Build HZJ75 Troopy - campin' roadtrippin' wheelin' build

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Gun Runner 5 said:
We chose a paved road that had a fair amount of loose gravel on the surface to do the test. You could clearly see what brakes were doing what, without a lot of drama. 😊
Click to expand...
When I slam on my brakes my right rear wants to swing forward. I assume this is because of a difference in braking performance between my two rear drums?
 
Gun Runner 5 said:
We chose a paved road that had a fair amount of loose gravel on the surface to do the test. You could clearly see what brakes were doing what, without a lot of drama. 😊
Click to expand...

If I do go about installing a new lspv that's how I'll do the adjustments.

A lot of people simply delete the lspv but it is there for a reason - to keep the rears from locking up too soon under hard braking which could be exciting. I'm kind of a completist so I do want to follow Toyotas engineering ... if it makes sense on a lifted rig.

@Felde wrote up his lspv adjustment procedure and once I come to my senses and order the parts I'll try and do it this way.

prwillard2 said:
When I slam on my brakes my right rear wants to swing forward. I assume this is because of a difference in braking performance between my two rear drums?
Click to expand...
Yeah that sounds like uneven braking between the rear left and right. You'll want to tackle that before attempting to sort out the lspv (which distributes front and rear).
 
My build thread is pretty jumbled. I'm so far behind in updating it on major parts of the mechanical refresh and the pop top. But instead, I have this post where I'm not even building, I'm just breaking things.

Coming back from ol' Mexico, my brakes gave me some excitement. I was slowing for a checkpoint when I heard a bit of a grinding sound. Fluid levels were ok. One wheel hub was a little warm to the touch but not hot. It was stopping fine. I attributed the noise to a rock or something wedged around the rotor and resolved to check it a couple more times as I made my way north.

The sound didn't return and the fluid levels were ok and I was braking evenly so I kept going. Then at a stoplight near the border, about 60 miles and 4000' of elevation gain from my campsite for the night, a billowing cloud of vaporizing/burning brake fluid came tumbling out of the left front corner. I topped off the fluid and decided to limp back to town where I had a friend who'd let me use his garage. I was ready to clamp that corner if it leaked too bad but was hoping not to damage the brake lines.

In town I ordered a caliper and pads from Autozone. I usually would go for a local shop but the minions of our corporate parts store overlords were open late and swore they could get them to me the next day. That didn't happen.

While I waited, I took the wheel off and found one of the caliper bolts had come loose. I don't usually put lock-tite on my caliper bolts to make it easier to service them in the field. But this is the first time I've had one back out on me. One was missing and one was loose. Just enough for the caliper to wedge itself up against the rotor at an unfortunate angle. The other caliper was fine. We modified an m12 bolt with almost the right shoulder to fit, along with a small washer stack, and secured the caliper. It was a greasy mess and I doubted the seals were any good.

It didn't matter though as the parts never arrived. Eventually I got a refund and got back on the road. I didn't have to use the brakes much, and when i did I just pulled over and topped off the reservoir. Descending the mountains from Tecate was a bit of fun with minimal braking but I made it. To the troopy's credit, I never once lost brake pressure or failed to stop at a reasonable distance.

Once in the states, I did get a new caliper, installing it in @repentsinner 's driveway.

1000017705.jpg

I didn't even make a mess

My rotor's are pretty hosed, as are the pads in that corner. And I should probably flush all the fluid as well.

1000017706.jpg

In the end, a quick 1 beer job

As for brake upgrades, I decided that I want to keep to this tire size and this wheel size. That leaves the Tundra brake mod, which will clear 16" wheels, but requires different hubs up front and 1" spacers in the rear. I'm a bit allergic to spacers, so rather than jump on that, I'm going to:
  • Install either an 80 booster w/@cruisermatt 's clevis mod or a 70 booster
  • Turn or replace the front rotors
  • Replace front pads
  • Install a fresh LSPV to the rear
If this doesn't square me away, I'll reconsider the Tundra brake mod or going wild with 17" rims and the bigger 4runner brakes. Excellent info on brake upgrades in this thread.

On the plus side, this misadventure lead me to meet my friend's neighbors for friendsgiving. they have built themselves a little slice of desert racing heaven with a full shop, bar, kitchen, karaoke, stripper pole (mainly used by fully dressed middle aged men but hey it's the spirit that counts), and plenty of taxidermy. They were welcoming and gracious hosts and I had fun.

