OMG, get an OEM rear tire carrier on that thing, STAT. So lucky to already have the wholes and tailgate set-up.
Looking Great!
Looking Great!
From Japan to my garage: RHD UZJ100 LC- my first post and first Cruiser
- Thread starter frawstme
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- Thread starter
- #82
I want to so bad
I don't wanna do it til I put 35's on it though because otherwise I'm buying a extra 33" just to not have an empty tire carrier
but I can't put 35s on til I regear my transfer case, and those parts haven't come in yet
Also it's unbelievably hard to find all the parts and hardware..I made a list of the part numbers but a lot of them aren't available
I also still have to do front and rear pads and rotors, diff drop and a list of other things that I've got interest in.. it feels like it'll never end
Yeah, I certainly get it...these rigs never lack for something to spend money on.
Sidenote: why on earth did I spell "holes" as "wholes"? My brain is circling the drain...
Sidenote: why on earth did I spell "holes" as "wholes"? My brain is circling the drain...
- Thread starter
- #84
I wasnt up for replacing my rear LCA bushings tonight so I decided to do something easier. I removed the driver half of my exhaust so I could adjust my torsion bars up, and also replace the old exhaust gaskets.
So two questions:
The exhaust on my passenger half was completely dry, just a lot of rust. The crush ring inside where the flange meets the cat half was only rusted red and dry. On the driver side when I removed that flange, some black fluid dripped out. The crush ring was red from rust except at the bottom, it had that black oily fluid on it. I'm not very educated about exhausts but for oil to be in it (if that's what it is) that seems like a little bit of a red flag. Should I be concerned?
The second issue is I can't seem to adjust my torsion bars. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I followed the guides. My wheels are off the ground. I cant budge the bolts in either direction even with a leveraged breaker bar and putting my full strength into it
So two questions:
The exhaust on my passenger half was completely dry, just a lot of rust. The crush ring inside where the flange meets the cat half was only rusted red and dry. On the driver side when I removed that flange, some black fluid dripped out. The crush ring was red from rust except at the bottom, it had that black oily fluid on it. I'm not very educated about exhausts but for oil to be in it (if that's what it is) that seems like a little bit of a red flag. Should I be concerned?
The second issue is I can't seem to adjust my torsion bars. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I followed the guides. My wheels are off the ground. I cant budge the bolts in either direction even with a leveraged breaker bar and putting my full strength into it
- Thread starter
- #85
I did end up getting the exhaust off completely, replaced all the hardware and gaskets. The old gaskets were basically dust. The same day I eventually got my torsion bars cranked up, it was a painful process because of how seized the bolts were.
Since then I installed trail tailors from extended links
This was the first change that lead to a noticable change in ride quality, it was surprising. The old end links were only a month old but look kind of rough
I guess I'll stay away from Moog moving forward. Today I did rear brakes and rotors, it was a pretty easy job. The rotors were completely frozen onto the hub so I ended up running M8*25 bolts through the threaded areas and they popped right off
Cleaned up best that I could
Since then I installed trail tailors from extended links
This was the first change that lead to a noticable change in ride quality, it was surprising. The old end links were only a month old but look kind of rough
I guess I'll stay away from Moog moving forward. Today I did rear brakes and rotors, it was a pretty easy job. The rotors were completely frozen onto the hub so I ended up running M8*25 bolts through the threaded areas and they popped right off
Cleaned up best that I could
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- Thread starter
- #86
The holes for the pins in both brackets were entirely void of grease. There wasn't even signs that grease ever existed there
In total it took me about an hour and a half, would have been quicker but I had some confusion with toyotas anti squeel kit.
I have all of the parts for the front rotors+brakes+wheel bearings+ new hubs and hardware, but I'm not really feeling up for doing that any time soon. Still waiting on the tc regear kit to arrive
In communications to order new high flow headers and cats as well. That job looks pretty tough, I'm unsure if I have the right tools
I did get a new harbor freight press though, it's a lot beefier than my old one. Hoping it can handle the tc job
In total it took me about an hour and a half, would have been quicker but I had some confusion with toyotas anti squeel kit.
I have all of the parts for the front rotors+brakes+wheel bearings+ new hubs and hardware, but I'm not really feeling up for doing that any time soon. Still waiting on the tc regear kit to arrive
In communications to order new high flow headers and cats as well. That job looks pretty tough, I'm unsure if I have the right tools
I did get a new harbor freight press though, it's a lot beefier than my old one. Hoping it can handle the tc job
- Thread starter
- #87
You seem to know a lot about these, can you tell me if this is the stock cat and midpipe? It's the only picture I can find of a 2000 model year undercarriage, but I noticed his bolts are backwards so it's been removed at some point. Wasn't sure if he replaced with aftermarket as well
What rotors did you go with? Did I miss it?
