Builds 1996 HZJ75 Land Cruiser Pickup (2 Viewers)

[FJBen]

Some numbers that I've already sent to Will. I have 4.11 diffs, 4:1 tcase gears and 35" tires. At 66/67 mph I'm turning 2500 RPMs, 70 is about 2600. I would actually prefer the 3.70 gears and be able to run smaller tires at lower/or sameRPMs, but I have too many other fish to fry, so I'll keep what I have for now. Too bad I didn't buy 2 sets of 35" kenda's when they were $130 each. Any one checked the price of 35" rubber overdrives recently

This thread is turning on, got more action than a drum bite at the point!

Yeah pricing the 34” mt. Kenda are $283 now! Geolanders are $330

 

[RHINO]

i used to run 37" tires, and they are up over $400 now !!!!

 

[FJBen]

i used to run 37" tires, and they are up over $400 now !!!!

285/75r17 km3 at discount tire are. $515.00. For a flipping 34”!!!

 

[Will Van]

Sometimes, it's the little details that are the most gratifying...

 

[Will Van]

Yesterday there was some confusion about why anyone would install lower t-case gears, just to turn around and install higher/taller diff gears. The whole process appears counterproductive. I posted a small explanation here, but I thought it would be helpful to perform a more thorough explanation, including some numbers and ratios.

First, some basic parameters...

For the purposes of this discussion, there are two scenarios where we are concerned about gearing and tire sizes: The high-speed highway trip we took to get to our off-road destination, and the low-speed 4WD capability once we get there. (This roughly equates to: How does the truck behave in 5th gear with the t-case in "High" and how does the truck behave in 1st gear with the t-case in "Low"?).

There are four components that affect these two scenarios: (1) Transmission Gear Ratio, (2) Transfer Case Gear Ratio, (3) Differential Gear Ratio, and (4) Tire Diameter.

Transmission and t-case can shift "on-the-fly" whereas diff gears and tire size is "constant". I will use my truck as an example, but these principles can be applied to any 4WD.

My truck has an H55F transmission, which has 5 gears, plus reverse. 1st gear ratio is 4.843:1 and 5th gear has an overdrive of 0.845:1.

My truck came from Toyota with a stock t-case of 1:1 High ratio and a 1.96:1 Low ratio.

My truck came stock with 4.1:1 diff gears.

The truck came from Toyota with 7.50R16-8 5.50F tubed tires. This is roughly equivalent to the conventional 235/85/16 tires on the truck now. So, for the purposes of this discussion, we will consider the 235/85/16 tires as 1:1 tire ratio (and adjust that ratio based on different tire sizes).



So if we wanted to calculate the Final Drive ratio, the equation would look something like this:

(Transmission Gear Ratio) x (Transfer Case Gear Ratio) x (Differential Gear Ratio) x (Tire Ratio) = Final Drive

Back to our two scenarios above (the "Highway" trip and the "4WD" capability upon arrival) - We are going to examine the truck's Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 5th gear and the t-case is in "High" (Highway) AND we are going to examine the Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 1st gear and the t-case is in "Low" (4WD). Obviously there are more combinations than these two scenarios, but we don't want to get overloaded with data.

Stock "Highway" Final Drive

(0.845) x (1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.46

Stock "4WD" Final Drive

(4.843) x (1.96) x (4.1) x (1) = 38.99

We will use these two final drive ratios as our "baseline" for further comparison. Stock High = 3.46 and Stock Low = 38.99.

As I mentioned earlier, the 1.92:1 Low t-case ratio that the truck came with stock is pretty puny. Most 4WD enthusiasts would consider it a joke. But luckily, the split-transfer case can also fit aftermarket 4:1 Low gears. The 4:1 Low gears come at a price, and reduce High by 10% also. So our High ratio goes from 1:1 to 1.1:1. The Final Drives after 4:1 t-case install are:

"Highway" 1.1:1 t-case

(0.845) x (1.1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.73


"4WD" 4:1 t-case

(4.843) x (3.98) x (4.1) x (1) = 79.04

Installing the 4:1 t-case gears means that our Final Drive in 4WD/Low more than doubled! It went from 38.99 to 79.04. Great for low-speed 4WDing. But it came at a cost as our Final Drive for "Highway" got worse. It went from 3.46 to 3.73. We want more overdrive in 5th gear (especially with a diesel), not less overdrive/final drive. We're headed the wrong direction for Highway. (This is why the truck is "miserable" to drive on the highway right now. The engine is revving too high.)

