'93 80 vs. '97 LX

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'93 - another little step...

Temporary install of the fairlead on the HF winch plate through the factory bumper. The fairlead is spaced outwards to sit somewhat flush with the bumper on the top side. Spacers are repurposed transfer case mount tubular spacers originally from my '85 Blazer :hillbilly:, bolts are 3/8" that I found in my stash.
Turns out I need some thinwall sockets, and I'll go hunt for some M10 bolts and locknuts at some point. I want the spacers to take as wide a footprint as possible, so the tube spacers will yield to something bigger, methinks a chunk of solid aluminum ought to do fine for that.

Fairlead and 80 feet of 3/8" rope from Southeast Overland (thanks to Steve for the advice and the little bottle opener...:)), waiting on the bigger wire (I've decided 1/0 will have to do...) to come in, but haven't made up my mind regarding the solenoid. It's been pointed out to me by those in the know that I might want to look at a contactor instead.

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Very nice build!

I like the winch job, very discrete.
 
94SRUNNER said:
Very nice build!

I like the winch job, very discrete.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Of course, I still don't know that it'll all be as functional as I expect; the fairlead spacer part is bugging me - as is, any sideways pull may not work out so great...

The spacers right now are 1" long, 3/4" OD, 5/32" wall steel tube.
 
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Not much progress; too much real work.

I've chosen (for now) not to use the solenoid box that came with the winch (although it has what looks like a contactor inside), and I'm using bigger wires; still waiting on the cable lugs, connector covers, and the right size heat shrink to make the cables. I've learned that Hammerking uses this contactor, so how could I go wrong... :). In any case, thanks to Pin_Head for pointing me in this direction.

I wanted the control box up high, so here's the temporary solution until I get a group 27 deep cycle battery. Right now, the contactor bracket is not removable by itself; that'll have to change, but it'll be easy to do. Not sure whether I like this solution overall, or whether I need to build a bracket that'll attach to the body. For now, this seems as tight as the battery itself. Maybe a brace over to the fender, re-purposing that battery tray bolt over there... anyways, this will have to wait until the taller battery is in.

Claudia has already procured another antenna dash switch, I'm thinking that'll be the mode of control for the winch, together with an on/off switch for the entire circuit; we have arear defogger switch available to be pressed into service. I'm considering a longer aluminum attachment piece (or a new battery retainer) to mount the two extra relays. I'm also pondering whether to wire winch control as switching-to-ground, or switching power.
I think the former would go with Toyota philosophy, whereas the latter would be in line with the concept put forward by HF or Superwinch.

By the way, that black thingie hanging off the positive pole is the circuit breaker that comes with the HF12k winch. Since all surfaces of that thing are conductive, I decided to put heat shrink around it. It's not sealed, so moisture can get in, but I hope the heat shrink prevents any accidental shorts, e.g. while working on the truck. Then again, a shielded 300A fuse might be better and take up less space.

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Continued tinkering with the '93: I changed my mind as to winch solenoid placement - it'll have to go down on the frame next to the winch.

Anyways, got the in-cab wiring for winch control installed, looks like it works. The re-purposed rear defogger switch gets fused power from the battery, and activates a relay in the kick panel that switches ground to the antenna switch. Pushing either side of the antenna switch grounds either the blue or the yellow wire that will be used to control two SPDT relays as in https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=8757798&postcount=1 - thanks for posting the diagram. Did I mention that I really don't like Toyota ground switching ;). And I know y'all know how those switches look like, but this is also a little documentation for me, complete w/ date stamp...

I'm going to install the external control setup from HF as well; haven't made up my mind exactly how, and where the plug will go.

I didn't like the accumulation of inline fuses on top of the battery, so I installed a little fuse block; Koso gauge and winch control on the left, horn on the right; space for 6 relays below. One relay installed for the Aux fan - green wire from the cab is the fan switch (next to the ARB compressor switch in the dash). Would have preferred a fuse block with a cover, but those I could find are all either too big, or don't have a positive bus. We'll see how this holds up; and I'm not sure the 6 circuits are enough, but it'll do for now.

As I'm getting to wiring for the winch itself, I need to address that battery terminal on the negative side. There's no good way I can fit a 2/0 cable lug right now. I'm mulling over getting a military-style terminal, and redo the ground cable of the truck with some leftover 1/0 wire.

Apologies for the lousy pics; my little Panasonic Lumix doesn't do so well under weird lighting conditions, and schlepping the DSLR out into the humidity of the garage means I'd have to wait until it's defogged...

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I mounted the winch control box to the front cross brace behind the grill. It fits nicely if you clock the horns from horizontal to vertical plus it's up high.

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Finally, some developments on the '97 LX:
New brake pads all around, thanks to the ToolPot Land Cruiser Spa & Emporium for the help!
Remnants of the rear air helper springs, such as wires and air lines, are finally gone.
New CB radio (Uniden 520) and antenna (3' Firefly), tuning looks good: SWR around 1.4-1.7 in the lower channels.
New stickers, and personalized plate.

And, a new driver.:)

P.S. Tennis ball is a (used...) Penn Championship Exta Duty Felt, #1. Just sayin'...

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Back to the '93 blog:

Funner said:
I mounted the winch control box to the front cross brace behind the grill. It fits nicely if you clock the horns from horizontal to vertical plus it's up high.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the idea - but I was told in no uncertain terms by the co-owner of the truck that I can't hang anything in front of radiator/condenser that would in any way impede airflow...:)



So, the winch is running, got her all wired up. Right now it's exclusively in-cab control, which is neat - but sort of impractical if you're by yourself and try to spool line :rolleyes:. Might just get the wireless remote... Wire routing/protection not finalized at this point, and the bracket for the contactor at the frame rail is still the development version, although it appears to be pretty solid.

I used the contactor that came with the winch. I had intended to use the Superwinch 90-14452 contactor, but ran into a snag: I could get it to run the winch only in one direction; in the other direction it would trip the breaker. I have a suspicion on why that happened (armature?); for now, I'll need to figure out a way to bench-test it, and take it from there.

And the wiring on top of the battery seems to be getting out of hand :doh:, but I'm not sure where else to install stuff like that. One SPST relay for the aux fan that'll go back in at some point, another for a yet to be procured (hence no fuse....) set of flood lights or a bar, and the two SPDT relays for the winch control. Still looking for a more compact fuse block with a positive bus.

I've got room for two more relays, but I suspect I may have to relocate the maxi-fuse for the air compressor once I get a group 27-size winch-compatible battery. I'm not sure what the LEDs in the ebay-sourced relays will contribute to the overall endeavor, we'll see how long they last. Those relays also came with connectors, but the copper content in those wires is really tiny, methinks I need to learn how to repurpose those relay socket connectors.

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'93 - couldn't leave this alone, had to try and get the line on the drum :).

I tried taping the end of the line to feed it through the mounting hole on the drum - no go; in fact, that was an exercise in futility, with quite some slapstick-quality scenes... good thing I was by myself in the house :). What helped was a little yarn and some needlework. Looks kinda weird, but works.

Managed to construct a line lock, thanks to the tutorial here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/winching-recovery/624724-winch-line-whip-lock-tutorial-beowulf-lock.html

But: pic#3 shows I get the drum pretty full, and I haven't managed to spool all the line yet, I've got 10 feet to go. It's 80 feet of 3/8" from Steve at Southeast Overland, spooled on the drum with hand-tensioning, not a real load.

And my solution for securing the wires above the winch on the original HF Solenoid mounting brackets - while successfully keeping the wires away from sources of heat - may not jive either, since the bracket hooks in the rear seem to get rather close to the line. As it looks, I better not get to bunch up the line on a side pull, there's not much to give.

The Ramsey on my Blazer has those bars a bit further out from the drum via right-angle ends; methinks the mounting bolts in the plate are what gives structural integrity to the winch, not those two little bars above the drum.

Anyways, for now, looks like I'll be ready for mall crawling... :)

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'93 - continuing the how-to-make-your-battery-completely-inaccessible-using-seemingly-random-wires-of-all-sizes-and-cheap-aluminum-angle-for-hand-hewn-bracketry theme :)

...and my wife said I must generate a wiring diagram...

Updated at #37 below after re-wiring the in-cab vs. underhood controls...

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She just needs better aim.:meh:

Or maybe she just needs to learn that 80s can be steered, no levitation required.:steer:
 
'93 - new shoes...:)

Took advantage of a deal at Pepboys: $226 for Maxxis Bighorn MT in 315/75R16, and 20% off for 4...
At 35psi they measure out to 34.4" without weight, and 33.5" on the truck (front) - so, quite fitting for the 'inside-the-box' build theme for this truck :D.

Speedo is off by 10% according to my iPad GPS (MotionX) - might do a Yellow Box (thanks to Akarilo for the feedback...) once I can verify that it'll govern shift points, not just speedo; there seems to be an unresolved debate from what I can find.

There's a noticeable tire whine at 60mph (I'll be calling them the 'woo-woo tires'...:)), but nothing I find annoying; I suppose they will get louder with time. They actually drive nice on the streets of Baton Rouge, where I always found the E-rated 285 Michelins to be a bit harsh. I like the feel of more rubber on a vehicle like that. Power-wise, not much that I notice, but it's all flat 'round here.

Now, time to think about clearance and rocker panel protection. I'd like to take it up to Hot Springs sometime next year.

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'93 - well, a rear heater switch arrived... So I rewired the winch controls in the dash:

Hi - in-cab winch control via the repurposed antenna switch; neutral - all winch controls inactivated; Lo - underhood winch control, either via wireless or HF hand switch, plug remains at the battery hold-down.
And this is the updated wiring diagram...

I've kept the extra rear defogger switch; it's repurposed to operate a relay powering a yet-to-be-procured light bar directly from the battery. Don't know yet how I'm going to operate the auxiliary electric fan when it goes back in; relay is in place already, switch position undetermined as of now.

So much for this one; barring unforeseen obstacles, the LX will be pressed into long distance service for the first time next week :). Looking forward to a few days away from work, and giving my camera a workout.

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You need some sort of distribution block for that battery. looks scary.
 
scrowley said:
You need some sort of distribution block for that battery. looks scary.
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That IS a distribution block. Everything that goes thru the firewall, or anywhere else, is now fused. The exception is the ARB harness - for now... I'm looking for a slimline fuse block with 12 fuses instead of 6 and a positive bus. The one from Speedway Motors seems to be my best bet...Main theme is that I'm trying to keep the distance between the fuse and the battery short.

None of the 80-approved manufacturers, like Blue Sea, makes anything I can fit up front. And I don't want an aux fuse block on the firewall, just to run wires there, and then back up front.

What I really NEED is an integrated circuit. :)

But with the new battery in the LX (a group 27 Optima Yellow Top), I have a better idea now how much space is available once a taller battery is installed. It looks like everything is working now the way I want it, so the next step is to clean up / shorten the wiring and build a harness with connectors.
 
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