With both shafts out the way I could move too unbolting the diff. While using 1/4" impact to unbolt. Four of the studs came out with the nuts. Definitely had it happen before on maybe one or two but four seemed a little unusual. Once all nuts/studs were out typically a couple smacks with the hammer top and bottom of the carrier it'll break loose from the axle housing and you can work it out with some loght prying.....Not this one lol

Eventually i was able to work it enough to realize the very top stud was the one putting up a fight. It had rusted to the carrier and did not want to let go. I've never had one so rusted and stubborn with not being able to slide the diff out. After spraying it multiple times rest of the day and during the night i tried again after work the next day.

With a small gap on the bottomg i worked my way around with fitting wesges we use at work. I could see the stud flexing and moving with the diff so i was actually nervous i might snap it. With the two wedges and healthy amounts of wd40 i slowly worked them back and forth on each side trying to walk the diff off the stud. Finally after some patience and talking nice to it we finally became friends.
Ultimately i think the reason for this top stud being so stubborn my be a cause from this truck having such low mileage for a 93. The odometer shows just over 100k miles. Which means this truck has done alot of sitting in its life. With out being driven and the rear end never getting warm. Any water or just moisture in general never dried out and would sit and rust.

 

Housing and carrier cleaned up.

Housing got a layer of anti seize, gasket, then another layer of anti seize. Anybody in the future will not have any of the issues i encountered.

 

Carrier bolted in everything else can go back together. These rubber orings ive always gave them a thing layer of dielectric grease. Fortunately them seemed in good shape, no cracks/ not stretched.

3 of the 8 nuts for the shafts were absolutely trashed. Couldn't of reused them if i wanted too. Picked 4 new stainless flange nuts to replace them. The threads on these studs is M10x1.25

The nut the was also stripped on this hinge piece for the parking brake cable i replaced as well. M8x1.25 thread

 

The rear back together and done minus the rear lower shock mounts i moved to the front to get that back together. I've always had a small grudge towards Trail gear ever since they pretty much run most the market for after market toyota stuff and then charge a million dollars for everything. But through out this process that had changed slightly with what I would call exceptional customer service. That was until this next issue.


Im a big fan of low ramge backing plate eliminator with brake lone holder. It cleans the front axle up and gives it a nice look. However as you can see in the pic a fitment issue with the backing plate and the proved hoses that came with the sas kit. The hose is unable to step though the slot enough to catch the clip on either side to hold it in place. I have the same setup on my 1st gen runner for years now using All Pro hoses before they were bought by Trail gear.

This is just another angle. I first called them about the issue on a Friday, explained the issue and they took my info to look into it. Too shorten this up, after multiple emails and multiple phone calls to check on progress of me asking them what you think would be to reinvent the wheel. 9 Buisness days later they finally say our parts don't fit. We acknowledge it's a design flaw and we don't have a solution for you but if you would to return the hoses we can give you a refund.


Besides telling me sorry about your luck, they were very nice and easy to talk to with any questions/concerns lol. My solution was either to cut the top of the plate off and weld on one of the weld on brake line holders they have. ( same thing i welded onto the frame). I marked out the hose then used die grinder and hand file.


Was still a tight fit. Fortunately i had some generic clips from Rockauto. They worked on the top and on the bottom used factory clip that came off the IFS assembly. The hose uses different size clips top and bottom fyi.

 

 

Brake hoses sorted out i could get the new calipers put together. Added small layer of grease inside piston as a rust prevention and just a little bitnon back side of pads mainly for the pistons as well.


These are like $10 a piece. No reason not to replace them. They don't line up perfectly with the backing plate eliminator but easily bent to line up good.

Before tires went on shocks and fender liners were put back in.

 

With brakes somewhat functional i could pull truck for sirst time since putting the chevy springs under it. As expected after seeing what others did on the pages. Slight lean to the back. For now will probly just add a 1 or 2 inch block. Once all 4 leaf springs settle for bit then can figure exactly what the truck needs to get the stance he wants.

 

Turned truck around and pulled back into garage. Owner had this sent to me as well as some rock sliders from 4x4innovations. The fitment in this isn’t great but it does work enough to get welds around it. Painted the inside of it few days prior. Once it installed would be impossible to get adequate paint on the i side to help with rust.