Well, what if we added 3.7 diff gears? We would be making our t-case lower and our diff gears higher. Does that make any sense? Let's look at the numbers.

"Highway" 3.7 Diff Gears

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (1) = 3.367


"4WD" 3.7 Diff Gears

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (1) = 71.33

In this scenario we have made the final drive slightly taller in both scenarios 3.367 High and 71.33 Low. This is actually the best of both worlds. The 3.367 High ratio is better than the stock ratio of 3.46. And the 71.33 Low ratio is significantly better than stock 38.99. This is where I am headed and why I would like to install the 3.7 diff gears.

But what if I also up-sized to a 255/85/16 tire? A 255 tire is about 4.4% larger than the stock 235 tires, so that equates to a 0.956:1 tire ratio.

"Highway" 255 Tire

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 3.22


"4WD" 255 Tire

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 68.19

Both the High and Low ratios are still better than stock, but we are slightly sacrificing our low-speed 4WD capability for some Highway efficiency. I might swap to a larger 255 tire after I install 3.7 diff gears if: (1) I am still dissatisfied with the high-speed Highway capability and (2) I don't mind sacrificing a little more low-speed 4WD capability.




I realize this is a lot of data, so I hope everything makes sense.

Overall, the punchline is: Stock High 3.46 and Stock Low 38.99. And with 4:1 t-case and 3.7 diff gears High is 3.367 and Low is 71.33. Both better than the Stock setup.

 

[Broski]

Yesterday there was some confusion about why anyone would install lower t-case gears, just to turn around and install higher/taller diff gears. The whole process appears counterproductive. I posted a small explanation here, but I thought it would be helpful to perform a more thorough explanation, including some numbers and ratios.

First, some basic parameters...

For the purposes of this discussion, there are two scenarios where we are concerned about gearing and tire sizes: The high-speed highway trip we took to get to our off-road destination, and the low-speed 4WD capability once we get there. (This roughly equates to: How does the truck behave in 5th gear with the t-case in "High" and how does the truck behave in 1st gear with the t-case in "Low"?).

There are four components that affect these two scenarios: (1) Transmission Gear Ratio, (2) Transfer Case Gear Ratio, (3) Differential Gear Ratio, and (4) Tire Diameter.

Transmission and t-case can shift "on-the-fly" whereas diff gears and tire size is "constant". I will use my truck as an example, but these principles can be applied to any 4WD.

My truck has an H55F transmission, which has 5 gears, plus reverse. 1st gear ratio is 4.843:1 and 5th gear has an overdrive of 0.845:1.

My truck came stock with 4.1:1 diff gears.

The truck came from Toyota with 7.50R16-8 5.50F tubed tires. This is roughly equivalent to the 235/85/16 tires on the truck now. So, for the purposes of this discussion, we will consider the 235/85/16 tires as 1:1 tire ratio (and adjust that ratio based on different tire sizes).

My truck came from Toyota with a stock t-case of 1:1 High ratio and a 1.96:1 Low ratio.

So if we wanted to calculate the Final Drive ratio, the equation would look something like this:

(Transmission Gear Ratio) x (Transfer Case Gear Ratio) x (Differential Gear Ratio) x (Tire Ratio) = Final Drive

Back to our two scenarios above (the "Highway" trip and the "4WD" capability upon arrival) - We are going to examine the truck's Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 5th gear and the t-case is in "High" (Highway) AND we are going to examine the Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 1st gear and the t-case is in "Low" (4WD). Obviously there are more combinations than these two scenarios, but we don't want to get overloaded with data.

Stock "Highway" Final Drive

(0.845) x (1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.46

Stock "4WD" Final Drive

(4.843) x (1.96) x (4.1) x (1) = 38.99

We will use these two final drive ratios as our "baseline" for further comparison. Stock High = 3.46 and Stock Low = 38.99.

