Bought an 80 / Few Questions

[1973Guppie]

Hi There,

Well, I am now a legit member of the 80 society I guess. I picked up my 80 yesterday and love it so far. Factory locked, 158k miles, one owner, truck checked out perfect at the dealer inspection. I even spoke with the previous owner. The truck is fairly clean and runs great. talked the dealer down to $7900 because the antenna motor has problems. He didn't know what the little "dial" on the left of the steering wheel did. I played dumb. I think I got a fair price, not a steal but the most important thing for me was to find a clean truck that has been well taken care of mechanically.

The family and I have decided to head to S&T next weekend, so hopefully will see many of you there!

A few questions:

- I hate the wood paneling. It looks like it is glued on there. What is the best way to remove it? I was thinking of just getting some adhesive remover and prying it up with a plastic scraper. I just don' twant to mess up the grey vinyl underneath. Any reccomendations?

- The rear sliding windows (love these BTW!), the channels are dirty and need to be cleaned, what lubrication is safe to use on the rubber channels that sit in there. I don't want to use anything that will eat away at the rubber seals.

That's it for now, I am sure I will have more questions later. I plan to clean it up a bit, change the oil, top off the fluids and drive it. Eventually once I sell the 40, the funds will be available to start modding it and I will start a build thread. I need to eventually do the headgasket and replace all hoses, etc.

Thanks,

Noah

 

[1973Guppie]

one more.......

 

[Skillet]

Hey, man...

Nice rig, nice color and sounds like a fair price.

I don't know about the wood but I would not use any liquid lubrication on the rubber.

Clean it up with soapy water and a soft brush.

If you must, put some dry graphite dust on there an you should be good to go.

I would like to check out your ride at SnT.

 

[619TOY]

Congrats I see you got the color you were looking for also.

Depending on the adhesive that is holding the trim on, it may be permanant. I bought a used Prelude many years ago that had alot of velcro on the dash from a dash mat and the adhesive had become a permanant fixture, nothing would touch it. Hopefully that's not the case. I would use a plastic pry tool as well as just your fingers when you can. I use 3M adhesive remover in the red can and really like it.

For the rear windows, I would use a "dry" silicone lubricant. I like mine being a little difficult to slide. It keeps the hounds from opening them further than I want.

 

[J-Bo]

I took all the wood grain junk off of mine. The best way to do it is to pull as much of the wood veneer panels off as you can with your hands, a putty knife, and a hair dryer. Do this very carefully to get the wood veneer off and not to dig the putty knife into the plastic. Then all you should be left with is the adhesive. The best way I found to get if off is to remove the panel that it is adhered to if you can so you can really get at it. Then use a hair dryer on it to soften it. After that you can roll it off with your fingers. It sticks to itself so if you can start a roll of the adhesive it helps get the rest off. My fingers were a little sore the next day but it worked and I did not damage any of the plastic or vinyl underneath. Goof Off will remove the residue of the adhesive when you get the bulk off. As the poster above said, the 3M Adhesive Remover in the red can is great stuff. It is a solvent so I would test it on something before you went and sprayed it everywhere. I used it to get the adhesive off of the body of my truck when I ditched the fugly gold emblems.

BTW...nice rig. Looks just like mine.

 

[1973Guppie]

thx for the comments / help, it looks like the wood just pulls up, we will see all of you at pismo!

Noah

 

[1973Guppie]

another question for you guys, I am reading through the manual, and it says when putting it into 4wheel drive, to first push on the center diff lock button and THEN try the lockers. Thing is that my truck does not have a CDL button, is this normal? did the factory locked cruisers not come with the CDL button? Can this be added and is there any reason to add it? I checked the door vin and the vin shows a factory equipped diff lock cruiser......

Noah

 

[WarDamnEagle]

another question for you guys, I am reading through the manual, and it says when putting it into 4wheel drive, to first push on the center diff lock button and THEN try the lockers. Thing is that my truck does not have a CDL button, is this normal? did the factory locked cruisers not come with the CDL button? Can this be added and is there any reason to add it? I checked the door vin and the vin shows a factory equipped diff lock cruiser......

Noah

I don't know what year your 80 is from your thread but it looks like a 95, 96 or 97 model. There is no factory (US anyway) CDL switch. It automatically locks the center diff when you put it into low. If you check out the FAQ and/or Slee's website, you will see that you can buy a CDL switch and you can also modify the factory ECU to allow you to lock the CDL in High or Low.

All neat stuff. Congrats! Now hurry up and finish that Pig so you can sell it to me!

 

[1973Guppie]

nope, the piggie will stay here, it will be a unique enough resto to keep, I have decided to keep the older landcruisers to resto's in the future. I would like to buy a 75 fj40 someday and resto is as well.

 

[1973Guppie]

OK, I am a guy whom wants to know "how it works", so next question is there a writeup on how exactly the center diff diff lock works? I am confused on how this assembly works, it's benefits, etc. I would also like to learn more about how the full time 4x4 works on the 80 series. For Instance, why would somebody add a CDL button to a 95 fj80? I know it allows the CDL to be used in high range but what is the benefit to this? Keep in mind that all of my experience is with old fj40's which are fairly simple and straightforward.

