2006 UZJ100 build - bit at a time. (1 Viewer)

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Installed a BESTEK 500W Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 110V with 4.2A Dual USB Charging Ports and 2 AC Outlets Car Charger. It has a cooling fan and the pure sine wave is recommended for charging lithium camera batteries and such. I found that it works quite well powering my laptop while I have been remote working. It also does a nice job charging the Milwaukee 12v portable tools that I drag along occasionally.
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I also mounted up the Blue Ridge Outdoor Gear vehicle attic. This is a cool piece of kit and there is a lot of adjustability available fore and aft. I’ve cheated mine quite a ways toward the rear. Great place to store a puffy jacket or a fleece blanket or something else light and in need of quick access.
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ASFIR front skid and ARB deluxe bar

Received the ASFIR front skid this week. Four days from Isreal to MN, and packaged very well. The plate is healthy, and will likely outlast every other component on the truck. Had a problem with two original fasteners, particularly the center rear one. The OEM faster is up in a hole, and the head rounded off, pushing a drill it and twist it out w a vice grip scenario. I chased all the holes with an 8 x .125 tap used a ratchet strap to hold the plate tight to the frame. The ARB splash guard required some trimming, but after fiddling it is mounted. I used stainless button heads across the front three. Looks clean, and this isn’t a basher to begin with. I haven’t read other posts that mention that the three back holes are significant and use a large cupped washer to secure the plate.
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I get a lot of questions about my set up, especially when I roll out of the back in the morning and make a cup of coffee. It is simple and concise. And some will give me crap that it is bought, not built. The ARB drawers, fridge and Dometic water jug/faucet are expensive, but like Snap On tools, they just work. I’d rather cry once. The drawer system is rattle free, solid as hell, and cleanly integrates with the rear of the 100 series. It’s like it was made for it, which it was. The modified side wing kit and electrical area keeps the fridge and water tap serviced and charged. And the Dometic jug nestles in on the same slide as the fridge. Perfect. Concise.
The NEMO COSMO 3D (long/wide) covers the single drawer and the 60% side rear seat and nicely cradles you as the baffles are “body mapped”. A simple Kelly ThermiDry bag blends synthetic and down. A Snow Peak IGT table (brown bag) helps bridge the gap for sleeping , and mounts to the tailgate for additional kitchen prep space.
Above is the Blue Ridge Outdoor Gear (BROG) attic where I keep a lightweight down sweater, a fresh pair of socks, and can use to suspend an iPad from if I want to lay back and watch a movie. The BROG Cooking kit bag hangs from the ARB fridge handle and holds utensils as well as my pour over coffee supplies. Again, it just works.
North Face Base Camp bags hold mountain bike gear in one and daily wear in the other. Again, there is a reason these are so popular. They are bombproof. In the end , the cockroaches will be living in these.

So, a few more pics. Sorry I don’t have great adventure story’s as this tends to be my one night motel when I am mountain/fat biking. If you see me down at the MOORE expo, please be sure to say “hey!”

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Catching up… in April, my son and I attended the MOORE expo in Springfield, Missouri. While there we participated in the Motorola MOORE 2 SMOOR off-road rally. There was really a great mix of new and vintage four-wheel-drive vehicles in attendance. There was also a very nice mix of vendors. If you get a chance, you really should check this out.

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Eezi Awn K9 rack

This spring at the MOORE event in Springfield MO I spent a lot of time checking out roof racks on vendor and attendee rigs. Roof racks are a love it or hate it affair with folks, whether you talk about the load rating, the change in CoG, what are you adding it for, how much noise they produce… there is no one answer as to which rack is best or how you might use it. Just spend some time in this site. Fair amount of strong opinions. I wanted the lightest, strongest and lowest profile flat rack for a 100 series that would support a side mount awning, had milled rails to support bolt on accessories, and was preferably a one piece welded design. I narrowed it to three; the Front Runner, the ARB Base Rack, and the Eezi Awn K9.

All three have a great rep and generally checked all the boxes, but each had a quirk as well. The ARB uses proprietary dovetail mounting hardware. The Front Runner is not welded but allows for flexibility in the way it is configured. And the Eezi Awn… well, the Eezi Awn has individual feet rather than a spine and has always seemed really expensive. But that changed with the Equipt Memorial Day sale.

Paul May is a joy to talk to. I called to chat about the sale, the options available for the rack and what he has been seeing as configurations. I ended up with the 1500mm x 2M | 59” x 79” seven slat flat rack that mount with 5 feet per side. The side mount universal awning brackets completed the package for now. Delivery via freight occurred in less than a week, and my son and I put it on the truck in a bit less that 4 hours, some of which was the removal of the oem rack, clean up and wax.

