96 4Runner 229,xxx miles

CV shaft, rt side. Bought O'Reilly new shafts and installed them last year. The boots cracked and puked grease so this time I bought A1 Cardone remans. Well, the Cardone shafts look a lot better than the junk new ones. Boots have more lobes too. I did have to re-use the seals from my old Toyota shafts, these didn't come with any, nor a new cotter pin.

Things I want to remember for the next one:
CV shaft torque 174 ft lb
4 Lower ball joint bolts 59 ft lb and loctite
ball joint bolt 105 ft lb (didn't have to undo that but writing it here as reference)
Wabfab adapter lug nuts 100 ft lb and loctite


Took a look at the left side. The boots are still holding grease but they are cracking too so I've ordered a reman for that side as well. Oy. Good thing this is a relatively easy job, the hardest part for me is getting the truck high enough up in the air to get a tire off the ground and keep it off even after lowering onto a jack stand.
Otherwise it's 12 lug nuts (I have an adapter), pop off the axle cover, unbolt 35mm nut from axle shaft, unbolt 4 ball joint bolts, move spindle/brake assembly to pull out shaft and then out of the way, convince c-clipped inner shaft to come out of the dif, pull cv shaft out, put in new shaft and convince c-clipped shaft to go in dif and seat, bring spindle/brake assembly around and guide outer cv shaft in, start cv shaft nut, loc-tite and torque 4 ball joint bolts, torque cv shaft nut, put weird castle washer thing that prolly has an actual name on, use cotter pin. Tap on axle cover, bolt on adapter, bolt on wheel.
There, I've prolly forgotten something but that's pretty much it.

Stupid O'Reilly new cv shafts. Don't get 'em. Just don't bother. I was trying to hang on to my original yota shafts for spares but the reman A1 Cardone in this case just looks so much better than the new ones so cores it is. Are they better? Maybe? Cross fingers these fare better than the others did because there's only so many times I need to practice my cv replacing!!!

 

Hey hab
If things need "convincing" just GaBH... Get a Bigger Hammer... LOL

Have you posted up your trip pics in the calendar thread yet? They are def. contenders...

 

A big hammer and a crow bar to the lip of the inner joint...WHACK!!!

I haven't done any calendar anything. Too many to dos, not so much time. Which one did you like?
My fingers are on fire right now, just got done seeding and chopping about half the jalapenos out of the garden. Tomatoes, bells, and anaheims too, 5 hours of chop chop chop chop chop.

Went to pick up the other cv shaft but I didn't like the way it looked so they're getting a couple more for me to look at tomorrow. Maybe I'll finally put some new bushings in that lower control arm since I'm halfway to having it out anyway. I'll also try to remember to get the camera greasy and take some pics while I'm in there.

 

I'd go ahead and post any of the pics that have the truck (or parts there of) in it too they are all awesome...

anaheims are a kind of pepper? what is their flavour profile like?

 

Anaheims are a mild to medium hot pepper. Zip but not jalapeno zip. I still get enough capsaisan on my fingers to burn a little but not for a couple of days like the jalapenos are still doing to me. They're about 7" long, pointy and a little wrinkly looking. They start out green and will turn red (and apparently hotter) if they hang on the plant long enough. Goes great in dirty corn chowder, gumbo, scrambled leggs.

Got my cv shaft, think I'll replace the bushings in the lower control arm on the left. Shoulda done right but didn't think of it at the time. Guess I'll source some more bushings and go for it. Maybe. Some kind of pics to come at some point.

 

scrambled leggs eh? I like where your heads at... heh heh...
I may have to try to grow some anaheims next yr they sound interesting...

might want that recip. for the dity corn chowder it sounds tasty...

 

Dirty Corn Chowder
tbsp butter
bell pepper, coarsely chopped (I like red bells, makes it all colorful in there)
7 green onions, chopped
2 anaheim peppers, chopped (sometimes I used jalapenos, if that's what I have on hand)
3/4# new potatoes (don't have to be new, regular reds work fine and are cheaper-I've used other kinds of potato too) cut into bite-size pieces- too thick and they take forever to cook
tsp cumin
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
can evaporated milk
2 cans creamed corn
can black beans- unseasoned

Melt butter in large pot. Cook peppers and onion 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in potatoes, salt and spices and enough water to cover potatoes (about 3 cups). Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer til taters are tender (bout 10 minutes). Stir in remaining ingredients, cook til hot, do not boil.

That's basically it. Sometimes I throw in some okra or extra bell peppers or extra corn in there. Sometimes I'll sub frozen corn for one of the cans of creamed corn. Sometimes diced ham unless the vegetarians are eating it. Whatever I've got hanging around and depending on how many people I'm feeding. Also the recipe doesn't say to do this but I drain some of the extra liquid after cooking the potatoes so the chowder's not very soupy.
I serve it with homemade rolls and Monterrey cheese to sprinkle on top. Goes well with key lime pie for desert.
All I know is when I bring it vegetarian style to pot-lucks it's one of the first foods to disappear.
Tastes good the second day, too. So does the pie.

