Grayson's HDJ81 Build Thread

[kendgray]

Yes, I have the cruiser motors with good cables. US spec. Swapping the Combination Switch to a LHD is a real game changer. No more wipers on when you signal.

Once the last couple parts show up to add cruise control I'll throw everything in just to verify this amalgamation of parts actually functions together. As long as it does I will for sure buy one of your clean cruise actuator motors from you, will be in touch soon!

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Those pics are hugely helpfull. I like the look of that ceramic coating as well. If you happen to have a shot of the tailpipe and how far it hangs down that would be much appreciated.

Here you go! Sorry for the wait

 

[kendgray]

Here you go! Sorry for the wait

No worries at all, appreciate the help, these photos are of huge help!

 

[kendgray]

A few small updates, pulled what I thought was an aftermarket head unit out to discover that this is actualy a Toyota branded part. Not sure why this would contain mercury but apperently it does. Lukily for me I don't have to figure out how to dispose of it as the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum says they'll take this, my camping kit, and air purifier to put on display. Will likely make a trip down for Cruiserfest and drop all this off then.

While I had the dash appart I tossed in a CDL switch, replaced the cigarette lighter outlet with this USB/USB-C outlet, replaced the head unit with this Atoto S8 MS head unit (bypassing the factory amp), and removed a radar detector and ECT device and all their wiring. Final product:

I opted for the Atoto for a couple reasons that may be pertinent to others looking to replace their head unit. Main reason being that this is essentially just an android tablet that you can install any app onto. I will be installing this Auxbeam bluetooth switch panel at a later date that can be controlled wirelessly via their app. This will enable me to hide the actual switch panel in the glove box or somewhere else not visable and primarily use the app on the head unit to opperate my lights, compressor, winch, etc... Other than that these Atoto's are half the price of their competition and at last for any sound system that will ever be in this 80, sound just as good.

Big thanks to @ikarus's build thread for the idea for the USB outlet. For anyone interested in replacing your cigarette lighter outlet like this I will warn you that the factory power wiring polarity is reveresed from what I would have expected. They larger gold terminal is negative and the smaller silver terminal is positive. After fixing my reversed wiring I've now got functional 27w fast charging and wired android auto/car play if I don't want to use the head unit's wireless AA/CP for some reason.

Lastly, heres a photo of one of three rats nest of wires I pulled from behind the dash and carpet that was running the radar detector, ECT, and OEM head unit/disc changer. Started trying to pull the Viper security system but it has been spliced into the factory wiring harness and its going to take more time to remove than I had to spend.

 

[kendgray]

Recieved a fresh OEM grill and tailgate badges from the UAE and Delta VS so time to remove my 'Lexus Toyota Land Cruiser' grill and install some vanity plates and badges.

Next up we're going a little bigger. About time for suspension, wheels, and tires.

 

[kendgray]

This may already be well known to others but Japan has their own official calendar years that correlate to who is the Emperor at that time that is distinct from Western calendar years. So it turns out that this was not first sold in 2008, but rather in the 8th year of the Heisei era, which was in 1996. I have fixed all the dating from my prior maintenance history post with the correct dates. Doesn't look like this will change any of my baselining plans.

 

[kendgray]

Wheels showed up and I had Costco mount up 35x12.5" BFG KM3's on the Icon Rebound Pro's. My local Costco manager was awesome and hooked me up by mounting these for free and warrantying these despite the fact that they view these as beadlock wheels and are oversized and going on a modified vehicle. They had me come into their shop and install the "innerlock" bolts between them mounting and airing them up/balancing them. Only thing they said they won’t cover is if there damage to the bead from the bolts. Otherwise, regular punctures and sidewall damage will be covered.

 

[kendgray]

Picked up all the suspension parts from DVS other than the radius arms which should be ready soon. Was hoping to get a photo of how badly the slammed JDM suspension would perform on a flex test but turns out it actually had tons of droop and flexed out pretty well. If it didn't sit on the bump stops this suspension would actually be pretty usable offroad as long as you didn't get highcentered on a pebble.

 

[kendgray]

Got to work pulling the rear end suspension apart first. Never mind the jackstands on top of concrete pavers, pretty sure those are OSHA approved. Putting the new Icon springs next to the old lowering springs was pretty comical, I think the source of my ride quality issues has been identified. No issues with corrosion on any of the major suspension component bolts which was a huge relief.

 

[kendgray]

Getting the Icon 3" springs installed turned into more of a chore than expected. The upper and lower link bushings had become quite accustomed to being in a squatted position for many years and did not like being extended fully. Rather than just loosening the link bolts to let the axle droop more freely, I instead spent a couple hours muscling the axle down and forced the springs onto the hats. Work harder, not smarter has always been my motto. DVS rear spring retainers installed super easy at least.

 

[kendgray]

While installing the rear bump stop spacers from DVS I managed to shear my second bolt on this build. I wish I could blame corrosion for this one but this was just a case of being in too much of a rush to finish the job while it was getting late. Gave one of the bump stop bolts the full beans with the impact driver without checking which direction it was in... As always a 10 minute job got turned into a 2 day ordeal as I managed to break off the end of the bolt extractor inside the sheared bolt... Ended up using a carbide bit in a Dremel to reem out the broken extractor. Luckily my second attempt with a larger extractor was successful and this show finally got back on the road.

