Builds A Canadian build of a JDM BJ74 - *TECH ONLY PLEASE - NO CHAT*

[Malahki]

Ok it's time for an update again. Just want to say thanks for all the positive feedback and please excuse my lack of response to questions and comments. I have gone out of my way to keep this thread 90% tech and 10% chit chat. I dont want to have one of those threads that you have to read through 20 pages of chat to find the tech. Hence the reason I let it get buried until I have a few things to update at a time

Did u ever find out what the vibration was from?

Great work and rig

Yes, the vibration in 4HI was caused by the front driveshaft angle and wear. Their will be more on this in the following posts.

Great work, nice looking dogs, what breed are the dogs? The one on the left looks like my BMC (Black mouth Cur) who needs one of those bars

And now for the 10% chit chat, lol. My dogs are Rhodesian Ridgebacks, they were originally bred in Africa for hunting Lions. They are easily identifiable by the ridge of hair on their back that grows the opposite direction as seen in this pic.

 

[Malahki]

Now back to tech I added a Warn wireless remote to my winch. The part number is:#78060 and the nice part is its 12V and 24V compatible. Very easy install only requires the mounting of the receiver box, routing the wiring harness and plug to the winch and choosing a location for the remote / transmitter. I mounted the receiver between the front battery and fender and the remote comes with a nice holder which clamps nicely and convieniently around the gear shift

 

[Malahki]

Despite having the front driveshaft inspected, new U-joints installed and balanced on two occasions I finally determined it had to be the cause of my vibration in 4Hi at speeds above 40km/h. Both my diffs are new with very low mileage and I recently had my T-case rebuilt for a second time after the seal between the T-case and tranny started allowing oil to transfer again. I had previously thought my vibration was possibly caused by a bad front output bearing because I had left out the oil slinger ring on my initial rebuild. So all new bearings went in to the T-case for the second time and the oil slinger was reinstalled. This however had no effect on the vibration so I was back looking at the front driveshaft

After doing some research I decided I needed a Double Cardan CV style driveshaft to compensate for the unequal angles created by the OME lift and extended shackles (approximately 3" of lift). I looked at buying a used CV shaft that came off the 1980-84 60 series Cruisers but I would still have to get it shortened as well as adapting the flange on the T-case end. Not to mention their is still a good possibility the splines on the slip yoke could be badly worn

I ended up taking my Cruiser to Extreme Driveline in Red Deer, Alberta. They measured my angles and determined them to be -2* at the diff and +10* at the t-case for a total of 12* difference. They showed me how this much discrepancy actual causes a very slight in out movement on the slip yoke and excessive wear on the splines. A perfect candidate for the CV shaft they said.

Due to price, availability and clearance on the cross member below the T-case we decided to use the Toyota to Spicer crossover flanges and then spicer 1310 sealed U-joints. Some of you might argue the Toyota joints are stonger and they probably are and I could have gone to a 1330 or larger U-joint but again clearance on the cross member with the CV joint was a concern

So when it was all said and done I am very happy with the results. All vibration is completely gone and I have tested it in 4Hi on icy roads up to speeds of 100kmh (63mph).

Before and after pics

 

[Malahki]

Of course the Double Cardan joint does does shorten the length of the actual shaft and slightly changes the over all angles

 

[Malahki]

I liked the looks of the Toyota amber fog lights but I really didn't like their performance. I decided to replace them with some PIAA LP530 LED fog lights. They have an operating range of 6-36V so no issues with the 24V system of the cruiser and as a bonus they only operate at 2-3 watts

I am quite pleased with their performance. Keep in mind they are a fog light not a driving light so they are great at lighting up the road right in front of me but not so powerful as to blind on coming traffic. I also like the way the white light of the LED's combine with the yellowness of the halogen headlights. Best of both worlds IMO.

What I dont like is the new lights look a little to small for the bumper but that will get balanced out when I add a larger set of LED driving lights behind them later. The other downside to consider with LED's and the reason I did not go to LED headlights is they produce very little heat and can get built up with ice and snow in severe winter driving conditions

 

[Malahki]

As seen in my last pics I have been using a piece of cardboard in front of the grill to help keep the heat in when the temps drop below -15*C. I finally got sick of looking at it though and had a custom winter front built. Works much better then the cardboard and is super easy to snap on and has the option of opening and closing flaps depending on the temps and type of driving. One of the best bang for the buck mods I've done

 

[Malahki]

A couple quick updates to report. In preparation for my second trip to Moab coming up in a couple of weeks I needed to build a rear bumper and upgrade the sketchy trailer receiver hitch I used last year to pull my Polaris RZR.

I started out by welding on some mounting brackets and notching out a piece of 4" square tubing

I chose not to mount the receiver flush on the bottom because I wanted to leave more meat around the 2 upper frame mounting holes so I could weld a couple nuts to the inside.

The lower 2 were to close to the bottom of the tubing to be used when mounting the 4" tubing even with the top of the trucks frame

Next up I added a 1/2" spacer and plate to the receiver in order to utilize the bottom 3 frame mounting holes

 

[Malahki]

After adding a couple of tow lugs it was ready for paint

Mounted and ready for action!!

 

[Awl_TEQ]

When are you departing for Moab? Lotsa people from Alberta headed down.


...via IH8MUD app

 

[Malahki]

I also purchased a set of 35x12.5R16 Interco Trxus M/T Radials and had them mounted on my ProComp Rock Crawler wheels that I had been using for my winter tires.

These tires are a bit bigger and a lot heavier then the 35x12.5R15 Mickey Thompson MTZ's I have been running

I had to redrill the the spare tire mount to be able to be able to open the back doors. The small door just barely clears now and I have to be careful not to open the big door to far or I will be taking out the right tail light

Yes this is a lot of weight on the back door!!! I do however have the tire mounted low enough that the bumper is also taking the weight. Its only temporary to get me to Moab and back with a full size spare. When I get back and have more time I will be adding a proper swing out tire carrier. Already ordered some great pieces from Comp4x4.com

 

[cruiserdan]

I would be concerned about body mounts flexing. With the tire resting on the bumper AND being bolted to the door I see a bent door in your future.....

 

[cruiserdan]

Try flipping the tire carrier bracket upside down. That will move the tire up and to the right. You may or may not need to remove the rear wiper arm and space the tire out so it does not rub on the door. That is unless the stock wheel stud locations have been changed. It looks like they might have been moved on the plate.

 

[cruiserdan]

Another thing you might consider is notching the bumper to clear the tire.

 

[cruiserdan]

Or......

How much pressure is the tire putting on the bumper. Could you deflate it enough to keep it from pusing the tire up?

A flat spare is counter intuitive but if you have a way to air up that may be an option.

 

[Malahki]

Another thing you might consider is notching the bumper to clear the tire.

Yes the tire carrier mounting bracket has already been moved to fit the bigger tire..... Simplest solution is to drain the air pressure down on the spare to 5-10psi, it will allow for body flex but still offer some support. Thanks for the input.

Edit: Looks like you beat me to it with that idea

 

[cruiserdan]

I will miss you at Moab, I'm comming in the day you leave. Too bad I don't get to see the truck in person.

 

[Douglas S]

Having the tire sit on the bumper is commonly done on Jeeps with oversized tires and no swing-out. I've yet to hear of any issues and it's been done since the early 90's or so. I wouldn't sweat it too much, especially if a swing-out is in the near future.

 

[crushers]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/179-jpg.882368/
see the spray for the original holes?
i would take the bumper back off, drill out those 4 holes and then on the outside i would drill holes large enough to get the bolt and the socket through
bolt those into place since your main stress when tugging is right at the hitch.
the bolts at the outer ends are fine
the bolts through the bottom of the center section is fine
but for peace of mind i would add these 4 bolts this allows for the factory V reinforcement to contribute to the strength.

 

[Malahki]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/179-jpg.882368/
see the spray for the original holes?
i would take the bumper back off, drill out those 4 holes and then on the outside i would drill holes large enough to get the bolt and the socket through
bolt those into place since your main stress when tugging is right at the hitch.
the bolts at the outer ends are fine
the bolts through the bottom of the center section is fine
but for peace of mind i would add these 4 bolts this allows for the factory V reinforcement to contribute to the strength.

You must have missed it from the same post #130 https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/192-jpg.882369/
I am using 2 of the 4 bolts. I welded the 2 nuts inside the pipe and have the bolts entering from the front side of the frame. I could not use the bottom 2 bolts because the holes would be right against the wall of the 4" tubing. That is why I added the other 3 from underneath.

 

[ForealBoreal]

did you cut your crossmember to fit the receiver?