Okay here is the story, when you work on your Toyota do you wear gloves to keep your hands all nice and clean 
Today Sunday the 8th Jan 2012 I was busy working on a Toyota 3 TON forklift, I had already removed the carriage bearings and bracket a week ago, the new bearings arrived and they were too tight, another set of bearings were ordred *(costing R1 300.00 each).
I fitted them today and then the side shift system and then the forks, now working by yourself, takes a little more thought on how to lift things and operate the controls of a forklift and get it back together again, so the extra forklift also comes in hand for such jobs.
I then fitted two new brake wheel cylinders, I do not believe in the fitting of rubber seals into these or any old used brake wheel cylinder, they do not last, the new cylinders cost R1 450.00 each.
I then had a time and a half trying to stretch the damn top springs onto their perches, various levers and methods were used until I had them in place,
the small anti rattle springs were also a time consuming things to fit, each side had four of them. Without the help of somebody else things just took a little longer, I work alone because then I do not have to rely on the *garden boy* to make a mess of things.
Then it was time to re-adjust the brakes, now you cannot see what you are doing, you have to feel (similar to when you first had your girlfriend on the couch in the dark
), if you over adjust, it takes a bit of time to adjust down again because there is a small lever that you have to push out of the way and then you can adjust.Then it was time to bleed the system this really got me thinking *yeah I know that I sometimes do not think straight due to the fact that I roll my Hilux onto its side sometimes in fact both sides as well*.
So I grabbed one of the security guys at this company where I was working today, gave him a glass of coca cola and had him pumping away on the brake pedal until all the air had been bleed from the brake system.
Now it was time to re-fit the wheels, solid 15" tyres and rims, quick and easy, you take two pipes, one each side and you just lift the wheel into place and then screw on the nuts.
Now to jack the forklift down, what you do is you start the machine and operate the tilt system and bring the forks back all the way, to lift the machine in front you tilt the forks all the way back first, then you place wooden blocks under the bottom of each mast channel and then tilt foreward and the front end lifts off the ground.
So then it was time to wash the machine with the high pressure cleaner, then check the wheel nuts and brake fluid level again and not forgetting the other fluids on the forklift as well.
A few test operations and various weights were then lifted and bingo the forklift is now ready for operation Monday the 9th Jan 2011.
The old blue forklift in the pics, is an old 3 series machine dated 1985, this makes it nearly 25 years old. Last week I re-fitted the engine and gearbox back into it.
Now the question is, how dirty do you get your hands? :roll:
How often do you wash your hands during the day orm when you are working on your Toyota?
What hand Cleaner do you use and find that it does not mess up your hands and skin?
