Build BJ74 - new owner, old truck

[LuckyDragon88]

red snork bit makes it easier to pick out at the end of the day when all those pesky BJ74's are crowded about....

24 volt 13BT glowscreen

Arg! I've searched and read many threads and still can't find what I need! I've got an '87 RHD JDM 24 volt BJ74 w/13BT and the PO had disconnected the glow screen system (truck was most recently living in Mexico but has moved to Vermont, USA) As similar as these two climates are I...

forum.ih8mud.com

Just what I was looking for. Thanks!!

I read your post through and felt the same roller-coaster not finding the wiring diagrams in the manuals..

Truck started surprisingly well, but it had warmed up to 0 c by then.

 

[AirheadNut]

Last I saw someone put it down low near base of radiator. Low probability of survival on that installation. Webasto might be many things but tough is not one of them.

I mounted mine down along the frame rail next to the transfer case, so far it has been fine there. I still need to plumb in an intake up to the engine bay and put the exhaust on it.

 

[MistyGoat]

Last I saw someone put it down low near base of radiator. Low probability of survival on that installation. Webasto might be many things but tough is not one of them.

That may have been the Webasto the PO installed my BJ74 - still works though!
Webasto Install BJ74 13BT

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Pulled the injectors and shipped them off. John Fox from Black Fox Diesel in Kamloops came highly regarded by multiple people. Been very easy to deal with so far. Looking forward to seeing the difference rebuilt injectors and a working glow screen make.
Fern hard at work studying for the upcoming front axle rebuild. Might as well make use of the downtime.

 

[AirheadNut]

I just did my first front axle rebuild after owning eight solid axle Toyotas. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, or as messy, though I did mine before the inner axle seals were shot and leaking. Getting bearing preloads right was the only properly fiddly bit for me, and I did end up fighting with some of the knuckle bearing caps and their cone washers.

 

[stayalert]

your hood pad looks like it might be hitting the vacuum piece that operates the shut off.....On mine The hood pad pressed on that piece and eventually pushed the whole unit down a little bit interfering with the push rod that shuts off the engine.....this photo is from mine.....bending the bracket a wee bit back to more horizontal orientation fixed mine....just a thought......

 

[LuckyDragon88]

your hood pad looks like it might be hitting the vacuum piece that operates the shut off.....On mine The hood pad pressed on that piece and eventually pushed the whole unit down a little bit interfering with the push rod that shuts off the engine.....this photo is from mine.....bending the bracket a wee bit back to more horizontal orientation fixed mine....just a thought......

View attachment 3796117

Good eye! It is hanging down.

Mine is running a mechanical shutoff for now, waiting on a VSV to ship from Japan before I can get the vacuum lines sorted and back to OEM.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Christmas came a few days early, with the Canada Post strike and Christmas traffic I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get here from Oz, pleasantly surprised that it showed up before Christmas. They offered free shipping and 20% off for Black Friday so I couldn't say no.

Excellently packed and everything looks/feels like really good quality, can’t wait to put it to use.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

More pics of the toys

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Found some time between Christmas, skiing and a few get togethers to get the winch installed.

I assumed that with the ARB on a 70 and an Australian brand it would be a one banana job. I had to remove the grill and lower cowl to be able to install the solenoid box with the factory mounts, just the way that it installs you need a bit of room for the lower part of the mount to pivot over the lower steel bar of the winch.

I then had to remove it again to rotate the dust cover on the winch controller plug so that it didn’t get in the way of plugging in the controller. Still not quite enough… Had to rotate the mount on the top bar so that there was enough room to plug in the controller.

Used some hose clamps around the lower bar to move the bracket in at the bottom towards grill so that the plug would work. Not as seamless as I would have liked, but looks clean from above.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

The compressor and air locker install is on hold for now, Sherpa shipped me the 12v compressor instead of the 24v that I ordered… the last one took almost 5 weeks between the Canada Post strike and Christmas postal rush. Hopefully this ones quicker.

Very quick on the service front from Sherpa regarding the mistake, they got back to me on Christmas Eve and had a new one shipped on the 28th. Service is defined by how any given company fixes a mistake and I would give these guys a 5 star review even with the mix up.

But I’m torn (impatient), do I just install the 12v and make the house battery setup 12v? I was planning to use a few small 24-12v converters for things like the radio, trailer harness etc. but the 12v would give me a way to run 12v jumpers and make other accessories a bit easier. I have a Renogy 24/12 charge controller so it can accommodate either voltage to/from.. too many options now

 

[LDRF]

The compressor and air locker install is on hold for now, Sherpa shipped me the 12v compressor instead of the 24v that I ordered… the last one took almost 5 weeks between the Canada Post strike and Christmas postal rush. Hopefully this ones quicker.

Very quick on the service front from Sherpa regarding the mistake, they got back to me on Christmas Eve and had a new one shipped on the 28th. Service is defined by how any given company fixes a mistake and I would give these guys a 5 star review even with the mix up.