- Thread starter
- #89
I went with R1 concepts from rock auto, bosch posi quiet pads, and OEM anti squeals. Same on the front. I guess I'll see how they hold up lol
I throwing around the idea of doing the Powerstop z36's up front...not calipers, just rotors and pads. They are also drilled & slotted.
mdcoa
SILVER Star
So there's no 14-character VIN that US sites will recognize, but there's definitely a VIN (or VIN equivalent, at any rate)--it's the frame ID, starting with "UZJ100". If you type that into Partsouq your life will be so much easier.
I also have a JDM UZJ--like you said, cheaper, rust-free, and low-mileage. Ours had 70k miles on it and looked brand-new underneath. And cost less than yours, but it could just be a year's difference in prices--we got ours from Duncan's, which is where I suspect you may have gotten yours based on your VA tags.
Going to reply to a couple other posts. Sorry I'm not on mud much now that I don't have a desk job--I totally missed this thread and just had to read it straight through in one sitting . . . .
mdcoa
SILVER Star
So I think the holes at the very back (and maybe some of the ones at the front) are the holes for the cargo rings--my JDM came without them, but I could tell from our '04 US model that they were missing, so I ordered some and installed them, since they're pretty nice to have. I wondered if my PO just removed them, but maybe they came without them in the JDM market?
I nearly lost my mind trying to find the part numbers for those tie-downs, and was about to do it again, but my camera roll came to the rescue. "STRIKER ASSY" 58460-35012. Four of them in a "normal" 100.
PS--very cool 100! Love it that you have the mounting holes and tailgate for the rear-mounted spare, and hope you can not lose your mind trying to track down the numerous parts required. I've seen complete ones for sale on Be Forward . . . might be a lot easier than trying to order each bolt and washer.
PPS--if you need a JDM-specific part, especially one partsouq doesn't have, try Dave at @Japan4X4 (sales@Japan4x4.com). He just sold me a bunch of stuff, including a new fender for our JDM, and his shipping was way faster and easier (despite UPS's best efforts to make it a train wreck) than, say, Amayaa would've been.
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- Thread starter
- #95
I hope youre enjoying yours as much as I am mine! I thought mine looked great under, but the more work that I do the more issues that I'm having with rust. Overall though its much better off than most 26 year old cars. I got mine from japanese classics, honestly hadn't heard of duncans but also I wasn't specifically looking for an imported car when I bought mine.
I knew about the frame number, but I've had bad luck with partsouq using mine. Amayama seems a lot better for accuracy
That makes so much sense. Honestly I thought about it a lot and the only thing that I could figure would have been a bed or drawer system. I'll check out japan4x4, sounds useful. I have had some issues finding certain parts. Did yours not have a rear tire rack? Any pics?
Also does your frame plate say UZJ100R or UZJ100W?
mdcoa
SILVER Star
We love ours—it was fortunately very stock—aftermarket rims (now gone) and a Japanese toll card thing (also now gone) were the only mods I can think of.
It hasn’t needed much—I bought a new CD magazine since it came without one, but I found out why—the CD changer gets super stuck so I’m going to explore other options for audio, since ours has integrated nav and I cannot just do a head unit swap. Kicking myself for not making non-nav one of my search criteria.
I had to replace the brake booster assembly, fortunately a part in common with US models.
And I just replaced two inner and one outer steering ball joints up front.
And I have a seatbelt pretensioner I need to get serviced, but need to wait for a week when we can live without a driver’s seat belt
to send it in.Ours is a UZJ100W chassis. No sunroof, no seat heaters, cloth mechanical seats. But motorized folding mirrors and headlight washers, so a weird blend of poverty pack and neat features.
No rear spare mount, which is fine with us—they look sooo cool, but make access to the back a production.
Ours is SUPER clean underneath. There’s a Waxoyl sticker on the rear window, so maybe it was waxoyled by the PO. I fluid filmed it last fall, and will do so every year and hopefully keep it pretty solid.
Seems like you’re replacing a ton of stuff on a low-mileage truck—is everything you’re replacing really shot, or are you just doing preventative work? Our 04 still has a lot of original stuff (rear upper control arms, for instance) and it has 220k miles.
- Thread starter
- #97
Looks great! Yours is equipped almost exactly like mine, except it has the nav and mine has the roof. Mine's also a VX Limited, but I read online that trims are almost irrelevant in jdm cars. Apparently you could outfit whatever trim you'd like with whatever features youd like, and in japan they typically order their cars built to their wants instead of just going to a lot and picking them up.
