Six Shooter Knuckle Install:Brody's 1994 Yota

[Brody]

Finally got the OK from LaDawn to get the Six Shooter knuckles for the front end repair on my heap. I have the knuckles, but am waiting for the upgraded studs, of which I need 4. These should be here today and I will be doing a write up on the install. I will probably be doing this later this week, so the heap should be running/rolling/turning this weekend.

They look pretty stout and certainly better than the stock ones. Nothing too special about the install as it no different than a regular front end R&R, just have 4 more bolts to deal with on the top side, but I thought I would do a write up.

Pictures to come. Junk is drying in the sun right now...

[MelloYello]

bout time!!!!!!!!!!

[ColoJeeper]

Be good to see your stuff fixed and run with you again....

[Rick]

right on!!!!!

[Brody]

She is the financial wizard, so this stuff is all up to her. Me, I am merely the hunter/gatherer dude what be fixing junk....:lmao:

[Chris]

Good to hear Pete, look forward to getting out with you again!

[Beefy]

Nice!! :thumb:

[4Runninfun]

Just in time the wheeling season will be here shortly!

[Popsgarage]

WooooHoooo!!!! Can't wait for the pics Pete!!!! Everyone I know who's done this upgrade is very happy with the outcome.

[Brody]

Whee...I hope nobody has been holding their breath on this exciting and heart pounding upgrade....Been busy every day. Designated the install for the morrow...

[Popsgarage]

Sounds good man. Have fun getting it done!

[Brody]

Here are the pictures with captions. The captions are pretty self explanatory and there are really good axle rebuild and service links in the Toyota Make and Model thread to fill in any blanks.

I want to thank Dave at Davez Off Road Performance:

http://www.davezoffroadperformance.com/

one again for stellar service, good customer service, and fast shipping.

[Brody]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....nice to see the pictures load in the exact reverse order. Anyway, you can figure it out, I am sure. I will continue to load them in the right order, and hope that this is a small glitch that gets straightened out.

[Brody]

Some of my text looks like a craigslist cretin wrote it. My apologies. Some of the folks who know me realize that I do have a brain and some education. I was just in a hurry...

Here are the last pictures. FWIW, the difference between the TG Six Shooter knuckle and the Marlin High steer arms translated to 7/8" toe in when I check the alignment. That will get done today, but take this as a head's up if you do this upgrade. You should recheck alignment as a matter of course after doing any front end work. You should also recheck all the torque specs on everything (including wheel spacers and lug nuts) on any suspension work after 500 miles of driving

[Chris]

Thanks Pete, very nice write-up!

[Rocket Scientist]

Nice Job Pete! Didnt know a thing about yotas, I do now.

[Rick]

nice work!!!!!

[Brody]

Thanks!

Last of the pictures:

I did the alignment and tacked a little weld on the jam nut. Then I make a small brake locator bracket to hold the brake lines. I showed what I had welded on the Marlin arms, but this was done in a bit of a hurry and wasn't all that practical, especially of you service the front end frequently like I do. I decided to use the 1/2" bolts that TG supplies to make getting the arms loose. I bottomed the bolts out a little bit, took a measurement and cut a slightly longer piece of tubing to fit. I welded a piece of flat bar on this, cut off and rewelded my brake tabs, and used a couple of washers plus a lock washer per side. This will keep the bracket in place, keep the 1/2" bolts in place, and allows the bracket to swing out of the way to service the axle.

[Jackie]

So, are you trail ready yet?! :)

[Brody]

Yup, trail ready. I have some stuff I want to do with the brakes (a line lock and a better proportioning valve), but those are upgrades and not critical. Probably would go on a trail run tomorrow, but a buddy and I are stacking two 900' rocks climbs back to back, a dark to dark affair..Since our combined ages are 123 years old, it will probably be entertaining "Geriatric climbers fall asleep in car after long day rock climbing...." HEHE.....

[Chris]

You two old farts need a driver for the return trip home!

[Brody]

It will be auto pilot. CT drives that road to Estes daily for work and he and I have probably clocked over 100k miles on in the last 30+ years doing climbs up there....Hopefully not, but we have done some long 24 hour non stop stuff up there and then drove home....and I am sure that was on auto pilot mode....

Oh....and CT is the same grand old age as you are, which makes both of you older than me....:lmao:

[Popsgarage]

Looks good Pete!!!!! Good to hear you got it done.

[glacierpaul]

you da man Pete!!!!!

[Brody]

Last, but not least. I had the front end of the heap up in the air today to adjust the bumpstops, bleed the steering and brakes and double check tightness and clearance. Here was a little extra something that came up. The TG Six Shooter steering arms are roughly 3/8"-1/2" taller than the Marlin Crawler ones. I am running a flat Pitman arm due to clearance issues with the 3.4L swap and the placement of the tie rod/drag link. A regular crossover steering arm binds things up (ask me how I know....) and I ended up using the flat arm. I normally use safety wire for the steering castle nuts and I noticed that the wire was touching the frame. That is how tight this is...I used a cotter pin instead and got the crucial 1/8" clearance that I needed. You can't see this in the pictures..

Should the clearance not have been enough and the nut /stud hit the frame, I could have done two things:
Carefully clipped the end off the TRE stud down to the the top of the castle nut or
Marked where the binding was happening and cut out that part of the frame just enough for clearance. If I had to do this, I would have cut some 1 1/2" tubing in half, notched the frame to accept the tubing, checked for clearance again, and welded that back in place.

Unless you have done the 3.4L conversion, or another conversion, you are probably going to be just fine with the regular crossover steering arm that is standard for straight axle swaps.

Luckily, I didn't have to, but the options were there.

And yes, before I hear ridicule and mockery, I did paint the damn tie rod and drags links. BUT....you will notice that I used RED paint. RED paint is like a man's man color, not the foofoo yellow or green that is being seen a lot.....Sad to say, I found myself looking rather longingly at the black wheels, red paint can in hand...My god, what have I become?:lmao::lmao::lmao:

[Chris]

Bled the steering? How are we going to know where you are IF the squealing is gone? :D

[Popsgarage]

Sad to say, I found myself looking rather longingly at the black wheels, red paint can in hand...My god, what have I become?

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao: