As seen in Toyota Trails!
Various articles written here have been published in TLCA's Toyota Trails magazine and on their website. After roaming around our site, click on the magazines to visit TLCA.
Axles
Loose Steering
Like a lot of other 60 owners my 30 year old wagon wasn’t exactly tight in the steering department. I knew it wasn’t the wheel bearings as I had fairly recently done the brakes and other maintenance that eliminated wheel bearings as the problem. And after that I knew I didn’t need to look much further as the steering on my diesel is pretty simple and this goes for all of our 60’s.
Knuckle Job
Big, Greasy Mess. Just no other way to describe it. And what adds to the unpleasantness of this job was that it was not even on my rig, it was on my wife’s. But it could have been worse, it could have been raining!
Rusted Cone Washers
Until very recently I have never had a problem with removing the cone washers to do maintenance on the front axle. Either by slipping a small screwdriver into the slot and getting them out the FSM way or gentle tapping on the aluminum hub housing has never failed to get them out.
Wheelbase and Track Width
There is a lot of discussion about just what is better, short or long, wide or narrow. While our wagons are pretty much set when it comes to length there is some room to change the width either through an axle swap or wider rims. But you need to realize there are trade offs.
Recently I got to go wheeling with two very different FJ 40’s that pointed out differences in wheelbase and track width very clearly. And it was really interesting to see how my wagon and their 40’s all handled the same obstacles.
Rear Diff Pinion Seal
By Tony K
This one tends to come up often as our rigs age and get more and more miles on them. Toyota has a specific way they want this replaced but it involves more money and tools than just a new seal.