Builds 1993 FZJ80 build (5 Viewers)

[sxwatson]

Bringing an FJ back to life

Purchased my first FJ80 from an auto auction in Arizona in October of this year. It's a 1993 Land Cruiser with 64,722 miles on it and factory lockers. It had been wrecked in the front passenger side and has a salvaged title. The auction said it started but didn't drive due to fender and bumper impacting passenger tire. I didn't have a chance to go view it in person before the auction date so I bought it without inspecting the damage before hand, just going off pictures. I ended up getting it for a good price which I thought was cheap enough to risk whatever unseen damage may exist. Here is a picture as it sat when picked up from the auction yard:

Once I got it home I pulled all of the damaged bits off and created a list of parts needed to bring it back to pre-wreck condition:

*Passenger Fender
*Hood
*Bumper
*Passenger Headlight, corner light and blinker light
*Valance
*Passenger side core support baffle
*Passenger side fender apron
*Power Steering Gear box (Sheered the sector shaft when wrecked)
*Relay Rod
*Front Lower control arm (bent)
*Axle Housing (turned out the axle housing was bent)
*Rebuild kit for axle

Carfax shows that it was sold new in Sheridan, OR and later moved to Sedona, AZ. I have absolutely zero service records but I did have a sticker in the corner of the windshield from RedRock Precision Motors in Sedona indicating it had had the oil changed just under 3000 miles ago. I tried calling but they weren't able to provide any info based on VIN. Checked all the fluids and everything looked pretty good. Changed the oil and spent the rest of the day trying to get it started with no luck. Drained the gas and added fresh, still no good. Found the handy Repair Manual PDF available online and started troubleshooting. Turned out to be the fuel pump was bad. Dropped in a new one and it fired right up.

Old fuel pump:

Runs really well, no engine lights, no funny noises and no leaks. It does idle at 2k rpm when starting up which I thought was a bit high but not 100% sure, is this normal?

At home after puling everything apart the first weekend:

So between the first weekend and now, I've successfully rebuilt the power steering gear box and upgraded to the 105 series sector shaft. (Thanks to forum member Akella for the sector shaft and rebuild kit) Replaced relay rod and rod ends. (I did all of this before realizing how bent the housing was, I would have waited to install everything later if I knew... )Purchased fender, hood, valance, bumper, baffle and axle housing.

Picked up the axle housing from another member on the forum and just got it cleaned up over the holiday weekend. I'll continue to post updates as I go, it's been pretty slow going so far...

Someone ground down the backside of the bearing races a little bit, maybe to help get the old one out, not sure...

 

[thebus]

Wow thats going to be sweet once you get it on the road again! Congrats! I can't wait till i get an 80 soon right now i'm stuck with my FJ(not thats it a bad thing )

 

[fj80ontons]

strange that the axle is clearanced in there, but it should be fine, there is still enough meat to keep the trunion bearing race in place. it looks like the steering arm wasn't tight enough and the abs ring on the birf ground it down, or that housing is also bent.

 

[sxwatson]

strange that the axle is clearanced in there, but it should be fine, there is still enough meat to keep the trunion bearing race in place. it looks like the steering arm wasn't tight enough and the abs ring on the birf ground it down, or that housing is also bent.

The ground area is on the new, straight housing. I plan on pulling the bent axle next weekend. Once I have the rebuild kit in hand I plan on taking both axles somewhere to have everything moved over.

I feel better knowing the ground area isn't a show stopper.

 

[inkpot]

The ground area is on the new, straight housing. I plan on pulling the bent axle next weekend. Once I have the rebuild kit in hand I plan on taking both axles somewhere to have everything moved over.

I feel better knowing the ground area isn't a show stopper.

Dude. This could be your lucky day! I have access to the identical rig, sitting in Mesa, with the front LEFT corner busted. The rest of the rig is pretty good. Same color and all. Let me know if you want parts. John

 

[Welltech]

Great find! Cant wait to see your progress.

 

[Duiser Offroad]

Great find! Have fun with it!

 

[sxwatson]

Dude. This could be your lucky day! I have access to the identical rig, sitting in Mesa, with the front LEFT corner busted. The rest of the rig is pretty good. Same color and all. Let me know if you want parts. John

If you picked it up on Craig's list fairly recently I know exactly what LC you are talking about. I'm interested in passenger fender and apron and hood if its not messed up. PM me and we'll see if we can work something out.

 

[sxwatson]

Pulling axles this evening. Everything has gone smooth till now. Pass axle which is the bent side does not want to pull out. All of the vids and posts I've seen the axle and birf pull right out. Not so for me. Anyone have any suggestions? What can I do to pull this out?

 

[sxwatson]

Progress...

Old fender, fender apron and radiator core support baffle removed.

Passenger tire is definitely not straight. The cant of the tire and leak out of passenger side knuckle lead me to conclusion that axle housing is bent.

New baffle, fender apron and fender installed (thanks Tools R Us for fender and fender apron)

So the plan is to pull the inner axle and birfs and then pull the housing take it Tool R Us to get the diff setup in the new housing. Plan to reinstall with 4" OME J springs and long shocks in the front and heavies in the back and 315/75r16, not sure which yet.

Both birfs look good, pulled drivers without issue but passenger isn't coming out without a fight.

Drivers:

Passenger:

That about does it, it will be a few weeks before things start coming back together.

 

[sxwatson]

Parts are starting to roll in. New tires mounted this weekend. Toyo Open Country 315/75R16. Put the rears tires on, they fit but look like they'll rub like crazy of you were to take off road. Need to order lift today, OME 2850J Front Coils, OME 2863 Rear coils, long shocks and Slee caster correction plates. Plan on making my own bump stop and sway bar extensions.

New headlights, corners and turn signals arrived too.

Ordered belts and hoses and they should be here any day now.

Assuming everything arrives this week I hope to have everything ready to go back together and on the road by the end of next week.

Axle housing is out, ready to go over to Tools R Us.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Great work so far, way to jump in.

Those tires look absolutely awesome....love my 33x10.5 Toyo OC MT's

I have to ask though....if you had reason to suspect that the axle housing was bent, why did you rebuild the driver side first?

Aren't you going to have to replace the whole thing? Thereby scrapping all that work on the driver side?

 

[sxwatson]

Great work so far, way to jump in.
I have to ask though....if you had reason to suspect that the axle housing was bent, why did you rebuild the driver side first?

Aren't you going to have to replace the whole thing? Thereby scrapping all that work on the driver side?

I haven't rebuilt anything yet, just removed both knuckles. Rebuild kit is sitting on my work bench and shafts/birfs knuckle housing, etc... are all still covered in grease waiting to be cleaned up. I'm going to have Kevin move the ring and pinion to the new housing, once the new axle housing is in place under the vehicle I'll do the rebuild.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Ohhhhh.....

The driver side looked so clean, it looked "post" re-pack...

 

[SierraMtns]

Wow...Nice build.

 

[sxwatson]

Lift is sitting in the corner of my living room, axle is back from Tools, knuckle rebuild is here and replacement hoses and belts are here. It's going to be a long weekend... Plan is PHH and any other hoses that will be easier to get to with the axle out of the way. Install axle and lift in front, knuckle rebuild then tackle lift in the rear. If I could complete that by Sunday using weekday evenings and all weekend I'll be stoked.

 

[sxwatson]

Kevin was kind enough to document some of what he saw while doing some clean up on the 3rd and e locker.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/az-copper-state-cruisers/705182-front-axle-sxwatson.html

Picked up a new/used lower control arm yesterday. I was considering replacing the bushings but after cleaning them up they weren't as bad as they looked when I picked the part.

Completely degreased and cleaned up the housing and put a coat of black paint on it. Extended the locker and front axle breather using 1/2" fuel vapor line and capped them with fuel filters. They are both as high up in the engine compartment as they can be.

Tonight starts the knuckle rebuild.

 

[sxwatson]

So I've finished my knuckle rebuilds up to the point that the spindle bushing and dust cover are installed. While at work today I was reading through some of the posts on the FAQ section of the knuckle rebuild and after reading this one from IdahoDoug I was a little concerned...

Quote from IdahoDoug:
"1 - One of the common screwups mechanics fail to do is liberally pack as much grease as possible into the spindle bushing. This is where all the "Grrrrr" sound posts are coming from - dry spindle bushings that just got a wipe of grease. There are criss crossing grease grooves in that bushing to hold grease. Pack this area liberally and thickly and also coat the part of the axle that runs in there. I don't see this specifically mentioned and feel it is worth it. I see you do mention "grease the splines on the drive plate" which is another common error."

I did wipe grease into this area but I know for certain I didn't load it up with grease and I didn't coat the part of the axle that will be riding on the spindle bushing either.
So I pulled everything back apart and redid it. Feel much better knowing it's done right. I have to say this forum is awesome, just reading the FSM you don't get some of the finer details that a rookie like myself wouldn't know if it weren't for this forum.

Scott

 

[turbogod9890]

hey dude what you doing with front coils
cant i buy of u

 

[sxwatson]

It's been a challenge finding time to work on the LC. I was hoping to be much farther long by now but work and family make it hard to find time.

Installed OME J's and Long shocks up front. Did it by myself and it was kind of a PIA without someone to help force the axle down while I installed the spring. Need to install pan hard, relay rod and tie rod, connect drive shaft and lube front diff. Then on to the back to install heavies and longs. Also need to pick up some extended brake lines. Anyone know of any good Toyota OEM lines that can be used that are long enough to use with OME long shocks?

Installed new belts as well. The belts that were on it look fairly new but they were the notched belts not factory and from what I understand the factory belts should run quieter.

Tomorrow hope to get rear lift installed and start on brackets to extend sway bars and bump stops.

Scott