The Quick/Small/(Stupid?) Question Thread.

[space]

i glued mine in
weatherstrip

[AC77]

Not sure if my question is small or stupid, maybe both. MY front right (passenger side) brake squeals when in motion, but will stop as soon as I tap on the brakes or apply them. My mechanic checked my brakes all the way around and said I have 50% or better on all tires. Ideas?

Thanks,
Adam

[notoptoy]

I would check to see if the front pads slide easily into the calipers, if not, they could be hanging and squealing. If they are tight, sand down the sides of the metal backing plate until they drop in smoothly.

[Curtis]

Anyone here know anything about assembling the idler box? I figure screw the shaft all the way down and then back it off one turn since the arm can only turn a little each way.

[Mainer311]

Anyone here know anything about assembling the idler box? I figure screw the shaft all the way down and then back it off one turn since the arm can only turn a little each way.

No. The seal on the bottom of the box is meant to be slightly compressed by the pitman arm. It actually has a little bit of "give" built into it for that reason. You need to adjust the depth of the shaft such that the pitman arm is always contacting the base of the seal. It will obviously get looser or tighter, depending on direction of rotation. You need to find the sweet spot. It took me a couple times to get it right. My pitman arm can be indexed in 90 degree increments to fine tune it's location relative to the threads. YMMV.

Picture is from Dean's website, highlighting the compression surface.

[Mainer311]

Question about rear axle seal. Datsun changed from a two piece to this one piece completely enclosed in rubber. Does it still need a gasket like the two piece or just some sealer?

I just replaced mine this past winter, and didn't bother putting anything behind it. Due to it being overmolded like you said, I felt the rubbery surface on the back was suitable.

[Curtis]

Anyone here know anything about assembling the idler box? I figure screw the shaft all the way down and then back it off one turn since the arm can only turn a little each way.

No. The seal on the bottom of the box is meant to be slightly compressed by the pitman arm. It actually has a little bit of "give" built into it for that reason. You need to adjust the depth of the shaft such that the pitman arm is always contacting the base of the seal. It will obviously get looser or tighter, depending on direction of rotation. You need to find the sweet spot. It took me a couple times to get it right. My pitman arm can be indexed in 90 degree increments to fine tune it's location relative to the threads. YMMV.

Picture is from Dean's website, highlighting the compression surface.

Thanks

[Curtis]

Question about rear axle seal. Datsun changed from a two piece to this one piece completely enclosed in rubber. Does it still need a gasket like the two piece or just some sealer?

I just replaced mine this past winter, and didn't bother putting anything behind it. Due to it being overmolded like you said, I felt the rubbery surface on the back was suitable.

Thanks. On recommendation from our local guru I used a bit of high tack sealer on it.

[Mainer311]

Thanks. On recommendation from our local guru I used a bit of high tack sealer on it.

My car doesn't see rain, only the occasional puddle, so I wasn't too concerned. The rebuild you're doing looks immaculate though.

[Curtis]

Thanks. On recommendation from our local guru I used a bit of high tack sealer on it.

My car doesn't see rain, only the occasional puddle, so I wasn't too concerned. The rebuild you're doing looks immaculate though.

Here's the powder coated idler box and arm.

[AC77]

I would check to see if the front pads slide easily into the calipers, if not, they could be hanging and squealing. If they are tight, sand down the sides of the metal backing plate until they drop in smoothly.

Thanks, I will give that a go tonight when I get home from work.

[pebbles]

I would check to see if the front pads slide easily into the calipers, if not, they could be hanging and squealing. If they are tight, sand down the sides of the metal backing plate until they drop in smoothly.

Thanks, I will give that a go tonight when I get home from work.

Also, there are metal anti squeal shims bonded to the hard side of the pads. One may have become disbonded.

[AC77]

If that's the case, how do I fix that?

[mraitch]

Use a new pad.

[2mAn]

My car has an exhaust leak right after the header. To save myself a headache later, I plan to weld a flexjoint here along with an exhaust flange to make removal easy in the future, especially when I upgrade the exhaust system later.

My question is, roughly where should I have all of this installed? Is there a spot where the flange would be ideal and not need to be modified again later?