glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Parts, parts and more parts!
Fun starts tonight!
Fun starts tonight!
Project Oliver
- Thread starter glockman
- Start date
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Thanks, I'm pretty excited to get it on the road.
Got the timing belt, water pump, both tensioner and all drive belts replaced last night.
Went to put the fan back on and noticed it's bent/ broken in the clutch assembly. It's also very "crunchy" when turning it. So I ordered a new aisin fan clutch along with some bumper brackets and a turn signal I was missing.
I also got the passenger inner fender pulled out, the core support bolted up and the hood on for a fitment check.
Everything fits with even hood/fender gaps. Now I need to weld the core support and start putting stuff back on it.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
looks really good.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
My fan clutch and bumper bracket showed up today so I went an picked up an A/C condenser and figured I'd knock this out tonight.
First order of business was to weld the core support to the inner fenders. I figured this would be a piece of cake but it turned out to be much harder. Both pieces of metal have to be VERY tightly held together with no gap of any kind. Then you have to be really precise with the welder or you burn through. I had every clamp I own on this thing holding the pieces together and trying to get them to mate up tightly. Overall, I am somewhat satisfied with my results. I have the same number of decent welds as the factory. Hopefully there is minimal flex in this area and all the welds hold. It is just the inner fenders to the core support but I think the whole front end kind of builds on each joint to make things solid if that makes sense.
Next I tightened all the new belts and installed the fan, clutch and radiator. That went pretty smooth but somehow I am missing what seems like half the hardware for the remaining parts. I was in kind of a hurry tearing it down and didn't bag and tag all bolts so now it's the lay every thing out in like length and size and figure out what goes where. So far not too bad though.
After the radiator I attempted to install the new A/C condenser but discovered it had slightly different mounting tabs. At first I thought there were just two extra but it ended up I was missing the top mounting tab on the Passenger side so that has to go back.
I figured I could still get the condenser installed with most of the other parts on so I put the headlights, corner lights, bumper, horns, hood latch and valance on. All in all it looks decent. The drivers side headlight is not totally flush with the corner light so I will have to massage the core support a little to get those points lined up. Also, the headlight buckets are missing a few tabs that I didn't notice were broken until I tried to install the grill. So a set of these upgrades will go in shortly.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/yota...eadlamp-assemblies-20-5651-00-20-5651-00.html
The air box was also damaged but only slightly. The top mounting tab is broken and the seam on the fender side is slightly split. I sealed it with some RTV and will get a junkyard replacement or CIA soon. With everything buttoned up I was super excited to drive it. I ran to Autozone and grabbed some Pentrafrost and filled the cooling system up. Then took her for a spin around the block with the wife. I really like how it drives and rides. No pulling or odd noises.
I'll get some pics tomorrow in decent light.
Next items on the list.
Check the diff, transmission and transfer case fluids.
Get the headlights replaced and sitting flush.
Paint the hood.
Do a general check on all joints, brakes and drivetrain.
Replace the broken air box.
Take it camping!!!
First order of business was to weld the core support to the inner fenders. I figured this would be a piece of cake but it turned out to be much harder. Both pieces of metal have to be VERY tightly held together with no gap of any kind. Then you have to be really precise with the welder or you burn through. I had every clamp I own on this thing holding the pieces together and trying to get them to mate up tightly. Overall, I am somewhat satisfied with my results. I have the same number of decent welds as the factory. Hopefully there is minimal flex in this area and all the welds hold. It is just the inner fenders to the core support but I think the whole front end kind of builds on each joint to make things solid if that makes sense.
Next I tightened all the new belts and installed the fan, clutch and radiator. That went pretty smooth but somehow I am missing what seems like half the hardware for the remaining parts. I was in kind of a hurry tearing it down and didn't bag and tag all bolts so now it's the lay every thing out in like length and size and figure out what goes where. So far not too bad though.
After the radiator I attempted to install the new A/C condenser but discovered it had slightly different mounting tabs. At first I thought there were just two extra but it ended up I was missing the top mounting tab on the Passenger side so that has to go back.
I figured I could still get the condenser installed with most of the other parts on so I put the headlights, corner lights, bumper, horns, hood latch and valance on. All in all it looks decent. The drivers side headlight is not totally flush with the corner light so I will have to massage the core support a little to get those points lined up. Also, the headlight buckets are missing a few tabs that I didn't notice were broken until I tried to install the grill. So a set of these upgrades will go in shortly.
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/yota...eadlamp-assemblies-20-5651-00-20-5651-00.html
The air box was also damaged but only slightly. The top mounting tab is broken and the seam on the fender side is slightly split. I sealed it with some RTV and will get a junkyard replacement or CIA soon. With everything buttoned up I was super excited to drive it. I ran to Autozone and grabbed some Pentrafrost and filled the cooling system up. Then took her for a spin around the block with the wife. I really like how it drives and rides. No pulling or odd noises.
I'll get some pics tomorrow in decent light.
Next items on the list.
Check the diff, transmission and transfer case fluids.
Get the headlights replaced and sitting flush.
Paint the hood.
Do a general check on all joints, brakes and drivetrain.
Replace the broken air box.
