Stew's paycheck to paycheck build (91 4runner)
 

More like paycheck to every every other paycheck ;)

So here's my thread, nothing big yet but a little background of how I took a liking to this hobby. When I was looking for my first car a little over a year ago I was stumped between a Subaru and a Yota. I decided that I wanted to play in the mud from time to time so I bought a 91 3.0 4runner. I bought it from a little old asian man. Completely stock all the way down to the tape player.

My buddy at work asked me if I wanted to go camping back in January and I said heck yea! The idea was to go snow camping but with the lack of snow we decided to head up the mountain to the next spot. So at this point I knew nothing about wheeling or crawling etc. We ended up driving until 2 in the morning in the rain, crawling over rocks and going through streams. I was so nervous about denting up my rocker panel with no sliders but I was having the time of my life!! The next morning is when I got to really meet everyone and they were all surprised that a 16 year old in a stock 4runner kept up with them. One guy told me too get a locker and I could go anywhere. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "yea i've been saving up for one." First thing I did when I got some service was google, "what is a locker?"

Anywho, Yotatech has given me lots of ideas for my rig and I have decided that I could care less about a solid front, I just want a moderate trail rig with lots of accessories. :) I don't have any pics of when I first bought it but it had running boards and stock alloys, first matter of business, remove and paint.

Next came time for a sound system. I am not one of those kids that puts 2 12s in the back of a car and vibrates the entire town, I just like background music so smaller sized speakers and an Alpine stereo.

Every time I would at the front of my truck I would sigh a little bit, it just looks so "old" in my opinion. Rusted out lamps, rattle caned grille and a dented bumper.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_03851.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_03881.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_03831.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_03871.jpg

Up next was a beefy ARB bumper. I wanted one of these, not only because it's bad, it's my personal coverage, lots of deer and coyote on my area. Picked it from Slee off road and they were great!!
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...MG_05561-1.jpg

Next was a rear bumper. the biggest issue when selecting is that I have a swing out tire carrier. I bought a rear from WabFab (TrailGear) and cut a corner out and welded on some tube ends.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_05571.jpg

My speedometer and odometer went out a while ago and thanks to MuddHippy and SuperBleeder I was able to get it all fixed up, kinda. So when on high way speeds the CEL comes on and the O/D light flashes. Muddhippy suggested I replace the VSS which is on the odometer on 91 and below, not on the tranny like 92 and up. Superbleeder told me to pull out the the tach and drive around the block and look at the needle coming out of the cable. Mine was not spinning so I ended up buying a cable instead of a tach and saved about $100! Thanks Super! Replacing it wasn't too bad however my needle is VERY jumpy now, maybe I got a bad cable?

Alright, my fingers are sore now but next order of business is fixing the torn CV boot I found today. I think I might just go ahead and rebuild the whole front end from Ball joints to cvs, tie rods etc. After that, it's time for some sliders and manual hubs!

It'd be pretty sweet to see a pic of the Runner as a whole now. Curious as to why you decided to go with a plate bumper up front and a tube style for the rear?

Here's a plain pic. . http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_05861.jpg

And about the difference between the two styles, I don't really like the look of tubed stingers on a 2nd gen. Actually let me re-phrase that, I think they look better on rigs with a solid front. And i'm sure they are very strong but I have got a lot of deer and coyote around here so I wanted one that could protect my truck up to a certain point. As for the rear, I actually thought about keeping it stock with a trailer hitch but I kept bottoming out. I went from 16" to roughly 22" all the way around which i'm stoked on.

Just for giggles, here's my co-pilot,
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_04631.jpg

So I have been doing some thinking about my front end and what I want to do. I have a torn CV boot and I have a good feeling they are stock, along with everything else down there. Kinda scary. So I think what I want to do is rebuild the boots, change the ball joints and TREs. That's pretty much all I can think of, would anyone else suggest anything? Something that you would feel uncomfortable to drive with if you knew it was stock? I was thinking about just swapping the whole CV assy out but because of some mixed emotion encouragement from Chef, I think i'm just going to man up and rebuild the boots. I've looked over some threads regarding it and it does not look easy by any means but it keeps my wallet thicker which can allow me to dump more money into this thing haha. . .

