Expedition BJ74 Buildup (1 Viewer)

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Bruce, does Peter's SOA BJ74 *have to be* trailered to the trailhead, or does he just prefer not to drive it on the highway?

Good luck with your project!

Regards,

Alan

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>On the contary, Alan, Peter's rig works really well and is inspiration for this project. It just gets to the trail on a trailer and I'm hoping mine won't have to.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Josie'sLandCruiser View Post
Hi All:

Wow Bruce! Big project!

I'd have to agree with Randy's comments, but that is not much of a surprise considering my lack of awe for fancy suspensions.

I take it that Peter's SOA BJ74 does not impress you with its performance?

Regards,

Alan

 

[lowenbrau]

No Alan, Peter's rig works OK on the highway. A set of more road friendly tires and a roof would do it.

BTW it was good to see some Seattle Cruiserheads at River Shiver


Not much new to report on the BJ74. I tossed in a set of coilover shocks to help carry the load I'm hauling to Ft ST John today. For $120 it was worth not riding on the bumpstops for 20 hours even if they get tossed next month.It actually gave me about an inch of lift..

I ordered a custom set of wheels, 16 x10 with 3" BS for the Tractor tires, Should be here in a couple of weeks. I'm wondering about 37-13.5-17 Toyo MTs on FJ Cruiser Rims. They are for sale all over the place and have 5" of BS. Will keep the tires closer to the fenders for highway travel. I'm not sure if they will clear everything with all that backspacing. The extra couple inches of diameter will help.

Sorry, no pics. I'll see if I can find a place to pose in the Rockies this weekend.

 

[Tapage]

I ordered a custom set of wheels, 16 x10 with 3" BS for the Tractor tires, Should be here in a couple of weeks. I'm wondering about 37-13.5-17 Toyo MTs on FJ Cruiser Rims.

Did you would re-gear for those tires . ?

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Not to get off-topic, but who from Seattle was at the River Shiver?

Back on topic, how about a set of 37X12.5 Goodyear MTRs on this rig?

Thanks!

Alan

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No Alan, Peter's rig works OK on the highway. A set of more road friendly tires and a roof would do it.

BTW it was good to see some Seattle Cruiserheads at River Shiver


Not much new to report on the BJ74. I tossed in a set of coilover shocks to help carry the load I'm hauling to Ft ST John today. For $120 it was worth not riding on the bumpstops for 20 hours even if they get tossed next month.It actually gave me about an inch of lift..

I ordered a custom set of wheels, 16 x10 with 3" BS for the Tractor tires, Should be here in a couple of weeks. I'm wondering about 37-13.5-17 Toyo MTs on FJ Cruiser Rims. They are for sale all over the place and have 5" of BS. Will keep the tires closer to the fenders for highway travel. I'm not sure if they will clear everything with all that backspacing. The extra couple inches of diameter will help.

Sorry, no pics. I'll see if I can find a place to pose in the Rockies this weekend.

 

[lowenbrau]

Hi All:

Not to get off-topic, but who from Seattle was at the River Shiver?

Back on topic, how about a set of 37X12.5 Goodyear MTRs on this rig?

Thanks!

Alan

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Doug and Ben Graham were up in Doug's nice FJ60.

That's exactly the tire I'm looking at used for the road. MTRs do really poorly in Alberta (and Alaska) muck but sould survive the AK highway well.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All;

Oh, really?!? I have not heard from Doug in awhile (maybe he is still at the border trying to cross?)

Yes, the Goodyear MTRs seem like an aggressive AT more than a MT type of tire; they do well on the rocks, but suffer in the muck.

Well, it was just an idea; finding a set of meats that are tough and aggressive off-road while being smooth and long-wearing on-road is hard!

Best of luck on the build of your new rig! I'm really sad to hear that "Arthur Dent" is no longer on the trail or road! :-(

Regards,

Alan





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Doug and Ben Graham were up in Doug's nice FJ60.

That's exactly the tire I'm looking at used for the road. MTRs do really poorly in Alberta (and Alaska) muck but sould survive the AK highway well.

 

[lowenbrau]

It's harder to keep a thread on page one than I thought.

No pictures from last weekend but we had a major blast sledding near Pine Pass BC. I drove Ratpuke's machine up an avalanche to a super cool alpine lake at the top of the range. Never done anything like that before! It's taken me most of the week to heal up though. I had sore muscles where I didn't know I had muscles.

