Category Archives: Cruiser Tech

Below are articles on modifying and maintaining your Cruiser. All submissions are welcome!

Using the Toyota Front Axle SST

This article show you how to use the Toyota Special Service Tool to set up the knuckle. Many old time Toyota owners have this tool, and a few clubs around the country have purchased them to share amongst their members.

Begin by attaching the assembly to the end of the housing as shown in the picture below. It is important to have the bearings in place then this is done.

Torque down the SST assembly on the end of the housing until the proper preload is achieved at the end of the arm.

Measure the height of the torqued assembly to get the first part of the shim thickness – calculation “A”

Scribe a centering line on the shaft with the part of the tool that fits into the end of the axle housing where the seal goes.

Measure height of knuckle to determine second shim measurement – Calculation “B”

Attach spindle to knuckle and scribe a second line to determine centerline of knuckle – measure the distance between the two scribed lines to get measurement “D”.

Calculations

Total shim thickness “C”: C = A – B

Lower shim thickness “E”: E = D – 3mm (0.118″)

Top shim thickness “F”: F = C – E

Once the shims are calculated, install them along with the steering arms and bottom caps. Torque to specs and recheck preload with fish scale.

This article originally appeared on  4x4Wire.com and is published here with the permission of the author and 4x4Wire.com

 

Porting the Superflow MV50 Compressor

Please see the Superflow MV50 Gallery for full-size detail pictures.

 

I wanted to find out whether there was anything wrong with mine, and whether I could do anything to get sustained flow again. For disassembly, all that is required is a 4mm allen wrench or driver for the head bolts, and a 14mm wrench for the output fitting.

 

Disassembly of the compressor piston and head takes a minute. Once the four studs are removed, everything else can be removed by hand. Not surprisingly, when I pulled the piston head off, I found very visible signs of overheating. I cleaned up the piston, the skirt, and the head, and used a very thin application of high-quality grease on the piston.

After studying the head for a few minutes, it became obvious that there was room to port the intake and output ports. Each port is covered by a flexible steel flap, and when the piston is on the downstroke the flap opens to allow air in to the chamber. Then when the piston is on the upstroke, the compressed air forces open the output flap. These flaps make excellent templates for the porting.

Using a router bit on a Dremel, I removed the rib and a bit of extra material on the intake port for a roughly 25% gain in flow capacity. I used the Dremel to effectively double the size of the output port.

 

After a good cleaning, I reassembled the compressor, and using parts from leftover projects installed a brass, barbed output; and a new coiled hose (the original hose fittings leaked at the assembly that is screwed onto the valve stem). Then I sourced a zooty Type R filter to replace the original plastic and sponge filter for more airflow and a touch of bling.

The MV50 is rated at 150 psi and 2.5 CFM and when new, it could inflate a 33″ tire from 18psi to 35psi in roughly 3 minutes. After this cleaning and porting, the MV50 sustained airflow over multiple fills and consistently aired my 33’s from 18psi to 35psi in just over two minutes per tire. This is a very satisfactory result for 1 hour of time and $7.

This article was originally published on http://www.4x4wire.com and is reproduced here by permission of 4x4Wire.com and the author.

Converting FJ-40 front drums to disk with minitruck parts

I chose to use Toyota pickup (minitruck) parts to swap onto the front axle to replace the original drum brakes.

'81 through '85 Minitruck Parts list (Basically everything from the knuckle out):

  • Steering knuckle housing
  • Spindle
  • Wheel hub/bearings
  • Steering arms
  • Brake backing plate
  • Kingpin bearings
  • Knuckle seal kit
  • Inner axle seal
  • Birfield joint
  • Locking hub
  • Nuts, Bolts, Washers, Cone washers, wheel studs
  • Calipers and pads from a V6 minitruck
  • (optional) Master cylinder from V6
  • (optional) Brake booster

Other parts:

Special tools needed:

  • Angle grinder
  • Toyota SST for setting knuckle preload
  • Torque wrench
  • Brake line flare tool (for installing proportioning valve

Procedure:

  1. Drain the oil in the front axle, jack the truck up, put the axle on jack stands, and remove the wheels.
  2. Remove the old parts. Cut the brake line and remove the tie rod and then remove the face of the locking hub (or drive plate) and remove the snap ring on the axle shaft.
  3. The easiest way to get everything apart is to loosen the nuts on the steering arm and bottom plates which should allow you to pull the entire old knuckle/brake/wheel hub assembly as one piece.
  4. Next, clean up the end of the housing using shop towels and brake cleaner and remove the inner axle seal (rides around the axle shaft at the end of the housing). You may also want to take a wire wheel to the outside of the "ball" to remove any rust.
  5. Next, because we are using birfields from a minitruck, we must grind on the housing to get the larger/stronger birfield to fit. You will need to grind a little off of the top and bottom directly to the outside of the kingpin hole. Test fit the birfield periodically to check your progress. Keep in mind that you need to go about 0.040" over to compensate for how much the ball compresses when the knuckle is torqued down.

  6. Drive out the top and bottom kingpin bearing races with a brass punch. Install the new races.
  7. Calculate knuckle shim thickness and set bearing preload using Toyota SST.
  8. Install knuckle and torque to spec. Check knuckle bearing preload with fish scale. Install wiper seals on back of knuckle. Install inner axle seal
  9. Install spindle, hub/rotor assembly.
  10. Install locking hub and caliper.
  11. I chose to do away with the backing plate for the rotor along with the little brake line bracket with the short section of hard line. To remove the backing plate you must keep the inside portion of it to keep the spacing of the components correct.
  12. I used Napa #38878 for my flexible brake lines. I probably wouldn't do it the same way again. I would keep the short piece of hard line from the
    caliper and the bracket on the backing plate so that the brake line is actually "locked" from turning in the caliper. My brake line setup is commonly used without problems, but it seems a little hoaky because of this.

  13. Install the proportioning valve on the line that goes to the rear brakes. You will need to get the fittings and flare the tubing to install it. I chose to install it right next to / under the booster. I bought a short section of already flared tubing with fittings at AutoZone so that I would only have to flare one end.

  14. Wheel selection is important with the V6 calipers. You will need a wheel that has nothing protruding out the back (such as an aluminum wheel, or a wagon wheel without a lip stamped out the back).

Optional: V6 master and minitruck booster

I chose to use a booster that I had laying around. It is from an '89 4 cylinder 4runner. The master cylinder is from a '95 4runner with a V6. Everything bolted right up and took only minor adjustment to get correct. The brake lines even ended up in the right place on the MC without bending the lines!

Enjoy!

Andy Zook

www.andrewzook.com

This article originally appeared on  4x4Wire.com and is published here with the permission of the author and 4x4Wire.com