LJ70 Build Thread!

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

The FSM says to use a torque meter/gauge to check the pinion preload.

So i went to a really good tool shop today but they didnt have one and after looking through catalogues from Beta, Sealey, Draper, Teng and a few others we couldnt find one at all, only torque wrench's.

Got home at 6pm and spent the next 3 hours straight working on the diff.

Looking at the pinion in the old diff, it didnt look like it had been ground to clear the ARB locker.

But i decided i wasnt going to risk putting it back together, without grinding the new one just incase.

So i ground the new one as per the ARB instructions, and then re-built the diff and got the ring gear back lash and bearing preload to the exact figures the FSM said.

All the bearings felt perfect, no noises or excessive movement at all.

So refitted the diff, half shafts back in, bled the brakes, wheels back on, filled the diff back up with oil and took it for an hour long test drive.

After 5miles it felt warm, and i prayed it would stay that way, but 10miles later and it was hot!

I drove around for another 30miles and checked again and still hot. not sure of exact temp, i can just hold my hand on it, any hotter and it would burn me.

Getting pissed off with it now!

Mike, by adjustment collars, do you mean the 2 round discs that are threaded on the outside and have a series of holes in them, that tighten against the bearings?

I made a simple tool to turn them, basically i piece of flat bar with 2 bolts coming through it, which fit into the holes.

FSM didnt mention a torque setting for them.

No i never tried turning it when it was hot.

Yes tightened the bolts for the crown wheel up in the right sequence, and its not noisy at all.

15 hour working day today, and got to be in work at 6.30am tomorrow, so no pics tonight of what ive been doing on the diff.

 

[Graham]

Stuck for words.

You must be really fed up with it now.

Sorry

Gra

 

[Ben]

Yes Gra I am.

terrible night sleep aswell.

oh well.......................at least its Friday tomorrow!

 

[username_11]

I feel a bit better about my diff situation now!
Is yours a 70 aswell?

no i have a hilux (i have the same diff's, other then mine are 5.29s), i only came on here after seeing your cruiser on bits4vits blog



for pinion preload i use a park tools tw-1 got mine from a push bike shop

i reckon your diff's alright, if you can hold your hand on it it's ok. like i said mine gets fairly hot and it's been in for 8000 miles of hard use.

 

[Ben]

that looks very similar to the one in the FSM.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Park-Tool-TW1 ... 466wt_1199

been driving round in it tonight, and i can just about hold my hand on it after doing 70mph.

been busy sorting my camping gear out tonight, removed the passenger seat and fitted my bed, and stuck 70litres of veg oil in the tank!

Almost ready now for 3 days of laning and wild camping!

 

[Julian]

Ben, Park are decent tools. I have used them for years fixing bikes
Good work on sorting the the diff

 

[ModelMakerMan]

I bought this the other week to do the pinion preload when I replaced the rear diff front oil seal (was just about to set out to do it and thought Id quickly check the FSM then realised that when I did the front a few years back I borrowed my dads torque meter wrench, problem was he lives in London!).

 

[Gav Peter]

Ben, when I bought & fitted the diffs I got off Jon for Muxley, we went to the Lakes not long afterwards & we drove vay carefully checking the diffs for heat buildup every service station. They got warm but nowhere near as hot as you are suggesting

Its been a while since then but it was all about bedding the bearings in & whether they were too tight IIRC from what JW was telling us... He'd had a similar thing on a set of diffs he'd built for his own truck one time & it took a while for them to bed in... 'Fraid I'm not too sure which/what/where the bearings are or how they were too tight but they did bed in over the weekend with me driving like an OAP...

Not a great deal of help I'm afraid but t'is somewhat along the lines that KW alluded to in an earlier post...

 

[karl webster]

OMG

Gav your allive

I remember going under muz at those services mate and they did feel a tad toasty to me. Hopefully bens diff is all ok now. Hope so,i know what its like to do a job over and over and still have the same issues.

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

i will keep an eye on it over the weekend, and will take some oil with me and check the level each morning.

just hope its ok and doesnt result in catastrophic failure!

no way im missing out on a weekend away laning with my mates!

 

[Gav Peter]

Gav your allive

Am hanging on in there dude

Yes, they were toastie after motorway miles weren't they but once we got onto slower roads they tended to stay cooler IIRC so maybe just take your time getting there & back Ben... We were stopping for 15-20 mins at each service station to let them cool down on the way up to the Lakes...

Looking forward to the next writeup already Ben

 

[AndyCook]

have a good weekend laning

Ive got Park tools for my mountain bike - i must get one of those torque wrenchs, since some bolts only need 5 Nm for allen bolts on stems etc

Park tools are the "snap on" of the push bike world!

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

finally home from my trip to Wales.

 

[Maverick]

How did the Diff get on??

 

[Ben]

stopped and checked it after 30miles of driving it at 50mph, and it was warm but not hot, that was Friday night.

Checked it a few times over the weekend and it did feel hot at times, certainly hotter than the other toyota and 2 landys in the group.

diff has got to come back out again though, as the locker isnt working.

 

[Maverick]

yeah, you might need that Locker on 9th Sept ...

 

[Ben]

Friday night I left my house at 7PM and drove to Llandovery, where i met Mog, who was in his disco.

