Well, the woman at the front dest in my hall has an 84 pickup that was rolled. I asked her about the solid axle up front, and she said it was in good shape and to offer her a price. I offered $150 and she gladly accepted. So, how hard is it to remove the solid axle? I'm going over there tomorrow to take it off the truck, and I'm wondering how much time I should give myself. I'm also going to be picking up the driveshaft too. I figure I can do some modifycations to it so it'll work on my truck.

 

11 nuts and it is yours. Make sure to bring a hammer, a punch (crappy screwdriver will work), some PB Blaster, and a TRE separator along with you rachet and sockets (deepwells). Best thing for the job would be a CO2 setup and an impact or a torch if you have either of those available...

 

I don't have the separator, but I might take from the steering box down, my little bro has an '80 that he's working on and he wants the steering for some reason. Anyways, if there's anything else that I need to know before I tackle it let me know. Also, is $150 a good deal?

 

cordless sawzall. its an 84 toyota, so it probobally has rust. it is a PITA to unbolt everything. with only my 18v sawzall, and a hacksaw, it took us about 25 min. to have the axle on the cart and on out way out. and that is only because the battery died before we could cut off the steering. if you have access to a plug, you can make quick work of that front axle. you will be installing new shocks, so just cut them in half. cut at the end where the piston isnt, it will be faster. you will be getting new u-bolts, so that is no big loss. brake lines, i would hope you arent re-using those. steering, you are going hy-steer anyway, so just cut the little arm in half that runs from the box to the knuckle. torque rod, who needs that anyway?

sawzalls make it much faster and easier, pluss more fun

if your bro needs the steering, then i guess you will have to unbolt a couple things.

$150 isnt a bad deal, but you will want to rebuild it anyway, just for safety. its much easier to rebuild an axle on a bench than under a vehicle. if you are serious about the SAS, then grab it. good luck and have fun

 

I'm very serious about doing the SAS. Problem is, this toyota isn't at a junk yard, it's at someone's house. I don't want to do a hack job and leave it there in the front of their house, so the sawzall is kinda out of the question. I plan on asking for a lot of money for x-mas, and an early birthday present which consists of money too. I'm going to get 4.56's put in the diff, along with an ARB. I'm going to buy this kit for my truck. I'll be pretty much set, but I do need to figure out what to do for a drive shaft so if any one knows a good set up, let me know.

 

Seriously, it isn't really a hack job. A torch is the standard way to harvest and axle from a junk truck. Torch the u-bolts, shocks and steering arm and the axle is free. My front axle went from the junk truck to the ground in well under 5 minutes. If you are taking the steering box, then just unbolt that and don't torch the arm. If you don't know anyone with a torch you can borrow, rent one and make sure you know how to use it or take someone who does. It is hands down the best way to do it...

EDIT: I'm sure I don't need to say this but just in case, you torch the rod of the shock and not the canister...

 

I have to just unbolt the whole thing. I'm in college, and I don't have the means to rent a torch. I've got my tool kit here also. I'm just wondering if it's going to take a whole day, or just an hour or two.

 

hehe, yeah, with the torch that would be bad. the sawzall gets lube from the shock juice.

if this truck is in there yard, or they still have it, see if you can just buy the whole truck for cheap. take off everything you need, part it out, and then tow it to the yard and get a little scratch for whatever you couldnt sell.

 

I'd love to do that, but my issue is also space. I wouldn't have a place to work on it. I plan on taking the solid axle off and dirving home next monday for thanksgiving and leave it at home. Also, she's got somebody do take the engine and trans also.

 

It shouldnt take long at all. As far as unbolting it, sawzalling, or torching, it isn't gonna make a mess any of those ways. No madder how you remove the axle, the truck will be out front on stands or blocks without an axle. I'd personally get some WD-40 and unbolt the u-bolts, a sawzall would be quicker and easier but pay attn carefully and don't cut into anything on the axle. Get a ball-joint splitter for the steering and that's it "unless" you want the box also. It's a piece of cake man. You can have that thing off in an hour. Yeah, I don't think $150.00 is bad at all.

 

It has push/pull steering, so no "seperator" or pickle fork will be needed for the draglink. Pull a cotter pin, and screw the insert out and thats taken care off....

It should not take more than an hour to unbolt it, the time spent usually is wiggling it out from under the rig...

 

Mr. Obvious here...

You are TAKING THE FRONT AXLE!!

I wouldn't worry about the hack job. They are going to have to flatbed it out of there after your handywork - unbolt, sawzall, torch - it doesn't really matter.

 

.....shape charge..... much faster!