Builds Bought another 60 - Red, 1981, built for wheelin'... (1 Viewer)

[orion]

So, the fuel (carb) issues I was having kept the truck from coming off idle well. That, plus stock gearing and 36" tires...it doesn't really "crawl". You kinda have to get it going and keep a little momentum to bounce over large obstacles.

Well, that ended exactly as well as you would think, when you're moving too quickly and really off camber -->

Yep, twice in about 10 feet. This was a proper "flop", unfortunately. Dented the body, broke the passenger rear door fixed window, and hurt my pride.

As I mentioned above, there was a lot that contributed to this debacle...

- "New to me" truck
- I overestimated the ability of it
- Crappy gearing and big STIFF tires

Sucks that I flopped it, but we got it back on all 4 wheels (again), finished the trail, and wheeled it hard for 2 more days.

So, to better illustrate the stiff tires and stiffer suspension...here's a video from another trail (Jester) from Saturday afternoon -->



I was having a worse issue keeping the engine alive in that video (you hear it almost die when I'm halfway over the rocks..and it does die as the video ends)...it wasn't that bad at the time of the flop.

As you can see...the tires don't soak up any of the hits...so the suspension does all the work, and it's apparently too stiff.

SO...there's more pics and video, but this is all the update I can muster right now.

Despite the damage, it was a GREAT weekend. Perfect weather, good friends, fun trails, all that stuff.

Anyway, I'll post more later as I find the time.

- Brian

 

[Bama4door]

Allright...finally got to use and abuse this truck last weekend. Mardi Krawl was a great time this year (as always)...and we did a lot of wheeling.

So, we got to Hawk Pride on Thursday morning and unloaded rigs / set up camp. Here's my 60 and my younger brother's 40 (39.5 swampers, propane, bunch of Metal Tech stuff, SOA rear, etc...) and my older brother's ( @ufg8r ) FJ Cruiser (his 60 is under the knife)-->

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After a few more of the group got there, we headed down the hill and onto the trails. There's a small "rock garden" at the bottom, so I rode over there to check out how the new 60 felt -->

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This was literally the first time I drove it anywhere other than laps around my neighborhood!

...

So we headed up into the woods, deciding to run "Lucky's Trail" backwards / downhill.

Only made it a mile before the fuel pump quit on me. It's an aftermarket cheap-o electric pump. A few taps with a screwdriver got it flowing again, and we continued on. However, this was a hint that I was going to be plagued by fuel delivery issues all weekend.

Now, the entrance to Lucky's is really off camber, and there's a tree to avoid. That puts you way high on the drivers side (or drag the pass side along the tree).

So, I popped over the first rocks and found out that tall 60's are tippy -->

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My younger brother hopped onto the drivers side rock slider, and with a gentle push from the pass side...it dropped back onto all 4 wheels and I rolled forward. No harm, no foul.

(to be continued, next post)

I've been looking forward to your update post for a couple days now! I saw the MK google pics already and am eagerly awaiting part 2

 

[cruisermatt]

Time for some suspension and gearing rework. Operators are standing by

 

[bigfj62]

Gears are in your future.

 

[orion]

I've been looking forward to your update post for a couple days now! I saw the MK google pics already and am eagerly awaiting part 2

Glad I was able to finally provide some context! I'll add more later as well - There's a video of the flop, just waiting on it to be sent to me.

Time for some suspension and gearing rework. Operators are standing by

Gears are in your future.

Yeah, gears would have been helpful. I can definitely pull a leaf from each spring pack as well.

The carb needs a good cleaning or rebuild as well - It got progressively worse as the weekend went on.

...

So, I first thought that the fuel delivery issues would be solved by a new pump, so on Friday morning we drove a Pig (thanks, @RocketCityCrzrs ) into town and picked up a new one some fuel hose, and a couple filters for good measure -->

It's just a "Spectra" 4-7psi pump...Autozone's finest. That, along with a 1/4-turn out on the idle screw seemed to make it run better.

Definitely crawled better - 1100rpm idle would just motor along in the woods in 1st or 2nd gear, kind of like an automatic. But then it started to just load up and die at terribly inopportune times. Like trying to clear a ledge, or climb out of trouble. It died and I whacked the rear right REALLY hard at one point...



