Econowheeler (Dun Blowed Up)

[Rocksurfer]

Well I hear people talking on here when they've had issues getting their ps to work when doing things converting from push-pull steering or doing sas conversions, people keep telling them they forgot to bleed it and I don't get it. All I do is prime the systems as i put it together so that the seals are pre-lubed and then once it's all together I just fill the resivior let it settle then top it off, fire up the truck and start working the air out by turning the wheel lock to lock until the air works its way out topping the fluid as I go. 

Note: I'm doing a write up on this and going to post it so others will see how I did it.

[DTB]

yea power steering is kick ass!

[Rocksurfer]

It's only new seats but when you see what I had to start with this is a major upgrade, kinda like moving from a burro to 1st Class on Virgin Air. Wasn't a bad swap, the buckets are out of a 3rd Gen. so there were some mods to be made. The front right mount needed to be flattened, and the right rear mount required a piece of L-channel to be mounted on the slides. There were also some centering pins that had to be cut off, I just used a pair of bolt cutters and they were gone. The front outside mount bolted right up and centered perfectly with the steering wheel all the other mounts didn't line up so new holes had to be drilled. Other than that it was cake.





Thanks Carlos (4DEES) those seats were a steal at $60.00 they cleaned right up.

[Mavericks]

Looks great! Its going to feel like a new truck again.  What did you use to clean those? I just picked up some SR5 buckets and they have some grease on them.  A little soap and water?

[Rocksurfer]

I have a carwash.

[crawlerdan]

i didnt know they made 4x4s with standard steering....??

[Rocksurfer]

It's a bulk product from Car-aroma my product supplier. It is a fabric cleaner degreaser, works really good since I can adjust its strength. Generally it's 20:1 but if required I can go as high as 5:1 without hurting the fabric. Sorry it's not available for retail.

[Rocksurfer]

i didnt know they made 4x4s with standard steering....??

I've had a couple of them. All I know is currently there is one less out there.

[crawlerdan]

good. carbed too?

[Rocksurfer]

Yup!

[Rocksurfer]

Put a new radio in the wheeler today, no not a stereo a real radio 2 way and not a CB granted I have a CB and a Stereo but I spent the afternoon putting in a 2 meter radio for those times when you really need help. Our club has a license for a business channel and most members have one. They got this when I was in AZ. so I never ordered one and put it in. I guess they are pretty powerful around 60 watts, we usually can talk to our base camp from just about anywhere when we are on the trail. I know that when we last went to the Rubicon I broke my frame on the Willys and they called for help from the slabs. We needed a receiver to tow me back to camp and they came in loud and clear. No pics yet of the radio it is surprisingly small for what it puts out.

[Rocksurfer]

Optical Illusion will be locked in the rear shortly, had a spare third sitting around the shop and welded it up. Now hopefully I can get it in before Fri. Hope I have time to get it in tomorrow. I'll post some pics in a bit, still too hot to handle.

[Rocksurfer]

Here's the diff welded, it's out of an 85 but will work fine in my 86. I'm thinking that the flange holes will be different but I have a drill to fix that.

[Rocksurfer]

IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!!! Just in time for Calico, spent last night getting it done. Sorry no pics of the install but I think we've seen that install a million times already. I did almost take the thumb of one of my employee's with a drill though, I had to re-drill the flange and he was holding the 3rd member so that it wouldn't try to spin as I was drilling and the bit broke and almost went through knuckle of his thumb. I was able to stop it in time so it didn't get there but the skin around it looks a little like raw hamburger meat. It was a bleeder too, made Campfire Girl a little queezy, but then she took over and dressed it up. Gonna load it up on the motorhome today and off to Calico we go.

[Rocksurfer]

Nothing much to report but I did fix a couple issues and found another. My doors, they were in sad mechanical shape from when I bought the truck. The drivers side window wouldn't roll all the way up and the passenger side was really hard to roll up and was also hard to open from the inside. Well I got a new left side regulator and lubed up the right one and while I was at it tweaked the inside linkage so that it would open easy. Then while doing some regular maintenance I noticed that the right rear shock was broken at the welds. I took it off and it's empty not a drop of fluid in it. Must have cracked it on Doran when we went to Calico, I'll be getting a new set shortly.

I am really enjoying the Lincoln Locker it made a world of difference on Doran let alone having power steering. I think I would have really struggled without them.

[lilbuddy]

Is that all the weld that you put in that??

I personally woulda welded it a lot more than that.

[TIMS89CRAWLER]

I welded the hell outta mine but I would still bet that holds up just fine... the truck looks good though

[Rocksurfer]

I've done it that way before with no issues on my 84. I could have spent a lot more time but I don't want to take a chance of getting it too hot and really mess things up. Sometimes less is better, the more weld you put in the more of a chance on warping something regardless of how careful you are on how much heat you put in it. Plus I'm running 33's not 39's. I did weld the pins so it should hold fine. I'm also going to go with a less aggressive tire so it slips easier.

[Rocksurfer]

  Thanks blackdiamond they will be put to good use.

[82 HiLux]

bilsteins and toyotas are meant to be

[Rocksurfer]

Finally got those Bilsteins on, took a long time to get those bushings.

[Talon84x4]

Hey RS, have you had any problems with those mud kings in the rain on pavement?

[Rocksurfer]

No none at all, but I do live in the desert so I don't see much rain. I have run it in the rain and snow and had no issues.

[Talon84x4]

Just curious. I had had some stopping issues with them in the rain a while back, thought they could use some cipes(sp). How were they in the snow?

[Rocksurfer]

They shed snow pretty well even the wet slushy stuff, only thing I've noticed is they have worn pretty fast and in hard rock wheeling I've lost a few lugs off the tread.

[Talon84x4]

I noticed that too, so I use them for dd and have some iroks for the fun stuff

[Rocksurfer]

Well I was going to Yucca Valley today and as I was climbing the long grade just before entering town I noticed that I was loosing some power, I was thinking that it was the wind since it was and usual is very windy there. When I got to the top it didn't seem to gain any so I started to be a little concerned that it wasn't the incline but that it was still windy and maybe that's it. Well no sooner than I thought that I started to hear a little rattle and if I let off the pedal it went away. So I continued a little more and the rattle started getting worse, and worse. I was also loosing more and more power so I pulled to the side and the rattle didn't go away now. Well I figured that I was in the throws of spitting a rod now so I just drove it to my destination and as I just barely made it into the parking lot I could tell I was done it was tossing its cookies. So I parked it at the edge of the lot and went in and took care of the reason I went there. Once finished I called AAA and had it towed home. So now I'm in the market for a carbed 22r becuase it sounds like a bunch of marbles being shook in a box.

[unclejpl4x4]

[Rocksurfer]

Yeah tell me about it, at least it did have over 200,000 miles on it. The timing sucks starfish though.

[95SAS]

3r7 would be sweet