Arm wrestling murphy...

[trainbufftony]

I have a trip planned with my lady friend starting Tuesday.
Last week i did a once over of the landcruiser, rotated tires, checked brakes, inspected chassis. During my shake down i found one rubber brake hose which i never replaced.

OEM, 53 years old, holding pressure and looking like a very tired brake hose.
Now ive had brake hoses blow up on me and cause no brake situations before, so i decided to go ahead and fix it.
I ordered one from one of the landcruiser enthusiast mark up centers for around $50 shipped.
2 days later tracking said it hasn't moved so i decide that ill try and get one on my trip to town. (Thinking i bought the part and stashed it)
I went looking at my stash spot and couldn't find what i was looking for.
I the process of removing the hose retaining clip i broke the steel bracket off of the frame.
I did not find my stash of new brake hose but i did bring my old one.
So i stopped by Brake parts supply in chico and had Leigh make me a new one for about $30. It took him about 3 minutes.
Between buying 2 (perhaps 3) lines and driving all over hell and back, brake fluid and paying my welder im going to have $250 into fixing this BS that could probably have lasted another 3 decades...

What else might murphy throw my way before tuesday?
We will not be stopped. We are going on an adventure. 2 bands, 2 nights if camping on the coast, several fancy meals, and some sort of spa/float tank thing.
Plus she scheduled dune buggies.
We're riding the dune buggies...
We will stop but we will not be stopped.

 

[xtiaan2000]

WILL NOT BE STOPPED!
That is how some of the greatest things have been accomplished!
I hope you get some road h… . You deserve it!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

...OEM, 53 years old, holding pressure and looking like a very tired brake hose.
Now ive had brake hoses blow up on me and cause no brake situations before, so i decided to go ahead and fix it.

Wow. 53 years is impressive service. How old was the brake hose that blew up on you?
Maybe now you've been reminded about why that one had avoided being replaced in the past..

 

[trainbufftony]

Wow. 53 years is impressive service. How old was the brake hose that blew up on you?
Maybe now you've been reminded about why that one had avoided being replaced in the past..

The one that blew up was on a thunderbird or cougar and it was decafes ago but i seem to remember it being a mid to late 1980s car.
So it was a ~25 year old line at the time of failure...
I was wirking at a shop.
Luckily the brake lines were the only failure.
When the customer came to get their car they complained at the additional cost of 2 brake hoses. ($40) They didn't authorize this and thats illegal blah blah blah. Which is why its better if someone else mans the front counter and i stay in the shop.

 

[trainbufftony]

I got it back together and bled and i think its bubble free but the sun went down and im done for the night. Hopefully ive got full pedal in the morning otherwise i keep bleeding until im out of dot-3.
This pig has always been a nightmare to bleed out.

 

[trainbufftony]

Still got a tiny air bubble this morning evidenced by the fact that the pedal takes a few pumps so we go around it and bleed again, and again, and again until we get all of the air out.
Got enough brake fluid to do this all day so hows it going to play out?
Want to eff around and find out?

 

[trainbufftony]

I went around again and it didn't get any better so i changed my technique.

Instead of using a tube attached to the bleeder into a bottle of beake fluid and pumping away, i pumped up the brakes and jammed the pedal down against the floor using a tire iron.
Went down and opened the right front rear bleeder.
Let it shoot air aind fluid and close it before it stops.
Pump it and jam it again
Next the right front front, open it and another huge bubble.
Then the left side and now we have a solid pedal...
Next up was to get the tailgate glass to work.
Tore it down and reglued the weatherstrip that was causing a bind.
Then i took out the mechanism and cleaned the rocker switch which returned functionality to the system for now.

Ive been collecting bits to revamp the tailgate control system but im not ready to tackle it before this trip.

