OUCH!!

Well, hopefully it will all be worth it soon Josh! My 4x4 truck is a little lopsided in the rear also......I haven't tried to fix it, or adjust it in any way yet. Let us know how the alignment goes!

 

So lots of cussing and swearing.
1/2" ratchet slipped on full pull right into my face....huge bruise. Not what I planned but we bleed for our fun right?

So, I went with the "new nut" on top of the existing torsion bar bolt. I cleaned up the threads real nice... 12mm x 1.5 pitch if anyone needs to know, then slipped a new grade 10.9 nut on top of the bolt with a washer to act as a reinforcement for the "threaded key."

Tightened the sucker down a bunch more turns but stopped when it started to suggest to me that I had gone far enough. Truck was still lop-sided, but not by much, so I figured, if I can't raise the drivers side up, I'll just lower the passenger down.

Cleaned up the threads on the passenger side bolt and turned it down about 2 1/2*. The torsion arm was at 27.7* and I turned it up (loosened) until it got to about 30.1*... All while the vehicle was on jack-stands mind you....
Dropped the truck back down and now Im roughly 32 1/4" from ground to fender seam on both sides... about as level as its going to get.

Rear is 33 3/4" passenger, 33 5/8" driver
Front is now 32 1/4" square... Manual says 10mm (.39") from left to right variation, so I'd say thats fine.

At this point, I think I'm good to take it to get Aligned. Frame looks good, I didn't see any play or variation in the driveshaft, so I think that vibration is either the alignment, or just worn out internals (tranny, diff, who knows) and who cares at that point. It wasn't violent, only noticeable... lets be real here... it has 280k miles on original everything... poor thing is worn out.

I have longer term plans for a new rear differential I can put a locker in so probably a used, Ford Explorer or Toyota axle, with new lift leafs in the rear. I'm also eyeing some cool lift and beefier torsion bars from Australia when I start going on my Off-Road adventures... overland stuff. No serious rock crawling here.

Lets see how the alignment does.

Cheers!

 

I have not tried to reindex the torsion bar bolts Josh......I would think that you could do that though, in order to get lined up on a good portion of threads.......but I think that I would try to find a fully threaded replacement bolt, or a good original bolt first.
A previous owner (or mechanic) must have tried to raise the front suspension while the weight of the truck was on the suspension.

 

So I found a nut and a better tap. Im going to clean up the treads, but here is my question.
If Im looking at my suspension correctly, the "tighter" I make that bolt (more exposed threads) the more preload should be on the torsion bar correct? I.e.: giving me a higher ride height, correct?

Im guessing these torsion bars are worn out, big time. They do have 280k miles on them.

Ive found some upgrades/replacement/lift torsion bars from the Aussies, but it'll cost me $500 and I would think at least a 4-6 weeks to ship.

Thoughts on my situation? I have considered pulling the bolt all the way out to inspect the assembly, but I run the risk of it not going back together. I found a few bolts online but they may not have enough of the bolt threaded. OG bolts on ebay are ridiculously priced so thats out. I have not been able to find a new set online.

Maybe I need to pull the torsion bar on the drivers side and re-index it to accommodate the stripped bolt?

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Welp, I think the bolt is stripped. Right in the middle.

So I was loosening the Anchor bolt to try to get both sides to be at the same "angle." Driver torsion bar mount was at 17* at the start, passenger was at 25*. So I figured i'd take some preload out on the drivers side and I should be good (I think Im using the correct terminology.)
Welp, got them both even enough (see pics of angle finder) and dropped it back down on the tires.
Driver side as @ 32" from ground to fender, passenger was at 33 1/2"! so it did not get better.
Fine, I put it back up on jackstands and started adding in my preload on the driver then. I figured it was at 17*, Ill got to 15 or 16* and I'll check. got to 22* and it stops decreasing, even gets worse...
I peer in the hole of the bracket (very hard to see in there) and it looks like its stripped in the middle of that bolt.

(Many swear words were said)

So it looks like this is just a really long bolt. I might see if I can take it out and just go get a nut and washer or a replacement bolt at the local hardware store. I assume it has to be a grade 12 or 10 at least because of the load its under.

Im debating if I should try to remove the bolt as it will obviously get worse if I do so. The "key" might be stripped already as well and get worse if I do so, which might ruin my ability to just put a nut on top of the bolt to use the good/exposed threads....

See pics.

Drivers anchor after 1st adjustment

Passenger anchor - static, not adjustment

Top of drivers/anchor bolt. looks clean enough to remove (or just put a nut and washer on)

 

AB, you are 100% correct. I assumed as much anyway but also read up on the front suspension removal/installation/adjustment in the shop manual. Seeing as how I am not removing the torsion bar, I am just going to try and raise the left/front about 1/2". I can't remember how far off the right/front and left/front were from each other. I will drop the rear back on the ground and only lift the front, that way I can make an adjustment, drop it down to check and then lift again easily to confirm.
1st time doing truck torsion bars so this should be fun. I've messed with my old Volkswagen's bars to lower it so this should be familiar.
Once I get it level, its off to the alignment shop.

 

Josh, if you adjust the torsion bars, you need to take the weight off of the suspension (unloaded) during adjustment, then set the truck back on the ground to see the results. From what I am reading in your posts, the truck is still on jackstands, but just make sure the stands are under the frame, and not the front axle.

 

@Cussboy,

Yes, I also have a set of gauges for my 69 Type3... Oil pressure, Cyl. temp, and volts. I may upgrade to this VDO style gauge because it uses an electric pressure sensor instead of that "destined to fail" plastic pressure line. Those are more expensive though, so its lower on my list. I am going to take my temp gauge ( the aftermarket one) out of the install. My stock sensor reads fine and there is not a good provision for me to install the sensor for it. I'd have to drill and weld in a bung for it or find a thermostat housing that fits the Mazda with one already in... not worth the hassle. Stock works fine.
I will rework my dash install to just have the Oil pressure and Volts gauge.

As for my PSI, when I was running it the other day it read 40 psi on start up, that was cold at around 1100 rpm (1st start rpm) so I am not going to worry about it. I think my pressures are good. I am sure it will diminish as the oil warms and like you said, it increases accordingly with RPM when running at temp. No idiot light on the dash so lets not worry .... lol (famous last words)

 

@AB Earl, I do not believe this truck had the infamous "fork-lift" damage, thankfully. Looking at the Driveshaft it looks good for its age and spins on a smooth plane from the quick check I did. I will do a more intensive test tonight.

I have the new tank in. It was $135 from partsgeek.com and looked pretty good. I forgot to snap pics. Will upload some tonight. It came painted so I just threw it in. Was going to rubberize coat it but decided ... nah. May still blast the bottom side with a rubberized coating. Its still very accessible.
In my excitement to get it in, I mounted it, connected all the lines and refilled it with all that new gas I pumped from the old tank, only to realize, this tank did not have a drain plug. In hindsight, I have drilled and tapped the new tank for a drain plug. theoretically I could always hotwire the pump to run with the key on and pull a line to drain the tank if I need to or just hand pump/syphon it, but a drain plug is handy...
That's a problem for another day.

As for the vibration, I pulled out the old dial indicator. I set it up to each wheel and gave them a spin (truck is still up on jackstands.)
Every wheel, measured at the outermost edge of the wheel itself run a max variation of .5mm or less. Three of the four wheels run .4mm variation or less. So that is 1/2 of 1 mm variation through the entire rotation. and that is measured off powder coated wheels that have a rough texture, not smooth. So I am going to call that "within tolerance."

So I believe the frame is straight and my wheels all "track" straight on their respective hubs, front to back.

So that leaves the terrible alighnment I'm sure I have (front end has new ball joints and few tierod ends etc...), the fact that the suspension is not level (Front/left is lower than the right etc.), and I could still have issues within the axle etc.... not sure. Again the vibration wasn't like, bone shattering or anything but definitely noticeable... For all I know, a tire could be out of balance too. I mounted and balanced them 3 years ago.... who knows! They could have developed flat spots, but I think I would feel that immediately, not just a certain speeds.

Plenty left for me to troubleshoot at home.

Tonight I will learn how to level the suspension to get that straight (front end) and see where that gets me.

Thanks everyone!

 

I have an oil pressure gauge on my 1971 VW with 1835cc engine, which also has a tach. I figure 10psi oil pressure for each 1000 rpm, so 30psi at 3000 rpm.

 

Just a thought here Josh.......if your truck was ever "loaded or unloaded" with a forklift (like they do in a junkyard) then the driveshaft(s) could be bent. Most of the driveshafts in JY's are bent due to moving the cars with a large forklift.

It does look like it is running fine though! I have never adapted an oil pressure gauge to my Mazda trucks before, so I can't tell you if those numbers are good or not.

 

Well I'm a total bonehead but we know that already... lol

I have fixed the videos so that they should be viewable from the links. I had them set to "private" and not "unlisted." Thanks for catching that AB.... Im still learning the joys of YouTube!

So, I put the truck up on jackstands and did the "plumb bob" trick to check my frame alignment. See the pic of my measurements.
Every corresponding measurement is within 1/4", most within a 1/16" of an inch, which I'm calling well within the margin of error. So I think the Frame is straight (enough.)

Im very happy about this. I will start checking my balljoints (new installs) and every bushing etc, that I haven't looked at yet and look for major issues.

After that, I am going to pull out the old dial indicator and do some spin tests on the rear axle. Wheel rotation and differential rotation, looking for any excessive wear or "runout" etc...

At this point, Im betting she is in dire need of an alignment. I mean, I did rebuild a lot of the front end a couple years back and its just been sitting. Plus new tires... they're balanced but you never know... still plenty to check but my concerns of a bent frame have subsided... Im pretty sure the cause of the vibrations is well within my ability to fix, thank goodness.

P.S. even with all the things left of the list to fix and all my plans for this little runner, I had so much fun running her through the gears... These little trucks are just the best!!! Nobody makes them like this anymore and never will again. They literally are the best evolution of the small pickup. Toyotas, Nissans, some Chevy's and Fords are in there too, but nothing compares in my book to this style. It really was the end of an era...

Video on Plumb-bob frame testing...
Plumb-bob frame check

Measurements from my marked spot from the frame.

 

Josh! Looks like your videos are set to Private or something.......I can't get to them anyway.

 

Monthly update

Hey everybody! Long time...

So after lots of interruptions etc. I was finally able to take the little truck on its first drive after the rebuild.

Im not gonna lie. I still have SO much work to do. Here goes.

1) Before the drive. There was a pretty bad lifter tick (at least that is what it sounded like to me) when I started it up.
2)Took it for a drive. Engine had decent response. I have no frame of reference because I never drove it on the street. Just onto a trailer and then off in my driveway 3 years ago... Went to the gas station and filled up the tank and dropped in a full bottle of Berryman Fuel injector cleaner.
3) Never took it above 3500rpm (ish) and didn't full throttle it accept once briefly.
4) Wrapped up the drive after 30 miles of back and forth near the house.... didn't want to go too far from home incase I turn out to be a terrible engine builder (that remains to be seen btw.)
Lifter tick seemed to settle down substantially.

Results. Where do I start! 🤪😳

Biggest immediate issue, my gas tank leaks like a sieve. Leaking right from the weld seam in the middle. Like big puddle to the ground within 10 seconds (See attached video.)
Truck shakes like Skakira on 4 double espresso's. Brand new tires but OG wheels and almost a guaranteed bad alignment. Also feel a pretty bad vibration from the rear that tends to get worse the faster you go... so driveshaft imbalance? Tires that out of balance? not sure.
Oil pressure drops to 10psi on my aftermarket guage at idle. Never gets above 35/40 psi. Now the gauge is one of those cheap oil fed versions with the little pipe that runs to the gauge. I don't know how accurate they are. The stock "idiot" light never came on while driving so....ok?
Did I mention it shakes like Shakira?
Drivers side is easily 1/2" to 1" lower then the passenger side. Especially in front, so springs, need to adjust the torsion bar, tired torsion bars? Probably all the above.
But, I drove it around, up and down my local expressway for like an hour... doing a total of 30 miles from 0 - 50 mph max. Lots of stop and go. Bedded in the new brake pads and clutch, which worked flawlessly, thank the great Spaghetti monster in the sky....

My next steps. I need to put it on jack stands from the frame and do a simple "plumb bob" frame check to make this little truck has a straight frame. It looks pretty straight but I need to make sure I'm starting with a good baseline, then I can move to the suspension components to align everything. The entire front end is new, pretty much. Balljoints, etc, etc. so I can't imagine anything is aligned correctly.

I have already ordered a new gas tank. Found a brand new one from Dorman for $108 on partsgeek.com. $135 with shipping and taxes. Not bad...

So, all my cosmetic upgrades/fixes are on hold until the running/driving problems are fixed. I still have to paint the drivers replacement door, add the weather stripping and window seals. Then full respray of the body once I clean up the rest of the body damage... so much more to do!

Now, to the YouTube videos...

Warm up before I drive:

Street drive:

Fuel leak:

After drive:

 

Hey Josh........Cussboy is a very good person to purchase parts from! I have actually met him in person as well.......the wife and I flew out to Las Vegas and rented a vehicle and drove all over out there in the Western states in 2023. Met Cussboy and had dinner and a couple of beers with him. Good times!!

 

They're about $25.00 or so, plus shipping from the dealer. You might get a better deal on it from your local Mazda parts counter also......call them and ask them.......they were used on a lot of different models.

