- Thread starter
- #81
Alright, thanks a lot. I'll take a look and see if I can find them~
Builds 1995 HZJ77 wagon build - Japan sourced (9 Viewers)
- Thread starter Pip Bernadotte
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- Thread starter
- #82
A couple of weeks ago a friend and I finally got to take the 77 out to stretch it's legs a bit off road for the first time~
We hit up the Kuzuryu Reservoir area and explored some logging roads and other random mountain roads (seriously, not sure why some of them even exist...)
We hit up the Kuzuryu Reservoir area and explored some logging roads and other random mountain roads (seriously, not sure why some of them even exist...)
- Thread starter
- #83
We spent a total of about three days up there exploring probably 60km worth of trails and roads
Just a slight drop off to the left... but there's no going back cause there's nowhere to turn around.
Just a slight drop off to the left... but there's no going back cause there's nowhere to turn around.
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- #84
Towards the end, we came across a bunch of trees that were laid down for the loggers. Unfortunately for us, they were laid down across the road we had to go down... So... a 12 point turn on a road that was entirely too narrow later... we made our way back to the rest of the trails.
The road dropped off to 100ft of dirt/trees right where my rear bumper is in this picture, and my front bumper is pushed as far up against the loose dirt wall as I could get without bogging. So... I had about 3ft of space to turn around in... Fun times
(the smile on my face is because we'd just passed the halfway point of the turn, so we were going to be able to get back on the trails)
The road dropped off to 100ft of dirt/trees right where my rear bumper is in this picture, and my front bumper is pushed as far up against the loose dirt wall as I could get without bogging. So... I had about 3ft of space to turn around in... Fun times
(the smile on my face is because we'd just passed the halfway point of the turn, so we were going to be able to get back on the trails)
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- #86
Yeah, we had a bow saw and an axe with us. Had to cut through one tree to continue, but we weren't about to cut through over a half dozen purposefully downed trees on the road (if we didn't absolutely have to)
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- #87
Changed the oil & filter today. (I've surprisingly done 5000 km since February)
I also modded the hood to use gas struts. No more hood prop rod! ^_^
On the bad news side, I've developed a squeal when I brake. It started out only when braking, then also when I turned left, and eventually turned into a low level squeal all the time... I thought it was something with the front brakes. Took it to Toyota (I only have a hand jack and my tiny parking space, and there's a typhoon coming... I also need the truck by Friday so I wanted it diagnosed quicker than I could do it... ) They said it's the front pads wearing down. They're at about 4mm of pad left, but don't need to be replaced immediately. So I went ahead and ordered a set of pads and shims. I'll put them in after my trip this weekend. (I'll keep them in the truck just in case)
Curious, what's the cost of a set of front pads/shims in the states? They cost me about $105 here in Japan.
And do y'all think the pads wearing are what's causing the noise?
I also modded the hood to use gas struts. No more hood prop rod! ^_^
On the bad news side, I've developed a squeal when I brake. It started out only when braking, then also when I turned left, and eventually turned into a low level squeal all the time... I thought it was something with the front brakes. Took it to Toyota (I only have a hand jack and my tiny parking space, and there's a typhoon coming... I also need the truck by Friday so I wanted it diagnosed quicker than I could do it... ) They said it's the front pads wearing down. They're at about 4mm of pad left, but don't need to be replaced immediately. So I went ahead and ordered a set of pads and shims. I'll put them in after my trip this weekend. (I'll keep them in the truck just in case)
Curious, what's the cost of a set of front pads/shims in the states? They cost me about $105 here in Japan.
And do y'all think the pads wearing are what's causing the noise?
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- #89
I got "Drive Joy" (Tacti Corp?) pads from the Toyota dealer next to me. I thought I was gonna need them sooner than later so I just got what they suggested (and because finding small parts here is a pain in the ass sometimes because I'm not sure which brands to trust...)
I'll look at getting Terrain Tamer stuff when I'm stateside next year. Who do you usually order TT stuff from in the US? I think Odd Iron Off Road will probably be the closest dealer to me when I get back to SC, but I'm trying to build up a list of other sources for 70 series parts. ^_^
Out of curiosity (and my need to perform maintenance soon) how did you/will you dispose of used oil here? I havent pulled the trigger on oil as I don't need a used jug of oil sitting around for months...
and on the pad wear squeal, make sure to clean the caliper really well. Its doesn't have slides, but make sure the bellows/cover things on the piston cups are in good condition and that everything is moving. And also the pins and edges of the pads have a little anti seize lube.. Having your piston cup not suck back in from the seal will let it drag and wear faster. If its still not disengaging then I can see a little squeal happening.
- Thread starter
- #92
I picked up some of the oil disposal boxes at a home center. (they're basically stuffed with rags to help absorb the oil) Then found an oil recycling center. (Try asking the people at the home center when you buy them, or ask your city office.)
Yeah, I picked up a jar of copper based anti-squeal grease for the pads, and some silicone paste for anything else that needs it. Thanks for the tips on checking the piston cups though. I think that may be what's causing the issue...