 

Thanks hab sounds yum yummy... gonna give her a go one day soon...

is that 3/4 lb. new potatoes or 3 to 4 new potatoes?

here's a thought instead of ham why not try choriso sausage? comes in mild or spicy... I'd go with the spicy it is a little more flavourful and not too hot... just dice it and maybe give it a quick turn in the skillet with a little butter to partially cook and wake up the flavours.

 

.75 pounds of new red potatoes, or I just use red potatoes and pick out the smaller ones- cheaper that way.

Choriso, eh? That might work. I've tried chicken and that didn't work as well as the ham. Lately I've been doing without the meat and using more black beans since I grew a bunch of 'em in the garden this year.

 

96 4Runner 229,xxx
The worm can has been opened and the suckers are crawling all over the place....

So off come the wheel and adapter, off comes the hub cover...



Off comes the cotter pin, retainer nut thingy that I don't know what it's called and isn't pictured but sits atop the axle nut, and the axle nut (35mm in this case)



Off come the 4 lower ball joint bolts. Leave that big guy alone, we don't need to mess with him today.



Pull the spindle/brake assembly away from the outer cv shaft. I got lucky, this one fell right out. Maybe because I got unlucky and am redoing the stupid things after just over a year. Hook the assembly somewhere out of the way.



Carefully find a way to convince the inner shaft it wants to separate from the front diff. There's a c-clip holding it in- I have to use a long pry bar for the leverage. Partway out. Girl muscles, meh.



Ah yeah, that got it. Now it'll pull right out.


Disclaimer:
*Y'all know I'm not a mechanic, right? That I only work on my own trucks and that I don't claim to know what I'm doing!*

That's as far as I am right now. Silly me decided to go ahead and pull the lower a-ams to get new bushings pressed in. How hard can it be, right?
So now I've taken out the diff drop, lowered the belly pan, unbolted the rack and pinion, undid the outer tie rods and sway links, unbolted the lower shock bolts, unbolted the lower a-arms......I think that's it so far. This is definitely turning out to be more job than I was planning for. Ah well. When it's time to work on one or more of these components on the 99 it's all getting done at once:
tie rods, rack bushings, sway bar bushings, sway links or bushings if I can find them, cv shafts, ball joints and control arm bushings. If I decide to lift it then that stuff too!

 

So the can or worms in question was the Cvshaft issue we were discussing before we got distracted with corn chowder right?
Are you also tackling the same thing on the 99?

 

It is the cv issue we were talking about earlier- for the 96. I also got the lower a-arms off and new bushings pressed in and as of tonight it's all back together. Time for an alignment.

The 99's in good enough shape for now. I will be doing lower ball joints but am waiting on it 'cause all the spare change is in my hubby's Volvo.


Well, this is one filthy pig that's gotta take a shower and get some sleep. Night, y'all.

 

Argh! Now the shop's saying my left outer tie rod is 'loose as a goose'. True? Dunno. Gonna go up there and find out, I guess. I replaced it 5/27/11 with a toyota part.
One thing, another.

Edit:
So I went up there to see for myself and he said it was fixed. Don't 'xactly know what that was about. Prolly something I did when I was buttoning it up late last night. :/

Next up, maybe some sort of blinker mod??? It's getting to be trail building season and I still haven't painted the trim on the house yet so who knows.

 

Hello Hab
I have been lurking for a long time and am finally ready to start my build. I really like your truck and was hoping to built my 99 close to what you have. I spent about an hour reading your build thread and think I may have missed something. Let me know if I am wrong but I think your suspension set up is;
Sonoran Steel 1.2 lift
1” body lift
1’ spacer (not sure on this one, I think I read this in one of your posts in another thread)
285/75/16 tires (you changed the wheels but did you change the tire size?
Why did you add a body lift and are you happy you did?
What skids did you choose?
Thanks in advance
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”

 

Rondo.....Thanks!
You are correct-
Sonoran Steel 1.2 lift......I think he's in Tempe, AZ
WabFab 1" body lift
285/75r16, or 33" tires (originals are 265/70r16, or 31")- I did change them
The WabFab 1" spacers (actually wheel adapters) were so the tires would clear the upper a-arms and Tundra brakes.

I did the body lift to gain more room for tire travel. I was getting a ton of stuffing when wheeling. I did not want to go higher than 1.5" though, center of gravity is better lower than higher. I have tried it on trails and am very happy with the results and it drives normally on the road. I guess I could have done some cutting/welding on the fenders/wheel wells but I am not ready (nor have the skills) to go there yet.

I got Amorphous' Trail Carnage skids when his truck was totaled. I was contemplating Bud Builts before that but hadn't really shopped around much at that point. I knew I wanted strength and the ability to change the oil without removing the skid (hole to reach oil pan bolt).

PS. I am far-sighted and had some trouble reading your post ....could you maybe post a little bigger next time??? I know I should keep my readers nearby but my arms are still long enough and I don't like wearing them when I don't have to. Thanks.

 

96 4Runner 229,5xx miles

My awful sounding clunk is GONE! Lower control arm bushings for the win!

 

bumped his font size up a notch

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the infor and Help.
I would be happy to change my font the problem is how. sorry for the nube issues.

 

No worries and your current font is fine, I was afraid your next post would be in LARGE and then I'd moan about how you were yelling at me.
I'm a girl. There's no pleasin' one of them.