Charlie's 07 SR5 V6

[ptrl1600]

I'd always planned to fit a front Lokka from 4 Wheel Drive Systems. I've had them in 2 other cars and found them very useful off road and to me it made sense to have one in an IFS car that had limited suspension travel.

Getting the front diff out on my own wasn't too difficult, but putting it back in was a challenge.

The clamshell diffs are an interesting design and easy to work with.

Once apart, next step was to replace the needle rollers that support the axles.

I replaced both the needle roller bearings as the axles were quite sloppy in the differential carrier.

The Lokka fitted and all clearances checked - spot on!

Crown wheel fitted and ready to reassemble.

All back together ready to install into the car.

[ptrl1600]

Next job was to install new longer axles and CV's to suit the lift. The axles were about 10mm longer that standard axles. I also installed new hubs and bearing assemblies prior to fitting the new DBA rotors, calipers and WRX pads.

[Chopps]

I replaced both the needle roller bearings as the axles were quite sloppy in the differential carrier.

Hi Charli
Thanks for posting your install.
Did you get some sort of chatter going over rough roads with the worn out roller bearings?

[ptrl1600]

Hi Chopps,

I guess you could call it chatter, but not so much on rough roads. It was more of a rumble and vibration that could be felt through the steering and most obvious when I was slowing down and almost stopping. At higher speeds it wasn't noticeable. As I said, the front axles had lots of play at the inner CV's where they slid into the diff housing, but much more so on the left (passenger) side. It did it from the start when I bought the car, but was more noticeable after fitting the lift even though I did fit new diff mounting brackets to lower the diff.

Initially I suspected the bearings were the problem, but after removing and inspecting them I doubt that they were. I'd already ordered new bearings, so fitted them anyway and now suspect that what I was experiencing was fairly normal. Interestingly the non ADD models use bronze bushes instead of needle bearings and I've seen kits in the States that replace the left side bearing with a bush. I'm certain that the rumble/noise/vibration etc was caused by the spider gears inside the front diff (they had lots of free play), so fitting the Lokka has eliminated the gears and the issue. The only other contributing factor that I can think of would be the axles being shorter after the lift, so I was hoping that the slightly longer axles may have helped also, which they possibly have.

Cheers,

[Chopps]

Hey there Charli. Thanks for the detailed description - most helpful.
I ordered a Lokka months ago when they were on special. Just waiting for a rainy day to install it.

I have a weird chatter/vibration noise when going over corrugations that seems to come from the front right or possibly even somewhere between the centre drive line and front diff. Im not feeling it thru the steering wheel though. Have checked all mounts, bushes, tie rods, accessories etc.
CVs do have a little play - sounds like this might be normal.
I might have to stick the GoPro under the the car in different locations along the drive line to figure it out

Any more plans for the lux?

[hiluxxury]

Next job was to install new longer axles and CV's to suit the lift. The axles were about 10mm longer that standard axles. g]

Just out of interest, where did you get the longer axles from? Were you able to cycle the suspension without the strut to check they dont bind/push the tripod into the diff housing?

[ptrl1600]

Hey there Charli. Thanks for the detailed description - most helpful.
I ordered a Lokka months ago when they were on special. Just waiting for a rainy day to install it.

I have a weird chatter/vibration noise when going over corrugations that seems to come from the front right or possibly even somewhere between the centre drive line and front diff. Im not feeling it thru the steering wheel though. Have checked all mounts, bushes, tie rods, accessories etc.
CVs do have a little play - sounds like this might be normal.
I might have to stick the GoPro under the the car in different locations along the drive line to figure it out

Any more plans for the lux?

Hi Chopps,
I would suspect that any chatter/vibration over corrugations would be more likely to come from the suspension or something that's loose. Having said that I probably didn't drive over any bad corrugations to feel the effects, but I should also mention that the issue was intermittent. I found in some cases if I put the car in 4WD for a while and then back into 2WD, the issue went away. I'm convinced it's caused by the spider gears inside the diff because they are constantly rotating along with the passenger side wheel due to the opposite axle being disconnected. If both axles were rotating simultaneously the crown wheel would be rotating and the spider gears would only rotate when you turn the steering.
While the Lokka eliminated the issue, it almost removes the advantage of having the ADD although having ADD gives you lighter steering with the Lokka installed.
The build is ongoing, I've recently fitted a new rear bar to raise the towbar slightly and still plan to fit a Beaudesert Stainless exhaust system sometime in the future. I think after that I'll be happy with the outcome overall.

[ptrl1600]

Next job was to install new longer axles and CV's to suit the lift. The axles were about 10mm longer that standard axles. g]

Just out of interest, where did you get the longer axles from? Were you able to cycle the suspension without the strut to check they dont bind/push the tripod into the diff housing?

The axles came from Machter Autoparts in Sydney. They list units for standard height and lifted height, which after comparing to the originals were about 10mm longer. I was concerned about them binding at full drop, but they rotated quite freely with the vehicle on jacks and the wheels hanging free. There was a very slight notch in the trypods, but nothing any different to the factory axles that the car came with. At full compression, there is just under 2mm of axle free play, which I can live with longer bump stops.

[hiluxxury]

Great - thanks for that.

[Chopps]

Hi Chopps,
I would suspect that any chatter/vibration over corrugations would be more likely to come from the suspension or something that's loose. Having said that I probably didn't drive over any bad corrugations to feel the effects, but I should also mention that the issue was intermittent. I found in some cases if I put the car in 4WD for a while and then back into 2WD, the issue went away. I'm convinced it's caused by the spider gears inside the diff because they are constantly rotating along with the passenger side wheel due to the opposite axle being disconnected. If both axles were rotating simultaneously the crown wheel would be rotating and the spider gears would only rotate when you turn the steering.
While the Lokka eliminated the issue, it almost removes the advantage of having the ADD although having ADD gives you lighter steering with the Lokka installed.
The build is ongoing, I've recently fitted a new rear bar to raise the towbar slightly and still plan to fit a Beaudesert Stainless exhaust system sometime in the future. I think after that I'll be happy with the outcome overall.

Cheers mate. Yeah I thought it was the coilovers too but 3 kits later the chatter is still there.
I'll be interested to see if the vibration noise quietens down after putting in the lokka all the same
Thanks again

[ptrl1600]

Cheers mate. Yeah I thought it was the coilovers too but 3 kits later the chatter is still there.
I'll be interested to see if the vibration noise quietens down after putting in the lokka all the same
Thanks again

I hope it helps, but even if it doesn't solve your particular issue, you will have a much more capable Hilux!
All the best,

[ptrl1600]

I had some new rubber fitted today - Falken 265/75-16 AT3W. Bought 5 and only paid for 4 - a good deal!



Just what the car needed.



And recently fitted a new rear bar. She's almost finished!

[hiluxxury]

I have a set of those as my daily tyres. I can't fault them. I hope you get some good kms out of yours.

I also have the Falken muds which are my favourite tyres to date.

[ptrl1600]

I have a set of those as my daily tyres. I can't fault them. I hope you get some good kms out of yours.

I also have the Falken muds which are my favourite tyres to date.

Thanks! They should go for many km's. I like the tred pattern, similar to the Kelly Safary's that I had on my Patrol. I got 75,000km out of those with lots of hard work and only one puncture and still going when I sold the car.
The Falken's have a good rep for quality and good pricing.

I was worried about the fitment with +30 offset, but the dealer was happy to mount one and try it to see if it would clear, otherwise I would have gone for 265/70's, but they fitted ok after removing the front mudflaps - even the spare under the tub fitted with plenty of clearance.

Are the Falken Muddies much noisier that the AT's? I was considering them, but didn't want them to be too noisy.

[hiluxxury]

Are the Falken Muddies much noisier that the AT's? I was considering them, but didn't want them to be too noisy.

Yes the muddies do make a bit of noise but not as much as you would think. Not as much as my old KM2s.

The difference for me is how much safer the AT's are - braking, turning, etc etc the muds handle poorly like any mud tyre. Putting the AT's back on transforms the vehicle (the MT's are 285 70/17 and the ATs are 265 65/17).

[ptrl1600]

Are the Falken Muddies much noisier that the AT's? I was considering them, but didn't want them to be too noisy.

Yes the muddies do make a bit of noise but not as much as you would think. Not as much as my old KM2s.

The difference for me is how much safer the AT's are - braking, turning, etc etc the muds handle poorly like any mud tyre. Putting the AT's back on transforms the vehicle (the MT's are 285 70/17 and the ATs are 265 65/17).

We don't do very much mud driving here in SA, but a lot of sand and rocky stuff in the Flinders Ranges. So based on your opinion I've made the right choice. Thanks for that - puts my mind at ease.

Cheers,

[ptrl1600]

Got under the car the other day to grease the uni's and noticed a small amount of oil at the bottom of the drivers side rear brake drum backing plate. Not happy - it looks like the new seals only lasted about 18 months?

So I decided to do a rear disc brake upgrade which will make the wheel bearings and seals much easier to service while hopefully improving the rear braking at the same time. After a bit of research on the options, I decided to go for the BBG setup which looks easy enough using cheap and easy to get Nissan Patrol rear rotors and front calipers. The main expense and issue is the handbrake which comes as a kit using a Wilwood caliper on a disc mounted at the rear of the transfer case. (One thing I love about the Nissan Partrol is the handbrake which is a small drum brake mounted to the rear of the transfer) While the handbrake on the Hilux was acceptable, I found that I had to adjust the rear brakes to get it to really grab and after a while as the shoes wore, it needed further adjustment. With a disc brake hand brake, that should no longer be the case.



Unfortunately I had to modify my Beaudesert exhaust to fit the caliper, but that was easy enough and now the disc brake handbrake is working well. Next job is to replace the rear wheel bearings and seals and mount the Nissan brakes.
Having ABS makes bleeding the brakes a pain, so I've ordered a complete set of stainless braided lines to go in also hopefully improving the pedal feel even further.

[ptrl1600]

I finally got around to completing the rear disc brake conversion and very happy that I did. On the last trip the rear brakes were virtually non existent, but now working very well. The pedal feel is softer, but the car pulls up with very little pedal pressure.
Perhaps the braided lines help, but at least now there is no periodic adjustment necessary.

[ptrl1600]

Another minor update! I finally found the drive line whine that I'd been looking for for some time. It turned out to be the front pinion bearing in the rear diff. After a long trip towing the van, it started to get worse which made it easier to pick with the stethoscope.



The front pinion bearing was shot, but I replaced all the bearings in the diff for around $280. The clutches were all good, so left them in as the LSD was working well.

[Rob_Wood]

Just wondering if the rice cooker bowl in the early pics is out of a sunbeam? It looks like ours. Our sunbeam died as well, we've saved the bowl to be the "Out Camping" rice cooker to go on whatever heat source we're using. You've clearly found a different use for yours.