ROTW: Cruiser Guy, Guatemala/Canada
Here's the backgrounder on how we ended up in the 'Cruiser "family" with our '82 BJ60.
When we drove down gravel roads we would hear the rocks and whatnot whacking the bottom of our Camry, it didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what was happening to the undercarriage of the car. We decided that the cars that we were driving up till then would be trashed if we didn’t get something more suitable for the gravel roads that we often take to get to hiking trails thus we got a Land Cruiser. I had wanted a Land Cruiser for years but I couldn’t afford one until my late 20’s.
I bought my ’82 BJ60 in 1989 when everyone in the office still had a low opinion about diesels. The boss had just put a gasser into his “diesel” Malibu after replacing his GM 350 “diesel” 2 or 3 times! I was considered the office idiot for buying a diesel. I wonder what they might say now!
Anyways, my BJ60 had about 90,000km (about 60,000 miles) on it when I got it. Naturally we went out on the most difficult road we knew of at that time and, wouldn’t you know it, the running boards (which I didn’t particularly care for anyways) got caught on a rock and bent out of shape. The FIRST mod I did on my truck was remove those stupid running boards!
For the first 10 years or so any repairs needed were done at the dealers because I was unsure of what was required and was not confident in doing the work myself. It took some stupid mistakes by the dealer and by some of the auto repair franchises to cause me to start doing the work on my own. The first was with a Toyota Corolla that I had that needed brakes in about 1990 or so. The national brake franchise installed faulty calipers that held the pads at an angle to the rotor rather than parallel! I’m not a mechanic but I didn’t need to be to see that it was obviously that way from when it was installed 6 months earlier. The next came when the dealer did the front axle rebuild and forgot to reinstall the filler plug! Needless to say I wasn’t pleased about that either.
Since saying goodbye to the dealers and auto repair franchises I do EVERYTHING that needs doing except diesel injection work or A/C recharging. Since then I’ve done the front axle rebuild, transfer case rebuild, I’ve added an AXT turbo to the truck. I’ve also taken several 3B engines apart and rebuilt one and refreshed another.
Back to the truck in question. This is an ’82 model Land Cruiser BJ60 which is a Canadian market truck that was originally sold in Naniamo, B.C. I came stock with the H42 4 speed tranny and of course it was naturally aspirated and did not have many of the goodies it now sports.
The first major modification was the installation of the AXT turbocharger. This was installed about 5 years ago. I had been thinking of the turbo for a while already but the cost was scaring me away as well as the potential for some serious engine damage.
A trip through Mexico in the spring of 2002 convinced me that a turbo is not an option that is just for looks or "bling" but it’s something that will give a real performance boost. On that trip we found that the naturally aspirated 3B didn’t like the high altitudes. At 8000’ in the vicinity of Mexico City the truck was very asthmatic and was blowing out black smoke like I had not seen before in B.C. I ordered up a kit through Kodiak Custom Vehicles that summer and installed it on my own in a days worth of wrenching. There were a few items that I modified from the kit, the most notable was changing the water line fittings next to the valve cover to allow access to the valve train without pulling the turbo, something I’d seen on other installations and I didn’t want on mine. This required finding a different elbow for the water line that was both an adaptor and elbow at the same time as well as allowing me to correct the orientation of the elbow. I found the required fitting at the local hydraulic hose wholesaler. The pyrometer and boost gages were also installed at this time. I drilled the manifold and tapped the pyrometer sensor directly into the manifold prior to the exhaust entering the turbo. This was done to ensure accurate combustion chamber temperature readings. After all the pyrometer is for knowing the combustion chamber temperatures so you don’t melt a piston. It’s NOT to protect the turbo. The boost gage reads directly off the wastegate controller connection with a tee. The stock exhaust that I had been running up to that time came off and I went with a 2 ½” pipe that follows the stock route but does NOT include a muffler. I was doubtful that the noise would be acceptable but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the “in cab” noise level was essentially the same as stock and only when driving next to a highway barrier or in a tunnel, can you hear the engine roar more than you could in the stock configuration.
The next major modification became necessary when we broke a rear spring main leaf. I had had the leaves re-arched and a leaf added, to over come the “saggy butt” so common on the ’60 series with the stock suspension, about a year earlier. On a trip through the Okanangan of B.C. in 2003 I started to notice the rear of the truck “wiggle” as we went around corners. Upon closer inspection when I arrived home I noticed that the rear main leaf had broken right at the axle centering pin. I was not about to spend more money on the 20 year old stock springs so a lift kit was in order. After weighing the pro’s and con’s of the various options, I chose the BDS kit along with greaseable pins and shackles from Spector and poly bushings. A buddy of mine who installed a lift kit in his ’82 BJ60 a few years before me had used an OME kit and his opinion was that there was no noticeable difference between the two after he took my truck out for a spin. The lift has been on the truck for over 4 years now and there is no sag that I can notice. It has also driven from Central America to Canada and back several times while loaded to capacity and beyond. The only complaint has been one of the front shackles that was pounded out, I assume by the nasty roads in Central America. I was damaged so badly that the wrap on the spring was nearly in contact with the spring hanger due to the pin ovaling out the hole it was in!
