Builds 94 FZJ80 - Let the Adventure Ensue (1 Viewer)

[jsix321]

I wonder if the previous owner of my vehicle learned his electrical from the previous owner of your vehicle....

Pretty sure said owner has a brief stint with my rig as well.

 

[FMC80]

What’s up you guys? Haven’t been able to do much of anything due to work stupid commitments. We are doing a large-scale exercise across multiple service branches and I got lucky and got on night shift. For those of you who haven’t had to deal with exhilarating military exercises, the night train is the right train. It’s best for exercises but not so much for being a human being around the family or working on the cruiser. Anyhow, I got a few things done but nothing major.

After chasing down some rats nest of wiring issues caused by POs, I noticed the aft side marker bulbs were burnt out so replaced those. Fixed up the rest of the wiring by taping up exposed wires and tidying the wiring looms.

More inspections of my cruiser revealed improper lug nuts on the wheels. I went onto partsouq and ordered up 24 of them at approximately $3 per nut (Part #90942-01081). The local dealer here didn’t have them in stock and was charging $11 and change for each nut. Yeah, hard pass. Got those installed today and observed the shallow shank lugs that came off weren’t maintaining proper torque. Spun right off without much force.

Next was the tired and broken and bent antennae (Part # 86336-60040). I got one in from partsouq and installed it. My antennae goes up and down without issue but makes the common-ish banging sound when pressing the button beyond the full down or up position. Non-issue for me; it works.

Next on the list was draining and filling the diffs. I got under the truck to find the front diff, removed the fill plug first and saw the bottom had been banged up against some rocks which in turn bent and scraped the bung over the drain bolt. It could’ve been much worse but it was bent in such a way I couldn’t get my 24mm socket to fit the tight hole. I got the dremel out and ground down/cut the damaged portion of the bung away and also gave my socket a grind to create flat spot to enable the fitment. Got that knocked out and then basically busted a few blood vessels wrestling the drain lug out from the bottom of the diff. My 10yo was helping me but really this plug was super tight. Got the truck up on some ramps and positioned myself in such a way to use my hips for additional leverage and finally took it out. After changing my underwear, I collected the diff fluid and it looked like ass. It looked like green and black sludge and suspect the axel seal failed allowing diff fluid to migrate into the knuckle and vice versa. My FSM states to fill with 2.8 US Qts and fill until oil spills out of the fill port. My front diff took almost 4 qts before oil started coming out of the fill port. My FSM must be wrong. Anyway, trashed the old drain plug and replaced it with one from Cruiser Brothers which has the allen key (90341-18021).

 

[FMC80]

Other little things I did during the crazy exercise week:
Got rid of the cheap and worn keys the cruiser came with.

Modified the blue fan clutch with 10K CST...not sure how I feel about running it this way as of yet. I'll decide whether to keep that fluid in there before install.

And finally, my boy and girls began our first knuckle/axle rebuild.

Also, while it was up on jack stands, we greased all the zerks. Don't know how long it's been since it's been done but it sure looked like it needed it!

Tonight, our plans are to clean and polish the wheels, I already put the girls to work, cleaning and scrubbing. They're definitely into it and won't allow me to go in the garage to work on it without expressing it to the girls. They demand to be a part of the process which I will never object to.

 

[airon23]

Other little things I did during the crazy exercise week:
Got rid of the cheap and worn keys the cruiser came with.
View attachment 2587739

Hey I got the same exact key set for my 80. They are much nicer than the ground down stuff I had. Don't forget to clean and lube those locks, mine were very gummed up and needed a good amount of work to get them turning smoothly, I'm sure this is the reason for the worn down keys.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Hey I got the same exact key set for my 80. They are much nicer than the ground down stuff I had. Don't forget to clean and lube those locks, mine were very gummed up and needed a good amount of work to get them turning smoothly, I'm sure this is the reason for the worn down keys.

I can second this, I nearly replaced my rear hatch lock, but I flushed 27 years worth of dust out of it with dry lock lube and it works great.

 

[FMC80]

Hey I got the same exact key set for my 80. They are much nicer than the ground down stuff I had. Don't forget to clean and lube those locks, mine were very gummed up and needed a good amount of work to get them turning smoothly, I'm sure this is the reason for the worn down keys.

Word, I tried sourcing the original key these came with but those are difficult to find. Didn’t much matter. Thanks for the lube suggestion. I went through and lubed all my locks already. Due to the old keys being so worn out, it made making spares somewhat difficult for the key maker. We had to make several sets and make an additional spare as the mold to use for future purposes.

 

[FMC80]

On a side note, I went ahead and tried sourcing an automotive paint place here on island and let me tell you something, no one does full auto paints. It’s only collision and repair paints they do except for Maaco. I heard they do a decent job but I’d have to delete the rear spoiler and the roof rack and they’d charge me $2500 for the mid-level paint with some primer on some portions of the vehicle. I decided against it. I’ll wait until I’m in the CONUS and find someone better and more reliable. I don’t mind paying for quality and Maaco might be alright but their operation didn’t impress me. Their shop was filthy, they had friends putting car parts back on, the owner was bitching about someone leaving without finishing their work etc. hard pass.

Finally, on another side note, my kids came up with a name for my rig. “Schtalin Babbity”. It’s some mix between Stalin (I don’t know why) and a rap by Eminem. Whatever, I’ll go with it! Hahahahaah

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I’m stoked you’re tearing into the knuckle rebuild. Its pretty messy, but fun. when you replaced your antenna, did you do the whole assembly or just the mast?

 

[FMC80]

I’m stoked you’re tearing into the knuckle rebuild. Its pretty messy, but fun. when you replaced your antenna, did you do the whole assembly or just the mast?

Yeah dude, I’ve never worked on a vehicle to this level. I researched till I was blue in the face and still jacked it up! I ended up putting my trunnion races in backwards which made it impossible to remove using the built in notches on the trunnion since there was no exposed race to catch on. I ended up having to use a dremel to create a notch inside the race in order to hammer it out. Oh well, lesson learned and will never repeat that mistake again. My antennae motor was fully functional so just did the mast. Mainly for appearances since the original antennae looked like Gonzo’s nose.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I can relate. Opening up the knuckle is kinda intimidating I avoided doing mine until I found a sheared stud underneath that prompted my knuckle rebuild, it is however a worthy rite of passage. I look forward to doing mine again someday, but that only because it’s been a couple of years and I don’t remember how much of a mess it was!

 

[FMC80]

Alright, got my parts in from Partsouq in only three days from Dubai to Hawaii. Perfectly packaged and contents exactly as I'd ordered them. I love these guys, they have fantastic customer service and I'm pleased. Finished up my knuckle and axel rebuild from starting over a week ago. I screwed up and installed the trunnion races upside down and had to wait for the parts to come in to finish up.

Didn't drive the truck when I finished last night since I was a few beers in but first thing this morning, I put the dogs and kiddos in the back and tried to go to the base beach. Welp, she idled just fine and had no issues until I tried to take off. She stuttered and shuddered and hesitated. That's new. She never did that before. Maybe because I jacked with the O2 sensor? While waiting for my parts, I messed around with the EFI fuse and tried to troubleshoot a code 25 and 26. The CEL would come on intermittently and then go away until she cooled off and started again. Anyway, I canceled the trip to the beach and started to research. I didn't do anything and tried to drive her and she drove fine. No idea what's going on. The harness seems fine, all the vacuum lines seem fine, and the air cleaner intake is fine too. IDK. Drove her for about an hour and still no issues.

Decided to flush/exchange the tranny fluid instead. The old fluid didn't look bad but I think it was about due. Only took about 30 minutes and swapped out about 14 quarts before I was satisfied with the color of the fluid coming out.

I saw this today while out and about. Doesn't look like it's moved in a while.

 

[airon23]

Well if you ever find that owner, tell them the bezel is upside down.

Nice work on your cruiser. Too bad for the mystery gremlins making you have doubts, but glad it got running for you for a little bit. Onward and upward.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Man, you're doing some good stuff. It's cool to see the little ones getting their hands dirty. You're way past this now, but I wonder if the PO had done the corner light-turn signal mod to your truck? Toyota seems to dislike installing turn signals that can be seen by the drivers 90 degress from you. 2nd gen Tundras with non tow mirrors have this problem, a couple years of Sienna have this problem. It's weird. There are a few different approaches to getting your corner lights to "blink," and perhaps this was what some of those wires were?

 

[Aeneiad]

I was stationed at Schofield Barracks years ago and the MWR had an automotive skills center that had a paint booth. If you know someone that has auto painting skills, that may be another option for you.

 

[FMC80]

Man, you're doing some good stuff. It's cool to see the little ones getting their hands dirty. You're way past this now, but I wonder if the PO had done the corner light-turn signal mod to your truck? Toyota seems to dislike installing turn signals that can be seen by the drivers 90 degress from you. 2nd gen Tundras with non tow mirrors have this problem, a couple years of Sienna have this problem. It's weird. There are a few different approaches to getting your corner lights to "blink," and perhaps this was what some of those wires were?

Thanks brother, I appreciate the kind words. The little dudes just love doing this stuff, I do too because it's somewhat therapeutic and I can easily forget about actual work for a while. You bring up a good point about the turn signal mod, it turns out some of the wiring was indeed for additional clear side marker lights one of the POs installed. I left that intact and plan to re-route and exchange the current setup for something that befits this rig better. Ordered a set today from flea-bay and they advertise them as Toyota Koito from Japan. The pics look nice but we will see since it's coming out of Thailand.

 

[FMC80]

I was stationed at Schofield Barracks years ago and the MWR had an automotive skills center that had a paint booth. If you know someone that has auto painting skills, that may be another option for you.

I go to Schofield from time to time, mainly for their acute clinic since Tripler and JBPHH kind of sucks in terms of wait time. Thanks for that reminder for auto-skills/hobby shop. There is one on base and I'll check there and around to see about a paint booth. I'd really like to get this thing better protected to keep it rust-free. Cheers!

 

[MrMikeyG]

That auto craft center on Fort Lewis (now JBLM) was a great place way back when I had access to it.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Welcome to the fold. Maybe you will run into Aloha Jen over there.... Whatever happened to Aloha Jen anywase. I miss her posts.

I’m around, still come on here quite a bit. But 3 cruisers (Fj40, Hj60 and my 80) keeps me pretty busy.

 

[Aloha Jen]

Her Instagram career took off and she is to cool for us stuck in the mud people

Not true. Moderators and several members made it very clear that they didn’t like my posts, so I just moved it to a different platform. Plus I’m here all the time, mostly in the 40 section, just don’t post anymore.

 

[FMC80]

Not true. Moderators and several members made it very clear that they didn’t like my posts, so I just moved it to a different platform. Plus I’m here all the time, mostly in the 40 section, just don’t post anymore.

Classic case of, if one person sh*Ts themselves, we all wear diapers.