I have a 94 toyota PU with the 22re at 130000 miles and I am planning on doing the timing chain as a preventative maininace. I would rather do the chain now than the engin in the next year or whenever. I am cosidering doing the chian myself as I have experience rebuilding an engine but am not sure I even want to do this. I am sure that i dont want it to fail and so am looking on to which kit to choose. The kits on ebay are appealing b/c I an get a metal backed kit for around 50bucks but dont know whether these kits are high enough quality to ensure long life. There are more expensive kits form DOA and such and dont know whether this is worth the investment. Even if I have someone else install it I would rather provide the kit for them to instal rather than have na unknown source from them. I dont feel that a double row chain is neccesary because this chain has gone 130k and there is no reason that another single row chain cannot go the same distance and I will probably change the engine in that time period anyway. So my question is, are there and reputable chain kits on ebay or should I buck up the money to get the DOA kit. Any other kit suggestions would be welcome. I would also like input on how difficult the job is and whether I should consider doing it myself or have a professional do it. I have a large number of tools but do not have a pully puller, but am normally comfortable and enjoy such projects. I would prefer not to pull the head because I would then want to rebuild that as well. Thanks for any input and suggestions.
Harlan <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

go w/ DOA, LC Eng., or EngineBuilder- stay away from the cheap stuff, you will never regret spending a little more and doing it once right. I've tried to do it w/out pulling the head, but had oil leaks afterwards. Even w/ pulling the oilpan, it's difficult to get a good seal under the head.

Can leave the head in place if you are careful and support the front of the headgasket when the timing cover is removed. Ive only heard of one person needing a puller to get the crank pulley off, mine have always slid off with little force exerted.
As far as timing kits go, I can tell you right now that almost all of them out there are identical. Steel guide kits are hard to tell apart once out of the packaging. Same goes for the stock nylon rail kits. I run the enginebldr kit with nylon rails (personal reasons). When I picked up the test motor from him, he ran back into the shop to grab the right kit because he forgot and added a steel rail jobber and remembered just as I was leaving. The price difference you see is simply a markup. Salaries and Known names command higher prices. But ask yourself this....why would LCEngineering order a kit from a small outfit that happens to do business on EBAY? Maybe they see a way to improve on what they currently provide? I wont go into that one any further. DOAs kit...if Tim still provides the kit he did a year ago, is OSK labeled parts and old style 22R steel rails that can be bought from Toyota. Just a matter of enlarging the mounting holes to make them work on the laser blocks of 85 and up. The OSK quality is the same wether its purchased from Tim or from JohnsForiegnEngines or anywhere else. Engnbldr's kit carries his 3 year who-cares-how many miles warranty and is good for full replacement in the event of failure....ask LCE and DOA what their warranty is. Its all comes down to the consumer and how deep their pockets are in my opinion. I do my business with EB (Engnbldr) solely because I have yet to have a part fail and we have developed a bit of a friendship off of doing business. Knowledge and 40 years experience counts for alot in my book. Plus he has the ability to slap a guy upside the head if he's doing things wrong or dragging his feet.....all through a computer screen or phone line! lol
~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

**PS get ahold of a manual, Haynes works fine, and do it yourself. There is also a write up on Timing Chain R&R here in the maintanance or tech section. The only part of this project that is critical is having the crank and cam in proper position when installing the chain. And theres marks to indicate postion stamped into the gears for ya.

Just my bias talking here... but everything has a service life, and from most people's experiences the headgasket goes about a buck-twenty to a buck-fifty before getting questionable. An iron block with aluminum head takes a toll on any headgasket. Its not that much harder to change it while you're in there, and you get to see the piston tops, check the deck and head, and oh maybe spend a little on head improvements <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> just cuz. But its your choice.

Ya mean like these kind Bill? lol




Just a set of oversized valves, bronze-mangachinese guides...cleaned up ports and an RV cam. Not nothing to serious...but sure made one hell of a difference when my toes tapped the noise maker! ~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

So should I make sure that is says OSK which means that it is equivalent to the stock or better or can I tak peoples word for OEM specs or better. I really would like to do quite a bit to my engine but money is my main concern right now so I have to be conservative in the modifications that I undertake. A nice ported head with a sweet cam would be great but I dont think that it is in my price range right now. I might be up for a head gasket but the you have to rip a lot off the engine and I might as well do a headder then too. Ahhhh so much to do so little money.
Yeah and how good is the pacesetter header? i can fin one for 160 but want to know whether it is as good as thorly or others. '
H

I went with www.engnbldr.com
Ted is superfast at responding to his email if you have questions and he shipped the day after I ordered. Since I had to replace the timing chain, I also did a cam and headgasket. His timing chain sets only have metal backed guides on the driver's side but since that's the one that usually breaks that's really all you need.

I have both a steel drivers guide and a nylon drivers guide kits(on differnt trucks) from Engnbldr.com. I was very pleased in the manner he does business. he is very knowledgable about what he sell and only sells stuff he would install on his own stuff. also 4Crawler has an excellent write-up on his website Project 4Crawler with step by step instuctions on how to do the t-chain replacement with out removing the head. I used a print out of this along with my Haynes to do both of mine......Karl <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

I was pleasantly surprised to find a steel guide timing set in my Enginebuilder kit. I wasn't too concerned about it because I already had a very low mile DOA kit to use.

I just did mine a few weeks ago, and wanted to weigh in on this, too. I wasn't planning on doing it for another few months, but then my timing chain decided to jump a tooth because of broken guides, REALLY worn tensioner, etc. after 125,000 miles. I went with the kit from engnbldr that uses the driver's side steel guide also, and Ted was super to deal with, and got the parts to me very quickly as I needed to get this truck back on the road. I was also impressed with the quality of the kit-- it's especially nice not to have all the gaskets folded up! I would definitely go with his kit-- the price and quality can't be beat. I would have preferred to have both guides out of steel, so if I went back and did it again, I would have purchased the steel guides from DOA separately, and bought the basic kit from engnbldr. You'd come out WAAAAAAAAAAYYY cheaper than buying the full kit from DOA with the steel guides.

In response to other questions-- I didn't pull the head, and was able to get everything sealed up again with no leaks, without globbing up everything-- I might add. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" /> And you shouldn't need a puller for the crank pulley-- it's a slip fit and has keyways-- so there's no need for it to be pressed on/pulled off. When putting it all back together-- it is critical to make sure you have everything lined up, and have the driver's side part of the chain under tension. Other than that, it's just a lot of disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. I took my time, and that helped, too! If you have A/C and power steering like me, then buy some new belts to throw on there, too-- so that you don't have to undo all of them again in the near future to get at that fan belt that needs replacing!!