A little hypothetical to ponder

NYFJ62 · 11-02-09, 04:34 PM

Lets just say you had:

1.) 3 free months to go up the eastert coast to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, across Canada to Alaska, down through the western half of the US and back East through the south.

2.) A solid running, totally stock 1988 fj62 with 188k on the odometer, and

3.) $2000 to put into it before the trip.

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND IT??

RockDoc · 11-02-09, 04:48 PM

Seats, headlights and gas.

Jan-78FJ40 · 11-02-09, 05:09 PM

depends how heavy you want to load it. if the suspension sags, a new one would be quite useful. but 2000 won't buy you a lift kit plus bigger tires, so maybe just get new oem rear springs. and rockdoc is right about the seats. the seat fom bottom from SOR already makes a world of difference.
otherwise keep it stock, and spend the money on gas, seafood and moose-steaks.
j

mr natural · 11-02-09, 05:45 PM

Yeah, you don't need a lift or big tires for that trip. Killer stereo, good navigation software/GPS of whatever flavor appeals to you, two spare tires, gas cans - lotsa gas cans. I never almost ran out of gas so many times as when I was in Maine. I'm sure it only gets "better" the norther you go.

I'm jealous - thinking about the same trip myself. You could start north in early Fall, and wind up in the southwest by Christmas.

CruisinFJ60 · 11-02-09, 05:52 PM

depends on whats done already.

for mine it would be bigger tires, do my SOA, new shocks, then finish it up with some fender cuttin.

NYFJ62 · 11-02-09, 07:41 PM

My suspension isn't really sagging yet, so hopefully it will be able to handle the load. I actually dont find the seats to horribly uncomfortable actually. Maybe that will change halfway through though.

I will need to get new tires before the trip. Would you all suggest I go with 31/10.5/15 or 33" bfgoodrich AT's? I've heard some say I'll save gas on the highway with 33's and other say they are harder to spin and actually lowers mileage. Either way thats $1000 or so for 6 tires.

I was thinking I'd buy 2 wedco gas cans and 2 Wedco water cans. Do you guys think I should stock more than 10 extra gallons of gas and water? They are $50 a piece so that will be at least $200 bucks.

Then of course I need the roof rack to carry the cans and the extra tire. I'm hoping to weld up something myself at a friends place and keep the cost of that to about $250. The majority of that cost will be the 6 gutter clamps I just bought from Groucho. They are beautiful clamps though.

For the interior work, we'll be sleeping in the truck, so the backseat won't be necessary. I loved one of Kevin Rowland's earlier bed/storage platform set ups (the one with the blue bed apholstery) so I think I might use that as a starting point. That will be at least another $200 in foam, wood, and fabric I would guess.

Hella 500 lights for $100.

That leaves $250. I was thinking a dual battery setup would be a comforting insurance policy and would add quite a bit more camping comfort to power accessories. Anyone know if a dual battery setup is even possible for $250?? Those kits kinda cost a lot.

Mace · 11-02-09, 08:03 PM

Replace everything that is replaceable, buy spares..

Preventative maintenance...

Leave the mods alone. It sucks to break things in out in the middle of nowhere.

Mace · 11-02-09, 08:03 PM

Replace everything that is replaceable, buy spares..

Preventative maintenance...

Leave the mods alone. It sucks to break things in out in the middle of nowhere.

jfnall · 11-02-09, 08:29 PM

another comment on seats..... the stock old seats just don't cut it for long trips.

RockDoc · 11-02-09, 09:06 PM

Don't go big on the tires of a 62 without the gears to match, especially if it is highway travel you are planning for.

ellington12 · 11-03-09, 06:38 AM

i'd stick with the basics first: good battery and alternator, belts (properly tensioned,) fresh fluids if they are at all suspect, and make sure your braking system is tip-top. a basic tool kit for any emergency repairs. oh, and a nice, new up-to date road atlas!

mr natural · 11-03-09, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYFJ62

Hella 500 lights for $100.

That leaves $250. I was thinking a dual battery setup would be a comforting insurance policy and would add quite a bit more camping comfort to power accessories. Anyone know if a dual battery setup is even possible for $250?? Those kits kinda cost a lot.

Yeah, those Hellas are absolutely fine, and cheap.

