sMARTINside - New Wheels

sMARTINside

New member
I received a replacement axle today, from Napa, but it wasn't the right one:

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I returned it and they told me that it was for a 2000 Celica. I will (hopefully) have the right one on Thursday.
 

New Guy

New member
When I replaced my shafts, I sent them to Raxles in Florida to be rebuilt- I at first thought I had been conned because they looked like brand new units! They might not be an option for you since you are in Quebec, but I highly recommend them... They use new ends and boots and re-powdercoat the central shaft.
 

sMARTINside

New member
Florida is quite a ride. I am sure I could find a place that rebuilds axles, here in Quebec. After all, all I need to get repaired is the threads at the end. The problem is that there is less material than before, so it needs to be refilled with welding.
 

sMARTINside

New member
I received my replacement axle today. I installed it and it fits perfectly. One thing that I didn't like is that the outer joint is moving harder than my used one. Maybe it is normal for a freshly rebuilt one. At least, this time I could torque the axle nut up to 137 ft-lb, without it stripping. Tomorrow, I will put back the transmission fluid in and make a test run, hoping that I won't feel that vibration no more.

I have received my Trackforged midpipe today. It looks like a nice pipe. I will clean the weldings with acid soon, and install it. I am anxious to see how it fits and feels and sounds...

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toayoztan

Moderator
The stiffer cv joint is normal/ok. When rebuilding, some guys will put in oversized bearings. If you buy new joints like inner tie rods, outer tie rods, lower ball joints, etc, they will be stiffer. It's when the joint is pretty much all loose is when you start to develop failure and a bit of free play, causing increased wear.

The new hub looks awesome! Are you throwing the ABS back in?

Bryan
 

sMARTINside

New member
Good, so I won't worry for the stiff joint.

Yes, the brand new hub looks so nice, at 220$, it is better to look good!

ABS is gone and won't come back! With the Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve, I love how the brakes are distributed. :lol: Why do you think I would put it back?
 

sMARTINside

New member
I fitted the axle back and the vibration is still there. I will have to dig deeper into it, when I get the chance.

The midpipe is now installed.

I cleaned the weldings using pickling paste (nitric acid) and a scotchbrite:
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BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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Here is a comparison between the stock midpipe and the Trackforged one:
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The pipe is passing close everywhere, but it doesn't touch!
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I went for a ride and I have to say that I feel a little more power, especially at low RPM. The sound is rich and deep. It sounds more massive at idle.

My car is now having a burnt smell. I guess that driving it in the next days will help to get the pipe hot and stop smelling.

Thanks to Terracar and sentraman for starting this groupbuy and thanks to Trackforged to make a 3'' midpipe that is easy to install and doesn't hit anywhere.
 

sMARTINside

New member
Yesterday I brought my Alltrac to the place where I store it for winter. I am always sad to be apart from that car. In my mind, this car would be the best one around to pass through winter easily, but because I want it to preserve its shape, I take it away from this insane snow and salt that our roads get in winter.

This year was the year where my Celica had the most work done to it. ST205 swap, new brake lines and proportioning valve, new steering wheel, etc... Hope in this car grew up a lot in me. I love it more and more. I also got injured pretty bad, working on it.

Yesterday was my last drive with the car for this year. I enjoyed it and my girlfriend took videos of it so I could listen to its new sound when I get thoughtful about the Alltrac during the next months.

You can listen to it too!

A little acceleration:


Idle sound:


Giving it some throttle on neutral:
 

sMARTINside

New member
Here are a few news. I have taken out the rear subframe to change the suspension, differential and subframe bushings. I took my stock differential apart and was pleased to see that it was a Torsen unit. I always had in mind that my rear differential was open. So I had bought a Torsen LSD from a member here. So, now I have a spare Torsen rear diff. That was a fun surprise that explains why my Celica had such a good control over drifting in snow or dirt.

I also put down the gaz tank to swap it over with a brand new one that I bought from BoostedBlueToyotas on this forum.

When I get some pictures, I will shoot them, here.
 

sMARTINside

New member
I am replacing them with the Super Pro Polyurethane bushings. I already had changed 8 of them, because when I bought the car, the rear end would swing from left to right when driving in a straight line. There were still 4 other bushings to change (Toe adjustment and front trailing arm. Almost all of the bolts holding them are rust welded to the inner metal tube so they have to be cut to be taken out. I take my time and do one thing at a time...
 

sMARTINside

New member
So I got a brand new OEM gaz tank from BoostedBlueToyotas, on the board. I swapped the filler tube, the pump the vent and the level sender from the old rusty leaking tank. I broke and brushed the rust from the flanges and painted them. Then I installed them back with brand new gaskets. 1 funny fact is that you can get all the new gaskets from Toyota, BUT not the one for the fuel level sender as it comes in one kit with the sender. So I made myself a gasket with a sheet of gasket stuff.

I also had to reinforce the straps, as they were getting weaker in certain spots and all the supports for the gaz tank protector were getting weak or were already ripped off by rust. So I made myself some U's in sheet metal that I welded a nut inside them to replace them all. I welded them to the straps. Then, I painted them black, like the rest.

Here are some pics of the tank, ready to install.

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I had to weld a couple plates to reinforce some weak spot on the chassis.
Being there, I decided to brush the underbody to remove the rust and paint it, to make it last longer. I thought it was the right moment for this, having the subframe and fuel tank out.

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The subframe:
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So today, I will put some rust treatment oil on the underbody and put back the subframe and fuel tank.
 

sMARTINside

New member
So a little update:

The subframe is in the car:
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And the fuel tank too:
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Now I have prepared the rear knuckles. I had one bad wheel bearing in the back that I didn't really suspect from being bad, so I changed both, being there.
 

sMARTINside

New member
Thanks a lot. With a lot of effort and money, this project will go where I always dreamed it would.

Now I am replacing the front passenger side wheel bearing for a brand new one. I had a weird vibration since last year, and now I think I have spotted the problem. After all, I have changed 3 of the wheel bearings already (Toyota Genuine $$$). My two front hubs where ground down by the inner race. I have replaced the two front CV Shafts (they gave me some with M22 Threads, so hopefully, they will be tougher). The car is getting in a much better shape than before. Tonite, I will have changed all wheel bearings, so it should roll very smooth. I will keep you updated.
 

sMARTINside

New member
Update: I replaced my last wheel bearing yesterday afternoon and it fixed vibration issue. I double checked that ALL my axle nuts were well tightened. Instead of 137 lb-ft, like the BGB says, I tightened them to 150 ft-lb on dry threads, to make sure that they don't slack off.

I am so happy, the car seems to run so smooth. I feel that there is a lot less rolling resistance than before. I think I will be able to use this car to go in my vacation trip, this year. It feels reliable enough.
 

Terracar

New member
Glad to hear it. So out of curiousity, where did you get the replacement axles? I replaced both mine with aftermarket since Toyota no longer makes/sells the front axles. I now have an annoying leak that I can't fix lol. Just asking for future reference since I still need to get Demon fixed lol.

-Terracar
 

sMARTINside

New member
That is where I got mine, at Napa. They are rebuit Cardone axles. The second one that I received was brand new, not rebuilt, so it might be new or rebuilt.
 
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