well Sam if you ever got a yellow FJ, its gonna need some upgrades to keep up with my wifes rig!!
I finally got the ARB's installed, I took my time and did it the 410 way, keeping with tradition, this is no 4wheel parts differential swap, what you are about to see is performed with love and affection, to help make my wifes rig super special, its the small things!!!
Any day now I will be a dad, 36 years it took, I cant wait!!
With a new baby coming its going to leave alot of time for projects around the house, our goal is to also take him camping / mountiains / lakes / trails etc as soon as possible and as much as possible...with the wedding, pregnancy, etc we have misssed most of the last two seasons.... not this year!!
So if the FJ want to keep up with the BII its gona need some lockers, and we figured if you are gonna re-gear for tires, bite the bullet and go all out so, 4.56 Nitro ring and pinions with brand new ARB's and mini compressor installed ourself, saved about $1500!!!
Special thanks to Chase at East Coast Gear Supply and to Toyota for making these rigs SUPER WICKED EASY to work on, I LOVE THE FJ, the more I work on it, the more I like it, big learning curve here no manuals, I am used to my Fords so with this truck its learn as I go I have learned alot! The full floater rear axle and 3rd member (8" ring gear tacoma/4 runner/fj 95+ rear) makes me wish I had 9" in both my Fords
The FJ has its power back, 4.56 = wake up call!!! okay on to the pics/how to:
first the front end, jack up the truck, support with jack stands BY THE FRAME, remove both tires and factory skid plates (all 3).
Now you are looking at the dust cover, small plat head screwdriver, working around the edges and it pops off, dont BEND IT:
cover removed, cv axle retaining nut exposed:
This SUCKER is HUGE, 36mm to be exact, I had to go to Harbor Freight and purchase a whole new set of impact sockets in 3/4" drive to get this sucker! LOL any excuse to buy some tools!!
Little trick to getting them loose, dont do like me, you should have the lug nut threaded on the stud to protect the threads here:
Nice new 3/4" driver!! $8!!! thanks HF!!!
perfect time to get the front diff drained and let it drip:
24mm socket here (I had this one LOL)
remove cotter pin, castle nut, replace castle nut to protect tie rod stud, use dead blow hammer and BLAMO, take the tie rod off the knuckle:
Unbolt the two lower ball joint retaining bolts (17mm I think): THANKS TOYOTA!! (Ford pay attention):
Also unplug CAREFULLY the wiring clip for the wheel speed sensors
Congrats, now you can swing the entire knuckle/brake assembly out far enough to remove the cv shafts. No need to remove the brake caliper, the upper ball joint, shcok, or sway bar! repeat other side
Okay now Chase made me aware of these 4 little gem's, these 4 bolts retain the pass side axle shaft and CAD to the differential, these bolts are TIGHT
So its best to break them loose NOW while the diff is still in the truck, MUCH easier then attempting on the work bench. Another special tool here!! 14mm internal star thingy doo dad (cant think of the proper name now but HF had the whole set!!)
Now to drop the front diff, there are 3 large bolts that retain the entire front diff assembly, one is a very large hex nut (again Harbor freight had the tools needed! I got the whole set!!):
remove the two front retaining bolts, 18mm I think, and carefully drop the diff! I used a jack to support the assembly, this allowed me to UNBOLT the hose retaining BOLT, disconnect the wiring and vacuum line for the CAD assembly (center axle disconnect, just like our gen II 95-96 V6 trucks) before fully dropping the diff assembly, careful here, its HEAVY
vent hose, vacuum line, etc:
