Builds 1991 FJ75 moving to America (2 Viewers)

[c2dfj45]

The very fine sand/dust is called fesh-fesh in the region John. Silt is what I'd call it in American vernacular. But I just like the word fesh-fesh. I imagine it's like an Arabic onomatopoeia... a word that sounds like what it actually is.

But I digress...

The FJ75's had a factory option for a second AC and accordingly had two different factory compressors... one w/o rear AC and one w/ rear AC. Mine did NOT have factory rear AC so I imagine the original compressor was the smaller capacity one. However, I don't have the original compressor. It was replaced at some point with a Sanden compressor, SD-508 Model S8390. It's on a weird bracket they fabbed up. Maybe it was replaced because the original wasn't up to the task of handling the larger refrigerant volume. That seems logical. My secondary condenser also has it's own dedicated electric fan.

The Sanden compressor that is on the truck handled both AC's just fine when I tested them prior to removing the old refrigerant. Both blew cold at the same time. Hopefully they are just as robust with R134a.

I like fesh-fesh. Guaranteed I will impress my employees with this word the next time we are cleaning something on our Troopy....

 

[John Young]

"fesh-fesh" .... I will try that too...

I would offer to try to get you a factory AC mount Honger, but when I went up to Sharjah last weekend I had a strange experience: I saw two trashed (as in really bad accident) troopies that had salvageable parts I wanted, like seats and rubber mats, but they refused to part them out. They insisted on selling as a complete wreck as-is, and they wanted a lot too, like 4-5K USD. I'm going to keep worrying away at it. Did find a very clean rear troopy rubber mat for 800 AED / 200 USD and it seemed like too much for thick vinyl with padding underneath. But who knows, I may get to the point of buying it.

 

[Honger]

"fesh-fesh" .... I will try that too...

I would offer to try to get you a factory AC mount Honger, but when I went up to Sharjah last weekend I had a strange experience: I saw two trashed (as in really bad accident) troopies that had salvageable parts I wanted, like seats and rubber mats, but they refused to part them out. They insisted on selling as a complete wreck as-is, and they wanted a lot too, like 4-5K USD. I'm going to keep worrying away at it. Did find a very clean rear troopy rubber mat for 800 AED / 200 USD and it seemed like too much for thick vinyl with padding underneath. But who knows, I may get to the point of buying it.

Thanks for the offer. The bracket they fabricated actually bolts into the factory mount... so I have the factory mount still. Kinda nice. However, I do NOT have the factory idler pulley. So if you ever do see that... keep me in mind.

For your purposes on that Troopy I wouldn't drop coin on factory mats in the rear. I'd go to Dragon Mart and buy some thick rubber horse mat. You aren't going for a factory OEM interior... you're gonna make this your UAE camping truck. Just my $0.02.

 

[John Young]

Thanks for the offer. The bracket they fabricated actually bolts into the factor mount... so I have the factory mount still. Kinda nice. However, I do NOT have the factory idler pulley. So if you ever do see that... keep me in mind.

For your purposes on that Troopy I wouldn't drop coin on factory mats in the rear. I'd go to Dragon Mart and buy some thick rubber horse mat. You aren't going for a factory OEM interior... you're gonna make this your UAE camping truck. Just my $0.02.

If you can PM me a photo or diagram of the idler pulley I will keep a look out. That kind of thing is easy to go in the luggage.

Re the mats that's exactly what I was thinking of doing and why I did not buy the 200 buck OEM. I still need the headliner and I'm going to put up foil-backed foam insulation as a first layer. Amazon.ae is now getting fairly operational so I can get things like:

The slow delivery option seems to be free shipping--I'm a prime member at least in the US. It all is a little unclear from when Amazon bought a local online retail portal.

There is no headliner currently in the truck. I plan to apply the foam all myself and then go to some headliner place in Sharjah and have them fabricate and put it in. I also am playing with putting neoprene/foil over all the floor too. When my son and I did that with Dhanno our 1998 model 100 LC a few months ago it completely changed the character of the car and driving experience--all for a couple of hundred bucks and a weekend's labor. It was almost as quiet as an LX470 after. And since I am not trying, as you mentioned, to keep things stock, it should be fun to experiment a little. Not to hijack your thread but currently the as-yet-unnamed 95/96 troopy is in surgery for driveline issue (that I knew about when I bought it) and aircon, which worked when I bought it. I will find out more tomorrow. When I get it back I'm then going to drive the truck for a few days as a daily driver (should be fun getting in and out of underground parking) so I can get a feel for things.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Joel, I assume those are 16" factory splits? Did you ever air them down for the sand? I'm taking our FZJ75 pickup out this weekend and suddenly realized I have no idea how to handle split rims. Internet search returns fairly conflicting information about running low pressure.

 

[Honger]

Joel, I assume those are 16" factory splits? Did you ever air them down for the sand? I'm taking our FZJ75 pickup out this weekend and suddenly realized I have no idea how to handle split rims. Internet search returns fairly conflicting information about running low pressure.

I replaced my 16" split rims on this truck with some 17" Prado steelies, non-split. However, my 40 still has the 16" splits on it and I've driven it out in the desert numerous times.

Air down. Go to 15psi. See if they've flattened out a bit. Your truck probably has really stiff sidewall LT tires on it... and your truck is light. You might be surprised how much you have to air down. You may need to go down to 8-10psi.

 

[John Young]

I replaced my 16" split rims on this truck with some 17" Prado steelies, non-split. However, my 40 still has the 16" splits on it and I've driven it out in the desert numerous times.

Air down. Go to 15psi. See if they've flattened out a bit. Your truck probably has really stiff sidewall LT tires on it... and your truck is light. You might be surprised how much you have to air down. You may need to go down to 8-10psi.

WDE, if you find out more information on this, please post it. My new -diesel- pickup has split rims and I'd very much like to have some more info before I venture out into the trackless, but beautiful wastes in it...

 

[Honger]

The Toyota split rims aren't fraught with all the dangers/issues you hear about. You can read more on them in the 40-series forum... here's a good discussion.

In the desert, air down just like with any other rim. Air up when done. Keep your spare in good order and you'll be in no more risk than you are with normal wheels.

That being said, I ditched them on the Troopy because here in the States I wanted hassle-free tire service from any place of my choosing. There in Saudi and the UAE no one will ever think twice about doing a tire change for you.

 

[Whiskerz]

This is a great read. Thanks for this thread

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I replaced my 16" split rims on this truck with some 17" Prado steelies, non-split. However, my 40 still has the 16" splits on it and I've driven it out in the desert numerous times.

Air down. Go to 15psi. See if they've flattened out a bit. Your truck probably has really stiff sidewall LT tires on it... and your truck is light. You might be surprised how much you have to air down. You may need to go down to 8-10psi.

Thanks. It has new Dunlop SP Qualifier LT tires. Looks like they might have been Toyota OEM for the 70 series: Dunlop SP Qualifier TG 21 7.50 R16 114/112S - mytyres.co.uk

I have a 2018 full size Land Cruiser that I take out most of the time and I air down to about 17 or so. Appreciate the info on the split rims. I just never had any experience with them and there was quite a bit of information about being careful about taking them below 30 psi or so. Couldn't find anything that I would call "official" though.

WDE, if you find out more information on this, please post it. My new -diesel- pickup has split rims and I'd very much like to have some more info before I venture out into the trackless, but beautiful wastes in it...

Will do. I'll post some info in this thread after the trip: Car souq pickup

 

[2fpower]

Getting ready to tear mine apart, did you get a bunch of O rings? dealer or just a kit?

 

[Honger]

I did

Getting ready to tear mine apart, did you get a bunch of O rings? dealer or just a kit?

I ordered from the dealer... bought a bunch of them while I was still over in Abu Dhabi.
I'll get you some part numbers/sizes tonight once I'm home.

 

[2fpower]

I was thinking about getting this kit so I have more than I need....

Amazon product ASIN B07CTNMVQM

 

[Honger]

I was thinking about getting this kit so I have more than I need....

Amazon product ASIN B07CTNMVQM

That's probably the best way to go.

 

[tls3601]

That's probably the best way to go.

Joel. Love the Troopy, any chance you will bring it camping on the Casner Mtn outing? Would love to see that thing in person. Tom

 

[Honger]

Joel. Love the Troopy, any chance you will bring it camping on the Casner Mtn outing? Would love to see that thing in person. Tom

Yes, the Troopy is what I'm planning to bring up in October. Once this AC is rebuilt I'm going to drive it around for a week and then immobilize it again for new bearings and seals on the axles as well as all new brakes. Hopefully not too ambitious a workload.

 

[Honger]

A bit of an update.... I'm firmly in the re-installation phase of things now.

While I had the evaporator assembly all torn down it seemed prudent to replace the pressure switch as well, especially given it was only a $10 part, OEM.

Then re-assembled the evaporator components...

The popped it back in the housing...

The blower was also re-assembled with new foam and new "gasket" material where it presses/mates to the fresh air intake.

The compressor has also been converted to R134a service ports...

I've got an obvious problem with the new ports being too close together to accept both the high and low pressure adapters. I've got a right-angle service port to solve that issue.

 

[Honger]

Blower went in...

Then the evaporator housing... (those Christmas PJ's must be his favorite)

New expansion valve plumbed in on the rear AC... I'll insulate later if condensation becomes an issue.

New drier went in last. Driers are sold vacuum sealed to prevent moisture from contaminating the desiccant. Uncap, fill with any oil as required, and then plumb into place when ready for vacuuming out the system.

Then I vacuumed the system. I pulled vacuum for an hour... and then let it sit for an hour.

 

[Honger]

And it didn't hold vacuum...

But I had a suspected culprit... the chincy Chicom right-angle adapter I'd put on the compressor. Upon pulling it I found this...

So I ordered a more promising bit of hardware. Only to discover that it was also chincy Chicom stuff.

But these actually had nice, sturdy-looking rubber in them. Also seemed much better constructed. So I fit one of the right-angle adapters from this set and pull vacuum again. Then I waited again. And it held!

So I charged it. I drew in 10.5 ounces of oil (6 for the compressor, 1 for each evaporator and condenser, and 0.5 for the drier bottle). Then I put in 3 cans of R134a. Mid-refill the AC clutch engaged and I had pressure.

And it was blowing plenty cold... sub 40-degrees F. And this was with both the front and rear AC running.

 

[Honger]

So of course I drove it to work this morning!