Reido

Yeah that would be your outer tie rod end sometimes referred to as TRE's. The ones here are the greasable type meaning that the grease inside can be replaced by injecting new grease into the nipple on top. So the grease you see there may just be from the last time that was done. Check to see if the rubber is all intact as in not torn to get an idea of wether or not you need to replace it.

I've also heard 15.9 but thats out of Chiltons, so I wouldn't trust it. But if i fill up when my guage reads "E" it will take about 15. Then again I've put 16.5 in once... :confused:

I've been using Firefox mostly because it feels faster with the tabs and such. But I've also found out that it has better protection against spyware and popups.

Heh sounds a bit familiar. My pathy feels like a real POS when it's cold. Idles at 2k, I have to double clutch most of the gears, and the exaust leak / manifold bolts are pretty loud. Anyways the main reason for changing out brake fluid is because over time it will absorb water vapor from the air. Of course water boils easily so it could become a problem around hot brakes. Maybe your clutch fluid is freezing :confused:... Seems far fetched to me too. I'd actually just drain the system and see if the slave or master cylinder are at fault by moving them by hand. With the Toyota I don't have an answer, but before you take it to the junkyard be sure to absolutely trash it off road. I mean make sure you have to take it to the junkyard on a flatbed

Thanks for the answer Bernard (more than I expected which is cool). Makes sense now though. And about the aircraft stuff: between some of my engineering classes and work at a wind tunnel here on campus at UW I've become all too aware of how close the engineers are cutting it on the planes to keep them aloft and strong enough. Probably better not to think of these things when flying though....

Couple of questions.... First why aluminum? I don't know a whole lot about metallurgy and such but I thought aluminum tended to fatigue easier than steel. Also steel is likely cheaper than aluminum, and since weight is not critical here why not use steel? Second, if stock angle can be restored to the panhard rod by dropping one end couldn't it also be done by raising the other end instead. Would this be better since you wouldn't have a chunk of metal hanging down to get hung up on, or would there be clearance issues with the underbody and the mount on the axle? Keep up the good work too.

What do you mean by "sounds like blower"? Before I read that, it sounded like it would be a bad bearing in one of the accesories. Try taking off the belts and spinning each by hand to get a feel or to listen for which one is bad. You could also hook up one belt at a time to narrow down which one might be making the noise. Just don't run it too long without the fan or altenator hooked up.

On a related note: where can those fuseable links be found. Two of mine have been replaced with standard wire and I guess that would be something to fix someday. I guess since I'm posting in your thread I should try to help out. Maybe since the fused circuts don't seem to be the culprit the starter may be sapping some amps somehow? And there are also a couple of circuts that are not fused in the fuse block by the drivers knee. I think they are on the pass. side fender. Might as well give those a try too.

how does your engine oil look? Is it kinda grey? And does your coolant look like the coolant you put in or kinda brown and foamy? One reason for the steam could be a blown head gasket and other signs include oil and coolant mixing. I haven't had to tear into the VG30E intake enough to know but some engines have coolant running through some parts of the intake and if a seal or gasket was bad there you would get a bunch of steam out of the exaust. Edit: Almost forgot - good luck

How much of a cheater bar did you try? I did my tie rod ends a while ago and I had a beast of a cresent wrench with a 3' section of exaust for a cheater bar. Then I had to stand on it to break the nut loose. The nut made this terrible squealing noise that echoed throughout the neighborhood with every bit of movement.

Sounds pretty harmless to me. Probably just droping into a lower gear like 3rd (these transmissions are 4 speeds right?) The reason you notice it when cold could be related to the engine control running the engine at lower loads when cold or viscosity of the transmission fluid.

No I have many small screwdrivers and a pair of needle nose pliers with a groove filed in the tip. Thanks for the tip but now you got me worried.

Just out of curiosity does anyone know the reason that most manual transmissions are gear oil while the transfer case it ATF. Seems like they are both real similar... just a bunch of gears.

The popping noise you describe sounds like it would be the steering stops... check in the common prob/fixes thread in the garage. Front wheel bearings aren't tough after the auto hub comes off there is a snap ring for the drive axle. Then a lockwasher type thing that is held on with a couple of philips to a crazy hub nut. The nut is circular with two holes to tighten it. There is supposed to be a tool made for this but I've just used a screwdriver and a hammer. I've also heard that a spanner wrench would work. Then inside the wheel bearing housing you have an inner and outer race and bearing. Take them out and clean them up and look for pitting and other uneven wear patterns.

