Jason's FJ6.0 Vortec Overland Build

[Shebamacalla]

Photo from mountain biking in Willowdale Park in Ipswich, MA

Quick update with a few questions.

Removed the front add a leaf springs as well as the very bottom leaf which was only about 10 inches long. Surprisingly it didn't lower it that much at all. dropped the driver side 1" and the pass size .5" so now the pass side is a full inch higher than the driver side hoping it will settle out a bit as I drive it. It is definitely softer and bounces a little more than I'd like, might need better shocks, but it already has bilsteins, maybe they are worn out?

I also just got a set of Trail Gear sliders so next thing on the list is try to get a buddy to help me weld them up. I am hoping to bolt them on instead of welding them.

I am taking the truck on the Moose on the Loose trip to the North Woods of Maine for 5 days in June. We will be off the grid for 4 days straight and 300 miles so I am also prepping the truck for that. trying to figure out where to store all the necessary fuel, thinking a 4 plus swing out rear bumper might be necessary.

http://northeastoverland.forumotion.com/t560-northeast-overland-s-moose-on-the-loose-ride

Next for some questions maybe someone has some insight into.

1) the ac compressor isn't coming on. The seller said it worked great in florida before I shipped it up, so all I can imagine is that the coolant is so low that the compressor won't turn on. Figure I might try one of those recharge cans, but all the instructions say to make sure the system is on and running before you charge it. So I am not sure how to charge it since the compressor doesn't turn on.

2) I have noticed my MPG is way better on hotter days, I was getting about 14 on the highway when it was in the 40's now in the 70's I am getting around 17 on the highway. It seems the warmer the engine runs the more efficient it is. It never gets over around 180 degrees on the highway on my scan gauge. Do people modify the thermostat to run hotter for better MPGs?

3) My exhaust is too loud and really bothers me, can barely hear my music or have a conversation. I already started with some sound proofing in the cab, with quiet crap and sound foam from mcmaster, but I am thinking I am going to also have to mod the exhaust to really get things as quiet as I would like. Currently The 6.0 vortec has hooker headers to straight dual exhaust with magna flow mufflers and side pipes that exit behind the rear tires. Most things i have read in my research is to add a resonator, wrap the exhaust, run the pipes out the back under the bumper. I think I could pretty easily cut the exhaust right after the mufflers and add a resonator on each side and run it straight out the back. Do you think this would really quiet it down or do I also need to replace withe magna flow mufflers with some thing else. Does wrapping the exhaust really help? Are there any negative side effects? I have seen it on motorcycles but have't seen it on a car before.

Thanks for following along and for any insights!

 

[lehiguy]

From what I have seen, exhaust wrapping does one thing extremely well; rust out your pipes. The honest truth about dual exhaust systems for mild engines is that they are almost always overkill. I ran a single 3" setup with a cheap Summit Racing muffler and it ran strong and was relatively quiet. I would be a bit nervous about the passenger side's proximity to the fuel lines. Seems everything on a 60 runs up the passenger side, the exhaust on the driver's side is a safe design.

Your lean codes and the fact that it gets better mileage on hot days vs. cold days, makes me think it needs a trip to somebody who can custom tune that PCM. And while I'm putting forth my $.02, 4.88s with a 6.0 and an automatic is most definitely on the low side. 4.56 would work nicely, even 4.10s with that drivetrain would work. And yes I'm jealous. Very nice 60!

 

[dbleon]

FWIW I got tired of exhaust drone on my V8 too (had Magnaflow, nice sound - not loud, but droned on highway). So i went to the junkyard and picked a big GM muffler for $10 just to try it. Its a two into one and works great... The truck sounds like a quiet new chevy truck. Only drawback is they are HUGE, it hangs down from the frame about 3 inches...and i have 1.75" body lift. I am going to try to find a flatter GM muffler to run to keep it above the frame rails.

Kinda cool to be stealth on the street and in the backcountry too!

 

[Shebamacalla]

It's been awhile since I updated this thread so here goes with some updates!