Noah

 

[Hilux]

The center diff of the transfer case is just that. Its an OPEN diff. In an open diff, torque flow goes where? To the wheel with the least amount of traction. By not having the diff locked it is able to operate on a hard, compacted, and highly tractable surface. But, it has a draw back. It will allow all the torque to go to one wheel in the event of a spin-out. Locking the center diff (Is just like going from 2H to 4H/L in a part time case) will not allow one wheel spin-out b/c the front AND rear shafts are "locked". 100% of available power, will go to both front and rear drive shafts...NOT THE DIFFERENTIALS AFTER THEM, just the drive shafts.


A locked center diff is a part time TC in 4H or 4L. It does not allow for differentiation.

 

[Hilux]

this is how a center differential works


YouTube - Four-Wheel Drive Episode-1 part1


An fj80 is open diffs x 3.

The reason a fZj80's do not have this is, Toyota's divine intervention

fZj80's, have a Viscus Coupler that is by all intents and purposes a Limited Slip Diff, for the center diff.

yes, you are right, you can add a switch to a fZj80. That's why a lot of guys do it. It's easy and will allow you to have less stress on the VC 4wheeling, b/c the center diff only locks, automatically, in low4. Adding the switch, OMG!!! puts the power of choice in you, the drivers, hands.....

 

[1973Guppie]

Hilux, thank you, a good description, so basically having the CDL is like a old school 4x4 in 4H OR 4Low, it allows even power to be distributed to the f/r diffs and then they do their job depending on what is installed in the axle. So, I would see the benefit of installing the switch to have a true 4H when off road.

So, the follow up question is how does the full time 4x4 work? Is it basically computer controlled where it is simply sending power to whatever wheel needs it depending on traction surfaces? It is obviously not sending equal traction to the f/r axles, thus the cdl switch. How does the full time system distribute power?

 

[Hilux]

Hilux, thank you, a good description, so basically having the CDL is like a old school 4x4 in 4H OR 4Low, it allows even power to be distributed to the f/r diffs and then they do their job depending on what is installed in the axle. So, I would see the benefit of installing the switch to have a true 4H when off road.

Eggggzachery (you do know a fj80 is AWD, don't you? only "4WD" when the center diff is locked)

So, the follow up question is how does the full time 4x4 work? Is it basically computer controlled where it is simply sending power to whatever wheel needs it depending on traction surfaces? It is obviously not sending equal traction to the f/r axles, thus the cdl switch. How does the full time system distribute power?

no computers, no sensors. Just 3 honest to goodness differentials. This is 1992 we're talking here. So the technology wasn't available then. No fair, to compare

Just like the Rover in the vid. One wheel, all the time in CDL UN-locked. 4WD, CDL, locked.


"It is obviously not sending equal traction to the f/r axles,"

oh yes it is. It is JUST LIKE THE OPEN DIFF in the back of the mobile. It goes forward, b/c the traction on both sides is equal. The spiders cancel each other out, and this is what permits fwd momentum.


Now, both sides not equal, and what happens?

Now (in theory), turn that one diff sideways, and put another pair of open diffs off of each one of the hubs, and see what happens.
(put another diff, between two diffs. rotate the center and see what happens)


An fj80 is diffs x 3. remember?

 

[1973Guppie]

good video, I got it now, full time 4 wheel drive is a marketing term basically,

I will do the CDL switch mod asap!

 

[Lka1988]

Wow. Hilux's posts actually made SENSE!!

Guppie-

There is a harness behind the dash that the factory CDL switch will plug right into, no splicing required. Also, there's a mod called the "Pin 7 mod", which allows you to UNLOCK the CDL in Low, which is actually pretty fun. It's kinda like the 2Low mod on the 60's...

 

[1973Guppie]

thanx, read through the slee 7 pin mod thing, so basically, if one does the CDL and the 7 pin mod together, you essentially turn the new CDL button into a "4x4" button, meaning that you can choose to put the truck into 4x4 when either in normal or low ranges, basically if you were to switch to LO without the CDL engaged you would be in 2LO? sounds like the 7 pin mod and the cdl button really go hand in hand and should be done at the same time.

Noah

 

[Skillet]

Wow. Hilux's posts actually made SENSE!!

 

[Tools R Us]

good video, I got it now, full time 4 wheel drive is a marketing term basically, ...

Not really, true if one tire is lifted your done, but with the power split between all 4 tires it's much more difficult to get one to spin, so makes for better traction in bad weather, etc. Also the rig handles differently, is more stable with the fronts pulling, most noticeable on high speed dirt, you can get on the skinny peddle more in the turns without the rear wanting to slide, come around.

 

[Slomo]

Very nice Noah, congrats.

Another JAFW80! You found about the ideal with an excellent history. Look forward to getting out on the trail with you.