About this time I also installed A/C from an FJ60. I was able to swap parts from an FJ60 owner in Alaska that didn’t want A/C for the non-A/C specific parts I took out of my truck plus a few dollars. Fortunately the parts guy at the local Toyota dealer has an ’83 BJ60 which he had owned since new AND put in the factory A/C. This meant he had the factory install book which I could borrow. With this book I was able to nearly duplicate the factory install and I found a few things that I would not otherwise have known about such as the fan relay which is different from a non-A/C equipped truck. In addition to the parts from the FJ60 I needed to source a compressor mount and idler for the 3B engine as well as a compressor and a manifold that would work since the 3B has the compressor on the opposite side of the engine. I also needed to find the A/C amplifier for the diesel engine. The gas engine gets a signal from the coil and sends “idle up” information to an idle up solenoid both of which do not occur on the diesel. The A/C shop did not believe it was possible to add A/C to the truck without a long troubleshooting period. I had him make up the hoses and charge it with R134a anyways and it worked right away! R134a was chosen since it was an empty system and a new compressor. This gives me the ease and lower cost of R134a servicing.
Prior to our departure for Central America in the summer of 2004 I located a JDM factory PTO winch assembly for the ’60 series. In hind sight I probably could make more use out of a Warn electric but that's the way it is (anyone want to trade?).
Since Central America I have swapped out the frame on my truck for a rust free Honduran one. I posted up these photos on 'mud at https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=76509
I've also installed a rear Aussie locker and have only good things to say about it. I have even driven it in the snow and ice this past winter in the East Kootenay's of B.C. without any issues.
I'm now running 33x12.5x15 BFG MT's for down here in Central America and I'll swap back to 31x10.5x15 AT's for the trips north. In process in the next few weeks will be a re-gear to 4:11's in the diffs as well as an OEM Toyota LSD in the front axle. I know an ARB would be better but there is only so much money to go around.
Here's a shot from todays trip crossing a river south of "Volcan de Pacaya" in Guatemala and a side shot of the truck in the lava beds of Pacaya as well.
Here's the backgrounder on how we ended up in the 'Cruiser "family" with our '82 BJ60.
When we drove down gravel roads we would hear the rocks and whatnot whacking the bottom of our Camry, it didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what was happening to the undercarriage of the car. We decided that the cars that we were driving up till then would be trashed if we didn’t get something more suitable for the gravel roads that we often take to get to hiking trails thus we got a Land Cruiser. I had wanted a Land Cruiser for years but I couldn’t afford one until my late 20’s.
I bought my ’82 BJ60 in 1989 when everyone in the office still had a low opinion about diesels. The boss had just put a gasser into his “diesel” Malibu after replacing his GM 350 “diesel” 2 or 3 times! I was considered the office idiot for buying a diesel. I wonder what they might say now!
Anyways, my BJ60 had about 90,000km (about 60,000 miles) on it when I got it. Naturally we went out on the most difficult road we knew of at that time and, wouldn’t you know it, the running boards (which I didn’t particularly care for anyways) got caught on a rock and bent out of shape. The FIRST mod I did on my truck was remove those stupid running boards!
For the first 10 years or so any repairs needed were done at the dealers because I was unsure of what was required and was not confident in doing the work myself. It took some stupid mistakes by the dealer and by some of the auto repair franchises to cause me to start doing the work on my own. The first was with a Toyota Corolla that I had that needed brakes in about 1990 or so. The national brake franchise installed faulty calipers that held the pads at an angle to the rotor rather than parallel! I’m not a mechanic but I didn’t need to be to see that it was obviously that way from when it was installed 6 months earlier. The next came when the dealer did the front axle rebuild and forgot to reinstall the filler plug! Needless to say I wasn’t pleased about that either.
Since saying goodbye to the dealers and auto repair franchises I do EVERYTHING that needs doing except diesel injection work or A/C recharging. Since then I’ve done the front axle rebuild, transfer case rebuild, I’ve added an AXT turbo to the truck. I’ve also taken several 3B engines apart and rebuilt one and refreshed another.
Back to the truck in question. This is an ’82 model Land Cruiser BJ60 which is a Canadian market truck that was originally sold in Naniamo, B.C. I came stock with the H42 4 speed tranny and of course it was naturally aspirated and did not have many of the goodies it now sports.
The first major modification was the installation of the AXT turbocharger. This was installed about 5 years ago. I had been thinking of the turbo for a while already but the cost was scaring me away as well as the potential for some serious engine damage.
A trip through Mexico in the spring of 2002 convinced me that a turbo is not an option that is just for looks or "bling" but it’s something that will give a real performance boost. On that trip we found that the naturally aspirated 3B didn’t like the high altitudes. At 8000’ in the vicinity of Mexico City the truck was very asthmatic and was blowing out black smoke like I had not seen before in B.C. I ordered up a kit through Kodiak Custom Vehicles that summer and installed it on my own in a days worth of wrenching. There were a few items that I modified from the kit, the most notable was changing the water line fittings next to the valve cover to allow access to the valve train without pulling the turbo, something I’d seen on other installations and I didn’t want on mine. This required finding a different elbow for the water line that was both an adaptor and elbow at the same time as well as allowing me to correct the orientation of the elbow. I found the required fitting at the local hydraulic hose wholesaler. The pyrometer and boost gages were also installed at this time. I drilled the manifold and tapped the pyrometer sensor directly into the manifold prior to the exhaust entering the turbo. This was done to ensure accurate combustion chamber temperature readings. After all the pyrometer is for knowing the combustion chamber temperatures so you don’t melt a piston. It’s NOT to protect the turbo. The boost gage reads directly off the wastegate controller connection with a tee. The stock exhaust that I had been running up to that time came off and I went with a 2 ½” pipe that follows the stock route but does NOT include a muffler. I was doubtful that the noise would be acceptable but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the “in cab” noise level was essentially the same as stock and only when driving next to a highway barrier or in a tunnel, can you hear the engine roar more than you could in the stock configuration.
The next major modification became necessary when we broke a rear spring main leaf. I had had the leaves re-arched and a leaf added, to over come the “saggy butt” so common on the ’60 series with the stock suspension, about a year earlier. On a trip through the Okanangan of B.C. in 2003 I started to notice the rear of the truck “wiggle” as we went around corners. Upon closer inspection when I arrived home I noticed that the rear main leaf had broken right at the axle centering pin. I was not about to spend more money on the 20 year old stock springs so a lift kit was in order. After weighing the pro’s and con’s of the various options, I chose the BDS kit along with greaseable pins and shackles from Spector and poly bushings. A buddy of mine who installed a lift kit in his ’82 BJ60 a few years before me had used an OME kit and his opinion was that there was no noticeable difference between the two after he took my truck out for a spin. The lift has been on the truck for over 4 years now and there is no sag that I can notice. It has also driven from Central America to Canada and back several times while loaded to capacity and beyond. The only complaint has been one of the front shackles that was pounded out, I assume by the nasty roads in Central America. I was damaged so badly that the wrap on the spring was nearly in contact with the spring hanger due to the pin ovaling out the hole it was in!
About this time I also installed A/C from an FJ60. I was able to swap parts from an FJ60 owner in Alaska that didn’t want A/C for the non-A/C specific parts I took out of my truck plus a few dollars. Fortunately the parts guy at the local Toyota dealer has an ’83 BJ60 which he had owned since new AND put in the factory A/C. This meant he had the factory install book which I could borrow. With this book I was able to nearly duplicate the factory install and I found a few things that I would not otherwise have known about such as the fan relay which is different from a non-A/C equipped truck. In addition to the parts from the FJ60 I needed to source a compressor mount and idler for the 3B engine as well as a compressor and a manifold that would work since the 3B has the compressor on the opposite side of the engine. I also needed to find the A/C amplifier for the diesel engine. The gas engine gets a signal from the coil and sends “idle up” information to an idle up solenoid both of which do not occur on the diesel. The A/C shop did not believe it was possible to add A/C to the truck without a long troubleshooting period. I had him make up the hoses and charge it with R134a anyways and it worked right away! R134a was chosen since it was an empty system and a new compressor. This gives me the ease and lower cost of R134a servicing.
Prior to our departure for Central America in the summer of 2004 I located a JDM factory PTO winch assembly for the ’60 series. In hind sight I probably could make more use out of a Warn electric but that's the way it is (anyone want to trade?).
Since Central America I have swapped out the frame on my truck for a rust free Honduran one. I posted up these photos on 'mud at https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=76509
I've also installed a rear Aussie locker and have only good things to say about it. I have even driven it in the snow and ice this past winter in the East Kootenay's of B.C. without any issues.
I'm now running 33x12.5x15 BFG MT's for down here in Central America and I'll swap back to 31x10.5x15 AT's for the trips north. In process in the next few weeks will be a re-gear to 4:11's in the diffs as well as an OEM Toyota LSD in the front axle. I know an ARB would be better but there is only so much money to go around.
Here's a shot from todays trip crossing a river south of "Volcan de Pacaya" in Guatemala and a side shot of the truck in the lava beds of Pacaya as well.
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