As I mentioned earlier, the 1.92:1 Low t-case ratio that the truck came with stock is pretty puny. Most 4WD enthusiasts would consider it a joke. But luckily, the split-transfer case can also fit aftermarket 4:1 Low gears. The 4:1 Low gears come at a price, and reduce High by 10% also. So our High ratio goes from 1:1 to 1.1:1. The Final Drives after 4:1 t-case install are:

"Highway" 1.1:1 t-case

(0.845) x (1.1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.73


"4WD" 4:1 t-case

(4.843) x (3.98) x (4.1) x (1) = 79.04

Installing the 4:1 t-case gears means that our Final Drive in 4WD/Low more than doubled! It went from 38.99 to 79.04. Great for low-speed 4WDing. But it came at a cost as our Final Drive for "Highway" got worse. It went from 3.46 to 3.73. We want more overdrive in 5th gear (especially with a diesel), not a lower final drive. We're headed the wrong direction for Highway. (This is why the truck is "miserable" to drive on the highway right now. The engine is revving too high.)

Well, what if we added 3.7 diff gears? We would be making our t-case lower and our diff gears higher. Does that make any sense? Let's look at the numbers.

"Highway" 3.7 Diff Gears

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (1) = 3.367


"4WD" 3.7 Diff Gears

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (1) = 71.33

In this scenario we have made the final drive slightly taller in both scenarios 3.367 High and 71.33 Low. This is actually the best of both worlds. The 3.367 High ratio is better than the stock ratio of 3.46. And the 71.33 Low ratio is significantly better than stock 38.99. This is where I am headed and why I would like to install the 3.7 diff gears.

But what if I also up-sized to a 255/85/16 tire? A 255 tire is about 4.4% larger than the stock 235 tires, so that equates to a 0.956:1 tire ratio.

"Highway" 255 Tire

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 3.22


"4WD" 255 Tire

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 68.19

Both the High and Low ratios are still better than stock, but we are slightly sacrificing our low-speed 4WD capability for some Highway efficiency. I might swap to a larger 255 tire after I install 3.7 diff gears if: (1) I am still dissatisfied with the high-speed Highway capability and (2) I don't mind sacrificing a little more low-speed 4WD capability.




I realize this is a lot of data, so I hope everything makes sense.

Overall, the punchline is: Stock High 3.46 and Stock Low 38.99. And with 4:1 t-case and 3.7 diff gears High is 3.367 and Low is 71.33. Both better than the Stock setup.

Excellent explanation !

Thank you

 

[joekatana]

It just feels like the engine is screaming. But I should probably hook up a tach before I start making (false) claims.

I think this explains everything , as someone who has been driving 70 series for about 30 years now I can attest that they all scream at 75mph . If you think that you are stretching it I would suggest to floor it and if it only goes up for another 5mph then you are , if that underpowered 1HZ goes on for another 15 or more you are well in the safe zone and probably just need to adapt to the cruiser instead of trying to make it behave different then what Toyota intended.

Just like Roma I have owned diesel cruisers with 3.70 gears and was never happy with them , if you swap the tires and don't like it you are about 15 min away from going back ........once you got the 3.70's in it that will be no longer the case . Pretty sure some Austin cruiserhead near you has a set of 255's that you can swap with for a week or so to see just how different this would feel.

 

[Honger]

Yesterday there was some confusion about why anyone would install lower t-case gears, just to turn around and install higher/taller diff gears. The whole process appears counterproductive. I posted a small explanation here, but I thought it would be helpful to perform a more thorough explanation, including some numbers and ratios.

First, some basic parameters...

For the purposes of this discussion, there are two scenarios where we are concerned about gearing and tire sizes: The high-speed highway trip we took to get to our off-road destination, and the low-speed 4WD capability once we get there. (This roughly equates to: How does the truck behave in 5th gear with the t-case in "High" and how does the truck behave in 1st gear with the t-case in "Low"?).

There are four components that affect these two scenarios: (1) Transmission Gear Ratio, (2) Transfer Case Gear Ratio, (3) Differential Gear Ratio, and (4) Tire Diameter.

Transmission and t-case can shift "on-the-fly" whereas diff gears and tire size is "constant". I will use my truck as an example, but these principles can be applied to any 4WD.

My truck has an H55F transmission, which has 5 gears, plus reverse. 1st gear ratio is 4.843:1 and 5th gear has an overdrive of 0.845:1.

