Manual Hubs on a KZJ78 Prado/ LJ71 Cruiser

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Manual Hubs on a KZJ78 Prado/ LJ71 Cruiser

Postby wjw » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:11 pm

Clint wrote:Toyota Manual Hub Install: LJ71 Landcruiser

The stock electric hubs fitted to the LJ71, & several other Cruisers, are crap & if you've got some that actually work, enjoy them while they last cos it wont be long before they give up the ghost if you are actually using the vehicle for it's intended purpose. At least carry the right torx bit & driver so you can take off the cover & manually engage them in an emergency.

Fitting manual hubs involves a bit more than just buying a set & bolting them on however so I thought I'd note down what I did to assist others. If you've got the skills & tools to adjust your front wheel bearings, you're well capable of doing this job.

The problem with the electric hubs is that the wheel hub is shorter, so there is no room behind a free wheeling hub for the locknut assembly. Fitting a spacer is possible but not very strong. One solution, developed by Oldblue, is to fit a sealed manual drive to the outside of the electric hub - operated by an allen key. The solution I decided on was to use some Hilux parts & fit standard Hilux Aisin hubs.

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Hilux hub on left, cruiser on right.

Parts Required:

Wheel Hubs from a beam axle Hilux, free wheeling hubs of your choice, wheel bearing lockrings & nuts, front spindles (optional), sealant, Loctite.

I picked up a whole front axle assembly off Trademe for $200. Mine was mid 80's vintage but as far as I know all beam axle Hilux's have the same parts. Look for one with the factory Aisin free wheeling hubs, they're pretty strong & don't stick out too far. Get something steel rather than aluminium at any rate. If you've got any bearings, seals etc in the front or in your donor hub that need doing, obviously now is the time for that also.

Tools Required:

The only tools needed that some may not have are a couple of Torx bits; #20 & #40. The best thing I've found for the circlips on the axles is the cheap interchangeable head circlip pliers which come with a head with a couple of 'paddles'. You can use a screwdriver or 2 but flicking the clip across the workshop into a pile of junk never to be seen again is a PITA at times.

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Procedure:

Put the vehicle up on axlestands & remove the wheels. Unbolt the brake calipers & tie them up out of the way.

Unbolt the old electric hubs, take off the circlip, remove, then undo the lockring & take off the wheel bearing nut. Fish out the outer bearing race. With a bit of wiggling the hub should pull off.

The old Hilux disc will most likely be solid, the Prado brakes are vented. You need to remove the disc from your old hub. The studs go through the disc & press into the hub. To remove the studs find an old wheelnut you don't like to thread onto the studs before you bash them out with a FBH. Some discs also have a couple of bolts holding them on. Put your original discs on your new hub & press or FBH the studs back in.

As far as I could tell the original hub spindles would work with the new hubs. However I decided that the Prado spindles with the conductors for the hub drive running up the centre & the extra slots in the end for the brushes, didn't look as strong as the Hilux ones I had on hand. I took off the brake backing plate & original spindles, cutting off the wires that feed into the spindle. I took out the axles while I was there & packed some fresh grease into the CV's & all around. A healthy dollop of RTV was required to bung up the hole where the wires went in, & also a smear of sealant around where the spindle bolts on.

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Then It's a simple reassembly job using the new bits, greasing as we go, & checking the condition of any old bearings & seals that are going back in.

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After setting the wheel bearing preload I locked the nuts with some screw-on type lock rings that I had, but the hilux bend-the-tab type could be used, or the original screw-on lock rings could be cut down & made to fit.

Then it's on with the manual hubs, making sure they are all lubed & driving in out freely. Don't forget that outer circlip. Use Locktite on all the free wheeling hub bolts & torque them up firmly, they're buggers of things for coming loose. Check them again after your first 4wdriving session on them too.

Put the calipers & wheels back on, pump the brakes up in case the calipers got opened up a bit during removal & you're good to go.

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Cheers
Clint
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Who knew Prados could fly?

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