Just changed the SADS! Here's my advice

[f18cmech]

Hey guys(gals if applicable)...
I just dived into the SADS bushings, and thought I'd give my advice on this monstrosity of a job. It requires alot of muscle and patience, and I can't imagine doing this job on my back using jack stands. Using a lift to get it 6 feet in the air made all difference in the world, but if you gotta do it the backyard way all I can say is I wish you best. So, using a well lit shop and a lift, and plenty of time, here's what I did that worked(I must say I prayed to my God first and he led me the right way so I don't take all the credit here:-)


1. Take off the blower cowling, the upper fan cowling, and loosen the two bolts for the radiator shroud. Also pull the big radiator hose at the top free and catch any coolant that drips. Good to be an honest and environmentally friendly mechanic.
2. Remove the fan, then the supercharger and alternator belts.
3. Remove the end shaft pulley, has four bolts can't miss it. This exposes the shaft bearing mount bolts, three of them. Go ahead and remove the upper two bolts, the lower bolt can be done from below.
4. You're done at the top, time to go below where the real fun begins.
5. . First, remove the lower of the three bearing mounts, this is what anchors it to the accessory assembly frame. At this point I went ahead and removed the bolts at the engine side coupling using a 12mm wrench and socket, just took all six out and use a big pry bar to pry it free. It's pressed in on some bushings and yanking on it won't do it. And avoid banging on the shaft at all. Any bend at the flange and you're in for some "good vibrations". Just keep prying until you manage to free it. Since you removed the forward mount bolts, it will now slide forward just enough to move it to the side. It's going to slide out to the left of the engine, that's the only route.
6. Now for the fun part. There's a horse shoe shaped mount towards the front that goes around the shaft and bolts to the chassis with a rubber mount. Remove the whole thing.
7. Now, there's another bracket right in front of this mount, three bolts. I had to remove the AC compressor(4 bolts) and slide it out of the way to access the upper bolt because the supercharger as in the way. By doing this I could get a 12mm wrench on it. No clearance for a socket and ratchet.
8. The accessory "carriage" is bolted to the frame using 2 bolts and rubber mounts at 45 degree angles on each side, to the front close to the radiator. Just look for these two bolts at an angle, those are the ones. Two each side.
9. Now, you've unbolted the entire accessory carriage and can slide it around to make clearance. Except, you have to lift up on the carriage as well so the forward shaft coupler can clear the stearing rack and supercharger housing. Many people use a strap from the top and hang it a few inches. This is recommended, but I opted for the Hercules approach and, with a 4 foot pry bar, lifted the accessory carriage up whilst pulling the shaft clear. This is where muscles are required and actually I sustained minor stress fractures which I'm used too as an aircraft mechanic anyways. Just have to play through the pain. Unless of course you were smart and hoisted it up from the top
10. Pulling the shaft out is a moment of triumph and worthy of a couple"get out you sucker!" or whatever you want to say to a shaft as stubborn as this one.
11. I took the shaft to the bench where the critical bushing change was to be done. For some reason the bushings will be seized to the flanges so you'll have to first pry the coupler free, tearing it free from the bushings which will be deteriorated enough to allow this, it's why you're changing them at all. Their weakness is your advantage.
12. Now the little bushing stems will be frozen to the shaft and at this point I just gave them a little tap to break em off. No big deal.

Your tear down is done. I won't go into detail on the rebuild because as any half way decent mechanic, or any sane human being for that matter, knows things are best reassembled exactly the way they were removed. So, put it all back together now installing the new couplers the same way the old ones came off. It is so critical you get the couplers right and bolts facing the right way because if you don't you'll be wincing in pain as you hear and feel the misaligned shaft banging around underneath the moment you turn the key. Take your time please and be the very best backyard mechanic the world has ever seen(just kidding, not really, there's always someone better than you)
When its done right, the smoothness of the engine and AC engagement while in drive will make a warm fuzzy feeling come upon you. VICTORY IS SWEET!

Have fun doing this and allow for 6 hours at least so you don't rush. Slow and steady wins the race.

Enjoy!!

[Kurtanius21]

Thanks for sharing. Where did you get the bushings? Did you buy oem couplers from toyota? Aftermarket couplers? Poyuerathane? How long ago did you do the repair? These data points would be helpful.

[f18cmech]

I found a ho hum set on EBay, probably not going to last a very long time but just to quite her down for a little while. They were 65 dollars and fit perfectly. I just did the fix on Saturday. I think polyurethane might transfer quite a bit of unwanted vibration through the car, but seems they will last much longer as well. I didn't want the vibration. So far so good though.

[isights]

"7. Now, there's another bracket right in front of this mount, three bolts. I had to remove the AC compressor(4 bolts) and slide it out of the way to access the upper bolt because the supercharger as in the way. By doing this I could get a 12mm wrench on it. No clearance for a socket and ratchet."

For this, I took a 12mm box end wrench and bent it 90 degree after heating the middle with a oxy/acetylene torch. I made the length about 3" to the outside of the bend, but that's a bit long, 2.5" would have been better. I welded a cheap socket on the end so I could drive it with a socket wrench. I welded it on the outside of the bend instead of the inside, but it worked perfectly.

I also didn't have to take off anything up top except the two screws for the air intake right under the hood. It's possible to loosen two of the belt tighteners from above, the third from below. All three bolts that hold the bearing can be removed from below. I'm at the point where I'm wanting to put back the entire shaft after replacing the couplers and hitting the steering rack, so maybe I'll have to undo them, but I'm really thinking that I can take off the coupler and pulley bearing and reattach the shaft when I have them over the steering/intake blockage. Seems like the easier route.

[Edit: I did as suggested and unbolted the accessory frame so I could lift the supercharger up and out of the way. I used a floor jack and a 2 foot long rectangular tube under the AC compressor pulley. Since you can't get the jack directly under the pulley, it wants to roll forward, so your jack operator will have to keep a foot on it. This tends to push the frame back and to the left and it needs to go forward and a bit to the right. It was a close fit and required some jiggling, but it was possible to get the compete SADS installed this way. The bolts for the accessory frame are easy to get to, I just wish Toyota had given just a bit more clearance for passing the bearing though the mount. ]

I have a MaxJax lift, but a low garage, so at the first lock height, I'm just able to sit under the van with my head touching the floor above. I'm able to look right at the couplers so working is easy. I wouldn't like to do this job using jack stands.

Ian