thinking on the matter, It's probably a good idea to completely gut the Manual locking hubs, and just install the empty housings on top. I can use some Nylon locking Nuts to make sure it doesn't undo itself, without having to crank them down at all. and use an RTV to seal the plate to the inner wheel seal. (Less clean up removing it, when ready to install the CV's). The only thing I need to buy is the nuts and the steel plates. .. .. maybe only $5.

Next post maybe Photos of the work?? Maybe?

 

Only thing to really worry about is water and debris getting into the wheel bearing through the spindle hole. Maybe put a freeze plug or something like that in the back of the spindle/shaft hole

 

2 plates for each spindle 85mm diameter and 44mm diameter, just capping off the spindle. The one in the photo is RTV siliconed to the inner wheel seal. I'll be installing new wheel seals when i get to getting it all back together. The 44mm one sits just behind the manual locking hub. There was no need to remove much from inside the hub. The hub sits on top just fine.

just the C-clip, and the splined washer, and the center bolt are left out, not installed, because there is no CV for them to attach.


the service manual does make this project seem a bit simpler and easier to accomplish.

In order to remove the cv joints I disconnected the lower shock bolts, the sway bar, AND the lower control arm!!

I didn't knock the lower control arms "OUT, " not completely, just sorta half way out. I jacked the truck up of the ground, and was able to clear the diffy flanges with the CV flanges by having the Control arms just that 1/2" lower. By removing the camber Adjustment bolts. Then I let the truck down to level out the Control arms. (I did not disconnect the control arms from the knuckle.) After that, the splined ends of the CVs just slid out of the spindle freely.

 

Looking back:

While it wasn't "necessary" to remove the wheels. It definately made a few things easier, like disconnecting the shocks and the sway bar. I removed both wheels twice. The other thing that made this significantly easier was having air tools.

While i dint have one, An air Hammer would have been really great. Removing two of the CV/Diffy flange bolts was impossible on the passenger side, but made the driver side a little easier. Driver side a regular hammer did the job but I didn't have the room to pound on em.