But I’m torn (impatient), do I just install the 12v and make the house battery setup 12v? I was planning to use a few small 24-12v converters for things like the radio, trailer harness etc. but the 12v would give me a way to run 12v jumpers and make other accessories a bit easier. I have a Renogy 24/12 charge controller so it can accommodate either voltage to/from.. too many options now View attachment 3802875

View attachment 3802874

Wait and put the correct, main voltage driven, compressor in! You’ll feel better for years, that you waited a week or two.

 

[bj70bc]

i have a 24v sherpa winch, theyre good units

 

[Felde]

Hi
I would go for 24V on all heavy duty accessories like winch, compressor, lights.
Less amps, better performance.
For the house battery I would however not recommend the step-down converters. They always draw a bit of current and eventually drain the battery, so you would need switches before it/them. Also there is a conversion loss. More components, more potential failure points, more hassle.
It is also quite difficult to get solar to work with 24V. You need'd solar panels with a high peak, which are quite rare and expensive, I.p. in foldable / mobile design.
Like you say: For house applications there are just more 12V devices available, its more versatile, and usually no high amps are needed anyways. I'd recommend 12V with a decent 24V-12V charger (+solar and whatever you want).
Cheers Ralf

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Hi
I would go for 24V on all heavy duty accessories like winch, compressor, lights.
Less amps, better performance.
For the house battery I would however not recommend the step-down converters. They always draw a bit of current and eventually drain the battery, so you would need switches before it/them. Also there is a conversion loss. More components, more potential failure points, more hassle.
It is also quite difficult to get solar to work with 24V. You need'd solar panels with a high peak, which are quite rare and expensive, I.p. in foldable / mobile design.
Like you say: For house applications there are just more 12V devices available, its more versatile, and usually no high amps are needed anyways. I'd recommend 12V with a decent 24V-12V charger (+solar and whatever you want).
Cheers Ralf

Ya thanks for the imput, I'm going to rework my plan and keep the 24v compressor and make the house battery a 12v setup.

I'll be using the Renogy 24/12v charge controller with MPPT. It takes solar 12-50v, 93% efficient on 24-12v step down and will automatically charge the starter battery from the house battery and has programmable low voltage cutoffs. If I need to leave the truck sitting for a period of time I can just throw a small solar panel on the dash to keep things charged. Probably have a cutoff switch in line as well for prolonged periods of sitting. Seems to cover all the bases in one device which is great and should keep the install clean.

 

[LDRF]

I'm going to rework my plan and keep the 24v compressor and make the house battery a 12v setup.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

24v compressor showed up with some other goodies I've been waiting on since November. Mud flaps, door seals, stereo trim and license plate cover will tidy up some rough edges and help keep a bit of rain out and dirt off, the low hanging fruit and little things keep me motivated.

Now I understand why the PO(S) was so keen to help me install the new plates when I picked up the truck.. Instead of a $15 adapter on AMZN he just punched a screw into the panel to attach the license plate. Dang, one more thing onto the body-shop list..
My 1hr feel good install turned into 3+ hours and a trip to the hardware store for supplies. $10 in aluminum and I made a bracket for the front and back, not bad.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Everything was coming together, new windshield frame and gaskets ordered from Megazip (20% off sale and $300usd for shipping seemed like a steal)

Then it all fell apart, they changed the shipping to $1150USD. OUCH. That old saying about too good to be true I guess.

After a week of back and forth and some humming and hawing I cancelled the order. There’s got to be a better route from a North American supplier.

Spend about 40 hours cleaning up the floor, removing the little bit of rust I did find and prepping before starting the sound deadening treatment. Man that butyl mat is nice to install, the 3 layer product isn’t quite as forgiving (pliable) A few blisters later and it’s 90% done.

 

[LuckyDragon88]

Still some seam sealing to do and some rust remover in all the body mount holes, but for now it’s onto the doors and panels. Found these beauties in the jack/tool mount area, feels like a shame to cover them up…

I’m contemplating spraying some other kind of product for sound deadening/thermal barrier around the hard to reach places like the seat mounts and other places the mat type product doesn’t work well. Not sure if it’s worth being that nitpicky…

 

[Felde]

Active sound deadner actually works by providing extra mass that makes it harder for surfaces to get into vibration and activley produce a sound. Means: It is important to have active sound deadner in the swinging center of larger surfaces, which would act like a drumhead.
Passive sound deadner works like an insulation that hinders sounds existing already outside the vehicke to get into the vehicle. Normally that's more lightweight, felt or foamy stuff or - the carpet.
In both cases it's not necessary to cover each and every bit of surface. Active deadners works well with only a patch in the swinging center of a surface. Passiv deadner however is more sensitive to gaps.
I put active deadner butyl mats on the floor, footwells and door- and side-panels, but didn't cover each bit.
I then put 8mm closed-cell PU foam (aka Walmart camping mat, literally) on the floor and in the footwells, under the vinyl floor sheet, as a passive deadner.
I want to be able to lift as much of the deadner to check under it. Just like paint, rust can also form under the laminated stuff (but even harder to see as no blisters will form). The more complex the shape is, the more likely you may have a seam or a gap or delamination somwhere, allowing moisture to creep in.
That's why I wouldn't try to patch all corners with the butyl mats.
Cheers Ralf