Builds 1991 FJ75 moving to America

[OGBeno]

The later iterations got rid of them so I think you’d be fine without them. I haven’t been able to find any with the scoops new as they have been discontinued for awhile now.

If you really want them, they might be available used.

 

[cruiserdan]

It aids in brake cooling and was also found on FJ62s. I also think that they are not absolutely necessary. That is unless you rally it

 

[Honger]

The later iterations got rid of them so I think you’d be fine without them. I haven’t been able to find any with the scoops new as they have been discontinued for awhile now.

If you really want them, they might be available used.

It aids in brake cooling and was also found on FJ62s. I also think that they are not absolutely necessary. That is unless you rally it

If I wanted to replace them I think I'd do a little fiberglass repair, drill out the rivets, and make them bolt on with low profile hardware. A lot of work for something I was dubious about the value of... much obliged to both of you for your input.

Merry Christmas!

 

[Honger]

The idea for the Troopy has been to make it a daily driver of sorts. I won't to put some regular miles on it for awhile to gain confidence in it for hauling my family around the state to more remote places for camping. I had a deep trust in my 80-series over in the Middle East... hauled my family to very remote places usually in groups, but once or twice solo. I want to get that trust in this truck.

I knew it had brake issues though. The rears would occasionally bind up when reversing and I remember seeing the fronts while the wheels were off once in the UAE and it wasn't a good picture...

With one rotor in that condition I figured the other brakes weren't going to be fairing much better. So I snagged new rotors and drums while still overseas and shipped the parts back.

And then I bought axle rebuild kits from @cruiseroutfit. Even with great OEM parts pricing over there, Curt's kits can't be beat!

Got some moly grease for the front birfields.

And rebuilt calipers from Rockauto.

Bought some caliper paint.

And painted my drums. Ended up not painting the calipers as the remans from Rockauto had a nice paint on them already.

 

[Honger]

It was time to get working. This was a lot of work... especially since I planned on stripping down the old axle parts and repainting them while I was at it.

So late one evening my oldest and I got to work. Once I showed him how to use a breaker bar he refused to let me help. Ha!

The lug nuts were a mix-and-match affair and all were well-rounded with abuse from the years. I actually used all new lug nuts once we wrapped things up.

The rear passenger side looked remarkably good once the drum was off. I could still read the writing on the sides of the shoes. They'd obviously been replaced very shortly before I bought the truck.

But the driver's side was where my problems were.

Had a helper still going strong...

 

[Honger]

Wire brushed the hubs...

And primed...

And painted.

And this is where I had to pause the job. My mom is ill so we took a longer trip home to KS around Thanksgiving. Just before leaving I got written up by the HOA for "doing repairs in my driveway". So I "hid" my jack stands and mocked up the wheels/tires to look like the truck was just parked. That seemed to have calmed them down. Since I rent, I don't really like having that happen. Don't want troubles for my landlord.

And while visiting KS for Thanksgiving my dad had an excuse to test his new sandblaster...

And primed.

Once we got back from KS it was time to reassemble. The passenger side I re-assembled on the axle. New cylinders included.

But I remembered something @SNLC said about re-assembling them on the backing plate while off the axle and did that for the driver's side.

That was MUCH better.

 

[Honger]

What surprised me was the new brake shoes on each rear wheel. They must have done that to get it to pass export inspection. Ha! I'm sure the driver's slave cylinder was already leaking at that point. But that would have been more money than they wanted to spend to sell it to me.

The large nuts for the hubs were unmolested... leading me to think this truck was still on it's original bearings in the rear. There'd have been screwdriver and chisel marks all over the nuts if they'd ever been serviced.

BUT, they obviously made a dodgy repair to the parking brake linkage at one point... and this may have been why they sometimes bound up on me in reverse.

They'd rewelded the "teeth" on the internal brake cable.

Which didn't work right with the internal cam.

I'd swapped the cams, but upon further inspection I could see they'd modified one of them to work with the dodgy cable.

I put it together as best I could to get it back on the road... and then I ordered a new cable. I gotta go back in and make it right...

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

What surprised me was the new brake shoes on each rear wheel. They must have done that to get it to pass export inspection. Ha! I'm sure the driver's master was already leaking at that point. But that would have been more money than they wanted to spend to sell it to me.

The large nuts for the hubs were unmolested... leading me to think this truck was still on it's original bearings in the rear. There'd have been screwdriver and chisel marks all over the nuts if they'd ever been serviced.

BUT, they obviously made a dodgy repair to the parking brake linkage at one point... and this may have been while they sometimes bound up on me in reverse.

They'd rewelded the "teeth" on the internal brake cable.

Which didn't work right with the internal cam.

I'd swapped the cams, but upon further inspection I could see they'd modified one of them to work with the dodgy cable.

I put it together as best I could to get it back on the road... and then I ordered a new cable. I gotta go back in and make it right...

Great detail. Looks like you have a budding cruiser gearhead. Never too early to learn!!!

Is POR15 caliper paint less thick than the chassis paint? I do not like how thick the chassis paint goes on and looks. Your application to the drum seems just about right.

Hate the shade tree fixes in the mid and Far East!!!!

 

[2fpower]

I had not seen the POR15 caliper paint before. Will have to try that.

Next time you are in KS, give me a yell.

Cheers!

 

[Honger]

Great detail. Looks like you have a budding cruiser gearhead. Never too early to learn!!!

Is POR15 caliper paint less thick than the chassis paint? I do not like how thick the chassis paint goes on and looks. Your application to the drum seems just about right.

Hate the shade tree fixes in the mid and Far East!!!!

I've not used their chassis paint, so can't comment on how the thickness varies. It went on to the drums plenty thick, I only did one coat. My oldest actually did the painting and I just went back and touched up right after him.

I had not seen the POR15 caliper paint before. Will have to try that.

Next time you are in KS, give me a yell.

Cheers!

Will do! I thought about ringing you up but this past visit was more about taking care of my mom. I gotta check out your cruisers and shop and chew the fat with some good KS cruiser folk.

 

[Honger]

So on with the front axle we went...

This time little brother and little sister didn't want to miss out on the fun. My daughter loves doing anything us boys are doing... but she's resolutely all-girl in the meantime. Taking axle screws off with a pink tutu on... around her neck to "keep warm" she said. Love it!

The front rotors were indeed in very bad shape.

And the soft lines, dated 6/91 (original to the truck), clearly needed replacement.

So lots of cleaning... scrubby tools and lacquer thinner. The kids don't help with this part.

And painted.

And knuckles on. Shame I can't redo the whole axle housing and steering linkage right now. TRE's and relay rod ends are next on my list though.

And more assembly.

 

[Honger]

This stuff is the worst! So goopy... gets stuck on everything.

There were signs of servicing the front axle at some point. Maybe the bearings, maybe the rotors (although maybe not the rotors!). Typical chiseled up nuts from the spindle.

I had some re-plated ones laying around from a bundle of parts I had done while restoring 40's over in the UAE.

Buttoned up!

This was a serious undertaking. Took me way more time than I anticipated. Nothing terribly hard, just loads of work. The whole cleaning and stripping down parts for paint, and then painting, didn't help I suppose. I just wanted to get things right and know exactly the status of everything in there.

Anyway, I can drive it with confidence in the bearings, seals, and brakes now.

 

[OGBeno]

Nice work. Rite of passage.

 

[Honger]

Nice work. Rite of passage.

Indeed. I did the front axle rebuild on my 40 as well as the disk brake conversion. It cements the bond between man and machine.

 

[2fpower]

First off, great work. I find it fun to do these now. Yes, I am a little off....

I am going to steal the idea where you put a little plug in the brake line. Is that silicone or rubber?

One suggestion...... on the tubes of moly, I took a little piece of wood... like a big stir stick and screwed a plunger on it and use it to push the moly into the hub area. Makes it really clean and easy..... I will try to take a picture of one.

 

[Honger]

First off, great work. I find it fun to do these now. Yes, I am a little off....

I am going to steal the idea where you put a little plug in the brake line. Is that silicone or rubber?

One suggestion...... on the tubes of moly, I took a little piece of wood... like a big stir stick and screwed a plunger on it and use it to push the moly into the hub area. Makes it really clean and easy..... I will try to take a picture of one.

Yeah, silicone stoppers like those used to seal up holes for painting.
Amazon product ASIN B00XYD2760
I used them a lot when I was doing the AC system to. Anytime I'd flushed/cleaned a line it got stopped up.

 

[2fpower]

Actually it’s something you already have and free.... so when you open up a new tube of Grease the side you open up like an old pop top can the grease comes out of —-the opposite side has a plunger or a cap. Just pull one of those out, screw it to the board and voilà!!

 

[Honger]

Actually it’s something you already have and free.... so when you open up a new tube of Grease the side you open up like an old pop top can the grease comes out of —-the opposite side has a plunger or a cap. Just pull one of those out, screw it to the board and voilà!!

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What an obviously good idea. Thanks for that man!

 

[Honger]

In the category of "building trust in the truck" we made a spur of the moment trial run for my birthday a few days ago. It's a 16-mile trail just north of us here in Arizona... same trail I ran back in September. Found out the hard way that the wet winter has turned the New River trail into quite a bit more of a challenge. What took our group 3 hours to traverse back in September took us 4 hours solo. Very rocky, bumpy, and washed out. Some quite challenging rock garden areas from wash outs.

Not smart taking your family out solo on a challenging trail... but I was expecting it to be heavily trafficked on the New Year holiday (and it was) and I expected it to be more of a joyride like last time (which it wasn't). Doh!

Anyway, the truck ran like a champ and we had fun!

We did have a little carnage... my driver's-side step got munched on a rock through one of the more challenging areas. Had a spotter and everything but I'm quite new at trails with rocks.

 

[Honger]

I could tell my clutch slave cylinder was going bad... could feel the bleeding and it looked pretty worst for wear.

The slave cylinder was bought new while still overseas... part of my stash I brought back with me. I love how well the original hardware cleaned up. The lack of rust on these Mideast trucks is fantastic.

Once the slave was replaced it was amazing how much better the clutch worked... for about a day.
Now the master needs replaced, bad. Part ordered...