I decided to keep the SOA suspension but have tried to lower it a bit. I removed the add a leaf springs from the front which ended up leveling the truck but then I ran into issues with clearance on the front drive shaft. As the springs settled and I did some more off road travel I started to bottom out the shocks as well. When I started the front was 27.75" center hub to fender, and rear was 25. Now I am 25" front and 24.5" rear. So the front came down almost 3" and the rear .5". Also when the front came down I realized that the front drive shaft was too short (had no travel at rest) so I had a driveshaft shop shorten it by 2", I was surprised though that they told me that it couldn't be balanced, they are a reputable shop but they kinda looked at it like it was from a spaceship, I think they must not see a lot of toyota driveshafts. I also broke an engine mount so I had them completely redone with much beefier ones. The new mounts are solid but I am feeling more vibes from the engine now, which is a bit of a bummer.


I also purchased a set of add a leafs for the rear and cleaned up the ones I removed from the front and plan to put them in exchange for the shortest leaf in each pack ( I am hoping they don't lift it more than 1" but we will see), those need to be installed. I just installed ruff stuff bump stops all around with some 2" spacers I made out of 2" steel pipe. I simply drilled them to mount to the stock bump stop threaded holes in the frame. Hopefully these hold up but I might need to have them welded in to beef them up. I currently barely have 2" of space under the bump stop, and roughly 3" of upstroke left in the shocks at rest. Since the bump stops are progressive I was not sure exactly where to place them to make sure the shocks don't bottom out but without limiting my flex!

So the dual magna flow exhaust was also way too loud for my taste so I had those cut out and replaced with Walker Quietflow SS mufflers. This really helped and its much more enjoyable to drive now. I can easily hear the music and my GF is happier, which means a lot! The quiet crap and mcmastercar foam I installed helped a good bit as well.

However the new muffler is a little longer than the old one and the way the shop put it in puts it really close the the fuel line / pump thats mounted to the driverside frame rail. I was hoping they knew what they were doing and it wouldn't be an issue, but the next time I went up to Vermont for some trail riding I ended up with what I assumed was vapor lock. The engine was sputtering and I had to turn it off. I guessed that that must have been the issues and I sprayed that area down with a water bottle, waited a couple minutes and it started right back up. That was my last trail of that day. I have since wrapped that whole part of the fuel line and pump in cruiser crap, which has an aluminum heat protecting cover, but I am not sure that will be enough. It has been fine on road, but I think that the really slow off road like last time might be the only time it becomes a problem, or next summer when it's a lot hotter outside. I might end up having to reroute the fuel line or exhaust.

photo before I wrapped it with quiet crap.

Other few odds and ends.

I added a filter wrap pre-filter to my filter after I cleaned it. It is supposed to keep water splashes and fine particles out, i'll let you know what I think after some more miles. Just the filter alone wasn't a match for the amount of maine dust I had to deal with in june.

Hard wired in a 50L ARB Fridge

Did some fun trips and camping in Maine and Vermont, but I'll save that for another post!

 

[Shebamacalla]

Continuing in the updates from the summer, want to try to keep it all in this thread.

In June I took the truck on its first real multi day trip. I met up with my buddy Niall (REDrum) on here and we headed up to Maine to meet a group and North East overland for their first "Moose on the Loose" trip. It was about a 6 hour drive from Boston but about 45min in Niall's FJ80 was throwing some engine codes that was causing the engine to loose power. After going over it in a parking lot he decided to make a pit stop at a friends place who had a garage and a lot of FJ80 knowledge. I made the rest of the trip myself and caught up with my other buddy Scott (scrowley) in another FJ80 at the meeting point. Met a ton of other people and made camp for the night.

There was no cell reception so staying in touch with Niall was tough but he didn't make it to the campsite by the time we agreed to wait until in the AM so we headed off with out him. The ride was basically point to point choose your own adventure style with a route mapped out you could follow or risk it and take your own path. