Builds Cayman Islands FZJ80 DIY build-up

[mmajsw]

And within 5 weeks from when I initially bought the differential that was listed on eBay, and after Ken had worked his magic, I have in my possession one Toyota Land Cruiser rear differential with 4.10 ratio and a Harrop Locker for installation in my truck! It sure is a thing of beauty and will probably get me into situations that I might have normally avoided, but such is life!
I need to order new rear bearings, oil seals, etc. so that I can rebuild all parts of the rear hub if needed. But those are usually in my hand within 2 weeks of placing the order.

The front is already at Ken's and I need to pay for it to get the same treatment.
I know what I'll be doing over the Christmas holidays! In Cayman, it will be a 4-1/2 day lonnggg weekend - from Friday at 12 until Wed 8AM! I can smell the oil and grease already!
Rear end first, front end (if it is delivered in time) next, wiring it all up and then testing!

 

[mmajsw]

With the rear end parts on their way to me, I got an update on the front diff. All parts have been by Ken and he sent me this picture of the start of the exercise.

Looking forward to his step by step images over the next day or two as the build progresses. The communication from Ken is definitely top notch!

I have figured out the wiring for use with the factory switch so I can wire the relays for activating the e-locker and also to turn on the dash light for when the front and/or rear diffs are activated.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

I'm happy to report that these used 410 factory gears are totally reusable. Pic #1 the drive side paints nice....very much central.

Pic #2 the coast is equally nice....slight toe favoring.

And pic #3, the backlash was already in the range of .007 ~.008". You never know about Ebay 3rds....they might be caked in mud and greasy goo but this one was free of that....just some rust on the outside.
Now to break it down and clean it up some.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Harrop ELocker | Toyota 4x4 Differential Lockers | U.S. Dealer is having a Black Friday sale.....til the end of November.....$100 off on the Harrop elockers. Normally 1295 for the front locker but is now 1195. Mike suspected they might have a sale so I waited until it did happen so he saved 100 big ones that could be spent on ....more lights.

The plastic lead filled hammer did the trick and the oem 410 ring eventually went down....took awhile but it did go down.

The hi-pinion 3rd is cleaned up as best as it could be done and the new outer Koyo race taps in.

The larger inner race has to be started true and straight...easy to get it cocked in there sideways. I use a bubble leveler to make sure it starts straight and true. The first 10% is the tricky part then the next 90% is cake.

The 3rd on the left is nice and clean and has the races in......the original 410 pinion has the oem .076" shim and a new Koyo bearing......the Harrop has the ring attached and both new carrier bearings fully on. I'm ready now to do a paint check....that will be posted in the morning.

 

[wardharris]

Harrop ELocker | Toyota 4x4 Differential Lockers | U.S. Dealer is having a Black Friday sale.....til the end of November.....$100 off on the Harrop elockers. Normally 1295 for the front locker but is now 1195. Mike suspected they might have a sale so I waited until it did happen so he saved 100 big ones that could be spent on ....more lights.

View attachment 1578854

The plastic lead filled hammer did the trick and the oem 410 ring eventually went down....took awhile but it did go down.
View attachment 1578841


The hi-pinion 3rd is cleaned up as best as it could be done and the new outer Koyo race taps in.
View attachment 1578842



The larger inner race has to be started true and straight...easy to get it cocked in there sideways. I use a bubble leveler to make sure it starts straight and true. The first 10% is the tricky part then the next 90% is cake.
View attachment 1578843


The 3rd on the left is nice and clean and has the races in......the original 410 pinion has the oem .076" shim and a new Koyo bearing......the Harrop has the ring attached and both new carrier bearings fully on. I'm ready now to do a paint check....that will be posted in the morning.
View attachment 1578844

Thanks, Ken. Here are the full details on the sale. We will also honor the sale price through our affiliated installing shops and specialists like @gearinstalls.com

$100 off Harrops
20% off Terrain Tamer kits and parts
$100 off Long Range Automotive expedition fuel tanks

Cruiser Brothers Black Friday Sale

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Thanks, Ken. Here are the full details on the sale. We will also honor the sale price through our affiliated installing shops and specialists like @gearinstalls.com

$100 off Harrops
20% off Terrain Tamer kits and parts
$100 off Long Range Automotive expedition fuel tanks

Cruiser Brothers Black Friday Sale

Mike's elocker(9334) came in 3 days or so....mine for my rear 9.5" 3rd just happen to be out of stock. Can't wait til that badboy comes in (9378)because having just a front elocker on the trails that I recently did was a bit ....risky.