If you did all the work yourself you could do it for this. But the cables and connectors are expensive, and you might be glad you had it done per-fessionally, or at least bought a kit and installed it. Whether you need the fancy monitoring gauges and addons they use now is very debatable. People were running reliable dual battery setups for years without any of that.

And duals would add a lot to comfort, or at least peace of mind.

PPFJ60 · 11-03-09, 07:58 AM

Spend the time to do all the preventive maintence you can at least a month before you leave. I would stick with 31" tires if your making a mostly road expedition. Extra memory cards for the camera so we can see what you see.

chesshircat · 11-03-09, 02:26 PM

Belts, hoses, wp, temp sender, seat recliner adjustment thing, cooler, bottled water, sleeping bag, tent, atlas from wal-mart that shows where all the stores are, tools, lots of grease rags, a radio that works without having to constantly hold one of the knobs, tires, flash light, batteries, lots of xtra socks and undies, GOOD walking shoes, warm clothes, smog pump or replacement pulley, grease.....all from experience

Tofudebeest · 11-03-09, 02:41 PM

New brakes, seats and new tires, assuming there are no issues you've been putting off.

Randy88FJ62 · 11-03-09, 03:02 PM

Why go dual battery setup when your truck is almost all stock? Bring an extra battery in the back or one of those charging things along instead. I would go with stock headlight updgrades before going and wiring up extra lights. I went that route and now I wish I had done the lighting upgrade first.

I think the most important thing about your trip is preventative maintenance. making sure your truck will perform flawlessly is more important than any mod.

NYFJ62 · 11-03-09, 03:18 PM

Ok. on the subject of Preventative maintenance

I did the new front rotors and rear shoes recently ... will probably need some new pads by departure time ... which will be June 1.

My biggest mechanical concern right now is the oil leak I have. I'm almost positive its the rear main seal. I also think a tranny flush and gasket, and oil pan gasket couldn't hurt to replaced and they seem to be oozing a bit. Other than that I've got a bit of a clunk going from drive to reverse and back, but nothing going in and out of park yet. It doesn't seem bad enough at this point to worry me to much, but then again I'm the first to admit I don't know s**t.

Should a tranny cooler be a top priority as well??

Randy88FJ62 · 11-03-09, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYFJ62

Ok. on the subject of Preventative maintenance

I did the new front rotors and rear shoes recently ... will probably need some new pads by departure time ... which will be June 1.

My biggest mechanical concern right now is the oil leak I have. I'm almost positive its the rear main seal. I also think a tranny flush and gasket, and oil pan gasket couldn't hurt to replaced and they seem to be oozing a bit. Other than that I've got a bit of a clunk going from drive to reverse and back, but nothing going in and out of park yet. It doesn't seem bad enough at this point to worry me to much, but then again I'm the first to admit I don't know s**t.

Should a tranny cooler be a top priority as well??

Looks like both of our 62's are in the same category. My clunks once in awhile from Park to reverse or park to drive but not all the time.
The first upgrade I ever did was put a trany cooler on. It was cheap and gave me peace of mind. For me, offroading was the primary reason I put one on. I don't think that highway miles when the torque converter is locked up will generate a lot of heat so a trany cooler may not be necessary for the trip.

Miloslavich · 11-03-09, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYFJ62

Lets just say you had:

3.) $2000 to put into it before the trip.

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND IT??

on Strippers and Booze. (

+

)

nahh come on someone had to say it!

NYFJ62 · 11-05-09, 10:03 AM

How much is a reasonable amount for me to pay someone to do a rear main seal and oil pan gasket?

ntsqd · 11-05-09, 10:46 AM

Are the known issues livable and not getting any worse? Sometimes it is better to leave things alone than to start out on such a long trip with a bunch of unknowns.

For the most part I'd say that the aux trans cooler wouldn't be necessary, but it would be a bonus on any long grades. Avoid any coolers that have built-in hose barbs. Get a real cooler and at the very minimum use the Push-loc type of hose fitting. Can even get those with a male or female Inverted Flare on the other end, so no cutting of the OE cooler tubes - just a slight bend.

billmc · 11-05-09, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYFJ62

How much is a reasonable amount for me to pay someone to do a rear main seal and oil pan gasket?

It'd have to be leaking a lot of oil to make it worth it. Anyway, it's probably just leaking out of the back of the valve cover gasket and down the back of the engine.