My truck came from Toyota with a stock t-case of 1:1 High ratio and a 1.96:1 Low ratio.

My truck came stock with 4.1:1 diff gears.

The truck came from Toyota with 7.50R16-8 5.50F tubed tires. This is roughly equivalent to the conventional 235/85/16 tires on the truck now. So, for the purposes of this discussion, we will consider the 235/85/16 tires as 1:1 tire ratio (and adjust that ratio based on different tire sizes).



So if we wanted to calculate the Final Drive ratio, the equation would look something like this:

(Transmission Gear Ratio) x (Transfer Case Gear Ratio) x (Differential Gear Ratio) x (Tire Ratio) = Final Drive

Back to our two scenarios above (the "Highway" trip and the "4WD" capability upon arrival) - We are going to examine the truck's Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 5th gear and the t-case is in "High" (Highway) AND we are going to examine the Final Drive while the truck's transmission is in 1st gear and the t-case is in "Low" (4WD). Obviously there are more combinations than these two scenarios, but we don't want to get overloaded with data.

Stock "Highway" Final Drive

(0.845) x (1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.46

Stock "4WD" Final Drive

(4.843) x (1.96) x (4.1) x (1) = 38.99

We will use these two final drive ratios as our "baseline" for further comparison. Stock High = 3.46 and Stock Low = 38.99.

As I mentioned earlier, the 1.92:1 Low t-case ratio that the truck came with stock is pretty puny. Most 4WD enthusiasts would consider it a joke. But luckily, the split-transfer case can also fit aftermarket 4:1 Low gears. The 4:1 Low gears come at a price, and reduce High by 10% also. So our High ratio goes from 1:1 to 1.1:1. The Final Drives after 4:1 t-case install are:

"Highway" 1.1:1 t-case

(0.845) x (1.1) x (4.1) x (1) = 3.73


"4WD" 4:1 t-case

(4.843) x (3.98) x (4.1) x (1) = 79.04

Installing the 4:1 t-case gears means that our Final Drive in 4WD/Low more than doubled! It went from 38.99 to 79.04. Great for low-speed 4WDing. But it came at a cost as our Final Drive for "Highway" got worse. It went from 3.46 to 3.73. We want more overdrive in 5th gear (especially with a diesel), not less overdrive/final drive. We're headed the wrong direction for Highway. (This is why the truck is "miserable" to drive on the highway right now. The engine is revving too high.)

Well, what if we added 3.7 diff gears? We would be making our t-case lower and our diff gears higher. Does that make any sense? Let's look at the numbers.

"Highway" 3.7 Diff Gears

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (1) = 3.367


"4WD" 3.7 Diff Gears

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (1) = 71.33

In this scenario we have made the final drive slightly taller in both scenarios 3.367 High and 71.33 Low. This is actually the best of both worlds. The 3.367 High ratio is better than the stock ratio of 3.46. And the 71.33 Low ratio is significantly better than stock 38.99. This is where I am headed and why I would like to install the 3.7 diff gears.

But what if I also up-sized to a 255/85/16 tire? A 255 tire is about 4.4% larger than the stock 235 tires, so that equates to a 0.956:1 tire ratio.

"Highway" 255 Tire

(0.845) x (1.1) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 3.22


"4WD" 255 Tire

(4.843) x (3.98) x (3.7) x (0.956) = 68.19

Both the High and Low ratios are still better than stock, but we are slightly sacrificing our low-speed 4WD capability for some Highway efficiency. I might swap to a larger 255 tire after I install 3.7 diff gears if: (1) I am still dissatisfied with the high-speed Highway capability and (2) I don't mind sacrificing a little more low-speed 4WD capability.




I realize this is a lot of data, so I hope everything makes sense.

Overall, the punchline is: Stock High 3.46 and Stock Low 38.99. And with 4:1 t-case and 3.7 diff gears High is 3.367 and Low is 71.33. Both better than the Stock setup.

Bravo... this completed my understanding. Thanks!

 

[Will Van]

Bravo... this completed my understanding. Thanks!

Yessir, happy to help!

