ROTW Hayes

[Hayes]

1993 FZJ80

The important stuff
Old Man Emu 850/863 N73/N74E Heavy Lift
295/75 R16 Nitto Terra Grapplers
Aussie Locker rear differential
Flowmaster muffler
Slee front bumper
Slee rear bumper & tire carrier
Warn XD9000 winch
Custom roof rack
Custom rear storage drawer



Custom audio crap
Eclipse CD2000 receiver
Focal Polyglass 165 separates up front
Kicker coaxials in rear doors
Viper 500.4 4-channel 75W RMS amplifier
JL 8W3v2 8" woofer in a custom enclosure
JL e1200 monoblock 120W RMS amplifier



Other mods and tweaks
Speedo sensor correction gear for larger tires
CDL switch with pin-7 mod
Cab-mounted kill switch for winch
Diffs, t-case, and tranny breathers extended to engine bay
Reinforced lower rear control arms
Front swaybar disconnects
Slee upgraded headlight harness
Toshiba HIR low- and high-beam bulbs
One Land Cruiser bottle opener a'la Cruisercrap



The links above lead to previous write-ups.
If there is any other junk I'll add it later


I bought my 1993 FZJ80 in January of 2004 when my wife and I decided that we needed a second automobile that could carry the whole family (me, wife, 1 year old son, and future 2nd son).

At the time, the garage contained a Suby and a 1979 FJ40 that I had owned for 5 or 6 years. It was trusty ol' beast that never failed, had more rust than sheet metal (you could see the highway through the tub), and I loved it. Not a very practical family wagon though. I hadn't yet mustered the ambition (or confidence) to give it the restoration it deserved, and we concluded that we couldn't keep it sitting around. It was sold for $2,000.

I DID convince my wife that what we needed was a NEWER Land Cruiser. I looked at a few 62's, made my first foray into the MUD forum with questions, and eventually concluded that an FZJ80 was what we needed.

I bought it from its second owner with 109,000 miles. It was very clean and in good shape as far as my untrained eye could tell.

Over the last three years the 80 has become an obsession that keeps me warm and drives my wife crazy . Thorough front-end service, baselined and regularly changed fluids, etc. etc. It gets it all.




Issues I've had include:
A dead starter.
A couple worn u-joints.
Leaky front inner axle seals.
A bad ECU.
And a little rust beneath the rear window seal.
Although I don't know the details, I know that the head has been off sometime in it's former life--so I figure the head-gasket has been replaced.

Nothing out of the ordinary--except for maybe the ECU. I was able to get a used ECU (newer, upgraded version) for $140.


I've put quite a bit of time into keeping it looking nice as well.
This summer I ponied up to get the rust fixed by a body shop.
I spent way too much time refinishing the center caps, but they look really nice. I even indulged on a fifth center cap with a custom TEQ logo for the spare.
After getting the rear gate de-rusted, I replaced the Toyota logo with a Land Cruiser emblem from a 60-series.



On the more functional side--after having them both ripped off at the Wasatch Cruisers Fall Moab Run--I trimmed and remounted my mudflaps. Had to rebuild the fiberglass portion of the mount on the flare too. They look nice and should stay out of the way except in extreme cases.




I've been incredibly happy with all the mods.
The heavy OME setup has been awesome with the already heavy truck loaded down with the family and a weeks worth of camping crap.



Slee's stuff is bomber. I drug that big 80 ass all over Fins 'n' Things this fall and really started to get a kick out of it. Nothing but beauty scratches on the bumper.



The Aussie Locker has only been on a few months, but I had it on for the WC Moab Run, and it rocked.






I'm also really lucky to have a great copilot and navigator on board.
These guys go everywhere with me in the 80.







The best praise I could give my 80 is the fact that it took my family and all the necessary crap through 5 days and 200 miles of dirt roads and rough (up to probably grade 3) trails in the remote Maze district of Canyonlands last spring--and EVERYONE had an outstanding time--even the 9-month old.

I've posted it before, but here's the video again:

Hayes Maze


And if you're in the mood for more feel-good wheelin' movies, here's one from the Wasatch Cruisers Fall 2006 Moab Run.


Ryan

[Montana Cruiser]

Nice rig and nice write-up, congrats.

How much road rash are your rockers and rear bumper getting with the mudflaps trimmed up like that?

[Moody]

That, my friend is dead sexy. My day has been made...heck, even my week! I can refer back to this all week. I need an 80.

[Romer]

Nice write-up Hayes and thanks for contributing.

[MyCrush]

Sa-weet ! That is a great write up Ryan, and one perty truck !

...sorta looks familiar to me, although I can't quite place it.

[NorCalSam]

Nice write-up Ryan looks good

[Dusty]

great truck
i was just watching your wonerful hayes maze vid with the wife. i have a 18 mo old and was showing her how this sort of stuf can be done with the little ones
thank you

[tech_dog]

Nice job, Ryan. You were doing your work slightly ahead of me, and I liked your results enough to copy some of what you did.

