Builds 1996 HZJ75 Land Cruiser Pickup

[Owyhee Jackass]

Penetrating fluid and a few good whacks with a centerpunch may help to bust the threads loose too. I've been successful with the 'drill-out as much of the old bolt material as possible' method, then cold-chisel (very small one) the bolt-threads that are left into the center of the bolt 'hole'.

Good luck.

 

[davegonz]

What if I don’t know how to weld?

Drive it over to my house and I can do it for you.

 

[Will Van]

I think I’m going to take it to a buddy/shop and have them weld a nut on it. I have another one broken at the rear of the truck too. Get them both at the same time. Plus, they’re Toyota guys. They would love to check it out.

Also, I have no one to blame for the off-center hole, but myself. I was in a hurry and just screwed it up.

 

[Will Van]

Over the holidays I picked up this 1988 BJ74 "Early" style 7x series axle housing for 9.5" 3rd member from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. Kurt was even kind enough to deliver it to my cabin in Utah. I really cannot thank Kurt and his team enough!

Ultimately, I would like to change diffs from 4.1 to 3.7 gearing. This will offer the best range of gearing between highway cruising in 5th gear high, and 4WDing in 1st gear low. The 9.5" diffs are more commonly available, stronger, and cheaper than the 8" high-pinion currently on the truck. Especially for the 3.7 gearing.

I was able to get the axle housing back to Texas and set it up on stands yesterday. I wanted to compare the "Early" style axle to the "Late" style high-pinion axle currently on my rig. I will for sure have to modify/fabricate brake lines between the two axles. I need to check ToyoDIY to see if the lines are still available from Mr. T.

I also have a lead on a set of used 3.7 3rd members from a 60 series.

I have been told that the steering knuckle assemblies from my 8" high-pinion housing are a direct swap over to the 9.5" housing. If that's the case, I will need a new knuckle rebuild kit, rear axle rebuild kit, diff gaskets, and a set of chromoly axles/birfs!



What do you guys think? Should I throw a set of Harrop/Eaton e-lockers in the diffs and be done with it?

 

[RHINO]

Guess it depends what you want to do with the truck ultimately, bit if you decide to install lockers, yeah, Eaton is the only choice IMOP

 

[rick_d]

….and if your donor diffs are a front and rear run the front in the rear axle as it should have fewer miles.

 

[Will Van]

….and if your donor diffs are a front and rear run the front in the rear axle as it should have fewer miles.

Good point. That’s another great advantage to the 9.5” front diff. In an emergency you can swap the front/rear diff to get you out if you’ve had a failure.

 

[OGBeno]

Man…. This is a lot of work for very little return. But that seems to be your mojo so… good luck.

 

[Will Van]

Man…. This is a lot of work for very little return. But that seems to be your mojo so… good luck.

True, you’re probably right. I may put this portion of the project on the back burner and concentrate on other aspects of the truck.

 

[Broski]

Good point. That’s another great advantage to the 9.5” front diff. In an emergency you can swap the front/rear diff to get you out if you’ve had a failure.

This makes no sense, one would just pull a drive shaft and continue on with the axle that's not damaged. I can't see swapping thirds on the trail
Now if one was racing then the advantage would be that you could have one spare that would work for either axle.

Following because your attention to detail on such a sweet build, thanks for posting.

 

[davegonz]

Will, is your current rig leaf-sprung in the front or will you need to cut/weld on coil perches on this axle? If it's leaf and all you have to do is make new brake lines, then I say you should go for it. Setting up an axle is significantly easier/cheaper than setting up gears (for me at least). 3.7x gears on Crusty (1HZ-T 60) really were nice compared to the 4.10's on Betty White (HZJ80 with turbo).

 

[Will Van]

Will, is your current rig leaf-sprung in the front or will you need to cut/weld on coil perches on this axle? If it's leaf and all you have to do is make new brake lines, then I say you should go for it. Setting up an axle is significantly easier/cheaper than setting up gears (for me at least). 3.7x gears on Crusty (1HZ-T 60) really were nice compared to the 4.10's on Betty White (HZJ80 with turbo).

Yessir, it's leaf sprung in the front. I am told it is a direct swap. But I have never done it before, so you never know.

I agree, I think 3.7x gears will be nice on the pickup.

 

[renago]

Depending on the fin use you intend for this rig , but lockers are a very good investment .
With some work you can install the ones found on the 80 series .

 

[Will Van]

I picked up the new hood on Friday. Adios 50lbs of Bondo.

I also swapped instrument clusters to add tach and replace the non-working speedo. New cluster works great!

Here is record of the mileage data for posterity’s sake (although, no one would ever swap a cluster forward with an extra 275,000kms to try and sell it).

Original cluster had 35,632 kms (I seriously doubt it was accurate).

New cluster has 310,877 kms.

I still need to wire the RPM sensor, oil pressure, and 4WD indicator light.

 

[coldtaco]

man, I should have had mine repainted in that color. Oh well, at least mine is in it's original color.

 

[Will Van]

man, I should have had mine repainted in that color. Oh well, at least mine is in it's original color.

Really? I was debating changing the color to red or blue.

 

[coldtaco]

Really? I was debating changing the color to red or blue.

mines the boring white the factory Merlot or dark blue would have been cool too.

 

[RHINO]

hey Will, did you take pics of the back of those clusters? if not can you describe a bit the difference and what you'll need to get those guages working?

i'm mostly curious about the wiring harness plugs and backward/forward compatible. i guess i would have thought the plugs are there in the harness, just need to install pins?

 

[Will Van]

hey Will, did you take pics of the back of those clusters? if not can you describe a bit the difference and what you'll need to get those guages working?

i'm mostly curious about the wiring harness plugs and backward/forward compatible. i guess i would have thought the plugs are there in the harness, just need to install pins?

I haven’t figured out the wiring yet, but here are photos of the back.

Original is “391” and new (with tach) is “916”. The plug ports are the same, albeit different orientation.

 

[RHINO]

so thats part of the equation, the plug ports are the same, i'm trying not to assume there are empty ports in your trucks plugs where you can simply add the pin and wire for the needed sender?

if thats the case i imagine Eastern Beaver has the pins