it's just a personal preferance .. I just dont like em! . and stock steering , NEVER had a problem . again my preferance .

.

 

Nothin' wrong with that.
Just FYI, the reason I dislike the push-pull steering in the SFA hilux is because I've gone numerous rescue missions because of this piece broken.
But again, it's your call.

 

no no no ... Robb , i'm not wanting to re-think the wheel here on this one .. and geeze Louise , I am working on a budget ...


Thats cool .. " to each ther own " Personally I think It's a waist of money , just a "new fad" . I think the whole reason it came out in the first place was bad driving and HARD CORE rock crawlin' .. not necessary for the "average driver" .. just my opinion !

I have never had a problem .. many many years of HARD " rompin' " (28 years experiance) and neither I , nor 1 of my buddies ever had a problem ..



36" swampers , ARB's locked front and rear , w/ 5:29's .. 150 RWHP .
13 years I had this truck , and EVERY week I drove er' hard and put er' up wet .. not ever 1 problem with the stock steering .. EVER , and that is my reason !


.

 

you know me .... post whore .

 

oh yeah ..

 

so .... wee ... progress today .

cut a couple of pieces off ..






also the brake line mounts .




ready to go ...


.

 

I need more,,,

 

ok ... so heres the problem i'm having :-/
everytime I work on this project .. I get so far .. and I have to take it down

I have the engine "dangling" from my cherry picker ... and this is not good !

every time I go to do some work on it , I have to change the shop around to accomadate the cherry picker .. and there go my measurements ..
brain fart put it on an engine stand ... hello ???

SO .. I got another engine stand , and .......

were almost ready to go .

got an engine stand .. setting it up .. and almost ready for some engine mounts .


.

 

so started working on the motor mounts .

after weeks of shopping , and 1/2 as$ looking around , I finally found the mounts I want ..




They are just perfect ... and exactly what i have been looking for .
They fit the original mounts ..




and "hang" exactly where I want .

I started on the frame side mounts , but had an issue with the press . ... so I had to stop here .

What I have , are the 20r,22r& re engine mounts ...................



I cut them to fit the angle of the frame , and the angle of the mounts ... ( paper cut-outs & tape)





I'm making a frame bridal/bridge now and got them all cut out .. and ---- no press ...

so had to stop there . untill I can fix it ....



.

 

so .. no pics ..yet! .

but the engine and tranny is in .

 

so ..

heres what we got so far .. I intend to add some gussets when i remove the engine to do the frame , but here's the "jist" of it .














also got a little delivery today ..
My NEW rad .. turbo 3row .





Fan is also ordered ..
Maradyne 16" excellent flow .. should work great .






.

 

got to work on the drive shafts today ..

started with the front ... hung the original 95 shaft , and no way . CV would not bend enough . So I decided to compare .

angles are WAY different for some reason ? and not sure whay Toyota would change this .
The 95 -> has a lip on the inner CV ball that restricts any "extreme" angle .. so /95 shaft it is not going to work .

you can clearly see the differance . (not sure on the 84-88 shaft , dont have one)




so now to line things up .
front flange works (of course , diff side) but the rear (transfer side) has the 10MM studs .. with just a few measurements , I found you could knock out the flange studs . and using the 79-83 8MM drive shaft bolts , it'll line up . I was worried about the differance in the 10mm original , and the 8mm 79-83 .. but if you look at the flange/flange , there should be no movement .




so .. now FRONT DRIVE SHAFT ON . , I may have to lengthen , not sure yet .. but it's on





rear was not so difficult .. just had to drill the flange . set it up , and drilled .




finished




and installed .





so NOW I can build my crossmember .




.

 

There is a write-up on 4x4wire.com on how to modify an IFS CV shaft so it has more drop than a solid axle one.

EDIT: Found it. http://4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/cvmod/

 

thanks .. might consider later on .

 

got a little done on the crossmember tonight ..

started with cutting off the original mounts





also got some frame plates cut , and "placed " .




also got the "mounts" completed ..







then made a "trace" of the original mount holes , and cut the lower crossmember







thats it for tonight .

 

ok so .. here's why the hold on the crossmember .





I layed the "header" pipe where I thought it should be , had to watch out for the shackle clearance and such , and sure enough , it would have hit the crossmember .. so I think I have the crossmember figured now , but I figured I might as well get the crossover done , and in place first .

heres the pic of the cat , and the shackle clearance ... just for referance .



so I chopped up the old crossover ..



some guys have "re-worked" the old pipes , and expansion joint , I decided to go all new .

cleaned up all the old flanges , and put them in place ..




made a "template" of the first pipe , and ran of to get it bent .

trimmed it up , and cut it to fit ..








the stick indicates the firewall


pipe #2




and pipe # 3




a little triming (a LOT of grinding)
and a tack here and there , and finally I can weld .

I talked to the muffler shop , and the pipe bender guy suggested staying with the original Toyota flex joint , as they are WAYYY better then the aftermarket ones .. so I cut it out , and re used it .

starting to weld ....







and fully welded ..



part of the reason for this excersize , was I really wanted to have the original heat shield back on .. and TA, DA ..




and some clearance pics ..



and water pipe clearance .




[SIZE="3"]total price ... $30.00 + consumables , and my time . [/SIZE]


now I can finish the crossmember .

 

Dude, this is the best buildup ever.

 

well thank you ..

 

so got to work on the crossmember .

tranny mount is there , and now time for the frame attachment .



cut some pieces , and cut and ground and bend .. and heres what I got .









welding







LONG shot ...




lots of fitting and drilling cutting and fitting
cut some frame braces ..




boxed in the mount




and got er' ready to drop out .. long shot



added the protector plate , and strengtheners ..




clearance ..




and VIOLA .. DONE .


next on the slate .. and just arrived today

 

ok .. so a wee bit of work in the last couple of days ..

got the front calipers in and ohhh!! boy .. they need some work .
heres what I started with ..




got em' all "blasted" and cleaned




and then "zinc 'ed " ,



now ready for some Caliper paint , and NEW Toyota Pads ... I think I wanna fit the rims first .. so well see .

also started again on the rear diff .. got it out and started pullin' axles to get on the rear discs ..






and ordered parts .....