When removing the oem rack I found these “rubber dog bones” under the rack feet that are glued to the roof. I tried to remove them so the rack spacer tubes would sit directly on the roof but they are so secure and hardened I left them in place, fearing I would create more of a corrosion issue removing them than if I left them in place. I used clear RTV silicon to as a seal between the Gasket and the spacer, the spacer and the track, and filled up the holes where the bolts secure the track to the oem holes.
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The awning now sits proud from the side of the truck, allowing the awning room to drape straight down. And I believe the wind noise is on par with or LESS than the factory rack with the awning attached. It is also lower overall as the awning is mounted to the side rather than above the oem rack on ARB brackets.

The rack is incredibly stout.

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Kinoosao, SK

I have taken each of my children on a solo trip after their high school graduation. My daughter and my middle son chose to go west through the Black Hills and the eastern Rockies. My youngest chose a trip north… a long way north. We headed out of Minneapolis, past Winnipeg, west over to Riding Mountain National Park, then a big dog leg up as far as Lynn Lake, MB with a final push to Kinoosao, SK. With the exception of the ice road or a barge to Churchill, it is as far north as you can drive your own vehicle in Manitoba.
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The Manitoba Provincial Parks provided wonderful camping points and as we went further North, the roads became more remote and the fewer folks we met. MB Provincial Trunk Highway 6 is long, straight and flat. Heavy B-trains own the road and are difficult to overtake due to their length. There are good fuel points every 200 km or so along 6, with the best at Grand Rapids, Fortunately, we were able to avoid the forest fires throughout our travels, seeing smoke billowing on the horizon, fires set in some cases out of protest to Manitoba Hydro we were told. The night skies held a smokey haze obscuring star gazing and any chance of seeing the Aurora.

Still, the road from Thompson to the SK border is one of the most remote tracks I have been on and requires acute awareness of range and provisions. It is 321 km from Thompson to Lynn Lake and another 120km to Kinoosao. My 2006 UZJ100 has approximately a 400 Km range and recon told us you cannot count on fuel at Kinoosao… and in fact, we were told that occasionally the CO-OP runs out at Lynn Lake, prompting us to carry 10 gallons in Jerry cans on the trailer. Manitoba Infrastructure (think DOT) patrols with 2m radio and fuel bowsers in the back of their trucks as there is no cell service once you pass 50 Km out of Thompson. But again, don’t count on it. The road to Lynn Lake is 70% gravel and 30% poor, broken pavement with several single lane bridges, areas where the road has washed out and was then poorly repaired. It passes First Nation villages with gates and checkpoints such as Nelson House and Leaf Rapids which has fuel, but it is up to the tribe if they will admit you. The rock cuts are gorgeous, the lakes and streams cool and clear. And the fishing was amazing.

My cousin accompanied us on his 2007 Kawasaki KLR which added both scout capabilities as well as a bit of a logistics concern as we counted on FMRS for comms, not to mention the lack of range. Several times we exceeded the range of the comms… but the KLR continued to amaze with its reliability and miserly fuel consumption. Something to keep in mind. The towers you see along MB 391 are microwave towers for land lines, not cellular

This is a one way route. Kinoosao is the “end of the road”, with the only true destination being the Grand Slam Lodge. The proprietor, Floyd, is a truly great human and invited us to share a fire as we offered to share some hand formed 1/2# ground chuck burgers over that same fire; more fresh beef than he’d seen in a while. He owns and operates the lodge that sees as many surveyors and prospectors now as fishermen.

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Flat, open roads.

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Great wolf mural on high rise in Thompson.

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Abandoned trawler outside Kinoosao, SK

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Midnight at Zed Lake.

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Rock cut near Leaf Rapids, MB

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Dinner with Floyd

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Not the most glamorous... but its what keeps it all going. All OEM parts.

Land Cruiser timing belt and water pump replacement. Mileage - 194K

During repair noted minor abnormal noise from timing belt tensioner pulley, timing belt idler pulley. fan bracket pulley, upper drive belt idler pulley. drive belt tensioner.
During repair noted drive belt minor cracking.
During repair noted radiator upper hose fitting previously damaged. hoses minor distension. clamps original.
During repair noted minor distension of coolant soft lines to oil cooler assembly. clamps original.
During repair noted timing belt tensioner excessive freeplay.
Replace above additional items at part cost only. no additional labor.

Water Pump Assembly 16100-09201
Timing Belt 13568-09070
Super Long Lile Coolant
Idler Sub Assembly 13503-0F010
Idler Sub Assembly 13503-0F010
Bracket Sub Assembly fan 16307-0F010
Tensioner Assembly 16620-0W101
Pulley Sub Assembly 16604-0F101
Belt 90916-02585
Radiator 16400-50290
Radiator Hose 16571-50150
Radiator Hose 16572-50150
Clip Hose 90466-41008
Clip 90467-43002
Hose 16295-50110
Hose Clip 96135-51300
Hose. water bypass 16281-50030
Hose 16282-50040
Clip 90467-20011
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Drumroll - $3,172 w tax.
 

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