The one thing that mine is missing that (I really wish it wasn't) is a telescoping steering column.. I may have picked a different car if I had noticed that, it's fairly uncomfortable. I'm tall enough that the seat has to be almost all the way back, but that means my arm is fully extended to steer. On the flip side the cost of a entire new steering column for RHD with the telescoping motor is insane and I'm not willing to spend that when there's so many other things that I want to do
I think i just have a obsessive problem. Only some of the things that I replaced actually needed to be replaced. I've been focusing a lot on bushings and suspension because I want a better ride, and there's a squeeking that has been driving me absolutely insane when I go over bumps. The power steering leak and CVs probably could have been ignored for a long time and been fine. Fully flushing all of my fluids was more of a precautionary thing because I had no idea when they were last done.
The heavier jobs that I'm about to do is the transfer regear and headers. Neither of those need to be done by any means, but I want a little more torque so I can put a little larger tires on mine and still drive with the same responsiveness. I'm not a mechanic but I've done plenty of my own work and a lot of this has just been a hobby / learning experience
edit:
so if you ever want a cheap set of cats and headers for your JDM let me know
The one thing that mine is missing that (I really wish it wasn't) is a telescoping steering column.. I may have picked a different car if I had noticed that, it's fairly uncomfortable. I'm tall enough that the seat has to be almost all the way back, but that means my arm is fully extended to steer. On the flip side the cost of a entire new steering column for RHD with the telescoping motor is insane and I'm not willing to spend that when there's so many other things that I want to do
I think i just have a obsessive problem. Only some of the things that I replaced actually needed to be replaced. I've been focusing a lot on bushings and suspension because I want a better ride, and there's a squeeking that has been driving me absolutely insane when I go over bumps. The power steering leak and CVs probably could have been ignored for a long time and been fine. Fully flushing all of my fluids was more of a precautionary thing because I had no idea when they were last done.
The heavier jobs that I'm about to do is the transfer regear and headers. Neither of those need to be done by any means, but I want a little more torque so I can put a little larger tires on mine and still drive with the same responsiveness. I'm not a mechanic but I've done plenty of my own work and a lot of this has just been a hobby / learning experience
edit:
so if you ever want a cheap set of cats and headers for your JDM let me know
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Are you sure your non-powered steering doesn't telescope when you release the handle and pull on it?The one thing that mine is missing that (I really wish it wasn't) is a telescoping steering column.. I may have picked a different car if I had noticed that, it's fairly uncomfortable. I'm tall enough that the seat has to be almost all the way back, but that means my arm is fully extended to steer. On the flip side the cost of a entire new steering column for RHD with the telescoping motor is insane and I'm not willing to spend that when there's so many other things that I want to do
edit:
so if you ever want a cheap set of cats and headers for your JDM let me know
I would hold onto your OE Cats. High flow cats don't last nearly as long as the originals.
- Thread starter
- #99
You had me second guessing myself, I got excited and went out to double check. Yeah, it goes up and down but not in and out unfortunately.
That's super disappointing to hear considering their cost. I was mostly excited just to find a aftermarket set that fit RHD honestly. I don't think it's going to result in much more sound because of the massive aftermarket muffler that I have but I'm okay with that. I'm hoping for a little bump in performance, even if not a ton.
mdcoa
SILVER Star
@frawstme, I share your frustration with the non-telescoping column. I didn't even know that was a thing until we got this one, and then I assumed maybe it was a pre-'03 thing, but apparently not. I'm tall, but not crazy tall, so it doesn't bother me all that much.
Other PO mod I remembered today was pretty bad LED headlights--fortunately no wire butchery, and I was able to remove them and put some nice bright halogen bulbs in so I could stop blinding traffic.
One other thing I love--the passenger side mirror dip when in reverse (only works when right or left on the mirror adjuster is selected--having the selector in the middle cancels this out).
And one other thing I hate--the hilariously pointless interior backup beeper. I suspect those are required by law in Japan, and originated when most transmissions were manual and it was a little tricky to know if one was in first or reverse, but now they're a little ridiculous. I have looked up how to delete the beep but just haven't gotten around to it. Like about 4000 other things. . .
Other PO mod I remembered today was pretty bad LED headlights--fortunately no wire butchery, and I was able to remove them and put some nice bright halogen bulbs in so I could stop blinding traffic.
One other thing I love--the passenger side mirror dip when in reverse (only works when right or left on the mirror adjuster is selected--having the selector in the middle cancels this out).
And one other thing I hate--the hilariously pointless interior backup beeper. I suspect those are required by law in Japan, and originated when most transmissions were manual and it was a little tricky to know if one was in first or reverse, but now they're a little ridiculous. I have looked up how to delete the beep but just haven't gotten around to it. Like about 4000 other things. . .