1985 BJ70 CND refubishing and modifications

[crushers]

my favorite toy of all time ...

brand new in the box!!

now to incorporate this into the bumper and well

and the lighting
and the lift
and the ... ... ...

let the fun begin

 

[Gun Runner 5]

At least now I know where the Australians get the idea to attach those "huge" brush bars to the front of their Cruisers.

 

[Capitalguy]

What is the weight of a blower unit like that?

 

[crushers]

the blower is 500 lbs, we will be adding air bag to the front suspension should it need the help.
he has the HD OME lift on already but with the winch and the extra weight hanging off the front WHEN the blower is actually attached and lifted up it would be a good backup ...
once lowered there is very little weight.

what i like is the idea of a multi purpose use for the Land Cruiser. a small 30 HP 4wd tractor costs $25K so for the few times a year you might use a blower it does make economical sense, plus with the quick attachment that is so popular with the farmer he can buy a blade or any other tractor attachment and quickly put it to work.

if he need to winch then he can drop the blower in a couple minutes and hook back up just as fast ... practical.
i could see this on the front of my FJ75 in the future.

 

[2rivers]

Very cool. What kind of quick-attach are you planning to use Crushers? A 3 pt hitch style for other farm implements? Maybe I'm misunderstanding you... Some info on manufacture/distributor of that blower would be apprecaited. Looks like its made in Canada After this winter we've had here the Crappy Tire blade is gonna be pretty hurtin and plus our driveway only gets narrower at this point. Sorry for partial thread hi-jack.

 

[crushers]

not an issue
i could set up a 3 point hitch but my concern with that was the distance from the vehicle the blower would need to be. every inch will add leverage.
(suggestions are appreciated)
i am thinking of keeping it simple with a small winch to raise and lower and a floating arm mount. this would allow the blower to track the terrain and the vehicle just needs to push the unit. unlike a blade where a ridged mount is needed to keep the strain off the mount of the impact of the blade against the material, the blower just gobbles and spews. this unit is fully self contained with the briggs powering the blade with dual belt system. it can spew 35 ft of the light and powdery or 12 ft of the heavy wet slop.
of course i will need to transfer the unit to my truck for testing while this one is being fully dismatled and refurbished.

we have located:
e/locker front,
e/locker rear with Disc,
new winch,
turbo,
seats are being recovered as we speak,
the tub is almost ready to remove once the:
front and rear bumpers are completed
the side bars are constructed,
York will be on order next week,
the high powered stereo is sitting here waiting to be installed into the
aluminum panels for the doors and rear sides.
the deck is being mounted into the
over head console front with the speakers.

so, the first few days of the refurbishing and modification will be the bumpers and side bars. then we can send the body off for paint and tear into the drivetrain.
by the time the drivetrain is completed then the body shoudl be back.

in a perfect world ...
sadly, i live in the rear world
so
it will be when ever it happens to be completed.

 

[Capitalguy]

Detachable is the way to go, I have a Fisher plow with a quick attach system for my truck, nice setup, there is a receiver frame permanently bolted to the truck, with no plow on the frame is hardly noticable.
The plow portion has all the spring loaded locking pins, when you nose in to attach the plow, there are guides that line up the receiver holes with the pins on the plow, then I pull a lever which releases the pins and they lock.
There's usually some physical pushing and nudging involved to get the pins to lock in holes but overall it's minimal.
A system like this might work for your application as well. Is there a way you could use the 8274 to lift the unit?

 

[2rivers]

"test the unit on your truck in the meantime" Looking forward to the report! What HP is the Briggs?

I agree the using the Warn would be handy, this particualr BJ70 is 12V yes? So having 2 honkin big batts in parallel should be just fine for tons of raising/lowering within aux driving lights, stereo cranked etc. Being able to let the unit track a few inches laterally is OK to a certain degree I think but not too much. I'd guess no more than a couple inch. I had a 7ft blower on my tractor on the front and just the torsional flex on the mounting frame that ran the full length (15ft+) of the tractor (housing the drivesahft and gearbox from the rear pto) was enough to compensate for most terrain, and that is with old-school channel steel. This unit you have may wander if it has too much lateral movement and go where you don't want it too ie. skip over stuff? Best to try it out I guess. Happy testing...

 

[crushers]

thanks for the suggestion, i am trying to get max clearence for when he is driving down the road with the blower removed.
right now if i go with the lower fixed then once the blower is removed the attachment is 6" off the ground to the point.
if i modify the attachment then i can be be 12" off the ground to the attachment point.
decent idea and if i need to i can fall back to the original plan.

Detachable is the way to go, I have a Fisher plow with a quick attach system for my truck, nice setup, there is a receiver frame permanently bolted to the truck, with no plow on the frame is hardly noticable.
The plow portion has all the spring loaded locking pins, when you nose in to attach the plow, there are guides that line up the receiver holes with the pins on the plow, then I pull a lever which releases the pins and they lock.
There's usually some physical pushing and nudging involved to get the pins to lock in holes but overall it's minimal.
A system like this might work for your application as well. Is there a way you could use the 8274 to lift the unit?

 

[crushers]

2 rivers, i will try and get your answers for you today.

cheers

 

[Capitalguy]

Crushers, the overhead console you are installing in this truck, is it similar to the one in your "Troopie Build" thread?

 

[crushers]

yes, it is very similar with mods for 6.5" rounds and remote tweets ... no doors but storage where the doors are on the troopie and the grill work was eliminated but could be installed for factory speaker sizing ...

i will take pics as the build progresses ...

note: the troopie frotn console was roughly 8" tall, the one for the short roof is 4" tall in the center

 

[crushers]

next we had to make room for the sub.
cut the rear door
remove most fo the tire support (swing out tire carrier being installed)

 

[crushers]

3/8" side panels and rear panels
3/16" front door panels
3/16" upper console
small rear door storage same as troopie
the huge amp is hidden behind the same large rear door panel beside the sub speaker
6.5" rear side speakers with seperate tweeters
6.5" upper console speakers with seperate tweeters and deck head with 3 gang 12V power outlets.
center gauge package with 4 gauges and switches for blower control and lighting
upper console with switches for front and rear elockers, upper lighting, air compressor control and air bag control.
upper console with lighting for interior

and probably more ...

 

[crushers]

then it is on to the blower mount ...

the top mounting arms

the last shot is of the mount for driving down the road, it will have a pin access to secure the blower in the upward position. that is also the plate to make sure the blower can not be twisted side to side.

 

[crushers]

the winch plate for the 8274
the lower mounting units for the quick attachment, note the alignment dowels to ease feeding the securing pins through 4 different pieces of steel. these also stiffen the side to side twisting action.

 

[crushers]

the 1/4" plate extension wings on the blower, this takes the blower 2" past the tire width. just temp for now.

 

[crushers]

this bar connects the 2 main upper mounts, they have swivel capabilities at both ends which allow the mounts to twist slightly but can be removed easily when the blower comes off.
one of the requirements was ease of install and removal of the actual mount.
the blower is a very quick disconnect.
the quick attachment is also fairly easy to remove in the spring and reinstall in the fall ...
everything but the actual bumper is retained by pins.

 

[crushers]

positioning the parts to the stereo system ...
large amp for the speakers in the back door next to the sub.
the custom rear sub speaker protection, the rear side speakers have the same over-kill protection.
the deck head and lights switches ...

 

[crushers]

positioning the 6.5" fronts
test fitting for clearence for the accessories
another shot of it in place ...