Custom HZJ79 from parts, built in the US!

[yooper]

true ice radials help in the snow immensely.
keep the air pressure down a bit in winter for better traction.
the 1HZ is an excellent winter engine, once you are used to the torque then starting off in 2nd with no gas being applied is a hoot.
if you have locking hubs then having them locked for shifting on the fly is a nice feature

but then you probably know all this stuff already.

Yeah nothing new there , I've been living with winter all my life.

thanks anyway though.

 

[yooper]

I'll take some photos for you guys tomorrow. It's dark and rainy right now.

 

[yooper]

How do you like the rear bumper/sliders?I am building some thing similar but don't plan on using all tube in the rear.

On your sliders...what is the distance between the rectangular tubing and the outside of the round tube. I have a set of sliders that were meant for another truck but they would probably work on this one. I just think to stick out a little to far so i may build some new ones.

So far very happy with the sliders/quarter panel sliders/bumper.

The outside of the tube is about [STRIKE]3 3/4"[/STRIKE] EDIT: 5" from the rectangular tube.

The design problem with making a bumper for this truck is not getting in the way of the tail lights because they are so low and at the same time not giving up too much departure angle. If you want a hitch receiver it gets more complex yet. I'm pretty happy with this design.

The factory bumpers are about worthless.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

So far I'm not impressed with the snowy road performance, but I think it's mostly a mud tire issue and a rear wheel drive pickup truck issue. I drive in 2WD with the hubs locked mostly in the winter and switch into 4WD only when necessary. In the summer I leave the hubs free most of the time.

Last night I put 300 lbs of sand bags over the rear axle and I hope to have real snow tires in the next week or so. Both things should help.
..

Do you think a higher center of gravity adversely affects the handling? I've never driven a lifted truck in winter weather and have always wondered about this. My mini, running studs with the summer tires on rims tossed in the bed, does real well.

 

[yooper]

Do you think a higher center of gravity adversely affects the handling? I've never driven a lifted truck in winter weather and have always wondered about this. My mini, running studs with the summer tires on rims tossed in the bed, does real well.

Higher center of gravity no.

If the lift isn't just so and affects the steering stability yes. At speed on icy roads a little bit of wander will throw you into a skid/spin. This truck has a bit of that; when I get the snow tires mounted I'm going to have the tire shop measure the caster, I have a feeling the lift adversely affected it a bit and shimming might help stabilize things.

I think my main limitation right now is tires. KM2s have wide flat treads and wide grooves, essentially slicks as far as snow/ice is concerned.

 

[swamprunner]

Thanks for the feedback and measurements yoop. The rear bumper is a pain to design b/c of what you mentioned with the tailights. I have stared at it and mock stuff up for hours. the only really clean way to do it is something similar to yours that transitions the side protection in the bumper. I think I'm going to use retancular tubing for the rear bumper so I don't have to use to pieces of round tubing. I hope it will lend a better departure angle and make it easier to incorporate a reciever and recover points.

 

[swamprunner]

Forgot to mention myprevious post....If you are looking for a tach I may have an extra 70 instrument cluster that has the tack. I have a box with about a half a dozen clusters. I will dig thru it and see if there is one with factory tach.

 

[61Mk+]

Frankly most of the things I'm a little unhappy with are things the shop didn't ask me about or did slightly differently than I asked. It is mostly detail stuff though.

- I asked for freewheeling hubs, they didn't install them. I installed them myself at greater expense.

- I wanted the side windows on the soft top to zip open so I could get into the bed from the side. They do not. That would be a really nice feature.

- I'd rather have a Toyota steering wheel. The shop made the final decision to put in an aftermarket wheel. I found out about it the day I took delivery. We had discussed it once and they were supposed to get back to me with comparative prices so I could make a decision but that never happened.

- I'd like to have a second full fuse box for the added electrical stuff (inverter, four 12V sockets, driving lights, bigger stereo, etc.) I didn't specifically ask for this and they ran all the new circuits direct to the battery. I will have to fix this myself.

- I don't like the way they built the roof rack (the black one that goes on top over the soft top). It's not what I really wanted but I let them talk me into this design so it's my own fault. I really wanted a set of cross bars that I could easily take off and carry in the bed but they built a one piece halo rack. It's a nice rack, just not what I wanted. They mounted the CB and 2M antennas on the rack so I have to leave it on if I want to use the radios. I will be moving the antennas to the front bumper next summer.

- I wish the bed and the soft top frame had some tie down points to attach straps to for securing cargo. When the soft top is installed I have nothing to secure cargo to.