1000017707.jpg

Somebody's havin' a good time
 
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Full 3D scan? I like where this is going!
 
Had to order some memory for the laptop and more dots but I am hoping I can use this to more quickly mock up brackets and the like. I am skeptical this will go anywhere since I would rather use a compass and a drafting table than learn enough CAD to take this anywhere but we will see.

And while I did speak too soon on finishing the trip without mechanical issues, I did get off easy this time. I lost a solar panel driving in a windstorm outside Guerrero Negro, one of my hubs jammed in the lock position, and an hour before getting home the dash warning lights all started flickering - likely a bad charge relay. Not terrible.
 
I've been stalking/searching the usual sources (eBay, amayama, partsouq, mud classifieds, etc) trying to find a set of euro tail lights (or any tail light with the brake light on top, turn signal in the middle, and backup light on the bottom). This would be the cleanest way to have the brake/turn signals visible over the spindles on my swingouts.

Any thoughts on a source?

Like these:
forum.ih8mud.com

Are 70 and 75 troopy tail lights the same? Anyone have part number?

looking for part number for BJ75 troopy tail light lenses? Looking for the style that is Ted on top orange middle and clear on bottom... Thanks for playing
forum.ih8mud.com forum.ih8mud.com
 
I really want them to say Koito on the lenses. But maybe I'll try a set of the depo ones. They all seem to have clear lenses for the lower two lights and I suspect they are stacked (top to bottom) as:
  1. Brake/Tail
  2. Backup
  3. Turn

But maybe I can put the turn socket in the middle position and use amber bulbs.

Edit: flipped the list
 
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1742257741845.webp

japanese beer for japanese trucks
should say 'tastes like a toyota'
or ' the toyota of beers'
 
thats it!
Asahi
'as japanese as a tacoma'
 
😅 sorry for the derail
 
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TreadingLight said:
So what do German Troopy owners do for relacement taillight lenses? I saw a set like this on a Troopy from Germany the other day.

No luck on eBay.de or amazon.de or partsouq.

I'd be fine with blacked out ones like @Owyhee Jackass found but no luck on those either.
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Those blacked out lights don't have any bulb sockets on the RH side except for the back up light at the bottom, the LH side is a fog light and back up light at bottom. They are designed for trucks that have the turn and brake lights in the bumper, so not sure that would help you get the turn signal up higher. I don't have the PN but they are available new from Toyota and still used on trucks with turn signals in the bumper. Here's a German site were you can get them, along with the "bumper" brake and flasher lights- the site also has some other cool widgets:

exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

Heckleuchte / Rückleuchte LandCruiser J7 Links EU-Version - Exped Innovations

Original Rückleuchte für den Toyota LandCruiser J7. Passend für alle Modelle mit zusätzlichen Leuchten in der Heckstoßstange. z.B. HZJ75, HZJ78 usw.
exped--innovations-com.translate.goog exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

Heckleuchte / Rückleuchte LandCruiser J7 Rechts EU-Version

Original Rückleuchte für den Toyota LandCruiser J7. Passend für alle Modelle mit zusätzlichen Leuchten in der Heckstoßstange. z.B. LJ, PZJ, RJ usw.
exped--innovations-com.translate.goog exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

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Heckleuchte / Rückleuchte in Stoßstange LandCruiser J7 Links

Original Heckleuchte / Rücklicht für den Toyota LandCruiser J7 zur Montage in der Heckstoßstange. Originalteil von Toyota.
exped--innovations-com.translate.goog exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

Heckleuchte / Rückleuchte in Stoßstange LandCruiser J7 Rechts

Original Heckleuchte / Rücklicht für den Toyota LandCruiser J7 zur Montage in der Heckstoßstange. Originalteil von Toyota.
exped--innovations-com.translate.goog exped--innovations-com.translate.goog

Oh, it just hit me, those are also available in Aus. so you could get a LH from a euro source and a RH from oz and then put your flasher in the fog light spot.. but you still don't have brake lights in that scenario.

So, maybe not much help, but at least now you know where you can get the blacked out style if that's what you want.

I may still have my old black out style and bumper lights; if you are interested I could dig around for them. No guarantees as I haven't seen them in a long time, but you can have them if I do.
 
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