x3 oyaji wagon

[ChriSOL 0]

^ spare steering wheel clamshell!

is it early or late model?

[bigtoepfer 0]

Fuck I was there again today.  I didn't think to check this.  It's a 91.  I could go back tomorrow if you want.  Shoot me a message. Do you have my #?

On 3/24/2021 at 11:56 AM, ChriSOL said:

^ spare steering wheel clamshell!

is it early or late model?

 

[bigtoepfer 0]

So I finally made the decision on an axle,  picked up an explorer 8.8 with 3.73 gears and positrac.  Today we were working to cut off all the old mounts and clean it up to get  ready to put on the new spring perches.  Just incase anyone was interested in if I am still working on it or not.

[N.O. Drifter 0]

If you talking about this one in Lafayette, the clamshell is busted. I got there in March and took the spindles, knuckles, oil pan, diff, and a few other things that I sold to some people in the FB cressida groups.

[bigtoepfer 0]

On 5/17/2021 at 10:32 PM, N.O. Drifter said:

If you talking about this one in Lafayette, the clamshell is busted. I got there in March and took the spindles, knuckles, oil pan, diff, and a few other things that I sold to some people in the FB cressida groups.

Yea fucker I got there and everything was there and I was pumped.  Went like two days later and you robbed everything 😂

I was gonna pull the front suspension and start figuring how I was gonna make it fit so I could 5-lug swap my wagon.  I was actually on the phone with Chris when I walked up and realized everything was suddenly gone. HA!  
I did snag him a radiator shroud and switches for the sunroof though.

Same thing happened to me about a week earlier when I went.  There was a perfect explorer axle.  Was going back the next day and someone had already nabbed it. 🤦‍♀️
I've learned my lesson in this yard. Go with all the tools because if I find whatever I might want I need to pull it that day.

I didn't really need to front suspension from the X8 anyway.  It would probably have just collected dust here.

[Gibbs 0]

fuck i need interior bits off of that car if its still there lol

[bigtoepfer 0]

I was just in there like three days ago.  But I didn't notice if it was there or not.  I walked right by that spot and it didn't stick out so I'm leaning towards no.

Edit: @Gibbs I just checked the site.  It says it's still there.  I might have time to stop by later.  But life is crazy busy.  What are you looking for?

[Gibbs 0]

i need the black surround around the cluster and a radio control bezel

[N.O. Drifter 0]

On 5/26/2021 at 9:37 PM, bigtoepfer said:

Yea fucker I got there and everything was there and I was pumped.  Went like two days later and you robbed everything 😂

I was gonna pull the front suspension and start figuring how I was gonna make it fit so I could 5-lug swap my wagon.  I was actually on the phone with Chris when I walked up and realized everything was suddenly gone. HA!  
I did snag him a radiator shroud and switches for the sunroof though.

Same thing happened to me about a week earlier when I went.  There was a perfect explorer axle.  Was going back the next day and someone had already nabbed it. 🤦‍♀️
I've learned my lesson in this yard. Go with all the tools because if I find whatever I might want I need to pull it that day.

I didn't really need to front suspension from the X8 anyway.  It would probably have just collected dust here.

I brought two friends to help pull everything I wanted. One said no one's going to come get stuff from a Cressida and I told him that there is a Cressida guy not too far a way. Ha.

 

Also I grabbed the lower radiator shroud piece for a guy in FL.

I only grabbed the spindle and hub to have as a spare for the one day I actually have money to buy coilovers. 

[bigtoepfer 0]

On 5/31/2021 at 8:50 PM, N.O. Drifter said:

Also I grabbed the lower radiator shroud piece for a guy in FL.

I thought it was a bit odd that it was missing.  But also the engine was sitting way low so I through it might have been broken out.  I think Chris was saying he had one. So it worked out.

[Gibbs 0]

you going to the yard again anytime soon?

[N.O. Drifter 0]

On 6/2/2021 at 7:54 PM, bigtoepfer said:

I thought it was a bit odd that it was missing.  But also the engine was sitting way low so I through it might have been broken out.  I think Chris was saying he had one. So it worked out.

I grabbed the oil pan for my 7m. Pulled the front subframe to get it out. Engine fell on front swaybar.

[bigtoepfer 0]

On 6/3/2021 at 7:41 PM, Gibbs said:

you going to the yard again anytime soon?

I'm gonna shoot you a text.  Definitely better that way if you need something on the quick.

[ChriSOL 0]

hey dude, i wanted to say thanks for grabbing that stuff for me. i keep forgetting to get it from kyle but it doesnt change the fact that i appreciate you ❤️

[bigtoepfer 0]

Well it took like six months but the 8.8 is in.  It sounded terrible and I thought maybe because we didn't put friction modifier in it.  So we drained it.  Put new gear oil and friction modifier.  Didn't sound so bad or almost nothing.  Worked on getting it sorted most of friday night and ended up missing the event I wanted to go chill at Saturday.
But I was determined to get it back to texas so drove it back Sunday morning.  Still no A/C so that was shitty.  I'll have to get that figured out soon.

By the time I got to Houston it sounded like there was a helicopter in the back of my car.  The diff is hella noisy.  I did manage to get a temp gun after walmart opened and it was like 170*  Not terrible but not good.

Stopped a few more times along the way and when we got to the apartment it was 200* at the plug to check the fluid level.   It's hotter around the front of the diff so I'm guessing there is a pinion bearing problem.   Found a kit online for full rebuild for like $107 will all new bearings and shims etc.  Probably gonna go that route.  It's actually what I wanted to do from the beginning but someone managed to convince me it wasn't necessary.

I'm just hoping I won't have to purchase a new ring and pinion as well because I'm supposed to doing this on the cheap.

On the bright side 70mph is 2700rpms now.  So that's cool.  I wasn't getting the MPGs I hoped for, could be because of a bearing dragging in the diff.  But the car does roll relatively freely.  So who fucking knows.

[Turbocharged400sbc 0]

Did you pull that axle yourself? Or was it on a pile/rack? Be aware that unless you pull it yourself it was swinging from a chain on the end of a loader and unceremoniously dumped on the pile.

 

Water gets in through the vent tubes and because the pinion almost always points towards the ground in the pile...because of gravity. your pinion bearings end up rusting and spalling.

You'll know more Once you pull the carrier and pinion yoke out. But you might be able to get away with just replacing the pinion races and bearings. Also to give you a heads up pretty much every one I've done has been a 0.028 shim for the pinion depth.

When you go to measure your original one you're going to want to grind away the ridge that gets squeezed up around the edge on the outside and the inside making it very difficult to check the thickness with a caliper.

I've only ever installed Ford Racing gears but from what I've heard from other guys even aftermarket gear sets tend to use the .028 shim although some go as high as 030

Even if you don't get new gears it is worth it to spend the extra money for the kit with matched bearings where one of the pinion bearings has the bore ground open to allow you to do slip fits for testing the pinion and ring gear pattern. But you'll probably be fine with the point o28 if you don't want to spend time digging around with presses and potentially replacing the bearing a couple of times anyways..... you got to be real careful pressing them off otherwise you damaged the cage and then you're buying a new bearing anyways....

I've heard these things make some awesome howling noises and wine with just the pattern being off.... one is a Crown Vic that has about 75,000 miles on those noisy gears by now. 4.56 in a crown vic lol

 

For the foxbodys I always end up welding the tubes to the pumpkin but I end up doing that with it fixture to my welding bench to try to keep it from pulling ... so if you're planning on any sticky tires I'd say that'd be a good time to weld em.

Heat the pumpkin with a torch up to at least a hundred fifty degrees before you start welding and keep in mind the tube isn't super heavy wall thickness so you're going to bias your puddle more towards the case.

Cover it with a welding blanket or a pile of rags to let it cool down slowly

[bigtoepfer 0]

 

On 8/9/2021 at 9:34 PM, Turbocharged400sbc said:

Did you pull that axle yourself? Or was it on a pile/rack? Be aware that unless you pull it yourself it was swinging from a chain on the end of a loader and unceremoniously dumped on the pile.

I did not.  Everything looks straight.  The gears looked good.