You can hear the engine struggling, so I couldn't get it to drive up to the left / out of trouble. Then it slips to the right, and WHACK!

Just added another small dent to the flop dent, so no big deal (considering).

It sat there dead for a while (wouldn't restart), so we winched it out -->

Finally got it going, and did my best rock bouncer impression to get off this trail!

...

And here's a random pic of it in the pines -->

I'll add more later...

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

shorter shackles would help too.

 

[RocketCityCrzrs]

Always happy to drive folks in MrPig

 

[onemanarmy]

Glad to see it back on the trail.

Take leaf out all around and some good 35s would help everything. Better flex, Easier to get going, easier to stop, easier to steer.

 

[ufg8r]

Ha! It was a lot of fun though, good wheeling and nice not to have to worry about beating up the red one, you wouldn’t have done half of that in the white 60.

 

[chbrow10]

Hey, good to meet you and see that beast last weekend. I still don't know how you didn't win the carnage award. Seems setting a 60 on its side was more expensive than a transfer case in a mini-truck. Maybe the contest was rigged! That trophy was too heavy anyway....

 

[orion]

6 weeks later, and I'm finally getting back to my own thread!

Time flies, man...

... you wouldn’t have done half of that in the white 60.

Very true.

Hey, good to meet you and see that beast last weekend. I still don't know how you didn't win the carnage award. Seems setting a 60 on its side was more expensive than a transfer case in a mini-truck. Maybe the contest was rigged! That trophy was too heavy anyway....

I agree! But I'm happy to have an honorable mention, and to not have to lug the trophy back and forth from Florida! haha...

...

So, the Heart of the South cruiser guys decided to use one of the pics above as inspiration for their new t-shirts--->

Love that.

...

But...I did decide to sell this truck. Posted it only in the Florida clubhouse 'stuff for sale' thread, and Facebook...hoping a local-ish person is looking for a decent rock crawler / project.

I just don't have room (or time) for two FJ60's and a FJ62, so something's got to go! :sadface:

- Brian

 

[orion]

Well, since this hasn't sold...I decided to keep working on it.

In an effort to get the front springs to work again, I decided to pull a leaf, grease the pins, and add weight back to the front (put the big ridiculous bumper back on).

It was also popping out of 4WD under load, so I shimmed the shift detent spring with a small washer...has much more positive engagement now.

So...I pulled these from the middle of the front springs:

And got this bad boy mounted back on (using more appropriate hardware (7/16) - Think they were M8 bolts previously, based on the size of the holes on the mounting tabs!).

I'm kinda surprised it hasn't sold yet. A few tire kickers, bunch of lowballers (will ya take $1500...hehe) ...but no buyer.

- Brian

 

[cruisermatt]

That bumper is horrible

 

[orion]

^^^ I think the bumper makes the truck! Haha.

I recently put the winch back on it to complete the look:

...

Haven't been pushing to sell this truck, so it's still in the driveway...and I'm still tinkering with it.

I went ahead and drained the fuel tank (all 4gal left in it) to see if it was bad. It was "old" (by the smell test), but didn't look too bad. I took the opportunity to refill it with 10gal of non-ethanol plus some fuel system cleaner. Also adjusted the carb a little - 1/2 turn less fuel at idle, then a little less idle speed.

After running it around the neighborhood a bunch, it seems to run better. Definitely starts better when hot (issue I was having on the trail). Carb might still need a rebuild, but it's trending the right direction now.

After pulling a leaf from each front spring, and putting that bumper back on, and re-mounting the winch - It was sitting lower up front. Decided yesterday to lower the rear to match.

Pulled the shackles, made them one inch shorter hole-to-hole, and reshaped them to look like shackles rather than bar stock:

(halfway done here)

So, one less thing looking "janky" on this truck.

Anyway, if you know anyone looking for a "classic landcruiser that you can wheel and not worry about body damage", put me in touch!!!

...

EDIT: Sold it, 3/5/2021...

I'm equal parts sad to see it go, and glad someone else is taking over the project and will wheel it!

So I guess, "the end".

- Brian