I didn't like the idea of welding this on and then not being able to easily retrieve the oil fill plug if it was to get dropped down in it.

Torched the bottom out just a little. Die grinder and soft pac to clean it up.

One U bolt needs to come out to be out the way for welding. Held cover up and roughly marked it. Wire wheel just where i needed to. Wanted to remove as little paint as possible from the axle.

Welded on and cleaned for paint. The previous paint just scuffed down to get rid of the gloss. Quick wipe with acetone before paint goes on.

 

 

Front bumper back on. The bolts that came out were a little chewed up so i picked up some new flanged bolts. Threads on the 4 across the front cross member are M12x1.75.

 

Only thing left for the rear besides gear oil was the rear lower shock mounts. Owner already had these brackets in the truck. They let you keep the stock placement roughly for the shocks.


I tried pinching the bushing closer together but that wasn't gonna happen. These are most likely temporary till we get the blocks ppaced in the rear and the truck breaks in the leaf springs. Once all that happens the correct size can be ordered. With that i took portaband and just one shaved one of the bushings down slightly for each shock.


With 1.5inch blocks coming i didn't want to place this bracket perfectly straight. The block will jave a slight taper on them to help with opinion angle. So i went with 5° on ppacing the bracket. Did the same on other side but opposite of the same 5°. Hopefully when the blocks go in these will level out jist a little bit and look decent.

Both sides welded on. Paint currently drying for the night.

 

8784, Thank you very much for your time and effort for this pictural write up. This is something that is kind of on my bucket list to do that I'll probably never get around to, BUT you just never know. I've been following your progress throughout this build and I've got to say this is one of the best.

So thanks again for your time and effort, it has been a very interesting read.

 

Redman thank you very much for the kind words, truly appreciate that. I do enjoy putting these threads together but mainly if it gives someone ideas or helps them with a build. It's worth the little bit of extra time and effort to put everything on yotatech. If your looking to do something similar with yours, I might know a guy to take care of it lol. This one will be wrapped up very soon.

 

I dorpped the driveshaft off last week to have it extended. Couple days later they had it done and picked it up after work. I did not write down original length but i believe it was lengthened 3.5". This one i measured flange to flange and told them i wanted 33.375". I took just a little off the actual measurement to account for the minute amount of leaf spring settling.

Quick prep for paint

Front alignment is tomorrow and had a decent amount to go through this afternoon after work. Really wanted this back under the truck so as soon as i get paint on it i set the heat lamp on it and occasionally rolled it.

2hrs or so later paint was cured enough to handle without an issue. Grease on both flanges, anti seize on shaft bolts.

 

With shaft painted i could go ahead and put the rear shocks in. The bolts are a little longer then i wanted but they did not have the length i was after. Nothing special about these, just some 1/2"x3.5" with washer and lock washer.

 

Front and rear axle got trail gear drain plug. These are actually pretty nice with a super strong magnet on them to catch any metal trash in the axles. Both axles got 80w-90 gear oil today. Rear axle 2.5qt Front axle 2.0qt

 

With front end wrapping up and alignment tomorrow. I popped off the pitman arm nut and all the tie rod ends. Anti seized everything and put back together. The pitman nut i only snugged enough to drive it. Im sure They’ll be taking it back off to get the splines right. Tie rod were tightened down then cotter pin installed in each of them.

 

1.5" blocks are on the way for the rear. Should be here in time to install before the owner comes to pick the truck up. Had a friend help bleed the brakes. Gave the truck a good once over then time for first test drive.

 

Truck felt pretty good on the brief road trip. I felt no indication that i was gonna have to do anything with front end so i went ahead torqued the Ubolts. Torqued to 100LBS then used cutoff wheel to know the threads dow ln a little bit. Hit the ends for a quick sec with the soft pac on grinder.

This was smooth, the chevy springs definitely do alot for the truck. The driver side tucked up front and the rear passenger as well. Was very happy with how everything looked with front and rear shock lengths and length of driveshaft. Tucking the front passenger will affect the driveshaft more but was running short on time. Will take it back out to hit it with different angles to confirm everything is👌

 

Good job young man! Just one question, what's wrapped in cellophane on the springs?