80 Series problems and suggestions

[Spoon]

Ok well I recently turfed my old suzuki sierra(god bless it) and bought a 92 80 series GXL 5spman/1FZ-FE. Now I have a few problems which I guess is sort of understandable as it has done 240,000k's.

Firstly there seems to be some sort of driveline backlash say when im in 5th or any gear for that matter and I'm cruising along and just let off the throttle completely and start coasting along and then hit the throttle again the car goes CLUNK and jerks then keeps going.

Secondly this maybe related to the first problem, when I took it for it's first service the other week I was informed there had been really heavy oil in the gearbox( I was having to double clutch into reverse), now I haven't taken it back in yet as I have been quite busy but I am assuming when the light oil goes in it will open a whole new can of worms.

Thirdly and I think this is the last problem , when I go full lock or near full lock the steering crunches, however I first thought this was because the seals in the steering knuckles had blown which they had so I got them replaced, however It's still rough as guts.

Ok and now to even more fun, as soon as I get these few mechanical problems out of the way I have planeed a few modifications, and I figure I wanted to know what problems and suggestions you could make to these.
Heres a list of what I plan on doing -
1. ARB Air lockers front and back
2. 6" suspension lift with some nice rancho adjustable shocks(I hear some people have problems with the lifts and driveline angles etc, this is where I need help)
3. Spare set of tyres for when off roading
4. Possible part time 4wd conversion kit, I hear these are basically necessary if you are to get a 6"lift setup.


Anywho appreciate any suggestions and answers to the problems I am having.

[RV80]

1st problem is backlash from the transfer case,
front diff and drive flanges. part-time kit
will fix this. i recently done this to mine

2nd mine's done about 250k it's difficult
to get into some gears when cold dont worry
about it unless you have the $ to rebuild it

3rd could be the CV's wear and tear from
been full-time 4wd i replaced mine and it
was nice and tight to drive for about 2
months then went sloppy again.

[Spoon]

Well see it's got 6mnths warranty with some people, so basically if we find out the gearbox is rooted when the light oil goes in, they WILL rebuild it under warranty, I'll cause them alot of shit otherwise if they tried to hide the fact it was rooted.

I'm in brisbane atm, and was wondering where I could pick up a part time 4wd kit(decent one) and how much I will be looking at spending.

[RV80]

i got mine from mick at
www.superiorengineering.com.au
it was about 550 bucks a couple
of months ago. it's a 4wd systems
kit from adelaide.

[Coighty]

When you lift it 6" you have to go free wheel. You can get a complete kit including front hubs from Marks adaptors, they can send it in the mail. Also when you lift it you will have problems with the caster angle, as the trailng arms hit the drag link. This can be overcome a few different ways, the best way is to flip the arms to the top of the diff.

[Spoon]

yeah im not sure whether to go 4-5" suspension and 2" body, I really don't wanna have to mod the driveline, but if I can just flip the arms to the top that would be great.

[RV80]

yes you can overkill engineering do the plates
for 180 bucks

[Coighty]

Body lift on a 80 has been known to crack the bodys.
Depending on how big you want to go with your rubber its not needed.
I'm running 36" swampers 5" lift no real big problems, some minor mods needed

[Spoon]

How much wheel travel do you get? Does it stick to the track well or does it tend to go arse up alot?

[RV80]

do you mean here?
http://www.safari4x4.com.au/80scool/tec ... racks.html

[Coighty]

Front travel is ordinary as all are, rear travels good as i moved the shock mounts, extended the bump stops a bit and extended the rear trailing arms

[RV80]

rear travels good as i
moved the shock mounts.

care to go into more detail "ie" where
abouts did you relocate them?

[Coighty]

Due to limiting up travel i was able to move the lower mount higher. By doing this you need to retain your springs.

[crankycruiser]

I have 7" under my 80 and it is still full time 4wd, all I had to do was put a double cardon joint in the front shaft and it is sweet now....