 

[Will Van]

Stereo gurus, I need your help. The stereo has never worked in my truck. I assumed it was because the OEM stereo was tuned to the GCC radio frequency and wouldn’t pick up US stations. But it never produced any sound, even static. It appears to be all stock wiring (no hacking the stereo wiring back in the Middle East, at least that I can see).

I finally got my 80’s Modern Tech stereo installed, and the stereo display works, but it’s not producing any sound. The unit powers on, cycles through all the functions, and lands on the local radio stations in “seek” mode. It even indicates that it’s getting local reception from the antenna on the display. But it’s not making any sound.

I am receiving 6 volts off both wires to the front right speaker. I assume because the speaker is in Bridge Mode, and is grounding through the speaker body.

I am pretty confident that I have it wired correctly, because the radio wiring harness for the Land Cruiser is the same as the 1987 and up Toyota Pickups. I just used a standard wiring harness adapter from Amazon, and double checked the wiring diagram with my VOM.



I receive 6 volts with both the old stereo and the new stereo to both wires at the front right speaker.



Any suggestions? Is it possible that both speakers are toast, and just not producing any sound? Any simple way to test if the speakers are blown?

 

[Rigster]

Stereo gurus, I need your help. The stereo has never worked in my truck. I assumed it was because the OEM stereo was tuned to the GCC radio frequency and wouldn’t pick up US stations. But it never produced any sound, even static. It appears to be all stock wiring (no hacking the stereo wiring back in the Middle East, at least that I can see).

I finally got my 80’s Modern Tech stereo installed, and the stereo display works, but it’s not producing any sound. The unit powers on, cycles through all the functions, and lands on the local radio stations in “seek” mode. It even indicates that it’s getting local reception from the antenna on the display. But it’s not making any sound.

I am receiving 6 volts off both wires to the front right speaker. I assume because the speaker is in Bridge Mode, and is grounding through the speaker body.

I am pretty confident that I have it wired correctly, because the radio wiring harness for the Land Cruiser is the same as the 1987 and up Toyota Pickups. I just used a standard wiring harness adapter from Amazon, and double checked the wiring diagram with my VOM.



I receive 6 volts with both the old stereo and the new stereo to both wires at the front right speaker.



Any suggestions? Is it possible that both speakers are toast, and just not producing any sound? Any simple way to test if the speakers are blown?

If it were me, I would bench test (or even with it installed in the truck and wiring accessible) the output of the speaker wires to an individual speaker that you know that works. That way, you can verify the wiring (just in case there is a mixup somehow in the 2 wires for each speaker) and the speakers. If a random separate speaker (even a home stereo speaker) works fine, then you at least narrow it down. Try the speaker wires off the speaker itself on the spare speaker at that point to rule out the wiring behind the dash.

If the amazonian plug and play kit mixed up the wiring, then it should not be a huge issue to relocate the pins to what works properly. Come on by if you're in the area and we will sort it out together. Good luck!

 

[Will Van]

If it were me, I would bench test (or even with it installed in the truck and wiring accessible) the output of the speaker wires to an individual speaker that you know that works. That way, you can verify the wiring (just in case there is a mixup somehow in the 2 wires for each speaker) and the speakers. If a random separate speaker (even a home stereo speaker) works fine, then you at least narrow it down. Try the speaker wires off the speaker itself on the spare speaker at that point to rule out the wiring behind the dash.

If the amazonian plug and play kit mixed up the wiring, then it should not be a huge issue to relocate the pins to what works properly. Come on by if you're in the area and we will sort it out together. Good luck!

10-4, that’s what I’ll probably do. To start, I’m just going to direct-wire the stereo to the right front speaker that I have access to. If it works, I’ll just direct-wire both speakers and bypass the factory harness for the speaker wiring.

I was tired, hot, and frustrated yesterday. Thanks for the help!

 

[FJ73Texas]

Where was the radio ordered from? I know it was posted here somewhere before but I can't find the post.

 

[FJBen]

Stereo gurus, I need your help. The stereo has never worked in my truck. I assumed it was because the OEM stereo was tuned to the GCC radio frequency and wouldn’t pick up US stations. But it never produced any sound, even static. It appears to be all stock wiring (no hacking the stereo wiring back in the Middle East, at least that I can see).

I finally got my 80’s Modern Tech stereo installed, and the stereo display works, but it’s not producing any sound. The unit powers on, cycles through all the functions, and lands on the local radio stations in “seek” mode. It even indicates that it’s getting local reception from the antenna on the display. But it’s not making any sound.

I am receiving 6 volts off both wires to the front right speaker. I assume because the speaker is in Bridge Mode, and is grounding through the speaker body.

I am pretty confident that I have it wired correctly, because the radio wiring harness for the Land Cruiser is the same as the 1987 and up Toyota Pickups. I just used a standard wiring harness adapter from Amazon, and double checked the wiring diagram with my VOM.



I receive 6 volts with both the old stereo and the new stereo to both wires at the front right speaker.



Any suggestions? Is it possible that both speakers are toast, and just not producing any sound? Any simple way to test if the speakers are blown?

Man your 80s modern is way brighter than mine. I can't even seen anything during the day in it.

That said, you can test speakers a few ways, or direct wire it like you said.
Have any spare speakers to test if the radio is fine?
Touching a battery, like 9v on and off with wires to quickly make the speaker jump.

 

[FJBen]

Where was the radio ordered from? I know it was posted here somewhere before but I can't find the post.

80s Modern Tech - https://www.80s-modern.com

I have one, don't want to jump all over his thread, but I have some thoughts on it

 

[Will Van]

80s Modern Tech - https://www.80s-modern.com

I have one, don't want to jump all over his thread, but I have some thoughts on it

Feel free to share your thoughts in the thread. I would love to hear your feedback.

 

[FJBen]

Feel free to share your thoughts in the thread. I would love to hear your feedback.

I've had it for a couple months, so no real long term review, but I can tell you so far what I know.

If you are looking at this stereo, you are definitely wanting a bare bones unit. This is exactly what you are getting. Very basic controls. I'll go over the pro's and con's as I see them.


Pros:
very fast blue tooth connection
Aesthetics - looks like it fits in an older Toyota, no flashy crazy LED's,
Sound quality, honestly you aren't getting this for SQ, however it's the same as your bottom tier stereos from $25~$200 or more. The BT sound IMO is better than FM.
Menus - stupid simple, very few to choose from
connections - hook up quickly and easy
Power - not a ton of power, but then again most stereo's in this range are "low power" units
I have not messed with the SD or USB as thats not what I want it for
Volume knob, easy to reach and use, the other knob is a rocker. I hate fighting small or no volume knobs.

Cons:
This is a $30 chinesium radio, you are paying for the mods to make it look period correct and support from the guy. The version you can buy for $30 is shiny chrome and crazy flashy LED's.
Using it for phone calls isn't great quality, but of course I"m in a soft top and currently doors off BJ74, will test again with hard top. My pioneer was a little better in this regard.
Seems mine only has a preset EQ, I can't get it to change bass/treble independently, only change POP/ROCK/JAZZ etc.
Screen - Mine is almost impossible to see during the day. I emailed them and they said it's a balancing act of not having it too bright at night, which at this point I'll deal with because again my vehicle is very bright inside during the day. At night it's just about right. I could go for a little brighter to have the day work better. Not sure if they are all like this.

Overall, for a period looking stereo with bluetooth it works good. Also has PRE outs so you can hookup amps/subs etc which would greatly help the sound. If you are building a nice system, look elsewhere. If you want a something they probably won't steal but with good sound, this will work. Just remember it's bare bones. Time will tell if it craps out in my situation like the buttons and stuff did on my Pioneer. If it was $30~$50 it's a complete no brainer use it till it dies. At $140 it's a tougher pill to swallow being a $30 Chinese piece in reality.

in Will's case, I would get some "nice" door speakers, amp them with a small amp and it will sound pretty good. I mean, 70 series aren't quiet and paying for "nuances" of high end speakers/gear doesn't make sense.

In my situation, if it fails, not sure I will get another. I will probably go the full hidden/waterproof Marine style setup.

 

[Will Van]

I've had it for a couple months, so no real long term review, but I can tell you so far what I know.

If you are looking at this stereo, you are definitely wanting a bare bones unit. This is exactly what you are getting. Very basic controls. I'll go over the pro's and con's as I see them.