The stop tabs did not allow me to put the cap in place. Out comes the crescent wrench.
3 notches on the wrench....Not yours Mickey Mouse

The TIG weld shown is strong but why stress it more than needed....so the trick is to push the wrench and pull at the same time....
forcing the tab to bend at the very tip where the wrench tip is. Move the bending forces away from the weld.

It now clears but it's not the suggested 2mm play in the book but good enough for this paint check.

After adjusting the backlash and verifying at least minimal carrier bearing preload, now the paint check can happen.....new fresh paint and
this is the drive side....very nice.

Coast side....nice. Now to disassemble and drill the 29/64" hole and I'll post a little more.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Drilled the 29/64" hole (.453").

Since we are keeping the original 27 spline ring and pinion and the original 27 spline flange, best to use the Marlin eco seal.
I run them both front and rear on my 9.5" 3rds on my 01 Taco....no leaks.

Slowly tighten the pinion nut until a smooth 11 in/lb is measured.
I should clarify....Slowly tighten the nut with a 3 foot cheater bar and check
it in between sessions with the shown torque gauge.

Resistance check.....3.8 ohms which translates in a little over 3 amps current draw in real time use.

Finally, 12 volts is applied and turning the pinion I could see the 3 engagement pins get ramped into the case.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Remove the 12 volts and BAM!!!....the 3 spring loaded pins instantly snap back to their relaxed state.

Shipping the freshly painted 3rd and harness tomorrow to Mike.

Notes taken with possible useful info.

 

[mmajsw]

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...compliments of Ken!

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Thanksgiving and Fedex is closed.....unbelievable.
So, I packed it up....put the harness in securely as shown.
I wonder what it will look like when Customs gets done with it.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

All pretty and unscathed....

 

[mmajsw]

The front diff is now in a container on a ship to Cayman. I just have too keep waiting.
In the meantime, on with other projects.

I always keep a flashlight or two in Cruiser as well as my other vehicles. But due to the long periods between use, I usually end up with an exploded battery that is stuck inside the battery compartment as the leaked acid has bonded the steel battery cladding to the aluminum. I have a small drawer full of destroyed Maglites. I usually end up having to drill through the batteries and then after they are out, wire brush the rest of the corrosion out so that hopefully I can rescue the flashlight. Sometimes I can and other time I cannot.

I had bought some battery holders from a company called Storacell and while they did work as advertised, they did not contain the fluids from a leaked battery. Not sure why but something about the heat in Cayman destroys battery cells in a car way before their expiry date.

I thought about placing the unit in a Ziploc bag but that solution did not appeal to me.

I was trying to do a bit of cleaning up or the workbench recently and when I saw a couple D cells on it, decided to try and resolve my outstanding problem. I found a piece of 1" PVC tubing. It was too small to hold a D-cell but the 1-1/4" diameter was a good fit. A couple end caps and I have my solution.
Introducing the acid proof, indestructible and cheap (two words that rarely go together these days) D cell battery holder. I built it for 3 D cells but you can shorten it for 2 cells or lengthen to 6 if you desire. I just personally like the 3 D cell battery flashlight size.

Three simple parts - 7" of 1-1/4 PVC and two end caps. Cut the pipe to the required length and cement one cap to one end. You will need to reduce the outer diameter of the open end as the caps are tapered inside, with the diameter getting smaller as you get deeper inside. I just chucked it in the lathe to reduce the outer pipe diameter. A file or sander can be used as you are not taking much off .
Keep checking the fit of the cap on the pipe until you get a friction fit that feels good to you.

Place your batteries inside and cap it off and store the package now knowing that your valuable flashlight is safe from any more leaking acid. Plus any leaks are contained inside PVC that it cannot destroy.

 

[mmajsw]

The next item is a DIY upgrade of IPF 900 lights to 55 watt HID.

Over the past couple years, I had bought some IPF 900 driving lights. One set were IPF and the other was Dick Cepek. When the two were compared side by side, they were exactly the same with the Cepek bulb housing carrying the IPF DB logo.
As I am revamping the front bumper, I decided to try and mount a pair of the 900s as well as some 808 I also had in stock.