Ok back to topic. I've been working on drawings for the drawer system and I'm pretty much ready to build them. I'm hoping Lumpy will want a set as well and will help me build two sets this week. Having scale drawings should make the build pretty fast I hope.

Today I installed the factory snorkel I got from tlcruiserman
It is basically a bolt up affair with the exception of a half dozen bolt holes in the fender and the one big square one. Its really nice that the kit comes with a new airbox. Took a couple of hours but the majority if that was cutting the hole using a air cutoff wheel and a tiny compressor.

 

[lowenbrau]

I'm not sure if Toyota planned it that way or not but the forward hole for the emblem seems to be in the right location for the rear hole of the EPDM through fender fitting.

 

[lowenbrau]

I didn't like the odds of getting a nut on the back of the bolts that hold the snorkel to the back of the fender. I'll go shopping for some nutserts for them but for now I found some big sheet metal screws. Essensially just lag bolts. They seem to be holding quite well and this temporary fix may become permanent.

 

[lowenbrau]

It looks a bit ghey on such a tiny truck but that's one project that I can check off my do list. I do love that Toyota molded the Land Cruiser emblem into the snorkel.

 

[CaliCruiser]

Looks awesome man, I really like your plans for the build. Good luck

Dylan

 

[Greg_B]

It looks a bit ghey on such a tiny truck but that's one project that I can check off my do list. I do love that Toyota molded the Land Cruiser emblem into the snorkel.

I'm trying to remember where I nutserted and where I did not...but it seems so long ago, and the pinapple express is in town tonight. Wayyy to wet to go out and look. I think it was mostly nutserts though, even on the windshield frame.

Do not affix the hat too tight. Instead, simply make it snug so I will not come off easy, but will come off. Get some picture wire and wire crimps, drill a hole through the metal of the clamp on the main body, and one though the flat section at the rear on the cap, then wire them together. Your cap can then come off when you go through thick brush. You will not break the neck of the cap, nor lose the cap. Ask me how I know...

gb

 

[lowenbrau]

... Get some picture wire and wire crimps, drill a hole through the metal of the clamp on the main body, and one though the flat section at the rear on the cap, then wire them together. Your cap can then come off when you go through thick brush. You will not break the neck of the cap, nor lose the cap. Ask me how I know...

gb

Ah, good idea. I'll do that.

 

[Deny]

Nice Job Bruce,
Good to see things coming along slowly. It took me forever to find where you posted this stuff, but I finally made it here.
Cheers,
Deny

PS, does Cody live in that cruiser?

 

[crushers]

They seem to be holding quite well and this temporary fix may become permanent.

didn't we have a chat about permanent temporary fixes???

 

[Ratpuke]

Nice Job Bruce,


PS, does Cody live in that cruiser?

One heck of an expensive dog house. Hey Deny, next time you see Random and Kodi up here I'll bet that it is impossible for you to stick your face up against the glass and keep it on there for more than 30 seconds. Mind you, for me to win, Bruce must not be in eye sight of the vehicle. Bet you can't do it! ;p

 

[lowenbrau]

So I conned Lumpy into helping me make drawers for his new BJ74 and mine. We got a fair amount done today. I doubt we'll finish both sets tomorrow but we might.

I designed the little drawer to be able to pull out when only the left rear door of the truck is open. I'll put things like the bottle jack, tree saver, snatch block, axles etc in there. The large drawer will get everything else. I’ll likely put a divider in for rifles on the one side.

We stained the "craftsman grade" 3/4" maple plywood the night before to give it some protection even though its going to get carpeted.

 

[lowenbrau]

We dado-ed everything and used a biscuit joiner for the drawers. I decided to try gorilla glue. Its just an overpriced Polyester glue I think but it does foam into voids really well and is waterproof. I'll have it on my hands for a month, I'm sure. I think the drawers should be plenty strong but I plan to beat on them a fair bit.

 

[crushers]

i like your :clamps:
<insert smile>

 

[lowenbrau]

i like your :clamps:
<insert smile>

I don't know why we bothered with the blocks but they were right there anywy. I figure the brads, biscuits, dados and glue should hold the drawers together.

We did the same thing yesterday on the second set. I should make some new progress tonight and I'll add pictures.