I do have a new one in it's Mazda packaging......but I want to keep it of course. To remove one of them from a grille, you need to use a soldering gun/iron and melt ("wipe" them clean with the soldering gun) the plastic "welds" on the backside of the grille........then use a small screwdriver or drift to tap on the round looking plastic "pin" that was melted down originally to secure the emblem to the grille.

Pretty easy to do really......but they do need to be in decent shape, otherwise......what's the use!

 

Thanks AB, I will go order one from Mazda. I saw them on Ebay for more than that so the dealer is the way to go.

 

Here is my new Ebay Grill and headlights. Headlights are "TrueMod" Bronco Style blah blah... Part # LEDHDL1513. Connected right up. Matching plugs and everything. I did NOT wire in the Daytime running lights because... why.

Also cleaned up the endcaps and bumper and painted both. Endcaps got painted with Eastwoods plastic restore paint. Works REALLY well. Bumper is just satin black from the Autoparts store.

Anyone have a Mazda Emblem for the hood that isn't all messed up? Mine was unrecoverable from the old grill.

Enjoy!

 

Also cleaned up the endcaps and bumper and painted both. Endcaps got painted with Eastwoods plastic restore paint. Works REALLY well. Bumper is just satin black from the Autoparts store.

I used Krylon Fusion on mine years ago, have been satisfied.

I'm afraid the old Mazda emblems I have are medium condition and would need to be glued on (like mine is) and letters repainted. And I'm not sure how many of these I still have...

 

@Cussboy, I believe you are correct. I think that broken, warped front trim piece on the top the dash, over the controls and glove box is screwed in from below the main dash piece, from the pics I've seen of the assembly, I don't think Im getting it our without removing everything. I think I might just find a way to "selftap screw" it back in place into the mount below and then "repair" the holes in the soft material I make to hide it. That truck isn't going to be show queen ever, so some less then desired fixes aren't out the question. Im going to see if its the kind of thing I can fix with J/B weld and a 50lb bag of sand to hold it down in place while it cures will do the trick. I just need the folding piece to lay back down roughly in place. I will figure something out.

 

I forgot to add pics of my newly repainted/conditioned front bumper, grill and new headlights. They look great. I will add those tonight.

 

I'm afraid you'll need to take apart a fair amount of dash to access/replace that top panel and passenger vent.

 

Well,
Its been, like, forever... so here are some pics of the updates over the last few months. I just don't have enough time to focus..

Short version, found WAY more rust in the drivers foot well then I had expected. Realized the floor had been cut out and had a sheet welded into it already... and poorly. In addition, I am a TERRIBLE welder but in my defense, this was the 2nd time I MIG welded with my machine. I got better with ever ZZZRRPP of the gun.

I did some interior cleaning, carpet and dash repair. I am waiting on a few spare parts from donor trucks then I can get the hood installed. After that, its clean everything. Paint the drivers door (rattle can black for now) and Im ready to start driving it. I don't care about the over all body at this point. I need to start using the truck.

Now, the pics.






Under the gas pedal. I tried to zzzzzip in a piece I cut from donor. I didn't cut the space properly and you can't weld to rust... kinda a "duh" moment for me but learning is fun!

Cut our the worst of the rusty floor piece. The section forward of this( below the pedals had been replaced already with a generic piece of sheet metal and just bonded in)

Close up of the body mount... its good enough. I will just have to cover the hell out of it with Rust converter.

My welded in replacement piece. Again, its not pretty.

Carpet being installed. Really nice kit but I ordered "Grey" and this is like a blend of Grey and tan...oh well, can't return it. I ordered it 2 yrs ago.

Passenger side.

I cut the shift linkage opening too big.... oh no! I will have to "melt" the carpet back together from the bottom to try to hide that mistake.

Seat is in with new 2006ish Tacoma Seat cover. It fits close enough. Just the cent section by shifter is too shallow so it doesn't fit tight. Ever where else, its great.
Wires are from old stereo input and the power for the gauge lights. I need to wire those to the dimmer circuit.

Lastly, my cheap new gauges... (crappy) custom install. This truck is never going to be show pony. Function over fashion here. I bought "interior" paint and this was the "dark grey" if you can believe it, but it made the center console, gauge cluster, glovebox and drivers vent cover look SO much better.

I could not for the life of me figure out how to remove the Passenger vent cover... I will work on that later.

I still need to repair my broken, split, lifting, ugly ass Dash panel... thoughts on that one?

 

* UPDATES *

Ran her up to temperature. Flushed the cooling system or burped the cooling system is a better description. Set the final timing once she was up to temp.