Take it camping!!!
Last edited:
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
awesome!
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Pulled it out of the garage and took some pics.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
This is the only alignment issue. The bottom of the driver's side headlight sits proud of the marker. I'll adjust the core support to get it all flush.
Thursty
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Green River
Nice work!
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Thanks guys. It turned out way better than I expected. I am not a body guy but I tried to take my time and be patient.
I've driven it a little bit now and found a couple small issues.
The gas pedal is SUPER stiff. As in 2/3 as firm as the brake which is the other issue. It was braking really oddly. The pedal is kind of squishy then grabs all at once. I attributed it to the truck sitting since just after christmas but it hasn't gotten better with a few dozen miles. I think it just needs a good bleed on the system. Not a bad idea anyhow on an 18 year old truck.
The other issue is the shocks are all factory. The back bottoms out easily through small bumps (I happen to have a nice one on my street).
Reading the forums there was a recall on the 96-98 rear springs due to being too soft. I'll be contacting a dealership this week to see if they have already been replaced. I doubt they have though.
I still have to paint the hood but all told to this point, I am under $2k in to it. Pretty hard to beat that on any Yota!
I've driven it a little bit now and found a couple small issues.
The gas pedal is SUPER stiff. As in 2/3 as firm as the brake which is the other issue. It was braking really oddly. The pedal is kind of squishy then grabs all at once. I attributed it to the truck sitting since just after christmas but it hasn't gotten better with a few dozen miles. I think it just needs a good bleed on the system. Not a bad idea anyhow on an 18 year old truck.
The other issue is the shocks are all factory. The back bottoms out easily through small bumps (I happen to have a nice one on my street).
Reading the forums there was a recall on the 96-98 rear springs due to being too soft. I'll be contacting a dealership this week to see if they have already been replaced. I doubt they have though.
I still have to paint the hood but all told to this point, I am under $2k in to it. Pretty hard to beat that on any Yota!
- Location
- West Jordan
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I had a stiff accelerator pedal on a couple of these. I can't remember what the fix was. New throttle able and housing?
SLC97SR5
IDIesel
- Location
- Davis County
For the stiff throttle pedal you can check the spring on the bellcrank that's attached to the throttle body. Some years got very corroded.
You can try loosening the adjustment bolts on the slack adjuster and see if you can roll the throttle cable into a happier orientation. The nuts may need a soaking of penetrant to crack loose, send a bit of lube down the cable as well.
While you are there you can take some of the slack out of the TV cable for firmer, quicker shifts.
Otherwise do as Steve suggested and get a replacement from the dealer.
Looking good!
You can try loosening the adjustment bolts on the slack adjuster and see if you can roll the throttle cable into a happier orientation. The nuts may need a soaking of penetrant to crack loose, send a bit of lube down the cable as well.
While you are there you can take some of the slack out of the TV cable for firmer, quicker shifts.
Otherwise do as Steve suggested and get a replacement from the dealer.
Looking good!
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Thanks for the link. Mine has not had the recall performed! I'll have to call a non bent brown dealer and get it set up.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
glockman;1031279I said:
Good call. I've had nothing but bad experiences with Brent Brown (VERY bad experiences). Their slogan should be "we'll bend YOU over backwards."
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
My dad has purchased three cars from them and they have been horrible, (don't ask why he keeps going back). They told him they wouldn't look at the a/c on a car with 15k miles on it because he probably hit a pothole and punctured the condenser. Then they didn't change the oil on his next car for the first two services because they said it was synthetic oil with extended intervals (despite the manual stating otherwise). They let it run 12k miles on the break in oil even though he had brought it in for oil changes twice. Last straw for me was he bought a used tacoma that was very rusty. I told him about the recall on frames that Toyota had. He went to ask them if his qualified for at least an inspection and they told him there had never been a frame rust recall on any tacomas.
I know lots of places get a bad rap for one bad experience but Brent Brown has never been the least bit helpful and they have either lied or been too lazy or ignorant to look up recalls or the Toyota specs. I take my business elsewhere and recommend others do as well.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Back to Oliver.
I took it to get the inspection and it failed for the rear passenger brakes.
I took it apart (Toyota is genius with the threaded holes in the drums to press them off) found it had previously had a bad axles seal and the pads were saturated. Replaced them and still nothing.
Did some research and found the Toyota auto adjusters are different. So, after pulling the hand brake a few times per the manual, it works great.
While I was at it I bleed all four corners to get some less nasty fluid in.
Got it registered today and removed the running boards.
Here he is all packed up ready for his first trip to the swell tomorrow.
I took it to get the inspection and it failed for the rear passenger brakes.
I took it apart (Toyota is genius with the threaded holes in the drums to press them off) found it had previously had a bad axles seal and the pads were saturated. Replaced them and still nothing.
Did some research and found the Toyota auto adjusters are different. So, after pulling the hand brake a few times per the manual, it works great.
While I was at it I bleed all four corners to get some less nasty fluid in.
Got it registered today and removed the running boards.
Here he is all packed up ready for his first trip to the swell tomorrow.
Pile of parts
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South Jordan
Good job. Looks great! Nice vehicle for very little investment.