When i get back, im going to run a 4g copper cable from battery to tailgate to provide current for the window motor.
Im going to use the current power feed and switch wiring to activate 2 lawn mower starter relays, one for up and one for down and i may even back up the supply with a capacitor. The new wire and relay will allow the motor to feed on current without that current passing through rare obsolete switch contacts that have been burned and cleaned too many times... Instead ill use a relay and if the contacts burn up you can get another one at any tractor supply, retail auto parts store, feed store or mower shop anywhere in america.

Good idea, bad idea, hows murphy plotting to screw me?

 

[J Mack]

hows murphy plotting to screw me

Fire?

I keep one of these by my wire cart..

If their info is correct you are talking about running 100 amps of potential power to your window motor. Most of us have that on a 30 amp fuse and assume it's drawing something less than that under normal operation (yes I get inrush has the potential spike above 30) but if you plan to push 100 constant amps to your little window motor I would think you'll let the smoke out..

 

[trainbufftony]

Fire?

I keep one of these by my wire cart..
View attachment 3958937
If their info is correct you are talking about running 100 amps of potential power to your window motor. Most of us have that on a 30 amp fuse and assume it's drawing something less than that under normal operation (yes I get inrush has the potential spike above 30) but if you plan to push 100 constant amps to your little window motor I would think you'll let the smoke out..

E=i×r
The current through the motor is defined by the resistance and suply voltage 12v at its terminals.
What im intending to do is eliminate the voltage drop in the old wiring and switch such that it gets 12v even under load.
As it sits the drop in the wiring is only allowing me 6 to 8 volts to apply to the motor...
Voltage drop testing, its something worth knowing how to do.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Yes, 4 gauge wire sounds a bit overkill for this project. Toyota also installed an automatic circuit breaker in this system so that the current is almost immediately disconnected for a brief period of time anytime the amps exceed a certain amperage. No idea what amperage that would be but probably something less than 30 amps. So when the motor stalls on up or down the amps will spike and the circuit breaker opens to protect the components (motor, glass, fuse, etc.). They are inexpensive but I have no idea what size you would need to use.

I assume you have read through the rear window thread at the top of the forum?

 

[trainbufftony]

Yes, 4 gauge wire sounds a bit overkill for this project. Toyota also installed an automatic circuit breaker in this system so that the current is almost immediately disconnected for a brief period of time anytime the amps exceed a certain amperage. No idea what amperage that would be but probably something less than 30 amps. So when the motor stalls on up or down the amps will spike and the circuit breaker opens to protect the components (motor, glass, fuse, etc.). They are inexpensive but I have no idea what size you would need to use.

I assume you have read through the rear window thread at the top of the forum?

The 4 gauge wire will also be necessary to run an audio power amplifier and to wire a constant 12v to my trailer plug and perhaps run an air compressor.
4g seems like the right stuff and my pal Lewis gave me 25 feet of high strand count welder wire.

Some folks invest in precious metals to put in their safe.
I put my precious metals to work building out my landcruiser into something more useful....

I am aware of the circuit breaker behind the cluster, and ill find out its rating using my fluke amp clamp to record peak current while i ramp it up to an overloaded state using a load resistor.
(My other hobby involves owning and operating an electronics repair lab)
Im well aware of whats required and ill be doing a complete write up on it when the time comes.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

E=i/r
The current through the motor is defined by the resistance and suply voltage 12v at its terminals.
What im intending to do is eliminate the voltage drop in the old wiring and switch such that it gets 12v even under load.
As it sits the drop in the wiring is only allowing me 6 to 8 volts to apply to the motor...
Voltage drop testing, its something worth knowing how to do.

Ohm's Law is E=IxR. FWIW, I'm pretty sure you're not getting that much voltage drop and even if you are and you think it's because you need new wiring, there is no reason to go up several sizes from what the application calls for.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

You realize that if you intend to keep the dash switch that you only need to bring power to that area first (starting with the circuit breaker that I mentioned)? The circuit is ultimately made with a ground in the tailgate. Everything in between is dedicated wiring that can't be used for anything else.

