Builds 1986- FJ60 Overland build. The Epic Saga of the "Dazzle Cruiser" (1 Viewer)

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So we traveled across the state in a Uhaul truck. This was kind of depressing, but I got to spend some quality time with my daughter.
We made it home late that night and I unloaded in the morning. ITs good to have friends. I pulled up in the uhaul truck with the trailer in the back at my friends shop. We used three fork lifts to pull the trailer out. lol. One with a ball on it to lock in the trailer and pull it almost all the way out then two more(small forklifts) to hold each side as I pulled the tuck forward freeing my motorcycle on the trailer.
I took the trailer with my bike still on it to the local carwash to get all the oil off the trailer and my bike. I wanted to make sure they had no reason to bitch at me about anything.

The Uhaul guy was lost when I took to trips to bring back all the equipment. He even asked the million dollar question, " How did you get two trailers back here?" I said well, I put my motorcycle in the trailer in the back of the truck, and pulled the rest. He looked at me funny, went an inspected the truck. It was clean and he couldn't do anything about it, since it does not specifically say you cant put a trailer in the back of the truck. :cool:

That afternoon I started digging into the truck noises that stopped the trip. My neighbor came by and suggested I get a mechanics stethoscope to investigate further I took that good idea and found it was indeed coming from the tranny.

I started loosening bolts on the bell housing and immediately found the issue........

IMG-20201101-WA0003.jpg


See that bolt that looks longer than the rest in the above picture? That is not supposed to be there. That, my friends is one of the engine back plate retaining bolts that came undone and was bouncing around between the fly wheel and the back plate. It sounded horrible. The moment I saw it, it flashed in my mind, I only used blue locktite on those bolts. :bang:
I could not be more let down over a simple thing. I got the trans out on to jack stands then pulled the flywheel and the bolt fell right out.


IMG-20201103-WA0003.jpeg


The culprit.

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I went a head and removed the remaining bolts from the back plate and reinstalled and torqued them to spec with RED locktite.


I figured while I have the trans out I might as well clean all the oil and nasty off it and from the leaking engine on the trip.






Trans post fail.jpg



While she was getting finished up I got my custom plate in the mail. :cool:
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Side note, first test drive after I got the rig all back together, I was pumping fuel at the diesel section of the gas station, and this lady pulls up next to me and she screams out "I love your plate, Dazzle Cruzer is such a cool name" :confused: I said mam, "its short for Diesel Cruiser" she said, oh ok. and drove off. LOL.
 
So we traveled across the state in a Uhaul truck. This was kind of depressing, but I got to spend some quality time with my daughter.
We made it home late that night and I unloaded in the morning. ITs good to have friends. I pulled up in the uhaul truck with the trailer in the back at my friends shop. We used three fork lifts to pull the trailer out. lol. One with a ball on it to lock in the trailer and pull it almost all the way out then two more(small forklifts) to hold each side as I pulled the tuck forward freeing my motorcycle on the trailer.
I took the trailer with my bike still on it to the local carwash to get all the oil off the trailer and my bike. I wanted to make sure they had no reason to bitch at me about anything.

The Uhaul guy was lost when I took to trips to bring back all the equipment. He even asked the million dollar question, " How did you get two trailers back here?" I said well, I put my motorcycle in the trailer in the back of the truck, and pulled the rest. He looked at me funny, went an inspected the truck. It was clean and he couldn't do anything about it, since it does not specifically say you cant put a trailer in the back of the truck. :cool:

That afternoon I started digging into the truck noises that stopped the trip. My neighbor came by and suggested I get a mechanics stethoscope to investigate further I took that good idea and found it was indeed coming from the tranny.

I started loosening bolts on the bell housing and immediately found the issue........

View attachment 2629534

See that bolt that looks longer than the rest in the above picture? That is not supposed to be there. That, my friends is one of the engine back plate retaining bolts that came undone and was bouncing around between the fly wheel and the back plate. It sounded horrible. The moment I saw it, it flashed in my mind, I only used blue locktite on those bolts. :bang:
I could not be more let down over a simple thing. I got the trans out on to jack stands then pulled the flywheel and the bolt fell right out.


View attachment 2629536

The culprit.

View attachment 2629535

I went a head and removed the remaining bolts from the back plate and reinstalled and torqued them to spec with RED locktite.


I figured while I have the trans out I might as well clean all the oil and nasty off it and from the leaking engine on the trip.






View attachment 2629495


While she was getting finished up I got my custom plate in the mail. :cool:
View attachment 2629537
Side note, first test drive after I got the rig all back together, I was pumping fuel at the diesel section of the gas station, and this lady pulls up next to me and she screams out "I love your plate, Dazzle Cruzer is such a cool name" :confused: I said mam, "its short for Diesel Cruiser" she said, oh ok. and drove off. LOL.

Time to rename the thread to “Dazzle Cruiser”! :D

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Wow, Time flies and you don't know where it goes. Working on the last years worth of updates. We have had some serious digression. :bang:
 
So its been a long time with ups and downs. Started with the next round of upgrades and rebuilds in the front axel. I wanted to get the suspension and axels redone to get the rig prepared for adventure.
Put the old lass up on jack stands and began removing her worn bits for replacement.
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Pulled the whole lot off and sent it to the local machine shop for a hot wash, to get the bits I need back into a reasonable shape.

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After a proper hot wash and clean up, rust remove and paint. Replace ball joints, paint interconnection bars, Axel housing and all the bits with Steel-it. pretty slick stuff.
 
Steel-it, applied a few coats thick on some of the bits and bobs on the front axel:

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The helper, inspecting the axle installation with new or rebuilt parts. Glad I could pass the rigorous Q/C process.


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My helper made a target area out of parts and tools to work with his bucket truck to hold rocks. He is actually quite the excavator operator. Able to pick up single rocks at with his bucket. Not to shabby for a 4yr old.


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With the time it takes to work with a helper, that is there mostly for moral support and fun, things take longer. The connection and time spent with my son was well worth any delays for play or explanation on what we are doing to fix the cruiser up.
 
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I waited until the Axel was installed with new shocks and ball joints then decided to work on the break lines.
***** Do the break lines while you have the freaking axel on stands and not under your truck******

What a s*** show. Firstly, getting the metal lines back where they are supposed to be run with new hand bent lines is a freaking pain in the ass under a vehicle. Learn from others and do not do it this way. I have no clue what I was thinking.
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Getting the ends of the lines to seal was uber fun:rolleyes:. I think it took like 4 tries to get the right side to hold pressure. The break tube swaging kit I bought, metric size and the metric tube seemed to not be friends with all the OEM Toyota break gear. Its like the tubing wall thickness was different causing the lip of the swag to the seal surface was just wrong. I ended up getting it to work but having to put extra work into ever end connection with a bit of sanding. no leaks now, but what a monumental pain in the Ass.
 
Life... oh how it throws you curve balls. Lots of updates to come.
 

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