And I just picked up one more. I've been thinking about trimming down my mudflaps, and based on your top 2 pix I'm going to give it a go.

Thanks for answering all the PM questions too.

T.

[reffug]

Excellent write up and presentation.

As always thanks for contributing.

[Hayes]

Thanks.

tech_dog,
One quick note about the mud-flap trimming. If you remove your flaps, you'll notice that the way the rear ones are molded, you can't just cut the flap portion off flush with the molded upper portion--without leaving a large gap. Once you look closely at the inside of the flap, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, I wanted them flush so I trimmed and then filled the gap with pieces of rubber from the trimmed off portion. It really wasn't easy to do, but I'm kind of a freak for details. Others have trimmed their flaps differently.

Hayes

[TiredIronGRB]

This is one of my favorite 80s because of how it's used, it's great to see a family wheeling together.

I also watch the Hayes Maze video often when I need a smile.

[Hayes]

Montana Cruiser,

I've only had them trimmed for the last month or so. I can certainly see that I'm getting more mud and road grime on the rocker panels and rear bumper. I try to keep it free of salt in the winter around here, and I'll be extra dilligent and observant of the rocker panels now.

The untrimmed mudflaps certainly do their job in respect to keeping road grime off the truck. I would say, under most circumstances the mudflaps are fine and don't get in the way. In my limited experience they flexed fine and were undamaged from dropping off ledges and that sort of thing. The problem occurrs when you get them pinched between the tire and a rock in reverse. I watched our local club president (hi Gary, if you're out there) pull his flap along with the whole fender flare under these circumstances.

Hayes

Originally Posted by Montana Cruiser

Nice rig and nice write-up, congrats.

How much road rash are your rockers and rear bumper getting with the mudflaps trimmed up like that?

[Beowulf]

Nice truck Hayes!

(time for sliders though... )

-B-

[gary t]

"The problem occurrs when you get them pinched between the tire and a rock in reverse. I watched our local club president (hi Gary, if you're out there) pull his flap along with the whole fender flare under these circumstances."


I'm here Ry, I wish I had removed or trimmed the rear mud flaps for the Moab run for sure. I did remount the flap/flare and am looking for ideas on how to avoid a repete. Nice write up and pics.

[Hayes]

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Nice truck Hayes!

(time for sliders though... )

-B-

Amen.

I actually own a pair of Hanna sliders... ...they're just a few hundred miles away from my 80 right now .

I bought them used from fellow MUDder, Skim. I've got a friend picking them up for me in a few weeks. I'll certainly post-up when I get them on.

[tech_dog]

Originally Posted by Hayes

Amen.

I actually own a pair of Hanna sliders... ...they're just a few hundred miles away from my 80 right now .

I bought them used from fellow MUDder, Skim. I've got a friend picking them up for me in a few weeks. I'll certainly post-up when I get them on.

LOL... I beat you on the Hanna Sliders. Mine are on.

We keep making the same choices. Good thing yours is white.

Note that you'll lose some lift and flatten your rake when you put them on.

[Hayes]

Originally Posted by tech_dog

LOL... I beat you on the Hanna Sliders. Mine are on.

We keep making the same choices. Good thing yours is white.

Note that you'll lose some lift and flatten your rake when you put them on.

Yeah, I'm starting to ponder spring spacers, or maybe even J-springs. My 80 weighs 6,000 pounds as it is--and that's not counting loads of camping gear and extra people.
I'm nervous about unleashing a cascade of driveline issues, brake line upgrades, etc. etc.

[DaveyBoy]

Originally Posted by TiredIronGRB

This is one of my favorite 80s because of how it's used, it's great to see a family wheeling together.

I also watch the Hayes Maze video often when I need a smile.

x2..............Great rig and writeup.
I watch the video with my kids often!!

[GeoRoss]

Hayes,

How has the Aussie been through the winter driving (snow/ice).

Great rig, I love you drawer system.



Ross

[PHAEDRUS]

looks good Ryan.
get some pics of the disconnects.
Dave

[pbr streetgang]

Great rig!
I'm curious about the Aussie in the winter too.
How is it off camber & under heavy throttle on slippery pavement?
Nice drawer system!
I wish I'd thought of the bottle opener!

[Hayes]

Yeah, I keep forgetting about those disconnects. I'll try and snap a picture tonight.

Aussie Locker in snow:
I don't want to talk about this winter's snow .

Haven't really had it on any really snowy or slick roads yet.

Hayes

[cruiser80]

that is a really nice rig. you gave alot of ideas. its a cool video too! got some questions for you now. im going to add a custom rack. where did you get the gutter mounts? how many inches did the OME give you? any way your rig is real nice. cant wait to add on to mine!

[peepers]

sick rack, great drawers - you do great DIY work.

[cc93cruiser]

Nice cruiser, best year too 93 ...

[Marc DDS]

Great write up!