 

[bobm]

So will ths eliminate da Stress concentration

 

[trainbufftony]

You realize that if you intend to keep the dash switch that you only need to bring power to that area first (starting with the circuit breaker that I mentioned)? The circuit is ultimately made with a ground in the tailgate. Everything in between is dedicated wiring that can't be used for anything else.

Mine switches power on 2 wires and ground is constant.
I was going to remove those wires from the terminal block and use the +voltage from either switch to activate a relay for up and a relay for down.
That way it stays visually stock but fixes the weak point where toyota cheaped out which on my rig is the switch in the tailgate.

Thats not my concern right now.
We're going to head out tomorrow for a gogol bordello show in Sacramento, then mozie over towards the coast, up to the middle of Oregon on our way towards portland where we'll be having a nice dinner and shopping for records.
Then down to Eugene for a Floater show on our way home.
Floater had a deep impact on me growing up, one of my two favorite bands as a kid and the other just did their last concert ever, then Ozzy died...

Wish me luck!

 

[bobm]

Good Luck

 

[scrapdaddy]

Then down to Eugene for a Floater show on our way home.
Floater had a deep impact on me growing up,

I had a floater the other day that impacted me too, but I think it was too much cabbage the night before. Good Luck!

 

[Ol Yeller]

You have to love the Sty, we get to learn and have fun while doing it!

 

[trainbufftony]

well we made it to Oregon.
I had one incident on the way over, Mt lock washer failed on my driver side hub bearing and it began to loosen. Noticed a brake squeak while turning right.
Pulled over, pulled off the hub, reset the nut and modified the washer to hold. We were off and running in 20 min flat.
In that 20 minutes only about 3 cars passed and one of them was a newer (200 series i think) landcruiser.

I had some sarcastic words as they drove by....
Come to think of it I've only ever seen one landcruiser stuck on the side of the road ever in my life and it was an fj55 with no brake pedal...
Naturally I stopped and did everything I could to help.
The next morning there's an fj55 at the Firestone where I work, same truck, in for brakes...

Trip has been good, we visited a Mcintosh dealer in Eureka and got to listen to so.e music for a few minutes and talk audio.
I used water from my cooler to wash my hands of axle grease before going inside!
Good times.

Waiting for Sara to wake up then we're fixing to find some breakfast.

First time the ol sow has been out if state in a good long time.

 

[trainbufftony]

Wow, what a trip.
We made it up the coast through Florence and over to Portland.
In Portland we did a sensory deprivation float in a tub with 1400 pounds of Epsom salt. Then we went to a 7 course tasting of wild forraged food and home fermented drink. Followed up by a late night in the hookah lounge.
Next day I felt like total ass from the nicotine...
We got a nice breakfast in Portland and blazed out to Eugene about noon.
Checked into another Airbnb right in downtown, took a nap and blazed out to go see floater at 7:30.
Got there right as they were going on, bought a copy of their limited eddition vinyl record which I read was sold out.
Went inside and had my mind completely blown.
They did a War Pigs cover as their second song and naturally their encode was the sad ballad of Danny boy which they bisected and dropped "sweet leaf" into the middle of...
Brilliant, epic, out of this world show.
If you were to Crack open my kenwood portable cd player in high school chances are that you would find either floater or black sabbath inside.
So this all hit me deep in my core.
Concert was sponsored by "your local Toyota dealer" and naturally I brought my fj55 which has had floater stickers all over it since 2002.

Now im getting coffee at a local joint and prepping myself for 8 hours on the freeway in an iron pig.

Noteworthy fact:
My landcruiser is basically unmodified.
The cylinder head has never been off, and it has original drivetrain and brakes and is totally reliable to take out of state in that condition at 53 years of age.
Yes its a bit of a rough ride, but its a survivor, and my love for this landcruiser continues to blossom and grow.

What adventures will we find ourselves on next?