Member Builds and Stories
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #722
Still driving it around... and especially longer distance... all the way across AZ to the San Juans in CO.
Even towing a pop-up camper now!
Checked off a few bucket list trails...
Lots of updates on the truck... lots of catching up coming...
Will Van
GOLD Star
That’s awesome, Joel!
Trunnions and Knuckle Refresh
New
- Thread starter
- #725
Over the last 18 months or so I've been battling some vibration. It got bad enough that I was getting full on death wobble. I think the true death wobble was brought on my by incorrect attempt to help the issue by adding caster shims. I started a thread to get help on that specific issue.
As part of that effort I gathered pretty quickly I needed to dig in on the wheel bearings and trunnion bearings. Sure enough, the trunnion bearings had some pretty good grooves in them and their replacement greatly reduced the vibration I was getting.
Digging in for that all too familiar task... I actually kind of dig it.
Wheel bearings re-packed, new trunnion bearings and races, new inner oil seal, and knuckles refilled.
I use the CAT brand moly grease. It's the only dependable high-moly grease I could find in the UAE back in the day and it's great stuff so I've just stuck with it here.
Cleaned up all the associated parts and all gaskets/seals were replaced. Love the fresh install look.
As part of that effort I gathered pretty quickly I needed to dig in on the wheel bearings and trunnion bearings. Sure enough, the trunnion bearings had some pretty good grooves in them and their replacement greatly reduced the vibration I was getting.
Digging in for that all too familiar task... I actually kind of dig it.
Wheel bearings re-packed, new trunnion bearings and races, new inner oil seal, and knuckles refilled.
I use the CAT brand moly grease. It's the only dependable high-moly grease I could find in the UAE back in the day and it's great stuff so I've just stuck with it here.
Cleaned up all the associated parts and all gaskets/seals were replaced. Love the fresh install look.
Pop-Up Camper
New
- Thread starter
- #726
So last summer my wife talked me in to a pop-up camper. She grew up with one and had lots of good memories. My only condition is that I didn't want to deal with a toilet/shower/blackwater system... and just didn't want to have people using the restroom in a place I eat and sleep in such confined conditions.
She did the research and checked a few out and we snagged this 2001 Coleman Tacoma for $3K... it included the canoe (with life jackets and paddles and fishing gear). It was a single-owner unit and had been well cared for... it was clearly always put away clean. But it had been sitting for awhile and needed some work.
Of course, the kids had to test the canoe.
My wife proceeded to completely tear apart the interior for rebuild and reupholstery.
Out with the old floor...
In with the new...
She replaced the floor, reupholstered all the cushions/seats, replaced the mattresses with new memory foam ones, painted the interior... I upgraded some plumbing for the sink and gray water, installed a solar charge controller, installed a Lithium Ion house battery, added USB and 12V sockets, added a fan to the 3-way fridges coils, got new tires, replaced the wheel bearings, etc.
So we took it out for a test last fall near Saddle Mountain. The memory foam mattress has made me a big believer. And the kids love it.
To bring this thread back to Land Cruiser tech... I obviously had to figure out how to tow this thing with the Troopy, and the 4-bolt pintle on the rear crossmember wasn't the right solution...
She did the research and checked a few out and we snagged this 2001 Coleman Tacoma for $3K... it included the canoe (with life jackets and paddles and fishing gear). It was a single-owner unit and had been well cared for... it was clearly always put away clean. But it had been sitting for awhile and needed some work.
Of course, the kids had to test the canoe.
My wife proceeded to completely tear apart the interior for rebuild and reupholstery.
Out with the old floor...
In with the new...
She replaced the floor, reupholstered all the cushions/seats, replaced the mattresses with new memory foam ones, painted the interior... I upgraded some plumbing for the sink and gray water, installed a solar charge controller, installed a Lithium Ion house battery, added USB and 12V sockets, added a fan to the 3-way fridges coils, got new tires, replaced the wheel bearings, etc.
So we took it out for a test last fall near Saddle Mountain. The memory foam mattress has made me a big believer. And the kids love it.
To bring this thread back to Land Cruiser tech... I obviously had to figure out how to tow this thing with the Troopy, and the 4-bolt pintle on the rear crossmember wasn't the right solution...
Last edited:
Awesome thread. How is the 3F at altitude?
- Thread starter
- #728
Overall, about what you’d expect. When towing up Lizard Head Pass on CO145, once I hit 9000 feet, any grade above 2% had me down in 2nd gear and cruising 25 mph. This really only happened in a handful of spots. In general, a lot of 3rd gear and 45 mph up in the mountains.
On the trails, 4-hi and 4-lo, steep uphill and downhill, weird off-camber spots on The Steps, all the way to the top of Imogene, etc. - I didn’t have a single issue with the carb’d 3F.
The Mideast spec carbs have larger jets… presumable because in that market a richer mixture overcomes latent environmental factors. So you’d think I’d have had rich fuel mixture problems. And on this trip I think I did a bit. I had some very intermittent bogging under load at road cruising speed. And coming downhill, downshifting, I was getting some intermittent backfiring… only at road cruising speeds.
The motor broke 200,000 miles (converted from kms) on the return trip to Phoenix. I’d love a 1FZ, or even a diesel. And when this motor dies I’ll certainly upgrade. Other than being slow though, I’m plenty happy with this motor. And as @OGBeno likes to point out, it’s a 3F and too stupid to die… I may have this motor a long time yet.
Last edited:
Awesome man.
i dont know about yours, but my wife really likes the Troopy and how it drives/handles. enough in fact she started looking at camp trailers because neither of us is willing to cut the top off for a poptop.
she likes the "cute" egg campers like Scamp and Happier.
i dont know about yours, but my wife really likes the Troopy and how it drives/handles. enough in fact she started looking at camp trailers because neither of us is willing to cut the top off for a poptop.
she likes the "cute" egg campers like Scamp and Happier.
Hitch Reciever
New
- Thread starter
- #731
I started this project with a web search. I figured that these trucks must have a Class III hitch available on the aftermarket somewhere... and got several hits in Australia. Shipping something this heavy was going to cost an arm and a leg... but I got the inspiration I needed. My neighbor is a strong welder and offered to help... he and I do a lot of labor/skill/knowledge swapping on projects for our homes and cars.
There are 5 captured nuts (M10) on the outside rear of each side of the frame on the FJ75. So we started there with some plates that would bolt in. Here we are getting initial fit. We ended up slotting the holes so we could get all five to thread.
Next was a cross member to tie them together and he had some scrap heavy-wall pipe that fit the bill. So that got tacked in once we checked measurements and alignment.
Next, the receiver tube and a plate to bolt into the face of the rear frame crossmember. M12's that hold the factory pintle were placed to get good alignment on our holes in the plate.
All tacked together...
He'd do some welding and then bring it back over and test fit it. We knew that the welding up would shift/warp it. And it did. So prior to the final weld he made some adjustments and also fabricated a jig to fight the warping. In the end, we got it done so that it installs/removes relatively smoothly... it's just heavy and awkward shaped and it takes two people plus a jack.
With welding done I sprayed a few coats of John Deere Blitz Black.
Mounting...
Installed...
You have to have the OEM Toyota receiver cap of course! I also wired in a 7-pin connector for the pop-up camper. It doesn't have brakes yet but the trailer is pre-wired for them and it's a very straightforward upgrade to electric brakes (new backing plates and hubs).
And lastly, I really wanted to still have the aluminum step. I had an older one that had gotten tweaked so I cleaned it up and did some cutting/grinding to make it fit around the hitch. Worked perfect.
With a 6" drop hitch I get a perfect tow height for the camper. The troopy accelerates slower with the trailer in tow, but cruises just fine. The whole assembly tucks up very nicely under the truck and even those massive side plates didn't really impact my departure angle at all. In the San Juans I only hit a few times... and it was the stupid pintle insert that dragged, not anything from the actual receiver assembly.
There are 5 captured nuts (M10) on the outside rear of each side of the frame on the FJ75. So we started there with some plates that would bolt in. Here we are getting initial fit. We ended up slotting the holes so we could get all five to thread.
Next was a cross member to tie them together and he had some scrap heavy-wall pipe that fit the bill. So that got tacked in once we checked measurements and alignment.
Next, the receiver tube and a plate to bolt into the face of the rear frame crossmember. M12's that hold the factory pintle were placed to get good alignment on our holes in the plate.
All tacked together...
He'd do some welding and then bring it back over and test fit it. We knew that the welding up would shift/warp it. And it did. So prior to the final weld he made some adjustments and also fabricated a jig to fight the warping. In the end, we got it done so that it installs/removes relatively smoothly... it's just heavy and awkward shaped and it takes two people plus a jack.
With welding done I sprayed a few coats of John Deere Blitz Black.
Mounting...
Installed...
You have to have the OEM Toyota receiver cap of course! I also wired in a 7-pin connector for the pop-up camper. It doesn't have brakes yet but the trailer is pre-wired for them and it's a very straightforward upgrade to electric brakes (new backing plates and hubs).
And lastly, I really wanted to still have the aluminum step. I had an older one that had gotten tweaked so I cleaned it up and did some cutting/grinding to make it fit around the hitch. Worked perfect.
With a 6" drop hitch I get a perfect tow height for the camper. The troopy accelerates slower with the trailer in tow, but cruises just fine. The whole assembly tucks up very nicely under the truck and even those massive side plates didn't really impact my departure angle at all. In the San Juans I only hit a few times... and it was the stupid pintle insert that dragged, not anything from the actual receiver assembly.