Torn cv boot, huh...SAS it! I kid.
Looks good, and I understand the deer and coyote bit. I hit a doe at 45 mph or so with the stock bumper in Central Or where I used to live. There's a reason I went with a front bumper first even though the rear one had been removed for a couple years. Anyway, not knocking your style choice, was just curious.
The rig looks good! Also, cool co-pilot.

So I just made a very expensive phone call to the Sealer, I now know why everyone calls it the stealership! Holy cow I just spent $450 on ball joints and 2 CV boot kits!! I hope I never have to change them again because I could have gotten ball joints and CV joints at Autozone for $200 all together. I'm sure you are all going to tell me that I could have gotten everything for a lot cheaper if I ordered them somewhere else so bring it on. I ran out of money too quickly so i'm going to skip the tie rod ends for now, hopefully I don't even need to change them. All I need are some supplies and a clean garage and I plan on going at this next wed afternoon and hopefully finishing by thursday night! The ball joints don't seem too bad but replacing the boots seem scary. I'm going mainly off of Chef's build and Robin Hood's write up, maybe my haynes, it hasn't been very helpful at all. :wrench:

On another note, a couple things I forgot too add to my build are a Tacoma Whip antenna and some Husky floor liners.

The antenna looks cool but I totally regret doing it. $80 for something I have to remove just to go through some trees. My old power one looked so ridiculous but I wish I fixed that one up and modded it to go down with a switch and not the ignition, oh well :/

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...ps70cf6e32.jpg

Husky floor liners. I can't stand cars without floor mats, especially mine. My friends always be leaving clumps of mud on the carpet so I went all out. I found these on Corey's 4runner and I absolutely love them! They don't slide, their deep, they cover everything and they look good! My only complaint is my heels tend to slide on them. Kinda annoying but worth it! I got them for I think $80 from Cabelas, very pricey but I totally recommend them if you play in the mud or live in the snow.

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7be04219.jpg

:parts: So I went the dealer to get my junk and talked to parts guy, Jeremy to be exact :great: I asked him while the CV is out and in my hand, what can I do to inspect the joint? He said that I need to twist and pull on the joints and if I feel any binding or stiffness or anything a long those lines then I need a whole new joint. That might just be him trying to get me too buy parts but he said that if I turn the wheel all the way while driving and here a clunking or feel binding in the wheel, then that is not a good sign. I have always thought that was normal but I have turned the wheel all the way and heard the gnarly clunking, binding sound. So I am actually a little nervous about inspecting them but hopefully I do not need new joints all together.

The parts included with the boot kit; Boots, brown and GREEN grease. I always thought it was black but he said green, the "fasteners?" and a new c clip.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_05901.jpg

Two upper and two lower ball joints plus another boot kit.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_05911.jpg

Aaaaaaaand some supplies to change the job description from "hell" to "oh brother, here we go"
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_05921.jpg

So I plan on tackling this at precisely 3pm Wed afternoon and since my boss said he could use me thurs, I might be pulling an all night'er on this, giving me about 16 hours? :coffee:

Hey man, .... I feel ya. Ordering the boot kit without knowing that they're solid is kinda scary.... BUT, I have another take.... If you find one of the CV's is bound up.... why not grab the best ones you can find off a powder puff grocery getter at a yard.... Anything from 86-95, from what I remember. I would STILL do that over Autozone or anything else.. But I can totally see why you're nervous.

I don't remember when speaking you telling me that you had 'binding or clunking' when I asked that.... NEVER know, that could be really bad ball joints popping around... BUT, at full turn and droop...... a repetitious 'pop-pop-pop', kind of 'pop-ratcheting' doesn't sound great. If you've not pulled them out, turn to full turn on jack stands and with it locked in 4WD, turn away, turning the wheel back and forth... This is not as aggressive on them as wheeling would be, obviously... BUT, if you feel something doing just that? That's not great.

I wouldn't have said anything... But you brought it up; ....... right from the dealer? Curious what just the boots where. I paid 70$ with tax and shipping from www.toyotapartszone.com , I'm pretty sure. I got the ball joints from www.dealerdirectparts.com and paid 48$ each for the lowers, I believe(had the upper mega travels from downey already) I can't remember the price on the site for the uppers..... Maybe 60?(seem to remember them being more $)... Anyway, that would be 220$ for the BJ's and 70$ for the boot kit.... That's under 300$. I don't mention that to rub it in, Stew... I honestly feel bad for any DIY'bud spending more than they have to is all. What made you decide not to go to a site?