We set off to drive a lane, looking for some where to camp. On route i noticed both my temperature gauges going up and my engine getting hot.

After pulling over to check it was clear my rad was damaged and water was p155ing out!

We let it cool down and I poured 5 litres of water into the rad, and managed to drive it another mile or so to our camp spot.

An hour later and the other 2 arrived. Steven in his LC90 and Giles in his LR90

We stood around chatting and drinking beer till the early hours and then got some sleep.

The next day i was up at 6.30AM raring to go!

didnt want to cook in the rain, so i stuck a tarp over the back.

not much room, but i managed.

after my breakfast of sausage and egg sandwiches, it was time to fix my truck!

Decided to take the stat out and run without it. And borrowed some K seal off Steven to hopefully fix the leaking rad.

Stuck the K seal in and run the engine for 20mins. It got up to temp but the K seal wouldnt stop water from squirting out of the rad.

So the next option was epoxy repair stick. i cut some off, needed it together to mix the 2 parts, and pushed it into the core of the rad where the hole was.

30mins later after packing all the gear up, i fired her up and the leak was fixed!

At this point i discovered my rear locker wasnt engaging.

So i disconnected the wires going to the rear locker solenoid. This enabled me to use the front locker on its own, as usually it cant be engaged without the rear one being engaged first.

we then drove out of the forest.

And stopped in Llandovery, to air down the tyres, and so i could buy some rad weld.

So my cruiser.

Steven's cruiser.

Mog's disco.

And Giles's LR 90.

And onto the first lane of the day.

A nice steep rocky climb.

And up to the top of the mountain, where according to the map, theres remains of a roman fortification.

Amazing view.

And along the Roman road.

lovely view over towards the Black Mountains.

End of the lane, and back on the tarmac.

Next lane is one of my favourites!

very tight and overgrown at the top.

pics dont really do this lane justice for how steep and rocky it is.

very overgrown and scratchy at the bottom.

We turned around at the bottom and went back up.

And back on the tarmac.

I struggled a bit getting up, but once i engaged the front locker she shot straight up!

Slight bit of cosmetic damage on Steven's truck.

He decided to unbolt the mud flap that was now hanging off, to prevent it getting ripped off and lost.

We were soon on our way to the next lane.

Quite overgrown.

nice little ford.

We saw a pair of red kites, gliding around, possibly hunting?

I tried and failed to get a pic of them though.

back on the tarmac.

We were now heading West to an area non of us had lane'd in before. It was an area id been told we could find some challenging lanes.

This next lane was amazing!!

round a series of sharp switchbacks, and past a waterfall.

We came to a sharp right uphill turn, and both Gile's and Steven needed a shunt to make the turn.

I took a different line, hoping to do it in 1 turn, but didnt spot a big washed out hole at the base of the climb.

I turned the steering wheel, put the throttle down and suddenly the near side front wheel shot up off the ground, and the truck was starting to tip over.

It all happened very quickly and it threw me a bit as i wasnt expecting it.

I was immediately in shock, as to why it hadnt tipped over, as it felt like i had gone way past the normal point at which it feels like it will go.

So i sat that, and it felt so unsafe that i was scared to move an inch, i was worried that if i even moved slightly, it might go over.

So a quick shout over the cb and Giles was running down the hill, and was up on the near side corner of the bumper, trying to stabilise the truck.

Before Giles was on the bumper, the near side wheel was at least another foot or so higher off the ground.

Mog came and got on the near side rock slider, and with the 2 of them weighting the front down i engaged the front locker and slowly crawled up.

The next lane turned out to be equally as good as the last one.

nice little ford at the start.

Steven managed to get himself delayed slightly in a large bomb hole in the middle of the lane.

A quick snatch later from the landy

And he was free.

Very steep drop down the next section.

And out onto open farmland.

A few road miles next, and we were at the youth hostel on the way to Soar Mynd.

I hadnt driven this lane for a few years, and id forgotten what a nice lane it is.

A few tarmac miles from Soar Mynd, and we were on Strata.

We soon arrived at my favourite wild camp spot on Strata.

Giles then said he would go and get some fire wood, and came back with a tree!

We soon had the tarp set up.

And the pig lit!

We then cooked dinner, and drank plenty of beer till the early hours. It was a cold wet night, but we were lovely and dry and warm under the tarp with the log burner kicking out loads of heat!!

Giles got his chopper out!

and cut up the fire wood.

And the pig burnt all night!

So that was day 1, and what a bloody awesome day it was!

Drove some great lanes, with some great mates, and had a great night with plenty of cold beers!


But wait till you see what happens on day 2!

 

[AndyCook]

looking like a good weekend (except for rad issue) so far...
look forward to part2

 

[sae70]

LOL What a crack of a weekend, still smiling

Got home @ 6:45ish but been telling the children of the tales of the weekend and showing them the pics before putting them all to bed. I now need a good long shower, dinner and a JD

Did just on 750miles this weekend, wish I'd been using Veg oil

Ben, just one thing to say m8 What a cracker

 

[Graham]

Great lanes, and good story line, with the usual excellent pictures.
SF looked especially wet and deep !
So how did the rad. spring a leak? just a happening?
That episode with the front sky high looks interesting to say the least.
Was it really close to falling back on itself, as shown?
Looks quite scary.

Gra.