I will deal with the conversion of the 900s first.

Once they were taken apart, I inserted the 55W H3 bulb and locked it in place. The base of the bulb is wider than a halogen but the retaining spring will bend to fit.

The next job was placing the ballast so that the whole unit can be mounted internally. I had bought a Zentec slim ballast kit from Amazon and it fit very well.

There were multiple positions where the ballasts could fit within the housing, so choose what suits you best. I placed my units at the bottom of the housing and used some dabs of 3M 5200 marine polyurethane sealant to hold them in place. The tape is there to protect me from cuts from a couple small sharp points.

Once the units are together, I did a quick coating of bed liner to protect the painted housing. Getting to like using bed liner instead of paint.

The unit was assembled with the two wires coming out the factory grommet. Outside the bulb, the wires were wrapped in the mesh snakeskin wire protector and a couple of two pole wire connectors were soldered on for easy future removal. Then to bench test everything with a successful conclusion.

 

[mmajsw]

And installed on the front bumper. The next project is to attempt to convert the 808s to HID. In this case, the ballasts will be outside of the bulb. But no worries, they are waterproof - or so the packaging says!

 

[mmajsw]

Today, while doing some cleaning up, I ran across a little item that I have been playing with on and off for the past couple months. Mainly, trying to clean the rocker cover so that it can be painted. It is a spare unit I managed to grab off eBay for $35.
After a couple hours of engine cleaner, wire brushes, Brillo pads and elbow grease, I decided that it was no going to get any cleaner so I might as well paint it. A couple coats of aluminum primer, followed by ceramic engine paint and this is the result.

I intend to paint the raised letters black and put a IFZ-FE sticker on the front of the cover. Then it will be installed as I begin to chase down some minor engine leaks.
After the rocker cover is sealed up, the next things are oil pump and front crankshaft seal.

 

[mmajsw]

I managed to wrangle a surprised long weekend out of work (from Wed at lunchtime returning to work next Tuesday) so decided to undertake the rear differential installation along with servicing the rear hubs.

The differential was first as it was the one I would need assistance with in lifting the old and new diffs off the axle. The replacement was done with the truck sitting on all four wheels with wheel chocks and was pretty straight forward. The procedure was as follows.

1. Drain the diff oil. A 24mm socket and oil pan was all that was needed.
2. Remove the driveshaft. Two 14mm box end wrenches quickly removed the 4 bolts and nuts. My driveshaft nuts had definitely never been removed in the 20 year life of the truck. U joints were good as I keep greasing them when I change the oil so no need to worry about them. But I checked anyways.
3. Remove the axle shafts. A 12mm socket took care of the bolts. A sacrificial 8mm nut on the stud along with a brass drift and a hammer removed the cone washers. I chased the two threaded holes in the shafts with a 8mm tap and inserted the bolts to press the axle shaft out.
4. Crawl back under the truck and remove the 10 housing nuts with a 14mm socket. I had to use a deep socket as well as a 6" extension so that the impact could clear the diff housing.
5. Using a jack, I put a little pressure on the front of the housing and broke the seals. I then pried the assembly loose. An oil catch can was placed below the axle to catch the inevitable oil that would not drain out.

Enter assistance.

6. Together, we removed old housing and got it out from under the truck.

While the assistant scraped the paper gasket off the axle housing, I went and cleaned Ken's diff with some brake cleaner. I got rid of the lead paste used to check the gear tooth mesh patterns as well as most of the dust that accumulated on it. Once completed, I used some black silicone gasket maker to lightly coat the sealing surface of both the diff surface and the axle surface.

Next, with the help of the assistant, we lifted the new locked diff assembly onto the axle studs. The diff was pushed back to mate against the axle and the nuts and washers were installed. Everything was assembled finger tight and left to dry overnight.


Tomorrow morning, the nuts will be torqued to 54 ft. lbs. on both the housing and the driveshaft and the rear hubs will be serviced.

 

[mmajsw]

As discussed in the above message, the hubs were serviced as well. All bearings were in good condition with no visible scoring or other issues. All grease and oil seals were replaced as a precaution. Studs, cone washers and nuts were all good and were reused with liberal applications of anti-seize on all mating surfaces and threads to ease future disassembly.
Driveshaft was re-installed but I noticed a little issue. On the factory pinion flange, one could easily insert a box end wrench on the driveshaft nuts to remove and tighten it. With the new flange, this is no longer possible. I was therefore not able to torque the nuts and check if the bolts were to specifications. I will monitor the situation.

