How to build a diesel 40 on a budget w/ an Isuzu 4BD1T

[longbow]

Hey BigWalker,

Thanks for the great comments! I read your entire build thread and that is going to be an amazing 40 when it is finished! I appreciated the info on all the suspension stuff you did. I did mine kind of backwards of yours and will be working on all of my supensions upgrades throughout the spring and summer. I have all the parts to do the shackle reversal for the front and I'm planning to use the Mojave springs up front and I am contemplating doing a coilspring and linked rear. I have no experience with linked systems and like you, I have looked at the Icon system for a while and can't decide if I have the skill set to pull it off yet. If I chicken out I will just go with the Mojave rears like you did. I converted to FJ60 power steering so doing coil overs in the front would be really tough now.

Anyway, subscribed to your thread and glad to see another diesel land cruiser being built!

Have fun!

Don

 

[apeterson]

Wow... This is awesome!!

 

[BigWalker]

Don
I almost pulled all my suspension parts off before welding up the new hangers and switch to a linked setup. But when I laid it out and priced it up I backed off. A four link rear and three linked front with coil overs and anti sway front and rear put it at $5k coils could save a bunch along with fabricating all metal pieces. It might be a later phase. In a few years hah
Cheers
Pete

 

[numby]

Lift+larger tires pretty much demands power steering but but I'm wondering if the old factory manual steering could be left in place as a way of temporarily deferring costs or does the turbo location necessitate some sort of steering conversion (FJ60 style)? Thanks for the write-ups.

 

[longbow]

Hi Numby,

The factory steering could have been left in place and power steering done later if you wanted to. I chose to do it while I had the front clip off for painting because I had to make all custom lines to go to the Hydroboost braking system as well as the power steering so it was easier to layout this way with everything open.

Don

 

[longbow]

Finally got my odometer working and a long enough speedo cable. Initial mileages are very encouraging with the first tank coming in at 25.5 MPGs and the second one at 26 MPGs. I calibrated everything with my GPS so that I had an accurate baseline of my speedo accuracy so these numbers are dead on. I'm hoping these numbers go up once the engine is broken in and I get some larger tires than the 31s that I have now. Hoping to put 33s on soon once I get the 4 inch lift done here in a couple of months. Very happy with the current mileage though compared to the 11 I was getting before the swap!

 

[Volcanic Iceberg]

I am researching this conversion and just came across your thread. Very impressive! One of the guys in the club just put a 4bd1t in his 80 series and is working out the kinks. Diesels are foreign to me as I've never owned one but the torque, mileage, and reliability advantages can't be ignored. Any updates on mileage? Are you able to drive comfortably at freeway speeds? Any other driving impressions compared to stock drive train or sbc conversion?

 

[longbow]

Hi Iceberg,
I love this engine and have put a few thousand miles on it since my initial mileage calculations. My turbo was spooling a little slow so I turned up my fuel a little and the engine performs even better than before. The downside is it lost a little in the mileage department. I put 4" springs on and 33" BFG mud terrain tires on at the same time and that probably was part of the drop in mileage. Currently I am averaging about 22-23 mpgs. around town and 25-26 on the highway. I'm still running 4.11 gears but plan on swapping in some 3.70 FJ60 diffs that I have in the near future. I'm think this wiil help squeeze a couple more mpgs out of this setup because it is still a little low geared for the highway.

Don

 

[mcjb]

Really impressed thanks for all the info. I have a tbi 350/nv4500, which is fine, but really want a diesel/auto combo bc I grew up on diesels. Man i love the lx window wipers....damn something else to add to the list!

Definitely subscribed! Looking forward to whatever else you have planned.

 

[GreyGooseFJ]

commenting to be able to find at a later date...