Finished the rear end with installing the Icon extended brake lines, extended diff breathers, DVS panhard lift bracket, Dobinson’s LSPV extension, Icon shocks, and mounted the resi's which all went pretty painlessly with easy to follow directions for each component. Don't love how the shock's remote res hose rubs against the fairly sharp edge on the sway bar extensions right now and would appreciate ideas on how to best protect this from getting cut over tens to hundreds of thousands of miles of rubbing.

 

[kendgray]

Moving to the front suspension I decided to try the "work smarter" approach and started off by removing/loosening anything that seemed like it might limit droop to make installing the front springs easier. Dropped the sway bar, removed the brake lines, loosened the ABS wires, loosened the radius arm bolts, and loosened this metal shield that was striking the driveshaft.

Since no project can go without issues arising, ran into some problems with the OEM brake lines. Someone at some point has severely over torqued the flare nuts on this brake line. I've heard of damaging the flare itself by over torquing flare nuts but this person took it a step further and managed to crack and flare the end of the flare nut itself. Luckily this was only on the front driver side line but both flare nuts were like this. They were flared enough that I couldn't get them to thread into the new extended brake line.

 

[kendgray]

The correct way to fix this would have been to replace both the hardline brake lines on either side of this extended brake line which would have come with fresh flare nuts that would have threaded on without issue. So instead, I got some emery cloth and spent a couple hours hand sanding the flared flare nuts down until they could be threaded into the new extended brake lines. By doing so I was able to drastically increase the risk of having this fail while wheeling in the middle of nowhere and probably achieved a gram of weight savings. Win win.

While doing this I did manage to teach myself that if you put some tape over the top of the brake fluid reservoir brake fluid won’t keep dripping out of the open lines all over the driveway. Hopefully that’s a useful tip for someone.

 

[kendgray]

Coils did not end up going in any easier on the front axle despite my extra prep work and still took a couple hours of fighting them to get them in. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the bracket for the remote resi mounts to this bolt that holds the hydro bump stop in place until after I got the springs in and no longer had access to the head of the bolt to be able to take the nyloc nut off easily. To get around this I folded up one of the Icon QR instruction cards and shoved it between the spring and the head of the bold and jacked up the axle to apply to pressure to the head of the countersunk bolt. That held it just enough that I was able to get the nyloc nuts off with my impact and get the brackets installed.

After that, everything else went together without any real headaches. The directions that come with both the Icon and the Delta components are super easy to follow along with. If anybody is considering this kit, I would highly recommend it. Given some of the issues I ran into I think sums up how many 's this mechanic is actually capable of and I was able to install this kit over a weekend.

 

[kendgray]

A little before and after action. Super happy with the suspension on this thing now. Ride is 100x better than before unsurprisingly. Its a little stiffer and a little taller than my end goal at the moment but I don't have a spare, armor, roof rack, RTT, or gear in/on it yet so that is to be expected. Its a little darty feeling driving down the road right now since the DVS 3" arms aren't installed yet but I expect the caster correcting arms will remedy that.

Took the wife and our two month old on a super mellow trail run to go on a little hike in the Owyhee’s and it ate up all the small obstacles I could find. For my purposes I believe this kit offers great value and great capability. Can crank up the compression on the shocks for long pavement miles and dump compression as I air down when we hit dirt. I look forward to pushing it much harder once I get the 4x4 labs rear bumper kit I just ordered welded up and I get some rock sliders on this thing.

 

[kendgray]

Yes, I have the cruiser motors with good cables. US spec. Swapping the Combination Switch to a LHD is a real game changer. No more wipers on when you signal.

Hey, finally got around to working on the cruise control and I won't be able to use your cruise actuators. Turns out the early FJ80's cruise actuators do not work in the RHD HDJ's as they have different cable orientations/lengths, and linkage orientation. Back to attempting to source a RHD HDJ cruise actuator.

Thanks for the offer though!

 

[SNLC]

The “Lost” trail south of town is a good place to test it as well when you get it more built up. From easy rocks to as hard as you want on that trail, 30mins from town.

Cheers

 

[kendgray]

The “Lost” trail south of town is a good place to test it as well when you get it more built up. From easy rocks to as hard as you want on that trail, 30mins from town.

Cheers

I've run Lost Trail a few times in my Pickup, planning on hitting that as the shake down run for the cruiser as soon as the sliders and rear bumper is on. Great little trail. I've never run carnage canyon, meat grinder, or any of those other tougher trails closer to Hemingway. Hoping to run those once it's fully armored.

 

[ginericLC]

Meatgrinder isn't very wagon friendly. You need really high rear quarter panel protection. Carnage can be tough in a wagon or it can be easy, that trail changes a lot with the seasons as the sand fills in. If you don't care about body damage, both are fun and a wagon is quite capable.

 

[kendgray]

Meatgrinder isn't very wagon friendly. You need really high rear quarter panel protection. Carnage can be tough in a wagon or it can be easy, that trail changes a lot with the seasons as the sand fills in. If you don't care about body damage, both are fun and a wagon is quite capable.

Good to know. Trying to preserve the panels as much as possible but not at the expense of having a good time. I'll plan on starting with Lost Trail and work up to lower carnage -> upper carnage -> meatgrinder as far as the fun:risk ratio seems reasonable. My father in law is an auto body guy so my risk aversion for a bit of panel damage isn't crazy high. Thanks for the input!