So I hooked up my Gerry-rigged little oil pressure gauge... The gauge is not permanently mounted but its connected so I could 1 ) confirm I have good Oil pressure and 2) it wouldn't leak oil all over, because its the cheap type of gauge that uses an oil line fed up to the gauge... The better solution will be a sender/electric style from VDO etc but that is for later.

Confirmed my temp gauge seems to work correctly. bonus.
Confirmed I have good oil pressure. 50psi at initial startup, high idle. Then is settled down to 42psi. Then when at static idle, with timing set and idling at 950 rpm, it settled to 25psi. I think thats good enough? She would run right back up to 42-45 psi when I revved to 2500 rpm so I think I'm fine on oil pressure.

I did not see any leaks, other than the power steering line/valve where high pressure hose enters the pump. It seems the rebuild kit isn't available anymore. I don't think I need a new pump or hose. I think its just that I don't have the correct size O-rings for that line. I will have to buy more diverse set of O-rings and do some trial and error to get that leak fixed.

So far its a heavy drip, so not critical but will need to be addressed before I drive it.

Key for today's work was it ran smoothly and the valve train seemed to quiet down after it ran for 15 min or so. The timing was WAY advanced to about 15 degrees maybe? Once I had the light on it, she was off the charts advanced. Rolled the dizzy back to 6* BTDC and it smoothed out nicely. Idles real nice (maybe a bit high) at 950 rpm when the computer is put back in control (test lead is removed). I will twist that down to about 850rpm later. I think that is what the manual calls for.

Only leftover concern is she smokes like a chimney... its not "white" or "sweet" or "blue". It does smell very "exhausty" (my own term).

I am hoping/assuming this is all the assembly lube, WD-40, grease, got knows what else left over from the rebuild. In addition, the exhaust is not connected at the catalytic converter. Its not fully open, but its not complete either.

In addition, I got those 2 new solenoids installed. See the pics of the old and new side by side. Again its a KK133-18-741 from a Kia Sportage (2000ish model year range).
No leaks that I could tell.

Here are some pics of the install and a video of the truck idling. Im gonna keep on working on reassembly so I can put miles on it... see if my rebuild is going to work.

1/8th NPT male to 1/8 NPT female x 2 adapter.

Installed. I had to retap the ADAPTER to screw in better but it did go in and did not leak. I did NOT remove the intake. I shoved my hands in there and just fiddled for hours until it worked. I would not recommend. just take the intake off...Also, right below the stock oil pressure gauge location is a plug with another location for something. you dont need to use and adapter... you would need to remove the starter to get the Alanhead key into the plug to remove, but if I ever go in there again, that is what I will be doing.

KIA solenoid on the left, old on the right.

Another angle on the KIA solenoids... $27 !!!

Installed stock sender.

Feed line installed. I the line installed facing the front of the truck (I couldn't reach facing rear with intake on.) It has a nice gentle bend, run with the wiring and shoots through a grommet in the cab, to the gauge. Will dress it up later. It doesn't touch anything hot, so it should be safe.

Youtube video...

 

VDO - USA has adapters for senders

 

I pulled the Oil sensor (sender?) whatever they are called. Im pretty darn sure its plain old 1/8th NPT.
I had a T left over from a Fuel Pressure gauge I bought... the gauge was 1/4npt but the T from the kit is 1/8th npt... you can't make this up... Amazon...

Anyway. so I ordered a new T from Amazon and I'll just throw my stock sensor and the new feed line to that T.
Its a cheap gauge set from Autozone that has Oil pressure, water temp, and volts. I am not a fan of the Oil pressure that uses a feed line to gauge. So, mechanical, not electrical. Mostly because now I will have a live oil line (albeit tiny) running into the cab. But it will work. I just need to triple check the lines are secure, protected and DON'T leak.

In addition, I found KIA Vacuum Solenoid that looks to have the same number of ports and critically, the correct connector type to replace my broken Lock and Release solenoids.
It even has the same tab the stock solenoid has to hold it onto the housing... the last 5 digits of the part # are the same (which is how I found it) so bet KIA just bought this solenoid from a similar manufacturer that Mazda did. I mean its a vacuum solenoid. I don't think its that complex of a device... right?

I only bought one to start to see if it fit. It does. So I bought another one. I found them on ebay... the kicker here is, the Mazda solenoid... $96... ebay KIA solenoid $26 shipped.
So lets hope they work.

Here's the part #: KK133 18741. Says its for a late 90's, early 2000s Sportage. I think the Kia hub locks are a direct replacement for our trucks so it wouldn't surprise me if they share suppliers.

 

Good job, Josh !!! We all learned a lot.

 

And I am still learning!