- The interior needs more storage. I will be adding door pockets and probably seat back pockets and will be building a custom center console. For now I am using a small console I got at Walmart and modified to fit on the tranny hump between the shifters and the passenger seat.

- I would really like to have a tachometer. I assumed that 70 series trucks all had one. I will figure out a way to add one. I will probably mount it on the A pillar if I can find a gauge pod that works there. I already have a dash pod with EGT, boost, and oil pressure (there is no factory oil pressure gauge).

- There is no clock. I will be adding an OEM dash clock - there is a blank in that slot on the dash.

- I'll add some more stuff here as I think of them.

Hello Yooper,
There is always effort involved in having something built or made to order, as opposed to buying off-the-shelf. Crushers' Wayne gave you his side, and it is more than valid; he is building a car for me, and i'll give you my side, if you don't mind.
You are doing well in that what you list (so far) as not being entirely to your satisfaction is, as you say, minor. If the big items are sorted by your chosen builder/contractor, then that's a damn good thing. Yes it is expensive, sometimes frighteningly so, but one cannot beat something custom-made; it is very rare that a manufacturer's factory product is entirely satisfactory (think along the lines of a Ferrari 250 GTO); and if it is, it is usually just as expensive, if not more so (once again, think Ferrari 250 GTO, pardon the repetition).
One has to be careful as a client, in that sometimes you have to argue and be a stubborn bastard to get your way; yet it is difficult to give your builder hell when that builder devotes his/her energies to your goals. You get your builder on your side, find them convinced by your principles, and you are doing REALLY well.
If, in the end, all you have to sort out are minor bits 'n' bobs, that's all right. The satisfaction of having something built to your aims is amazing. There's a saying i quite like, i repeat it here although not quite with the exact wording: the pleasure of a low price quickly fades when the sting of low quality hits.
Yooper, it does look like you have paid handsomely for your pick-up; i hope you enjoy it, and never regret it. I also hope that you are still driving it in twenty years, by which time your investment will look downright cheap, eh!

Cheers, 61Mk+

 

[yooper]

Yooper, it does look like you have paid handsomely for your pick-up; i hope you enjoy it, and never regret it. I also hope that you are still driving it in twenty years, by which time your investment will look downright cheap, eh!

Cheers, 61Mk+

Thanks. I will never regret it, I love this truck. If I was really upset I would have made that obvious here.

Photos processing now...

 

[yooper]

Forgot to mention myprevious post....If you are looking for a tach I may have an extra 70 instrument cluster that has the tack. I have a box with about a half a dozen clusters. I will dig thru it and see if there is one with factory tach.

Yeah let me know what you have, thanks!

 

[yooper]

sliders

My measurement in the dark last night was way off. The plates between the tubes are 3.25" and the outside of the round tube is 5" from the face of the box tube.

 

[yoopercharged]

I have a hand siper/groover that you can use anytime. I always sipe my mud tires, as they make great snow tires afterwards. Also, if you need any parts off my 60 let me know. I might have a clock or tach.

 

[yooper]

Clutch master cylinder on the inside firewall. The pedal is along the left side of the photo. There is a sound insulating rubber pad between the bracket and the firewall. The pad also goes under the brake pedal bracket, seen at the right side of the photo.

 

[yooper]

I have a hand siper/groover that you can use anytime. I always sipe my mud tires, as they make great snow tires afterwards. Also, if you need any parts off my 60 let me know. I might have a clock or tach.

Seriously? I'd love the clock. I've considered siping, but I bought extra rims for the purpose of running dedicated winter tires.

 

[yooper]

I am at a hospital staff meeting so I thought I should do something productive.

Frame and top:

The headache rack is factory. The rest of the frame is custom built by Proffitt's and very nicely made. It is all bolted together as I described above.

2017 edit: I cant' find this photos.

 

[yooper]

As you can see in the first photo in the above post there are seven straps that wrap around the rear hoop to secure the top. Here are a couple closer shots.

As you can see there are some breaks in the powder coating that are starting to rust already. This and the lack of tie down points are the only things I'm unhappy with about the frame. It is very nicely constructed and matches but is stronger than the factory headache rack.

 

[yooper]

This is a front lower corner of the top. There is a rope loop wrapped around a stud that is mounted to the bed. There is a metal batten in a sleeve of fabric that hooks under the external bed lip.

 

[gifu]

whoa... that clutch pedal and master is... weird. So... the master is under the dash?
huh.
Proffitts was able to use an early more traditional pedal on mine; though I ended up cutting and bending the pedal to get it in the right spot.

 

[ForealBoreal]

Ah that would grind my gears about the powder coating
I hope the prep work was done well on your other stuff that was coated

 

[cruiserdan]