"Detour" - FJ62 Fire Truck Ute - soon to be 80-chassis swapped (1 Viewer)

[RivMan]

Man, this truck is so cool!

I was actually super close to buying this before you did. Glad to see it went to a good home! If you ever decide to sell, give me a holler

Thanks! It's a great project and I still can't believe it was for sale that long without someone picking it up.

-Rob

 

[RivMan]

Hit a milestone today.

Day 1:

Day 352:

Doubled it's lifetime miles in less than a year of ownership.

It's been to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.

Fillups: 72

Gallons of fuel: 924

Average MPG: 13.9

Fuel cost: $3,400

Only one part failure: Clutch Slave Cylinder failed

We're just getting started!

-Rob

 

[RivMan]

More Power!!!!

...... steering anyways.

Over the last year I've sourced a factory FJ62 power steering pump, a RHD HJ61 power steering box (Thanks Jimmy @CenTXFJ60), Derale steering cooler and some custom hoses to add power steering to the Fire Truck.

The truck was fully functional on-road with the manual steering box, but off-road it was really hard to run through some obstacles. I can't wait to test it out with the new steering setup.

-Rob

 

[African]

Great build so far!

 

[RivMan]

A bit of an update, this truck is now officially called "Detour"!

Detour has been sitting parked in Michigan for the last 3 months while I took another rotation in Texas. That doesn't mean progress has stopped though!

From the first time I visited Jimmy's @CenTXFJ60 Barn for a beverage and Cruiser talk, I had my eye on this RHD 80-Chassis sitting in the back 40. I recently convinced him to let it go, and it's on a truck headed to Michigan as we speak. I also secured some 60 to 80 body mounts, and a set of 20" Ute stretch plates from @TRAIL TAILOR .

Detour is officially getting an additional 25" of wheelbase, Coils, etc... I made a deal for a locked front 80 axle from @RocketCityCrzrs, and an open full float rear (for now), however the housings are setup for lockers. It will also be getting a longer Ute tray and probably a headboard. Power is likely coming from the stock 3F for now, but that may shift to an LS as the build develops.

The chassis will be a slow build, and I have lots planned for the truck before we make the switch!

-Rob

 

[African]

Fun.... now its project!! ha ha
My dream Cruiser would be a 60 or 70 double cab on an 80 series chassis... this is going to be awesome.
Im sure you'v seen it but if not check out 4WD 24-7 "dirty 30" on youtube

 

[Goatfarm]

Hey all!

I just purchased a 1990 FJ62 fire truck, sight unseen from a motorcycle dealer near San Antonio, what could go wrong?



Thanks
-Rob

Did you buy this truck from Phil? I test drove it in 2020 I think. Fantastic rig.

 

[RivMan]

Did you buy this truck from Phil? I test drove it in 2020 I think. Fantastic rig.

Yup, purchased it from Phil.

It's a great truck. I can't believe the number of people that passed on it before I picked it up.

-Rob

 

[Goatfarm]

Yup, purchased it from Phil.

It's a great truck. I can't believe the number of people that passed on it before I picked it up.

-Rob

I couldn't get the money together. Took me a year and you had swooped in by then. Had to bring my truck in from California.

 

[cruiserloco]

Hello Rob
Last month i purchased an FJ62 fired truck like yours, my only has 4500 original kilometers around 3k miles, and I absolutely love it, I have been looking at your amazing build and i want to do a similar transformation.
When you mention the power issue, you were correct, this thing is so slow, specially in third gear, I do have a question about this throttle linkage attach to the accelerator. How did you adjust it? I need to pick up more power in this thing.
Also love your rims, do you have an spacer to be able to fit those rims and tires?
Thanks for your help...

 

[RivMan]

Hello Rob
Last month i purchased an FJ62 fired truck like yours, my only has 4500 original kilometers around 3k miles, and I absolutely love it, I have been looking at your amazing build and i want to do a similar transformation.
When you mention the power issue, you were correct, this thing is so slow, specially in third gear, I do have a question about this throttle linkage attach to the accelerator. How did you adjust it? I need to pick up more power in this thing.
Also love your rims, do you have an spacer to be able to fit those rims and tires?
Thanks for your help...

Hey Walter!

I've gotten used to the power delivery, there wasn't really anything to improve that. I just made sure the stroke of the throttle pedal opened the carb linkage fully. There is a cable that can be adjusted to make that happen.

The original wheels on the truck (the Method's) did require spacers and some modification. The new wheels (SCS F5 16x8 ET -25) bolt on perfectly without spacers.

Thank you
-Rob

 

[Broski]

Cool rig and thread !

 

[D21FJ60]

sooo?

 

[RivMan]

I've put about 3,000 trouble free miles on it in the last year. It's needed nothing but an oil change.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of picking up and fully building an LS swapped 80 series, so the build has been on the back burner.

I started work on the RHD chassis last week however. I have the frame stripped and I'm working on cleaning up all the axle components. I plan to powdercoat, replace bushings, and rebuild both axles while it's all apart.

I'm preparing a spot in the garage to jig up the frame and extend it, as well as strip off all of the body mounts.

I've actually been tossing around the idea of passing it on to someone else. My 80 build is sort of my ultimate Land Cruiser, and I'm really not sure I would use this truck like I'd planned if I finished the build. I don't have any solid plans to do that at the moment, but I've considered it.

Thanks!
-Rob