HZJ 75 Front end repairs

[pfbiker]

Hi everyone,

Have just joined OL4x4 great site. I have just bought a HZJ75 97 model that i thought was road worthy(purchased in NSW transfered to QLD). Put it into the Local Toyota dealer for inspection(Safety Cert) and the mechanic said it needed front end work. The vehicle only has 127K on it and is in VGC drives like new) all round except for king pins(Ithink thats what there called) he said that because there is grease around them that the seals need to be replaced as well as the front outer axle seals. I had a look and could not see any oil weeping from them?, also he said that there are notches in them somthing from driving the vehicle straight for long distances(would this be true)

Anyway the bottom line is that it will cost $850.00 to repair. What Iwould like to know is dose this sound resonable? I am good with mechanicals and would normaly attemp somthing like this myself but due to time constaints, work and no work shop manual I will have it done by the Toyota mechanic.

What do you guys think of the cost.

I will post more detail of repairs if anyone is interested.

[Shadow]

grease is not a big issues, could mean the wipers arent doing thier job as well as they should.

if the axle seals are gone you will have a greasy mess hanging down from the swivel hub housing. it may not be dripping but a gooey mess.

If its just grease around the ball, then wipe it down and tell him to pissoff.

did he fail your safety cert because of it?

[pfbiker]

The vehicle failed the inspection due to the following.

chips in windscreen(Iwas awear of these)
loose front wheel bearings.
steering arm play(at the RH nuckle that is closest to the box)
and the balljoint grease as discussed.
The vehicle has no other faults indicated on the inspection report.

He said that the work takes 5-6 hrs. Parts are $240 (kit)

[Shadow]

have a look and see if the steering arm is loose, thats easy to tighten yourself.

Wheelbearings are easy to adjust yourself (just need the 54mm socket, about $30).

grease on the ball is not an issue, they will do this almost from new, small amount of grease around the extend of where the wipers sweep. The grease could be building up for ages. (probably the last 127

if its wet at all, its not just grease, it will be diff oil+grease which means your axle seal has failed.

To replace the axle seal you need to strip the whole hub and spindle off.

Took me 1 day to do both sides of my 60 series including replacing bearings, repacking cv's, and rebuilding the brakes aswell. That was for me and my old man.

Cant see 5-6 hours in one side.

[pfbiker]

This is what i thought, when I got it home I checked them both and they are dry(no oil on the shiny ball surface). I would say that the grease build up is about 3-4mm around the out side of wipers and thats it. As for adjusting the steering there is a split pin that looks like it might be holding a cap onto the arm and I think the adjuster is behind the cap?

Thanks for the help. Like I said, I will most likely at this stage get it done at Toyota that way i get a warranty with it and can take it back if it gets a grease build up on it and have them fix it again. Iam also interested to see how much this improves the handling of the truck which drives and steers very well already.

thanks

[Shadow]

i think your wasting your money in a big way if it is just grease.

A toyota dealer tried to get my brother $220 for split cv boots on his 100 series. When he got it serveced the next time at another dealership, he asked them to check the cv boots.

They said cv boots were fine.

We got under there to have a look aswell, couldnt fine anything wrong with them. Just a dodgy mechanic trying to get his numbers up or someshit.

[Corgie Carrier]

He sounds like a wanker to me.

Take it to your local roadworthy garage and ask them, might save ya $800.

Toyota are a major rip off.

I took my 95 hzj 75 troopy in for a timing belt change (1hz) and they quoted me $85 for the belt and $150 for the labour (2hrs).

I bought the belt at autobarn for $42, then took it to my local mechanic and he charged me $40 and took 35 minutes to do the job.

Neale

[rockcrawler31]

Hi everyone,

Have just joined OL4x4 great site. I have just bought a HZJ75 97 model that i thought was road worthy(purchased in NSW transfered to QLD). Put it into the Local Toyota dealer for inspection(Safety Cert) and the mechanic said it needed front end work. The vehicle only has 127K on it and is in VGC drives like new) all round except for king pins(Ithink thats what there called) he said that because there is grease around them that the seals need to be replaced as well as the front outer axle seals. I had a look and could not see any oil weeping from them?, also he said that there are notches in them somthing from driving the vehicle straight for long distances(would this be true)

Anyway the bottom line is that it will cost $850.00 to repair. What Iwould like to know is dose this sound resonable? I am good with mechanicals and would normaly attemp somthing like this myself but due to time constaints, work and no work shop manual I will have it done by the Toyota mechanic.

What do you guys think of the cost.

I will post more detail of repairs if anyone is interested.

All the other stuff is minor repairs that you can take care of yourself except for the screen which is worth paying someone to fit as it's frustrating to break a new screen yourself

As for the front end, if it is just dry'ish grease i doubt that it is the inner seals. Have the front end pressure blasted just before you take it to another roadworthy jointa and you should be fine. The extra fifty bucks to do it elsewhere is better than forking out 800 for a job that doesn't really need doing.

[bj on roids]

This is what i thought, when I got it home I checked them both and they are dry(no oil on the shiny ball surface). I would say that the grease build up is about 3-4mm around the out side of wipers and thats it. As for adjusting the steering there is a split pin that looks like it might be holding a cap onto the arm and I think the adjuster is behind the cap?

Thanks for the help. Like I said, I will most likely at this stage get it done at Toyota that way i get a warranty with it and can take it back if it gets a grease build up on it and have them fix it again. Iam also interested to see how much this improves the handling of the truck which drives and steers very well already.

thanks

Won't improve the handling much if any doing the axle seals.

I would double check that steering arm though!

[coxy321]

Hi everyone,

Have just joined OL4x4 great site. I have just bought a HZJ75 97 model that i thought was road worthy(purchased in NSW transfered to QLD). Put it into the Local Toyota dealer for inspection(Safety Cert) and the mechanic said it needed front end work. The vehicle only has 127K on it and is in VGC drives like new) all round except for king pins(Ithink thats what there called) he said that because there is grease around them that the seals need to be replaced as well as the front outer axle seals. I had a look and could not see any oil weeping from them?, also he said that there are notches in them somthing from driving the vehicle straight for long distances(would this be true)

Anyway the bottom line is that it will cost $850.00 to repair. What Iwould like to know is dose this sound resonable? I am good with mechanicals and would normaly attemp somthing like this myself but due to time constaints, work and no work shop manual I will have it done by the Toyota mechanic.

What do you guys think of the cost.

I will post more detail of repairs if anyone is interested.

As said, unless it is oil leaking out of the seal, and you can feel slop in the swivel hub bearings (aka king pin bearings), then save your $800. You can buy swivel hub rebuild kits for $150, and as shadow said, put aside a full day to do it properly. It is a VERY messy job.

If it is just excess grease on the wiper seals, just get a rag with some degreaser sprayed on it and wipe off the excess. Dont go squirting degreaser onto the seals as it could get inside and mess things up.

Also, just an FYI, ALL swivel hub/king pin bearings get notches in them - thats why they fail. As far as i know (unless you use your 4x4 for drifting), 70-80% of a cars time is spent with the front wheels pointing straight ahead, hence the wear/notches in your bearing runners.

Coxy

[sava75]

sounds a bit much to me...
for $850 i would expect a full swivel hub kit, wheel bearings, all leaking seals replaced and a wheel alignment. plus $100-$150 in change.

[SIMMO84]

Be care full taking it somewhere else, if you take it two different places in one month the dept of transport can call it in to go over the pits.