Build Bunny: 40th Anniversary FZJ80 / 6BT / NV4500 build

[thegogglesdonothing]

Been a while, but my truck's been down again. I got temporarily stranded when, after a 300-mile journey, my truck wouldn't start after I'd stopped for dinner... but then it did once, allowing me to get home. After that, nada. Towed the thing to my builder's, and it took a long while to get to the source of the issue. Gladly, it's back up and running after another strange electrical issue. After a month of wondering and testing the thing, it turns out the root cause of the problem was a failed alternator, which had caused the battery to arc its ground cable, frying both the cable and battery.

In the process of trying to solve the problem, I've now replaced the alternator, the starter, the fan clutch, the battery, the battery cable and the fuel pump. Oh, and my builder took it upon himself to fix my slow-ass driver's side window, replace a couple o-rings in the A/C and re-charge the freon.

In a way, this is all good news, because now that the thing has had almost all the used parts from the 12v/6bt replaced, and doesn't have a single leak, anywhere. If I were doing this all over again, I'd have just originally bought all new parts instead of anything used, just to reduce the chances of anything failing. I certainly haven't saved any money in the long run by attempting a swap with used parts!

All of this in time for runoff to come and go so the summertime dry fly season can kick in, and I can GTFO the city and into the mountains and rivers.

So we're hoping for less of this:

and more of this:

 

[Dirty Koala]

With the amount we all have invested in these swaps it makes sense to go with new as much as possible.

That's a fine looking fish.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Did your alternator's regulator fail resulting in overcharging?

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Did your alternator's regulator fail resulting in overcharging?

I'm not exactly sure. During the fateful journey, I noticed the gauges all wobble a bit, and the headlights flickered for about 50 miles. Once I got home, I couldn't restart the truck. It was an odd one because sometimes the starter motor would turn, but not with enough juice to fire the motor, and at other times turning the key did nothing at all. The alternator was trashed in the end, as was the battery and cable. The thinking was that there was engine damage someplace, but after going through the systems one by one, thankfully the solution was "just" the alternator. Of course, to find that out, we went through replacing the fan clutch and starter motor first.

All's well that ends well, I guess. I find myself getting a little tense every time I go to start it up, hoping for the best.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Brutal, not a lot of luck around the Cummins swap world recently. Hope everything is now good to go.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

When my alternator/voltage regulator went I had a wonky tach and volt gauge. Airbag sensor or something got fried and headlights burned up. I still have airbag dash light one.

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Man, at long last, finally a successful weekend out in my truck with my wife. In the 11 months since this whole process started, she's been with me for two aborted camping trips due to technical failures - first the transmission, leaving us stranded on the side of the Interstate and second the electrical system crapping out, leaving us stranded on the side of a dirt road to spend the night. Then I had my alternator fry itself, though I was able to limp home. It's been an adventure, and she's been remarkably patient - if pretty grumpy - about the whole thing. Vacation time is precious for her, and having two spoiled trips in the big expensive truck was wearing her a little thin. Me too, if I'm honest.

ANYWAYS... we loaded Bunny down with all our camping gear and made for Southern Colorado last weekend. The truck was a ******* locomotive this time out, allowing us to explore some rough dirt roads in the high country near the Continental Divide, and critically, it allowed us to find some really sweet, really secluded camp spots - the first one at 11,440 feet. Knowing that there's what amounts to a tiny hotel room with a comfortable bed, good bedding and a killer view on top of the truck is a life-changing experience, camping-wise. It's so freaking comfortable, and what a change of pace to have my tent erected in 60 seconds, no matter where I am.

We spent our Friday fishing (caught a good number!) and found a different campsite. We woke up Saturday morning and my wife dropped me off to fish again while she drove up to a lake to do some paddle boarding. She's only 5'4" and managed to get her 11-foot board on and off the top of the truck solo, which was part of the critical "wife bonding with the truck" process. She had a great story to tell when she picked me up from the river too - she stopped in a little service station in the seasonal village of Platoro, CO and had the shop owner make a beeline for the truck, and he ended up rattling off a dozen questions about the truck. He apparently is a devout Cummins guy and lost his s*** when my wife popped the hood for him. She was laughing pretty good when she told me the story - she hadn't really believed me when I told her that people come out of the woodwork when they hear the 12v coming from such an unlikely truck.