Awesome thank you! I'll swing by one today and see what I can find!
And good luck with the brake job!
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- #94
Ok, so it turns out that it was in fact the brake pad wear indicator screeching the whole time... I wish Toyota could have just told me that out right... but at least I don't sound like a banshee driving around town any more.
As for the actual job of changing the brakes, I've never had discs on a Land Cruiser before (My 40 has front and rear drums) so I was pretty surprised with how extremely easy it was to change the pads. Just needed a pair of channel locks to help squeeze the pistons back fully open to slide the new pads in. Otherwise all I had to do was take out the retaining pin spring, pull the pins out, and slip the old pads off. Then grease up the new pads and anti-squeal shims, slip them in, and replace the pins and spring.
If I'd had a lift and impact wrench, it would have only taken me 20-30 minutes to do both sides. (And Toyota wanted $110 to do this for me)
As for the actual job of changing the brakes, I've never had discs on a Land Cruiser before (My 40 has front and rear drums) so I was pretty surprised with how extremely easy it was to change the pads. Just needed a pair of channel locks to help squeeze the pistons back fully open to slide the new pads in. Otherwise all I had to do was take out the retaining pin spring, pull the pins out, and slip the old pads off. Then grease up the new pads and anti-squeal shims, slip them in, and replace the pins and spring.
If I'd had a lift and impact wrench, it would have only taken me 20-30 minutes to do both sides. (And Toyota wanted $110 to do this for me)
- Thread starter
- #95
Alright Gents, I'm looking into shipping options for the HZJ, as well as the rest of my household goods.
After contacting a few companies, I've found that most shipping companies that take care of household goods don't want to deal with a vehicle. So unless I can find a company willing to do a single 40ft container, it's looking like a 20ft container for HG and either RORO or a 20ft container to take the HZJ.
The plan is to get it stateside after June 1st, 2020 (when it's officially a "classic"), but I have a few questions:
1. For anyone who has shipped their cruiser from Japan, how did you do it? Roll On Roll Off? In a 20ft/40ft? By itself or with household goods?
2. If you did RO/RO, what were the costs and what company did you use? Do you have any suggested companies (or companies to avoid?)
3. Did you use an importer or did you do your own paperwork upon landing?
4. What were the costs if you used an importer or paperwork troubles if you did it yourself?
5. If you did the paperwork yourself, where there any forms other than EPA3520, and DOThs799 that you had to fill out?
6. Comments on anything else I've missed would be greatly appreciated!
Anyone with experience moving internationally? Any suggested companies? I've emailed quite a few and the few quotes I've gotten back thus far want $12k for a 20ft container door-to-door with Household Goods - which is crazy far out of my price range and what I was expecting.
Finally, is there another forum that I should post this same question to in order to get a wider audience base that may be able to help me?
Any help with any of these questions is GREATLY appreciated!
@divemedic @elkaholic @44Runner @Gun Runner 5 @AndrewHadji
After contacting a few companies, I've found that most shipping companies that take care of household goods don't want to deal with a vehicle. So unless I can find a company willing to do a single 40ft container, it's looking like a 20ft container for HG and either RORO or a 20ft container to take the HZJ.
The plan is to get it stateside after June 1st, 2020 (when it's officially a "classic"), but I have a few questions:
1. For anyone who has shipped their cruiser from Japan, how did you do it? Roll On Roll Off? In a 20ft/40ft? By itself or with household goods?
2. If you did RO/RO, what were the costs and what company did you use? Do you have any suggested companies (or companies to avoid?)
3. Did you use an importer or did you do your own paperwork upon landing?
4. What were the costs if you used an importer or paperwork troubles if you did it yourself?
5. If you did the paperwork yourself, where there any forms other than EPA3520, and DOThs799 that you had to fill out?
6. Comments on anything else I've missed would be greatly appreciated!
Anyone with experience moving internationally? Any suggested companies? I've emailed quite a few and the few quotes I've gotten back thus far want $12k for a 20ft container door-to-door with Household Goods - which is crazy far out of my price range and what I was expecting.
Finally, is there another forum that I should post this same question to in order to get a wider audience base that may be able to help me?
Any help with any of these questions is GREATLY appreciated!
@divemedic @elkaholic @44Runner @Gun Runner 5 @AndrewHadji
- Thread starter
- #96
Most recent expedition with the HZJ77 -
A three day Kayaking / camping trip to Tsuruga in ***ui Prefecture with two of my friends. (apparently MUD's auto-censor doesn't like the prefecture of F U K U I )
I found out that I blew the left tail light bulb somehow along the way... thankfully I had a spare.
Also FINALLY figured out what was wrong with the horn. The in-the-column electrical connection had worn down to a nub and was only making intermittent contact. So I ordered the contacts when I got back to Nagoya.
A three day Kayaking / camping trip to Tsuruga in ***ui Prefecture with two of my friends. (apparently MUD's auto-censor doesn't like the prefecture of F U K U I )
I found out that I blew the left tail light bulb somehow along the way... thankfully I had a spare.
Also FINALLY figured out what was wrong with the horn. The in-the-column electrical connection had worn down to a nub and was only making intermittent contact. So I ordered the contacts when I got back to Nagoya.
- Thread starter
- #97
Finally got the horn fixed!! It's been bothering me for months that it only works intermittently, and I finally figured out why!
The previous owner apparently couldn't figure it out and decided to just wire in a toggle switch to the dash. Which, I couldn't figure out the reason he even put in his stop-gap measure (because the regular horn button worked for me) so I took the toggle out. That was until a trip to the mountains in Mid May where it started acting up- but it was rainy all weekend so I assumed it was just a short somewhere. But, the it started not working even on non-rainy days... and then stopped all together on my trip last weekend.
So, I took the cover off the column, and the button out of my steering wheel to try to trace the wiring and found that there's not actually a wire to connect the horn switch to the rest of the wiring, but a wire connected to a circular brass plate that wraps around the steering column.
(LIKE SO)
Then there's a brass electrical contact pin that's tensioned with a spring that pushes against the brass disc to complete the circuit. this is so that there isn't any wiring connected to the steering wheel that could get wraped around and bind the steering column. Pretty smart! but it seems that that electrical contact pin can wear down (there was quite a bit of brass dust in the plastic steering column cover I took off to get to the electrical system)
(here's the contact pin kit, and Toyota part number)
So, after some finagling to get the steering wheel off, I was able to pull the entire turn signal/wiper unit out and replace the contact pin with a new spring and c-clip.
You can see the little silver C-clip to the bottom right of the hole in the unit that the steering column passes through, and the little brass connector pin shaft sticking up just above it. The loose green wire with red stripe next to that has a connector that slips over the end of the brass connector pin shaft after you get the C-clip on, and that's what powers the connector pin/the horn button after the pin makes connecting with the brass disc on the steering wheel side.
The previous owner apparently couldn't figure it out and decided to just wire in a toggle switch to the dash. Which, I couldn't figure out the reason he even put in his stop-gap measure (because the regular horn button worked for me) so I took the toggle out. That was until a trip to the mountains in Mid May where it started acting up- but it was rainy all weekend so I assumed it was just a short somewhere. But, the it started not working even on non-rainy days... and then stopped all together on my trip last weekend.
So, I took the cover off the column, and the button out of my steering wheel to try to trace the wiring and found that there's not actually a wire to connect the horn switch to the rest of the wiring, but a wire connected to a circular brass plate that wraps around the steering column.
(LIKE SO)
Then there's a brass electrical contact pin that's tensioned with a spring that pushes against the brass disc to complete the circuit. this is so that there isn't any wiring connected to the steering wheel that could get wraped around and bind the steering column. Pretty smart! but it seems that that electrical contact pin can wear down (there was quite a bit of brass dust in the plastic steering column cover I took off to get to the electrical system)
(here's the contact pin kit, and Toyota part number)
So, after some finagling to get the steering wheel off, I was able to pull the entire turn signal/wiper unit out and replace the contact pin with a new spring and c-clip.
You can see the little silver C-clip to the bottom right of the hole in the unit that the steering column passes through, and the little brass connector pin shaft sticking up just above it. The loose green wire with red stripe next to that has a connector that slips over the end of the brass connector pin shaft after you get the C-clip on, and that's what powers the connector pin/the horn button after the pin makes connecting with the brass disc on the steering wheel side.
I did the import admin myself. Mine was transported in a container. There are a few shippers you can check out, I’ll need to dig up my homework to see who mine was. @Cavalier2000 may have some good insight on this too.
Best advice moving forward, you’ll be refunded a prorated amount for JCI and registration once you deregister.
Make sure the truck is spotless inside, outside and underside. No leaks no dirt clumps no caked petroleum products. Document every single dent, scratch, and imperfection regardless of size or importance to you.
Put a sign on your steering wheel and under the hood by the batteries that reads:
“caution: 24v system. Do not connect to 12v source”
That’s no so much for the importers but for the Americans in the landing yard.
- Thread starter
- #99
Wow! Thanks for the info!
How difficult did it end up being? What documents and stuff did you have to prepare for import (other than the EPA3520, DOThs799, and title) ? Any sudden costs or things I should be aware of port side?
I know there will be a 2.5% tax on the vehicle cost, but other than that there's very little on the actual paperwork and costs associated with import... just people who had an importer do it all for them... X_x
Feel free to PM me if that's easier~
I’ll have to dig through my paperwork to figure out all the forms I did. iirc I had 4 main forms for importation. Deregisteation from Okinawa was more involved than export/import. I did not have any surprise costs aside from buying two new batteries when I picked up the truck.
I didn’t pay taxation either in Ohio during registration because I retained my Japanese title showing ownership prior to importation. This provision should apply to you but may vary state by state.