Thinking about doing the flip arms myself as well seems like the way to go..

[bruiser]

I have done a 6inch lift on my 80
After, I had a backlash kind of problem in drive shaft.
Everyone told me I had to go part time.

I tested this by removing the front drive shaft. The problem was reduced but still there.
From my experience the only way to get it to work perfectly is to double cardin the front drive shaft.

I replaced the whole front driveshaft including splines and d/c for $700.
best thing i ever done

Steve

[crankycruiser]

If u shop about u can pick up a hilux front shaft with d/c from the wreckers or someone wreckin a lux for bout 50 bucks.. then get it lengthend and get the bolt pattern on the d/c end of the shaft adjusted to suit the 80 and it will cost bugga all...

Mine cost me $210 all up...

If u p.m Dow50r he knows some more on a shaft that has the correct bolt pattern on the d/c end.. i just cant remember the details

Ray

[dow50r]

Gday
Apparently a common fault...i would say from here (xray vision) that your c/v's are worn out and the backlash is in the transfer, being the different amounts of backlsh front and rear tailshafts acting on the centre diff.
To check this, put the transfer in neutral, gearbox in neutral, chock the front wheels,and raise both of the rears on jack stands... move the front tailshaft back and forward, noting the amount of movement...if it is heaps more than the rear shaft (with front wheels raised) you have play in the front driveline...the next thing to do is remove the axle dust covers and have someone move the tailshaft to see if the splines are orn on the c/v to drive flange.
I would suggest you look for a complete diff out of a writeoff, and get a locker put in it aswell as checking those c/v joints whilst in your garage...this way you should get out of it cheaply, and either sell parts back to us who bend or break things, or keep them as spares for when you need them again.
I did this myself, in your situation a few years ago, and still have the pumpkin, spindle, drive flanges and axle should i need them in the future... i suppose it comed down to how much you can do yourself and
how much extra cash you have to spend...
Andrew

[crankycruiser]

sell parts back to us who bend or break things, or keep them as spares for when you need them again.

I've got first dib's on the housing!!!

[dow50r]

If u p.m Dow50r he knows some more on a shaft that has the correct bolt pattern on the d/c end.. i just cant remember the details

Ray

Gday ther rear tailshaft d/c (from a hilux with centre bearing) is thesame bolt pattern as the 80 front output of the transfer, but the shaft then needs to be shortened to fit your application.
With a lifted 80 auto, a manual front shaft will come close to being the correct length coupled to the d/c.
Andrew

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

ok your problems started when you got an 80 not a 40..

and it seems to have multiplied since then......

nah sounds like a nice truck, but gxl..full time 4wd...

[dow50r]

Agreed. No locking of hubs, beer holders are on the wrong side of the door...inside not ouside....
LOL
Andrew

[Spoon]

Bumping this one back up for some updates, well I recently got a loud squeaking and came to the conclusion is was the universal(non greasable) on the front tailshaft, so we dropped the front driveshaft off and took it for a spin to see if the noise was there, it had gone. So we picked up a new uni and installed and yeah the old one had rusted up, so no more squeaks.

Ordered the part time 4wd kit from 4wd systems and it's arrived, gonna put it in next weekend with a mate, I was so suprised how well it drove when the front diff wasnt being driven, no more clunk when i went let off the gas and then gave it some, didn't seem to do anything weird when changing gears, really smooth. So now I have come to the conclusion there must be some mega backlash happening somewhere between the CDL and the front diff, the prop shaft splines felt fine and meshed nicely, so I dont think it's that.

The birfields are fucked, I think I will just repack them until I can afford to buy another set.

At the moment I'm just concerned about all the backlash, sure it's not gonna be there after I get the part time kit, but when i get off road it's gonna be there and it's a pain in the ass, so any suggestions on what it might be?

[RV80]

it's a fair chance that the backlash is from
the cv's and the drive flanges. the splines
flog out in them.