You had asked me about the studs, swapping with bolts.... All depends if you want to pull them all or not. You need to remove at least two to make it easier. I didn't change them to bolts, no, to answer your question. Once I figured out how to get them wiggled out, I didn't think I'd bother, but I DO think it's a decent idea. Also, like Toyotech did, you can just grind down all the splines on them and use the studs again AS bolts...BUT, since you're limited on time, you might not want to do that. I did tons of video of knocking the studs out, removing the Warn Hubs(not what you're doing), breaking the nuts.... but I've never taken the time to edit out the stuff that didn't need to be in the video, ya know? So, for now, I'll just post the couple that might help a lil along the way, ok? None of the info is wrong... I just need to edit some of them down a bit, ya know? ...>>>>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtJaIdb2jUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdXH3YAgaDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0kinHE1Ts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weVRemuUI_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rd_vb_44dA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O0clW5q0UM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_c9iz8r_yo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRjgjL-EVk8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2krEqKA-Ew


Ok, at this point, in the removal process.... What I'm trying to explain in the end of the following video is that YOU REALLY need to have 2 people for this part.... Not "NEED"... but good Lord, if you got someone, even a lil brother or something that's over 15 or so.... Have them PULL UPWARD and turn the entire upper assembly(brake apparatus/upper arm and such), while they press down on the lower A-arm... THIS allows the outermost portion of the CV, that get's caught up in the HUB, to slide out. It also causes the arms to be pulled apart from each other, which in turn will create the space for that LAST, outermost bearing housing of the CV to clear the Lower A-arm.... Clearing that lower arm was the most drama of the entire job, honestly, Stew. So as I just said, .... ^^^ add that stuff to the end of this video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE6pgbEVlJQ

The rest is I believe in my build thread... But I'll post it here for ya just for the heck of it...

CV Inspection, after cutting off the boots with some HD Scissors and snips for the rings.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUnICI0Rwow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baP3Thi1U9s



Hope you don't mind me posting these for ya.... Don't want to clutter your build... But thought they'd possibly help. NOW, ADDING to all that I've shown and said, the fact that you're replacing all the ball joints DOES change things and possibly make things a lil easier.... BUT, what you COULD DO, Stew, is loosen the Torsion bars completely, allowing you to push up on the upper arm or literally push the two arms apart using a bottle jack in the back of your rig. This leaves the hub free to manipulate a lot easier, also gives you more room to slide the last portion of the CV outer end out of the A-arm hole toward the diff, ya know? You don't HAVE to loosen the Torsion bars, and if you use the bottle jack method to spread the arms,... just be careful that you're placing both sides in secure spots that wont bend or dent(Most of the A-Arm is reinforced and pretty sturdy... So I wouldn't worry bout that too much.. it's just enough to get the CV out, ya know?) Whatever you do, if the CV's outer most end comes JUST CLEAR of the HUB, DO NOT try to force it back in.. Do it carefully, because IF IT DOES bind up there and you're pushing from the back, trying to get it back in the hub a lil bit to get a different angle or whatever.... The INNER MOST COVER WILL pop off, most likely. I'm 99% positive that's why mine did. Even then, it's not a HUGE deal.

Wish you weren't so far, man.... I'd gladly give you a hand and knock it all out a lil quicker.... Sorry man. I go through Truckee on occasion, ...wish it was this week:(

PS> PLEASE test the CV's while in 4WD at full turn and droop, just to be sure they or which one is binding, ya know? You could just reboot one, if one is good and one is binding... And replace the other with a reman, as you said... Then later, you'll have NO PROBLEM knocking this out in a couple/3 hours, next time. Then, over time, you could find a used one at a junk yard or something(OEM) and rebuild it at your leisure... And, eventually, if the 'AutoZone' one goes buggered on ya.... You just slide it out and slap in the OEM one you've obtained and rebooted, ya know? Just a thought.