That's a good lookin Pathy And I like the wheels. Don't worry too much about the mileage 150K isn't too much link

Just answered my own question by actually reading your post (I can get it at Wal mart. That kinda answers my price question too ) Also your rig looks real good now

hey redfinder about the plasti kote... I got a fender and door I'm looking to repaint on the cheap. I mean like under $50 cheap. I originally planned on a cheap respray from Maaco but then got used to the silver door and flat black fender and never had the money so now if I was to just get a rattle can job in gloss black to somewhat match the rest of my paint, it would look great to me. So about how much was it, where did you find it and do you think this would be a good option for my application?

hey 88 those TRE dont look very stock. Is that something you created yourself or buy and how do you like it?

LOL Actually last time some idiot ran a stop sign on me I took their bumper off. The Pathy's just too tough.

My plates always bend up... I think its just from the water spraying around in puddles. Rami, if you're serious about relocating the ECU and want to do something like mine PM me.

I'd leave the cat in place. I was about to help a buddy gut his cat tonight but we decided not to because they only add about 1 or 2 psi of backpressure, will probably make the exaust note raspier if anything, and too low of backpressure begins to sacrifice low end power. Oh and blah, blah, blah illegle blah, blah environment

Well if there is a cheaper place to get the rears then I might have to do that. I was just about to try out another crazy idea like this one on the back....

Yes it is. I kinda did it on a whim cause I realized that the wires are just the right length as they are. It ended up being a little more work than I planned on, but should be real handy if some puddle happens to be deeper than I think

While I'm posting pics heres another homemade mod I'm pretty proud of Not quite done. I need to move the whole thing back about a 1/4" and somehow hide that mess of wires :oops:

Alright I've been fiddling around with this for a while and I think I got it to a form I am happy with, so it is time to share. This is a homemade suspension mod. so dont do it if you aren't comfortable with it (read: don't blame me ) But it isn't a real critical part and I have faith in it. You will need: 2 Grade 8 3/8" bolts 7" long 2 Wing nuts 3/8" 4 Grade 8 nuts or 2 Nylock (your choice) 3/8" 2 Nylock nuts 3/8" Dye to match the bolts (standard thread count seems to be 16) Grinder Wheel Original Sway bar Equip. Ok first thing is to take apart the original sway bar link setup. You will only need the rubber doughnuts and washers but keep the rest in because you can always switch back to the original setup if you would like. Next grind the bolt starting from where the original threads end (or 1 and 3/8" from the end of the bolt) towards the head of the bolt for 2" to start with. Grind it as much as the threads are deep so if you were to put a nut at the bottom of the threads it would be able to slide up and down the section you just ground down. Starting from where you finished grinding use your tap to thread the bolt up to at least an 1.5" from the head of the bolt. And be sure your threads on the dye match the bolt... they may look close enough but trust me they are not Two of the doughnuts on each side should be ground down into a cone shape on one side to reduce the force put on the bolt when the links are connected and the suspension is compressed or at droop. Now to put it all together. The bolt goes head side down through the LCA. The stack of all the equipment will go like this from bottom to top: bolt head, washer, rubber doughnut (unmodified), LCA, rubber doughnut (unmod), washer, nylock nut, washer, modified rubber doughnut (coned side towards sway bar), sway bar, modified rubber doughnut (coned side towards sway bar), washer, wingnut, space, two nuts (one as a jamnut) or one nylock (if you are comfortable with that). Finished product minus top nuts. The nylock just after the LCA shouldn't be all that tight. The tighter it gets the less the link will be able to flex around which means more wear on the swaybar / bolt and threads. Not to mention a loss of suspension flex when disconnected. The wingnut should be nearly as tight as you can get it and this nut should be checked a couple of times a week as it does slowly loosen and the rubber compresses. Thats all there is to it. Your new swaybar links are disconnected by loosening the wingnut and tightning it down on the opposite threads. You will notice that later on there are a lot more threads you could grind off because the rubber compresses and the 2" mentioned earlier is just to make sure you dont get to carried away and ruin the bolt. I've been thinking of ways to increase the travel on these and I got a few ideas; let me know if you have ideas too.