I just bought a Land Cruiser...(and Fairey question)

[AustinBear]

Greetings all! Tomorrow morning I take delivery of a (late) 1985 60 series wagon - sliver with 116k miles on it. I'm quite excited.

We looked at quite a variety of vehicles - Audi Allroad, Range Rover and Land Rovers, MB ML500, etc. Guess what? I liked this the best. For leather and power stuff, I have my car...Besides, those things have no character. No fun...

Anyway, this vehicle has the Fairey Overdrive . The current (3 year) owner says has never tried using it (I believe him, for reasons I won't go into). It leaks a little , so I talked to the guys who do the Fairey's in LA for the Rovers. He said I should just put a silicone gasket in it, top it up and it should be fine (if it's fine...). I'm buying it knowing it may or may not be working. Otherwise the vehicle is quite nice.

Anyway, two questions:
1. What's the risk of trying to use it (once I reseal it and top it up)? Is it likely will something happen that will make me need to remove it entirely?
2. If I remove it, will I need to get a whole new transfer case, or just the rear plate (if that is even possible)?

I've been reading this board for the past few days, trying to learn what I can. Thanks for all the great info.

Cheers,

AB

 

[hank14]

Congratulations, AB. I know of the cruiser you speak about. I never saw it, but in my infinite quest for the perfect for me 60, he sent me pics and details. It looks nice, and the low miles is a big plus.

Congratulations. One of the reasons I didn't look at it, was I didn't know what in the world the Fairey OD was. Sorry I can't help you on that one.

 

[sirenmoses]

x2 on low miles!

website for OD (I know, you found it yourself, but I was curious). http://www.faireyoverdrive.com/ parts & manual link.

here's a mud discussion, you might pm the 60 guy who says he has one: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=30958

welcome to the obsession...

 

[Texx]

I've driven one, I think it ended up on a car lot in Santa Fe NM a couple of weeks after I drove it in Lubbock, Tx. Weird. Seems like it was silver as well. Not a lot of risk in trying it, you don't have to wait till you're going 70 to shift it in. Since it's basically a gear splitter, you can drive with it in all the time, out all the time, or any combination of the two. Put her in, take off in first, see what happens.

 

[AustinBear]

welcome to the obsession...

Thanks - I haven't even taken delivery and I've probably spent 10 of the last 24 hours doing research online and calling people for information on stuff...

And, yes, I read the thread you mentioned right before posting this - but, good idea. I didn't think of emailing him. I will. Thanks.

 

[CodeRed]

let us know what happens?

 

[AustinBear]

I've driven one, I think it ended up on a car lot in Santa Fe NM a couple of weeks after I drove it in Lubbock, Tx. Weird. Seems like it was silver as well. Not a lot of risk in trying it, you don't have to wait till you're going 70 to shift it in. Since it's basically a gear splitter, you can drive with it in all the time, out all the time, or any combination of the two. Put her in, take off in first, see what happens.

Agreed. That's what I'm going to do. Worst thing that happens? It all goes to he** and I need to put in a 5-speed (okay, I don't really since I work at home and don't even commute, but don't tell my wife...).

Cheers

 

[AustinBear]

let us know what happens?

Will do.

 

[AustinBear]

Woohooo......

let us know what happens?

Got the truck today, very happy. I got a few good surprises - original window sticker and dealer delivery papers, owners manuals, etc. He also gave me a Toyota service manual (and the Chilton too).

On window sticker - Distributor Installed Options:
one of the items on the "Consumer Protection Plan" is *Lusterizing Sealant" . I'm so glad it was put on there....

Anyway, in regards to the Fairey Overdrive:

1. It worked.
2. Made no crazy noises, did not suddenly spew oil, smoke or seize (good signs, I think). It did not whine appreciably.
3. It dropped the RPMs from roughly 2500 to 2000 in second at 25mph (my first try).
4. Similar (of course) drop in 4th on freeway at 55mph.
5. Realized I should not try it in 4th until going over 60, otherwise it is very hard to accelerate as the gearing is so tall (and other usual reasons - weight, lack of umph, etc.)
6. Need to practice with it a bit (gently) as it grinds a little if the proper gas and clutch combos are not applied - it's basically liike shifting without syncros as far as I can tell. Since it is old, irreplaceable and really in unknown condition I'll really only use it if I'm going to be on the highway for more than 10 or 15 minutes (not often for me).