Also, remember when you unbolt the lower ball joint(effectively separating the lower and upper arms... Then, the hub assembly can slide upward and round about... Why? Because the rotation is totally on the tapered castle nut and upper ball joint at that point.... Getting the upper arm upward from there takes some maneuvering with a Bottle jack... but you'll see how to do it as you screw around... And then, you'll have the upper arm and lower arms pushing apart from each other.... ANDDDD, you'll be able to separately/independently a lil bit/ move the brake and hub assembly around to help with 'angles' in getting the CV all the way out of the HUB and free to then push the CV end upward and then over and out the lower a-arm hole).... Make sense? lol.

Far as the question on '4WD'..... You should be able to put it in 4WD without the engine running..... You're just testing for binding when you are at full droop and turn. Yes, this can be LESS than revealing as to what's really going on, as when you're weeling, all 4 wheels and "opposite flex" is in play, etc.. Or you could be coming down an incline at an angle and have all the weight of the rig on that one front tire/a-arm/cv/etc..... But ODDLY, that one that's lowest and stuffing upward... that wouldn't bind as likely as the one that's at FULL droop on the opposite front side.... Droop is the harshest angle for the CV... AT stuff, it's almost perfectly level from diff to CV end Splines... That being said, you MIGHT find some binding EVEN WITHOUT it in 4wd.... Because as you rotate it by hand(HOLDING THE CV AXLE SHAFT BETWEEN THE BOOTS AND TURNING IT'), at full droop and steer... you'll see the TOTALLY odd angles that the CV are put in. Sure, it may not be under load/weight... But the CV IS, to some degree, cuz of the weight of the entire single side assembly(brake assembly, rotor, calipers, hub, maybe even tire).... See, if you have the hub in the free position.... You can STILL rotate the CV manually by hand from the inside... See what I'm saying? If you can lock it in then you can do it from the front tire, just having jacked up the front and and turning the wheel to the side(this will also add weight to the picture which could be revealing as well, ya know?) ..... But you can't do it on the ground really, as you wouldn't be at full turn AND droop at the same time, right? ;) ...... You're trying to 'imitate stress' on the CV's when on the trail... So best way is to jack up front and back, get the back on stands and front on at least a jack, put it in 4WD and at full turn and droop, in 4wd, rotate the tires. This will be engaging the TCase and all, ya see?

IF YOU CAN have someone slowly creep into that situation where it makes noise while you wheel... then you crawl along on the ground and listen... EVEN BETTER! lol.. I just don't have the trails or means of a second person to do that most often.

Remember, the inner most part? It's fixed to the diff flange by the 5 studs... So, like a ujoint, IN a WAY,.... it's the angles that the rest of things involved that are taking the abuse... The CV bends in 2 spots and at several different directions at times... (turn and stuff and droop, etc.)... And if it's binding up, it's far more likely you'll see that while it's STILL ATTACHED to the diff than when not, ya feel me? Not saying you can't see damage when you open it up... you may, you may not. BUT YOU WOULD DEFINITELY know if you see binding.....that it's NOT WORTH rebooting, ya see? You then need a donor/20$ junk yard CV to rebuild instead, ya know? :great:

Far as the breaker bar.... I'm not sure, Man... Hmmm... Mine is 26" I believe... And at 18", you'd be 8 shy of that, right? Maybe slip another socket that fits JUST BARELY over the handle of yours, slap on another 1/2" extension.... then VOILA, you got 'mo inches'? hehehe.

Alright time to commence operation I don't know what the heck i'm doing! I put it off for a couple weeks due to time. I could not do all of this in one night. I have this entire week off so off I go. I'm starting with the drivers side because 1) Torn CV boot and 2) I am also replacing the pitman arm. Did not get an idler arm, no clue why :think: Anywho, I completely forgot to get the 54mm socket so I ordered one from Trail Gear, it'll hopefully be here tomorrow. So until then, I'm going to do the ball joints, pitman arm, pull apart the hub, as far as I can and undo everything so as soon as the socket arrives, I can hopefully pull the CV right out of there! :wrench:

P.S I have ADD hubs and have not really found a write up dealing with them, mostly manual hubs, I guess I'm slacking on those so to the best of my knowledge I just need to pull the hub flange off? Is that what it's called? And then I should come face to face with a huge nut! haha I mean the 54mm one. .

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06061.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06081.jpg

This MIGHT help, buddy...... BEST WISHES! >>>>

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/review...ub_conversion/

https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech.../matt_hubs.htm

PS> You replacing that snapped stud? :D hahaha.

Alright, a pretty successful day so far, taking a dinner break right now. I however did not get too much done. This was my first time tearing into the front end like this so I was basically reading and looking, a lot. Trying to figure out, "if I do this, what'll happen over there?" Stuff. Using the scientific method and all. I figured out how to get the drive flange off, pretty cool how it works actually! You've got to stick two bolts into the empty slot and tighten then down and the drive flange actually separates from the hub.
I could not find long enough bolts so i stuck a box end wrench in between the bolt and the plate and it worked perfectly!
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06091.jpg

Got the plate off and here we are, stuck with no 54mm socket. I busted out my snap ring pliers and pulled off the c-clip, looked at it and put it back on. I did have one question though, I do not know if all hubs have this but there was a little mushroom looking spliny thing with a bolt in it, what is that called? Pulling the the flange off I may have slightly, just very slightly, sheared little flakes off, should I be concerned?
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06121.jpg

Next I started working on the upper ball joints, well actually I have only done one, I plan on doing the other one later tonight. Very straight forward, the hardest part was getting the damn cotter pin out!! Holy Cow!! Once I got it out I put the new one it. I had seen a video that Arlindsay had put one youtube. Very informative,
In his video he put the ball joint in the steering knuckle first then the upper arm. Sinse this was the side with the torn boot, I was having a lot of trouble. One hand was holding the hub so the tripod joint didn't fall out while the other was pushing down on the knuckle to get the ball joint in the arm. I spent at least 40 min trying this, finally said "screw it, i'll do it when I have my CV out." I flipped through the haynes and they recommend putting it the arm first then the knuckle, it took about 3 try's it was in. SO MUCH EASIER!!!!!! I unfortunately cannot torque them because the Duralast Torque wrench I bought at Autozone does not work so I need to buy another one.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06131.jpg

So like I said, not much done but this is my first time doing anything Like this so I knew I was going to be slow, still got 4 days! Haha And Chef, I was actually thinking about leaving the stud be, until I put on manual hubs.

And one more thing!!! I broke two wheel studs the other day so I looked up how to fix them and after reading, it looked like hell. Everyone was taking their rotors off and such but I'm a little confused on that. Looking at the plate the the studs stick out of, there are 6 small holes that have thread in them. I was wondering if it is the same setup as the drive flange? Do I just need to tighten down 6 bolts to slide the plate off and replace the studs????? That would be soo much easier! Kind of a bad picture but i'm looking at those greenish looking holes.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06181.jpg

Hey Bud, ..........

Wow, you're tearing in there, eh?

Yeah, you could wait on the stud... but while you're this far in? I replaced my rotors, they were beyond limits.. So while it was off, I went all new Koyo Bearings and races, .... repacked nicely... AFTER knocking that stud out and replacing it with new from Napa. I THINK you can replace one without removing the hub... but the backing plate has to come off first, IIRC? After that, I think I've heard of jacking up a vice right to the stud... Put a nut right flush with the stud end,.. then from the back, put a socket larger than the stud's bolt head in back, .....and start crankin.... It should force it right out the back. (does that make sense at all? ) Maybe a VERY LARGE C-clamp might do the job too... Just put a breaker bar on it's larger sliding handle when it get's tight?)

The 12MM bronze nut in the Axle... OH, WOW, I just saw the Mushroom thing you're talking about.. It's like a top, tapered in as it's heading toward the axle end... Hmmm, I can honestly say I HAVE NO CLUE what that is.. Never seen it. My Bronze Bolt and washer is flat.

Have you read up on the ADD to Man. Lock Hubs swap? You gotta line on some Hubs?

BTW... you're tearing that far in and not doing the Freewheel Manual Locking IFS hubs swap from ADD now? Sorry man... but you'll get it then.. it's supposedly a quick swap from ADD to Manual.

PS> I think that mushroom type end bolt is part of the ADD system. Must need that space for SOME reason, right? lol... Still tripping on that.

Uhhhh ohhh, someone before me made a whoopsy. . . I can hopefully fix it. I pulled off the c clip, then the next washer looking thing, then I break out the 54 mm socket and realize it doesn't fit! Darn you Trail Gear!! No the socket is correct but there is a chip on the bolt!! I may be able to file it down to where it wont be a problem but then there is a little hook like thing that I think is coming from behind the 54mm bolt. That is also causing some issues!! Any suggestions?? :help:
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06201.jpg

Hey mang, ....

1. You have to tap that tab back with a flathead or something similar...> it's a Star Washer, and once you set the inner bolt to the proper torque, you bend one tab toward the back and another toward the front, stopping either Bolt from turning from where it is.

2. You don't HAVE to use that 54MM Socket, especially on the outer bolt, once you tap that tab back in. YES, YOU SHOULD try to just file it down and get the socket on it(after all, you've paid for it)... BUT, without tearing up the bolt more, you could just lightly tap on that gouge with, .. you ready for this? A CHOP STICK! hahaha... YEP, to avoid causing more damage, even by filing, I've done that very thing... In fact, I carry a Heavy Duty Chop Stick in my tools to the yard.. And on 2 occasions, I've tapped that outer bolt right off with the chop stick method! (FIRST, just for the heck of it... Bend that tab back and give that bolt a turn by hand..... I will betcha a Free Meal on me if you're out this way..... IT WILL TURN BY HAND if you put a towel on it or something for leverage. :eeek: )

3. For the inner bolt.... i've used the same method with the chop stick or even a painters stir stick to knock that bolt loose(because I'd forgotten my GIANT SOCKET! hahaha.

Try that out and report back, K man?

PS> Once you get the bolt off with the super happy fun time method of Chop Stick smack down.... THEN you can grind that bolt down with a file and reuse it. (YES, you CAN file it on there... and it will likely be fine... BUT, it's a bit of a tough angle brudda.... So just a suggestion above. Can't hurt with wood, ya feel me? (even a Brass staff would be fine to do the same)

Hey Chef I just got it out!! Yay!! However, I am a little concerned about the way I got it out. So in the beginning I only removed the snap ring and washer. I just read your reply about the Star Washer.

So I disconnected the CV from the Diff Flange, had a terrible time. I finally, after trying every way way to get leverage, put the tire on, lowered it, cracked one loose, raised it up, spun it, lowered it etc. It was caught on one stud when trying to get it out so since I was doing the ball joints, I decided to remove then entire steering arm, knuckle, what ever it is called.

Long story short I removed it and the CV literally just slid right out. What I am concerned about is not doing what you told to me too do first, Chef. I did not use a flat head to push on that tab. I have not looked at the CV yet, break time, but i'm going to inspect the splines for any damage from that. I think i'm going to go ahead and clean up the entire axle and reboot it tomorrow morning. But i'll get back to you when I clean it up some. Hopefully pretty soon! :great:

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06211.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06221.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMG_06231.jpg

hahaha... wow, you went all out, right? :D :great: ....

Hey, YOU DID IT, and you're half way there. Don't worry about not having removed the outer goodies... Unless you're gonna repack the bearings/inspect.... meh. I'm just thinking it out though... Just keep the outermost portion of the hub facing down unless you want the bearings to fall out over night. As i said, doesn't matter if you're going to repack, etc.(I WOULD, DEFINITELY, now that you've removed the whole wheel hub, ya know? Just my 2Cents.. But I know, time is short and you're pressed for more of it.... and you wont be getting more.. You got til Thurs.. I gotcha. Save that job for when you do the hubs. All you have to do is pull the wheel hub next time(and a couple other things while you're swapping in the Manual Hubs... )......... THEN, when doing the manual locking freewheel hubs... I'd definitely go the extra few hours and repack the bearings, at least, ya know?(Inspect the bearings and races, etc. .... letting them go can lead to HORRIBLE consequences IF they're already semi-buggered, ya know? :great: )

Best wishes, man!

i would do a manual hub swap at the same time, alot more reliable, the front auto hubs dont lock in reverse which can be killer, is this an auto or 5 speed?