1990 HZJ77

[JuanJ]

Update:
There is no electrical power to the entire right hub. There is a problem in the junction where the two power wires spilt to feed the left and right hubs. (again the left hub locks & unlocks normally).
Fun times .....

Hello Charles,

It seems that when it comes to Cruisers, age and gremlins seem to walk hand in hand, especially with the electrics... As Onur/@beno wisely pointed out, they are exotic used cars.

Thankfully, Cruiser gremlins are rather easy to catch and exterminate. Everything in our trucks was designed to be disassembled, repaired and reassembled without much complications, in order to ease the hunting up.






Juan

 

[JuanJ]

While the Japanese engineer who was in charge of this project probably thought his design was the "cats meow" there appears to be multiple ways for this thing to fail.

Hello,

That Japanese engineer apparently never seriously considered the fact that Land Cruisers can spend quite some time on environments that are harsh on electrics.

On the other hand, we all make mistakes.

A sobering reminder that engineering mistakes are catastrophic. Now, if all the young engineers out there could understand this simple truth...

The most dangerous thing in the world is a young engineer with a laptop. It is on the same league with the young lieutenant with a map/GPS.





Juan

 

[Eggpattern]

Have you had a look at the manual hub conversion that oldblue does? Super strong and reliable. Not too invasive. I think that is an ideal solution after seeing some trucks with spacers that shear off the lugs.

 

[Eggpattern]

Edit: Hub bolts? Not lugs?

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Have you had a look at the manual hub conversion that oldblue does? Super strong and reliable. Not too invasive. I think that is an ideal solution after seeing some trucks with spacers that shear off the lugs.

Link?
Thanks

 

[Eggpattern]

Prado/Landcruiser Electric freewheel Hub conversion to Manual

 

[broth9640]

I like the idea of swapping out for 60 series stuff from the spindle out. That way it stays Toyota. Yoda Jim's sells parts and will ship. Besides, it's a great opportunity to get in there and do the knuckles and wheel bearings. If you go this route then the knuckle rebuild kits will work for your truck from here on out. If you keep the electric hubs you will need to put together your own kit. If you use the adapters, I am not sure if a kit will work. Maybe someone can elaborate.
Jim's Used Toyota Truck Parts

 

[divemedic]

Broth, does the rebuild you describe affect track width or does it maintain 70 axel specs?

 

[OGBeno]

Nothing changes. Except everything becomes like and 6x/7x versions with manual hubs.

 

[divemedic]

I'll just put this nugget in my back pocket

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Robs now walking around the shop mumbling to himself but after several days of troubleshooting the hubs are now working.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

While on the subject of electric hubs .... If anyone has removed or plans to remove their electric hubs, I'm interested in buying them for parts.
Thanks

 

[Eggpattern]

If you keep the electric hubs, it's good to learn how to manually engage them in the field in case of future failure, if you haven't learned yet. It just involves carrying the right torx driver, 6 bolts, and spinning a clutch (wheel with teeth) that locks the hub to the spindle. There's a small trick to it as the clutch has 2 tabs on it that need to fit into the right spots on the hub body. Pretty simple though and useful to know how to do.

I found out that my hubs failed after the front end fell into a pit in lion country on the border of Congo and Uganda. It wasn't a good place to lose 4wd. We dug ourselves out, but it could have been a real bad situation. I'm ashamed I wasn't more prepared for that moment and have since taken a far greater interest preventing things like that or at least being prepared with the right tools and basic know-how.

For me, I ended up making manual hubs from a brass water tap, borrowing some ideas from oldblue and others. It was fun and I learned a lot. They work great.

 

[divemedic]

If you keep the electric hubs, it's good to learn how to manually engage them in the field in case of future failure, if you haven't learned yet. It just involves carrying the right torx driver, 6 bolts, and spinning a clutch (wheel with teeth) that locks the hub to the spindle. There's a small trick to it as the clutch has 2 tabs on it that need to fit into the right spots on the hub body. Pretty simple though and useful to know how to do.

.

You wouldn't happen to have picture of this set up would you?

 

[Eggpattern]

Permanently engaging electric hubs

This is what I did. Funny enough it retains far more 70 series original equipment than a 60 series axle swap. Oldblue's fix is much cleaner. To pacify the purists, I've since cleaned and painted the endcaps to a near original Toyota black.

 

[Eggpattern]

I don't think that my posts will ever make it into sticky stardom.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

If you keep the electric hubs, it's good to learn how to manually engage them in the field in case of future failure, if you haven't learned yet. It just involves carrying the right torx driver, 6 bolts, and spinning a clutch (wheel with teeth) that locks the hub to the spindle. There's a small trick to it as the clutch has 2 tabs on it that need to fit into the right spots on the hub body. Pretty simple though and useful to know how to do.

I found out that my hubs failed after the front end fell into a pit in lion country on the border of Congo and Uganda. It wasn't a good place to lose 4wd. We dug ourselves out, but it could have been a real bad situation. I'm ashamed I wasn't more prepared for that moment and have since taken a far greater interest preventing things like that or at least being prepared with the right tools and basic know-how.

For me, I ended up making manual hubs from a brass water tap, borrowing some ideas from oldblue and others. It was fun and I learned a lot. They work great.

The shop is working on a permanent solution that will allow me to manually lock my current hubs. One of the reasons we are seeking "take-off" hubs. Stay tuned......

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

Regarding electric hubs, I found something interesting.

I checked used JDM Land Cruisers from 1999 to 2004, the last year they were sold in Japan, and my 71's user manual.

It appears the electric hubs button/4H button combination switch was dropped and replaced with the traditional 4H single button switch.

As for the hubs, they were changed with what the manual refers to as Dual Mode Automatic Locking Hubs, D-ALH for short.

The D-ALHs are in the AUTO position, which locks the hub when H4 or L4 is selected. It is possible to turn the center bolt to LOCK for permanent hub lock. A viscous coupling, I guess.

EDIT: D-ALHs appear to be available for all markets, or at least that is what I suppose from my user's manual.

As for part numbers, this is what I found:

DUAL MODE AUTOMATIC LOCKING HUB, P/N 43530-69065

I wonder if these can be retrofitted to earlier model Land Cruisers.

Newer model Toyotas with on-the-go 4WD switches quite likely have a similar setup.

And all of a sudden I find myself coveting an upgrade.

So it appears Toyota ditched the electric hubs in 1999, at least with the Land Cruiser. They probably ditched the electric hubs engineer as well...





Juan

 

[Gun Runner 5]

The engaging / disengaging motor (small white do-dad) was defective so Rob decided to canalbalize it to peek inside.
The drive gears are literally as small as the gears in a modern watch. (To say they are not robust would be an understatement.) Its difficult to see how gears this small can create enough torque to overcome the engagement spring.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Sorry for the lousy photo ..... Taken just south of Atlanta.