In short, I think it is decent shape and works as it should. I think I've read it actually drops the RPM's a bit more than a 5-sp w/o OD. Hopefully it lasts a while as with only 116K on this rig, I don't think it will need a new tranny for many moons to come.


BTW, did I mention I'm really pumped about my new LC? It's cool, chicks dig it (e.g. - my wife).

Thanks for all the great info on this board.

Best,

ab

 

[Pathfinder]

post some photos so we can see it! Also if you happen to crawl under snap a photo of the Fairey OD. Welcome

 

[AustinBear]

Three shots supplied by the PO (I'll take my own shortly, 2 hours into ownership and my wife took it to work...). One shows the exterior , in the second, note the third lever for the Fairey OD. It's hard to see, but te shift knob is right between the gear-shift and hi-low-shift. It's in the 'out' position. To engage, it is moved forward towards towards the boots of the shifts (whomever installed it cut it close!). It looks a little bigger than it is due to perspective, it's not as big as it looks in the photo.

 

[dibbz]

I have a fairey on my h55f, i heard it is not so good to use them at low speed as they use the drive to lubricate.

What is your serial number?

 

[landcrusher06]

in the for what its worth catagory, I had a fairey OD I installed on a 78 fj40 with no problem and i liked it a lot when hiway driving, also had headers, webber etc taking care of power issue . lowers RPMs and less and tear on drive train.

I not sure I would spend money for another OD, but would not hesitate to purchase one with.

Enjoy your 60

 

[AustinBear]

Thanks for the info/input. I'll post the photo of it later. I took a few, but I need to degrease the area (can't read the serial number or even see evidence that is it there, although the rest of the text above it can be seen clearly).

How low is low RPM? It would seem that even at a spin-speed of a few hundred RPM would be sufficient to lubricate the gears - not that I plan to use it for other than higway use.

I ran the Fairey OD again this weekend. It does have some gear whine. I'll try again after draining it, re-gasketing (with silicone) and re-filling the lubricant.

 

[Ming89FJ62]

I have a Fairey OD on one of the pigs. Spent the $.05 w/ SOR for the manual which states that the Fairey provides 27% OD. Makes highway driving much easier. No issues to date - I'm praying that nothing breaks.

 

[Kofoed]

I had (as of last week) a Fairey in my 40, behind a 3spd trans. The 27% o.d. of the Fairey helps alot when cruising in the rpm gap between 2nd and 3rd gear, and is a dream on the freeway with 33 inch tires or smaller and 4.11 gears.

That said, the power flow goes through the Fairey, whether the unit is "in overdrive" or not. It breaks, and you're done. It is are fair amount of work getting the unit off, and you need the stock transfer case input gear, among other pieces, to remove the unit and go back to the stock configuration.

Fairey parts are very rare. Keep it filled with gear oil and go easy.

A guy had a clean unit on ebay for around $800 if I remember right...hint hint

www.marksoffraod.net did the work for me. He is in CA, though

 

[Kofoed]

T

I ran the Fairey OD again this weekend. It does have some gear whine. I'll try again after draining it, re-gasketing (with silicone) and re-filling the lubricant.

Welcome to the Fairey gear whine.

The Fairey and the transfer use common gear oil. You should, generally change and refill both. When filling both, you need to have the transfer fill plug off, to get the correct fluid level in both (i.e. fill the t/c, then fill the od). Check your manual if you have one to make sure.

 

[sirenmoses]

congrats on the truck! glad to hear the Fairey is working.

better get used to her 'stealing' the rig....

 

[jackrabbit]

Fairy oil leaks

I had a Fairy on an 83. I could not keep the fluid balanced between the tranny and the OD. The oil flows from the tranny to the OD and overfills. Then it looks like the OD is leaking. I had a set of special filler plugs with a tubing connector made for each plug. I ran a 3/8" tube between the two and that solved the problem. I see that SOR sells these now. I made mine back in '84. Should have put a patent on it. Probably would have sold at least 10 sets!!!!

 

[svo_jon]

any thoughts on durablility of the Fairey? Is this a desent option for overdrive? Were can I get one or find out more info?
Thanks
Jonathan