Between the diff installation and today, I worked on getting the electrical part of the installation completed.
Following the ARB air locker - factory switch installation by Rock_Wagon, his installation instructions are very detailed so no need to repeat it here. Thanks for the information.
The only changes I made his instructions was to install a 6mm nut on the bolts first to raise my aluminum relay mounting plate off the body. Then another 6mm flat washer, lock washer then a nut was used to hold the plate in. Plate dimensions were about 4.5" x 5" made from 1/16" aluminum.

Below is the location of the relay mount behind the passenger kick panel. Thankfully, I have the locker plug as the various messages I looked at on that topic made me think it could be "maybe it is not there" concern.

As I used two independent relays, I had to sort out the wiring. Working from my previous sketch made it easy. The first relay is activated by the magic dial and sends power to the locker. The power heading to the locker also activates another relay to ground the bulb for the appropriate indicator.

Everything was labeled for future use.

When I had to run the power, I did some quick calculations.

The relay draws 0.12 A @ 12.9V to activate it. That amount of current can be readily handles by the locker switch.
The rear locker takes around 3 Amps to activate and hold.
Two lockers draw around 8 amps total (rounding up to include handling the 2nd relay trigger amperage) which is readily handled by 14 gauge wire (although 16 gauge would have worked).

Therefore, I used one 10amp fuse position on the main power distribution box to handle everything. With only the rear locker installed, it is working but I need to remove the instrument panel and add two additional bulbs so that they will illuminate the correct light. With only one fuse, if it stops working, it is a one-stop check.

If anyone needs a wiring diagram, please let me know and I will post it.

Wiring was run from the rear locker to the relays. No issues encountered.

 

[mmajsw]

And the great news today is that the front differential is in Cayman and ready to be picked up - once the relevant taxes have been paid. Ken to Cayman is 4 weeks - pretty good! Re and re the front diff is now a Christmas project. Hopefully it can be done as quickly as the rear.

 

[gearinstalls.com]

Great!

 

[mmajsw]

With the diff in hand, it would be a couple days before I would be able to start the installation.
Here is a pic of ken's diff in the box. Great packing job once again.

So early Sunday afternoon, I began to tear the front axle apart to install Ken's diff. I found that I had a leaking driver's side seal so a simple tear down became a full fledged overhaul - no problem as I had a full rebuild kit in my parts inventory. Things progressed smoothly and early Monday morning, the old diff was out and everything was ready for the locker.
The bare axle housing before the reassembly began.

Again, call on assistant and he would be there at around 3 but arrived at 5:20, as it was getting dark. I can and did get the diff in before Christmas dinner! Great. A similar procedure used for the rear was used to seal the diff to the axle.

Silicone gasket maker was used and the clean diff was tested and then inserted into the axle.

That's all the pics of the reassembly because all of the remainder of the work is a one man job.

 

[mmajsw]

Today, I spent a couple hours running the wires from the front locker to the relays. I decided to use the plastic grommet that holds the radio antenna wire as the entry point as the relays are just below that. Wires were run up the front of the shock tower and into the vehicle. One to ground and one soldered into the relay output and the operational portion of the wiring is completed. I left about a 12" loop of wire at the top of the diff for when the axle is articulating. It should be enough to accommodate any axle travel but there is about another 12" of slack available that can be added if needed.
I was contemplating pulling the dash apart and taking one of the indicator lights to the wreckers to get a a couple more to illuminate locker engagement but decided against that right now. I wanted to replace all the dash light with white LEDs so will leave that part until I order and get the new lights.
The only problem encountered in the re-assembly was running out of grease to put in the driver's side Birfield joint knuckle. I had to wait until Wed morning to get some from the car parts store. Otherwise, all went well.

A couple images for you. The first is a pic of the relays

The one of the new diff with a bit of the wiring showing.

The only complaint was the same one I had with the rear diff - the position of the pinion flange makes it hard to get a wrench end on the nut. I will have to thin down 14mm wrench (either with a grinder or on the milling machine) so that the box end can slip onto the nut in future servicing.

Now on to cheaper modifications!