Thommo Thompson

im sensing a bit of anger towards me so i better wrap this up.
ivr gone yo rediculous lengths to try to repair this, including foolishly asking a global toyota forum if anyone might perhaps recognise the parts im dealing with.
the philipinrs is a 3rd world archipelago of thousands of islands, and not a single one of those islands has a parts store with an intelectually capable parts interpreter, nor a catalogue of steering components. the ppl who made it are probably now dead or they may be on an6 one of thr seven thousand islands. sorry but it seemed a good idea to ask a global forum.

i ended up getting a lical welder guy to "boodgie" weld a section into the new part, and im not happy that its come to that. but even then, after the stupid amount of effort i go to stick it back on and the nut is completely destroyed from my attempts at removing the arm. getting a new nut proved to be impossible yesterday.they simply dont have one on this side of the island. so i litteraly have to take a bus, just like the one someone pictured above, into the main city of cebu next week for a NUT! haha

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Well, glad you at least have a plan for now. Buys you time to track down a part supplier. Sooner or later you’re gonna need to make other repairs.

Thommo Thompson

yeh thats true. there is one positive, the welders here are actually very good at their jobs. this was what i ended up with.
https://ibb.co/g6QYAR
https://ibb.co/ha39jm
not sure i feel comfortable relying on it forever bit maybe its fine.

gsp4life

That actually does look pretty good. Guess you'll soon find out how strong it is...

Did you get over the other island yet for that elusive nut?

I'm in a fairly rural area myself, but it's hard to imagine living somewhere you'd have to take a boat to get to a good hardware store.

Thommo Thompson

well a boat would be nice! at least that would be somewhat serene haha.
the issue i face is whenever i do anything on this car, you know how u can never make just one trip to the parts store, theres always something else, well that happens to me constantly, and im 5km down a dirt track through rivers just to get to a main road and then 20 minutes along a coast road to get to a small store that might have a part "similar" to what u need.
i ended up on the bus to cebu on boxing day, in the worlds worst place to drive (according to waze), bus trip took 3.5 hrs to go 70 km. I had a mental breakdown in the middle of a crazy busy intersection while on foot looking for a shop with nuts and bolts. then someone saw me and told me where the big nut and bolt shop is, i went there and it didnt exist anymore and they had put uo a sign with a "MAP" to show where they had moved to. now ppl in this country are beyond helpless when it comes to directions, its just not in their psyche.
the "map" had no north on it and was not oriented north. there are no street signs on the road so it was 100% useless to anyone other than someone who already knew where the place was. they are just that thick here. like two bricks. they dont want ur business.
so i walked around the crowded intersections then saw it, a bright, new freshly painted storewhich had ever nut bolt screw nail or fixing known to mankind, all conveniently sorted into drawrers and cupboards.
foreign owned of course, and now i know where to go in the future.
after bolting the thing back on, i go to start the engine and theres no start hahah.
another wiring failure. u leave it sitting for more than a few days and everything corrodes to the point it wont conduct electricity.
then in the process of repairing that, the alternator charge wire connector snapped, which meant i had to redo that aswell, which meant moving the alternator, which coyldnt be done, without "REMOVING THE ENTIRE STEERING ASSEMBLY AGAIN"
that is, the steering box, pitman arm and drag link all together as one.
fix that put it back together, get the missus to turn the steering whrel, and magically for the first time ever, both outer tie rof ends are as loose as anything.

do i basically just give up now.

gsp4life

Holy crap, man! That's one hell of a story. Mind sharing why you're stationed out in the Philippines to begin with?

By loose tie rod ends, do you mean the small ball joints on either end suddenly have noticeable slop?

RAD4Runner

I had a funny feeling you were there as soon as you mentioned "jeepney" . LOL!

Yes, please do tell us what you're doing there. Im sure they'll have some access to good Toyota parts in Cebu, but an old part... that's gonna depend on random luck no matter where you are; They've been making those jeepneys since after World War 2.

Hold on, I'll right be there with some parts ... LOL!

Thommo Thompson

im here because my dad married a filipina, then moved here, then i came her to visit lots and met a girl, now i live here half the year too. haha
But im in the more remote jungle areas, probably the most remote village on the island of cebu.
Yes rad i had previously seen ur avatar of Philippines diving. Not my thing but im off to Moalboal in a few weeks.

gsp4life

Wow, sounds like a constant adventure there. Please keep us updated on the status of your truck.

My wife and I are stuck in Ohio (where she grew up) taking care of her Mom who's currently a bed-ridden in-home hospice patient. We both like to see as much of the world as possible and are seriously considering moving to Nicaragua after this is all over... honestly, I didn't even consider the fact that I'll have good access to stuff like diesel and crew cab 80's Yotas!