Also I think you can see it in one of my pictures but the tubes are already welded.  I'm not going to be making big power but I figured better to just be done.
I've moved in to a tiny apartment and not only could I not really bring many of my tools with me, we "ABSOLUTELY can not work on our cars in the parking lot" according to the lease.  So it's looking like I'm taking to a local mechanic.  I stopped by one after work and based on what I was saying he agreed with me that it's most likely a pinion bearing issue.  Especially since it's warmer around the pinion.

I'm just so sad that I'm finally back in the car and once again I have an issue.  It's almost like it doesn't like being driven.  😂  

And everytime I mention I've got a new issue my wife reminds me that she wants me to sell it and get something newer and more practical.  HA!

[Demesio 0]

10 hours ago, bigtoepfer said:

I'm just so sad that I'm finally back in the car and once again I have an issue.  It's almost like it doesn't like being driven.  😂

If you do ever finally manage to get it dialed in as I did.... it will try to kill you.

JZX life in a nutshell.

[Turbocharged400sbc 0]

I really hope whoever welded it had it fixtured. I've seen them welded where the tubes pulled excessively forward and caused wheel bearing issues.

Do yourself a favor and have the person rebuilding it put a straight edge across the cover gasket surfaces with the carrier out and see if the axle tubes have pulled forward.

The axle splines actually get worn into a barrel profile if bad enough.... the alignment rack actually showed 0 rear toe but the axle bearings were nearly a 1/4 inch forward of carrier axis....checked with a 3/4inch bar through the gutted carrier.

I'm willing to bet that the pinion bearing was Rusty and you're going to find plenty of bearing damage there but while you have it apart it takes 5 minutes with a straightedge and a couple of rulers to make sure that you're not going to have more problems or dump good money into bad parts

[bigtoepfer 0]

On 8/12/2021 at 6:42 PM, Turbocharged400sbc said:

I really hope whoever welded it had it fixtured. I've seen them welded where the tubes pulled excessively forward and caused wheel bearing issues.

it apart it takes 5 minutes with a straightedge and a couple of rulers to make sure that you're not going to have more problems or dump good money into bad parts

He had welded quite a few of them and said he had them in a jig, etc, etc.  So yea hopefully.

It would be my luck though that it's all fubared.  My wife would just LOVE to hear that.

[bigtoepfer 0]

On 8/11/2021 at 8:02 AM, Demesio said:

If you do ever finally manage to get it dialed in as I did.... it will try to kill you.

JZX life in a nutshell.

That was me in the X8.  This one is supposed to be tame.  But no doubt it will do the same thing. 😂

[bigtoepfer 0]

So after a little more listening I'm pretty sure it's actually axle bearings.  Because it didn't occur to me that the sound is constant and increases with speed.
I just need to find someone who can pull them for me because I don't have tools or space to do it here.

 

[bigtoepfer 0]

So opened up the rear end.  Fluid was super clean.  No bad smells, no chipped teeth no shavings.  Pulled axles and found this.

When removing the original axle bearings one of them exploded and thought we got everything, clearly that was not the case.  This will teach me to triple check things.  So an extra bearings was just rolling around in the axle tube.  Every now and then getting enough friction in there to rotate around in the tube most likely which was probably the helicopter noise I was hearing.  

Everything seems good now.  Gonna mic the axles and be sure every thing is in spec just in case i don't need to go to the junk yard to get new axles.  Because there is still a bit of play when installed and they do have a bit of pitting in them.  But they are massive 31 spline axles and I doubt a stock 2JZ-GE is going to ever do any damage to this rear end.  Even if I do decide to pull a small trailer later on.

I'm just looking forward to getting this thing back together so I can go back to driving it.  Getting tired of driving the Prius to work every day.

[bigtoepfer 0]

I thought this place was dead forever this time.  Sold the car last thursday and put it on a transport truck Saturday headed for Rhode Island.  The guy wants to put his kids in it and cruise.  Sounds like he's gonna enjoy it.  He's already got a swapped X7 Wagon too.  So he's gonna treat it will I'm sure.

I was sad to see it go but I just couldn't justify it with my current life situation.  I picked up a GX470 today.  Gonna get back to offroading and take my kid camping.  Same way I grew up.   Maybe I'll import a verossa in a few years.

[Nigel_Vertigo 0]

You never even posted an engine bay pic after putting in the 2j.