Pros:
very fast blue tooth connection
Aesthetics - looks like it fits in an older Toyota, no flashy crazy LED's,
Sound quality, honestly you aren't getting this for SQ, however it's the same as your bottom tier stereos from $25~$200 or more. The BT sound IMO is better than FM.
Menus - stupid simple, very few to choose from
connections - hook up quickly and easy
Power - not a ton of power, but then again most stereo's in this range are "low power" units
I have not messed with the SD or USB as thats not what I want it for
Volume knob, easy to reach and use, the other knob is a rocker. I hate fighting small or no volume knobs.

Cons:
This is a $30 chinesium radio, you are paying for the mods to make it look period correct and support from the guy. The version you can buy for $30 is shiny chrome and crazy flashy LED's.
Using it for phone calls isn't great quality, but of course I"m in a soft top and currently doors off BJ74, will test again with hard top. My pioneer was a little better in this regard.
Seems mine only has a preset EQ, I can't get it to change bass/treble independently, only change POP/ROCK/JAZZ etc.
Screen - Mine is almost impossible to see during the day. I emailed them and they said it's a balancing act of not having it too bright at night, which at this point I'll deal with because again my vehicle is very bright inside during the day. At night it's just about right. I could go for a little brighter to have the day work better. Not sure if they are all like this.

Overall, for a period looking stereo with bluetooth it works good. Also has PRE outs so you can hookup amps/subs etc which would greatly help the sound. If you are building a nice system, look elsewhere. If you want a something they probably won't steal but with good sound, this will work. Just remember it's bare bones. Time will tell if it craps out in my situation like the buttons and stuff did on my Pioneer. If it was $30~$50 it's a complete no brainer use it till it dies. At $140 it's a tougher pill to swallow being a $30 Chinese piece in reality.

in Will's case, I would get some "nice" door speakers, amp them with a small amp and it will sound pretty good. I mean, 70 series aren't quiet and paying for "nuances" of high end speakers/gear doesn't make sense.

In my situation, if it fails, not sure I will get another. I will probably go the full hidden/waterproof Marine style setup.

I agree 100% with your analysis. It’s a cheap Chinese radio. The manual is a joke and I noticed several errors and misprints.

I also think it’s amusing that we, as enthusiasts, would pay a HUGE markup for a cheap unit, just because it looks simple and period-correct.

I feel like the stereo industry has an opportunity here, but they only want to sell flashy whiz-bang head units for bro-dozered trucks and 10 year old BMWs.

 

[FJBen]

I agree 100% with your analysis. It’s a cheap Chinese radio. The manual is a joke and I noticed several errors and misprints.

I also think it’s amusing that we, as enthusiasts, would pay a HUGE markup for a cheap unit, just because it looks simple and period-correct.

I feel like the stereo industry has an opportunity here, but they only want to sell flashy whiz-bang head units for bro-dozered trucks and 10 year old BMWs.

Exactly. Blaupunkt makes a fantastic period correct for VW and the like but it’s like $4-500 !!!

My guess is this experiment won’t last long in mine, I have such a bad dust problem living in the country. He said he out more dust sealing but no guarantees. I wish he would have been a little more upfront on what the stereo is and isn’t.

That said it works and looks decent.

 

[Will Van]

I know y’all are tired of A/C updates, so I hope this is the last post regarding hardlines.

The #8 line from the compressor to the condenser wasn’t quite right. It didn’t have any place to clamp to the chassis (aside from at the condenser and at the soft hose). I was afraid the long hardline would vibrate like crazy with the soft hose hanging off the end of it, and eventually crack. After I went to re-install my air intake, I also realized it interfered with the OEM air cleaner box. I could “make it work” but I decided to just re-do the #8 hardline.



I bought these Made4You double line clamps from Summit. They’re nice because they come in dual sizes - 5/16” for the #6 hardline and 3/8” for the #8 hardline.



I re-bent the 3/8” stainless steel hardline and brazed new fittings. I also added a piece of rubber hose to the 5/16” hard-line to prevent it from rubbing at the pass-through.



Then I used the line clamps to anchor the 3/8” line to the 5/16” line in the bay. Since the 5/16” line is going from a hard-mount to hard-mount (condenser to receiver/dryer), this should work well since no soft hose is vibrating/work-hardening it.



Final result clears the air cleaner and (hopefully) won’t crack.