Joe had some problems with his front CV boots and wanted to install a set of manual hubs to keep the front end from turning when he was on the road.   He got a complete kit from Off-Road Solutions and went to work installing it.

Since his CV Boots were also bad, he ordered a set of the Downey high clearance boots.

The entire installation took us 7 hours, but that was with a good 45 minute lunch break, going to the shop to have the press work done and to Toyota to have the hub nut torqued.   If you had the hub nut socket and did the press work yourself, you should be able to get it done in 5 hours or less.

For the ORS Manual Hub Kit Instructions click HERE.

For the Downey CV Boot Kit Instructions click HERE.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail Joe directly.

For all of the install pictures click HERE.

The first step is to remove the front CV halfshafts and spindles.   

You need to remove the brake calipers and hang them out of the way.   

Take anything attached to the spindle loose, in this case, it was a zip tie that held the brake line and ABS sensor, remove the ABS sensor from the spindle, take the brake line loose from the spindle.   You can then remove the four bolts that attach the lower ball joint to the spindle, and then the nut that holds the upper ball joint to the upper control arm.

I have always had a problem getting the upper ball joint out of the upper control arm without any harm or special tools.    I think I have now found a good way!   

I removed the nut, then put it on upside down again until the top of the upper ball joint stud was level with the nut so you are applying pressure to both the stud end and the nut at the same time.   Then using a small scrap of flat metal to protect the nut and stud from damage, you can tap on it.   After just a few taps of the hammer, it came out with no damage.
Here is a shot of one of the worn CV boots.....

With the upper ball joint loose, the spindle comes off the truck.   It is off to Auto Parts Unlimited to have the press work done.
Here it is with the spindle off.
The first step was to press the old hubs out.
Here you can see the old and new hubs.
The next step was to press the rest of the old bearings out.
Here you can see the old hub, new hub, spindle without any bearings, and the old bearing.
Here the old hub is.   You can see that the part of the bearing that is still on the hub is not in good shape!   When you remove the bearing and hub, it is time for a new one.
The new bearing....

After pressing in the new wheel bearings, the large snap ring and seal have to be installed before installing the hub!

Once the new bearing is in, its time to press the new hub into the spindle.

Auto Parts Unlimited always has us in and out faster than they say.   He said that it would take about and hour and a half, but we were out of there in about 40 minutes.
You install the ABS tone ring just like it was on before, but you don't use the spacer / retaining ring.   Instead, the center of the hub is threaded and you put a retaining nut on.   You have to have a special socket (four prongs for the four holes) to tighten it, and it is torqued to 203ft/lbs.
Since we didn't have the special tool, we headed over to Toyota to have them torque it.     They had a method figured out, but it still takes three people.

They use the leg on the lift to keep the hub from turning.   They said that if you try to put it in a vice, it just moves the entire work bench.
Now its time to turn our attention to the half shafts.
Here you can see the grooves in the other boot.   They were deep, but not through yet.

The first step was to cut the old bands that hold the boots on.

The inner joint slips apart when you remove the boot, then you have to remove the joint from the shaft.   Be careful so as to not knock the rollers off!   We used a pliers to open the C clip up and let it slip down the shaft.   
Once it was down the shaft, you can drive the joint farther onto the shaft and remove the clip that is under the joint.
The two sides of the joint are not the same!   Make note of which way it goes on the shaft!
Here you can see the two grooves where the clips go.   With the hidden clip towards the end, the joint will go right on when you are installing it, but will not back off.
The kit comes with new outer joints and new shafts.

Also note that on the new shafts, the grooves are not the same on both ends.   In this picture, you can see that the end towards the left of the picture has more space between the grooves than on the right side.      There are similar grooves on the stock shafts, so make sure it all goes back together the same way it came apart!

The arrows point at the grooves.   The lines underneath show the difference in length.

Install the boot onto the shaft first!
You can see the innards of the joint....
Use the grease that comes with the kit or boots and pack it in good!
Once it is all packed with grease, install the boot and the boot clamps.   You put the clamps on as tight as you can by hand, then crimp them.
You can see the raised piece deforming, tightening the boot strap.
Once one end is done, do the other end.   Again, make sure that you put the boot on first before you put the joint on!   
Once new CV halfshafts are done, the front end of the truck can be put back together.

Install the supplied dust seals onto the back side of the spindles.

Here it is all together.
Install the spindle just like you took it apart.   Four bolts from the bottom hold the spindle to the lower ball joint, the nut on top holds it to the upper control arm.

Apply a light coating of grease to the splines, then slip a washer and snap clip onto the outside of the axle spline where it slips through the hub.

The washer is going on in this picture.
Install the 6 studs into the hub.   To tighten them, you can use two nuts.   Tighten the two nuts against each other using two wrenches, then use one wrench on the nuts to tighten the stud.   Once the stud is tight, use two wrenches again to break the nuts free from each other and remove the nuts.
After the studs are on, install the hub body onto the studs using a gasket, flat washers, lock washers and nuts.
Once the hub body is on, you can install the hub dial with a gasket and allen screws.
The only slight problem we ran into during the installation was that one of the lug studs was slightly out of alignment.   This probably happened when the guys at Toyota torqued the rear hub nut.   It was not a problem to fix.
After the manual hub conversion, Joe reported that the truck rode smoother and quieter.   He also said that the new Downey boots have a much better fin clearance than the stock boots did.
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7-22-2004