Yay! Finally time for some new truck porn. Picked it up last night and got an alignment today. for Big O down the street. Steering wheel lines right up,tracks well, returns to center...

Of course, no porn would be complete without a double entendre to start things off, so here goes.
"Dang, that's a big one."

Just barely fits

A couple shots of how the rear got set up



And a couple refreshers for the front.




I still have quite a bit of vibration, especially on deceleration, but I have to attribute that to the drive shaft for now. Unfortunately, I return to the confines of work for the next 4 days, so any further work will have to wait. Next up, d shafts and rear diff regear.

 

Looks good!!

Will it fit in the garage once the fullsize meats are on?

 

Too close to call. I can still adjust the door opener to get the door to completely clear the door frame and get another inch, maybe 2. That might do it. We'll see. In the meantime I'll hope for a bit more settling.

 

5" shackles on the way to becoming 3" shackles.



3" shackles for the traction bar.



Rear Suspension



Rear Bump Stop Snubber



Rear Shock



Traction Bar: Fill Flash



Traction Bar: No Flash

 

Is it me, or does that ebrake cable seem really snugged to the top part of your leafs?

 

Who are you and when did you start posting here?

 

The truck is really tall. I think it will settle quite a bit after you start flexing that beast.

 

Looking good Mike. Time to get it dirty now! When is the shake down run?

Edit - my ebrake runs over the top of the springs like that as well. Its obviously better if it doesnt but its been fine, but now that I say this I know I am guaranteeing that I will have an issue in the future! I am always real careful with the old 4runner/mini truck ebrakes though. They have never held that great to begin with, be careful regardless.

 

Yes it touches but they all do. I'll think about solutions but it's a low priority for now.

I hope so. I'd really like this thing to fit in the garage without a fuss.

Still have d shafts to send out and a regear on the rear diff. Hopefully not much longer.

 

Mike, congrats on the build. Truck is looking awesome.

 

So the diff got re-geared a couple weeks ago and is back in along with new seals on the rear axle. Bare metal is painted in one fashion or another. Installed the ARB compressor over the past couple days, what a PITA. Seems to work well though so at least that's a good thing. Thought the drive shafts would be here today but no... Now it's back to work again. No pics. None of it was very interesting.

 

good to hear you are making some progress!
I wish to hell I was on my SAS

 

Ahhh.... What the hell. Pics.

 

Pretty much back together. Can't get the new front driveshaft to let go of it's compressed position, so I've still got that to get on. Open to ideas of how to get that biotch to let loose. Schaefer gave me one idea that I'm about to go work on now.

Here she is on 35's and no way it's going to fit in the garage. Sorry for the screwy lighting.

 

Something is wrong.

I got the driveshaft to extend, hooked it up, and went out for a little test run. Everything seems fine. Shift to 4WD and get LOTS of vibration that kind of clears up with a little speed i.e. 20 miles per hour. This is 4hi, straight line, hubs and locker unlocked. Take an easy turn and get lots of vibes and bucking again. Locked it in and essentially the same, maybe a little worse. No loud clanks, pops, or grinding though. Had previously checked the ARB and it appeared to function properly, but I forgot to try a check of 30 minutes continuous locked position to double check for leaks. Fired up the compressor and it ran for a few seconds as expected. Engaged the locker and got continuous compressor running. Found air leaking at the diff breather at a steady flow. Dammit. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Opinions?

 

I don't think the front axle is put together right. If the front locker is leaking inside, the seal thing that rides next to the bearing is not sealing.

If the rear turns smooth now, with the rear diff re-build, it has to be the front axle, and no don't worry, the tube is not bent. There was that shh shh shh sound all along. I was hoping it was the rear diffs dust shield.

The fact that you had to grind for a stock axle is the first place to look, they go in really easy. Something is not put together right, unfortunately you will have to take the front diff back to ZUK as once they leak, they will always leak.

 

Yeah. I know I have to take it back apart which really bums me out, but why do think the tube is not bent? That's what worries me, especially in light of having to grind just to get the stock axles in place. I worry that I'll take the diff back to ZUK, get it all buttoned up again, and then have the same thing happen. On the other hand, I don't suppose there is really anything else to do except just assume the housing is bad, which then would be a whole different pile of inconvenience.

Obviously I have to tear it apart regardless. I'm just looking for other possible problems to keep an eye out for while I'm doing it.

Thanks.

 

Because everyone screams bent housing at the first sign of anything. Everything should be in sync when even the spindles go on. It is very complicated axle to assemble.

It has to come a part and you have to find out what is not put together right. I spent a lot time on that tube and everything I welded on lined up just fine. If the tube was bent, the upper truss would have told me. It is just simply not put together correctly. The the tube is fine. That is my call.

Maybe I am wrong, maybe not. We won't know until it comes apart again.

But the tube is not bent.

 

Thanks. That makes sense and is reassuring.

 

Finally got off my butt and took it apart today.

First though, it seems much of the vibration was from my own carelessness. I swung by Zuk's to let him see it before I pulled it apart and he noticed in about 2 seconds that I hadn't tightened up my d shaft bolts at the t case end. No doubt I got caught up in trying to get the shaft to release at the front end and overlooked that. Almost too embarassing to admit in public, but hey, I did it and I'll take my lumps.

On to the teardown. Got it apart.




The long side was still fussy about coming out, but it's out.
Locker problem is pretty obvious.


Looks like it got caught in the ring gear at the bottom here (sorry for the crappy focus) which yanked it out of the top as shown above.


Time to e mail ZUK and make an appointment.