I walked up out of the river to see a very happy sight that day: my wife waiting for me with the truck, grinning and drinking a beer. Finally, she had a good experience with the Cruiser, built a bit of trust. It does my heart good to know she's legitimately enjoying herself, after all the disappointment thus far. Happy wife, happy life, right?

I recently got the windows all tinted, which is a necessity in my neck of the woods, and thankfully am having the A/C fixed this week. Our drive home, out of the mountains and down into smoky, 100-degrees and sunny Albuquerque was a little uncomfortable with no working A/C, but soon, that'll be sorted too. All in all, feeling like we're bonding.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Sounds like a great weekend, I am hopeful my wife is the same way soon.

Which RTT are you running? I think I need to get one to make the overall camping experience my luxurious for the Mrs.

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Sounds like a great weekend, I am hopeful my wife is the same way soon.

Which RTT are you running? I think I need to get one to make the overall camping experience my luxurious for the Mrs.

I've got a James Baroud Discovery Space Evolution. My criteria was: rigid shell, clips closed instead of folds up, good weather protection. It's plenty big for two adults, though if I had kids I'd consider something larger. It weighs something like 80lbs., which is light enough for me to push alone up onto the rack. Maneuvering it into place to be pushed onto the roof takes two people, however. And it attaches with 8 simple threaded bolts/nuts, which I like. Tight clearance with the bolts and the roof rack I've got, but 30 minutes with a #13 ratcheting wrench and it's on securely.

 

[baldilocks]

Man, at long last, finally a successful weekend out in my truck with my wife. In the 11 months since this whole process started, she's been with me for two aborted camping trips due to technical failures - first the transmission, leaving us stranded on the side of the Interstate and second the electrical system crapping out, leaving us stranded on the side of a dirt road to spend the night. Then I had my alternator fry itself, though I was able to limp home. It's been an adventure, and she's been remarkably patient - if pretty grumpy - about the whole thing. Vacation time is precious for her, and having two spoiled trips in the big expensive truck was wearing her a little thin. Me too, if I'm honest.

ANYWAYS... we loaded Bunny down with all our camping gear and made for Southern Colorado last weekend. The truck was a ******* locomotive this time out, allowing us to explore some rough dirt roads in the high country near the Continental Divide, and critically, it allowed us to find some really sweet, really secluded camp spots - the first one at 11,440 feet. Knowing that there's what amounts to a tiny hotel room with a comfortable bed, good bedding and a killer view on top of the truck is a life-changing experience, camping-wise. It's so freaking comfortable, and what a change of pace to have my tent erected in 60 seconds, no matter where I am.
View attachment 1279002

We spent our Friday fishing (caught a good number!) and found a different campsite. We woke up Saturday morning and my wife dropped me off to fish again while she drove up to a lake to do some paddle boarding. She's only 5'4" and managed to get her 11-foot board on and off the top of the truck solo, which was part of the critical "wife bonding with the truck" process. She had a great story to tell when she picked me up from the river too - she stopped in a little service station in the seasonal village of Platoro, CO and had the shop owner make a beeline for the truck, and he ended up rattling off a dozen questions about the truck. He apparently is a devout Cummins guy and lost his s*** when my wife popped the hood for him. She was laughing pretty good when she told me the story - she hadn't really believed me when I told her that people come out of the woodwork when they hear the 12v coming from such an unlikely truck.

I walked up out of the river to see a very happy sight that day: my wife waiting for me with the truck, grinning and drinking a beer. Finally, she had a good experience with the Cruiser, built a bit of trust. It does my heart good to know she's legitimately enjoying herself, after all the disappointment thus far. Happy wife, happy life, right?

View attachment 1279004

I recently got the windows all tinted, which is a necessity in my neck of the woods, and thankfully am having the A/C fixed this week. Our drive home, out of the mountains and down into smoky, 100-degrees and sunny Albuquerque was a little uncomfortable with no working A/C, but soon, that'll be sorted too. All in all, feeling like we're bonding.

Impressive work! I did not read your entire thread so I'm wondering if you had gotten around to installing the 4" comp springs you spoke of a while back and if this photo reflects their stance while you are loaded.

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Impressive work! I did not read your entire thread so I'm wondering if you had gotten around to installing the 4" comp springs you spoke of a while back and if this photo reflects their stance while you are loaded.

Yessir. 4" OME Comp Coils up front, 3" in the back. The photos I posted up show the truck fully loaded with firewood, all our camp gear, 14 gallons of water, all sorts of stuff. Probably several hundred pounds of stuff, all in. It rides beautifully on those springs and OME dampers. A little top heavy with the tent up high, but it just smooshes everything in its path on 315s and the suspension as it's set up.

There's a couple photos and video of the truck with the 12v and on the old 3" springs here, so you can see how stinkbugged it looked before the new springs: thegoggles' FZJ80 / 6BT / NV4500 build

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

My truck is temporarily down, but in the grand scheme this one's no biggie. I had a t-case leak and planned repair, and in the repair process, it became evident I'd need to trim down the rear driveshaft to fit the new location of the transfer case relative to the transmission. Hoping this solves my 75-85mph wobble, and of course stops the t-case leak. I'm due to have it back Monday and planning a solo excursion to reconnect with nature next weekend.

Since I'm truckless for the weekend - or at least Cruiserless - I took some time to write out a chapter in the ongoing saga of my truck, particularly from the perspective of my very patient wife. Anyone who's interested, I've started a medium publication and am writing longer-form (read: not quite so Land Cruiser dorky) content about our travels, what we see, what we learn, etc., etc.

It’s Good to Have a Win — The Big Ridiculous

Also, made a local friend off of Mud here, @lurch !

 

[Dirty Koala]

That was a good reason.

I had custom shafts made because it was cleat that on compression the rear axle would have been trying to push the drive shaft through the xfer case.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I'll have to look at mine, I have not noticed any pogo sticking of the drives shaft.

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Made a bunch of progress on the truck this weekend. We did a drive up to Salida, CO where my buddy / builder lives, and a few small changes have made a big difference in the truck's drivability and comfort.

Prior to leaving out, I had my rear driveshaft shortened 1" and the t-case output shaft seal replaced, which immediately made the weird vibration and shimmy at 75mph stop. Now it's quite smooth! After that, we fit an rubber shift boot from an old Dodge onto the top of my transmission and sealed around the edges with urethane - it's incredible how much quieter the truck is inside now - no more gear whine. Apart from at idle and during spirited downshifting, it's really hard to hear anything of the motor at speed. This is a great improvement.

Also, in an effort to reduce the black smoke out my exhaust under load, we opened up the AFC and found that the previous owner had installed a #6 cam plate, and the thing was set to pretty much wide-open, which goes a long way to explaining my 14mpg history. We backed the fuel off significantly and there's now next to no smoke. I clocked 15.6mpg after backing off the fuel, and that was with my rooftop tent (aka, giant rectangle in the airflow above my truck) and a full load of camping gear, water, firewood, etc. I'm expecting more like 17mpg unladen, but we'll see. Depending on how it does fuel economy-wise, I may just leave the #6 plate in, rather than going to the effort of installing a stock plate. The power decrease is only marginal - it isn't quite as quick to rev / accelerate, but the power now feels more linear and not as peaky.

Next up, tackling a turbo return line leak and fitting a larger downpipe from the turbo - the guys who did the exhaust piping before have a fancy new tool and are retrofitting my pipes, gratis... which ought to help efficiency and cooling even more. Small things to worry about, but the critical thing is that my wife has now had two consecutive flawless camping trips in the Cruiser. And as they say, happy wife, happy life.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Awesome pics, and very happy we got you sorted on the gear noise.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Wish I could get my gear whine sorted.

 

[Dirty Koala]

BTW, your wife looks like a pro slinging that fly.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Wish I could get my gear whine sorted.

You can, but it would require rebuilding your trans and putting the HF2AV back in, which I don't think you'll want to do given the money you have in the split case setup.

 

[thegogglesdonothing]

Awesome pics, and very happy we got you sorted on the gear noise.

I wouldn't have ever thought about a shift boot had it not been for reading the trials and tribulations of these 12v / NV4500 swaps. The difference is really stark - 10 minutes worth of effort, an old used part and 1/8th of a tube of urethane and it's gone all quiet inside.

And yeah... my wife is pretty incredible with a fly rod. Her hand-eye coordination is unreal, and thankfully for me, she likes the challenge of figuring out the puzzle of fly-fishing. She's slowly coming around on the idea of me buying a drift boat too.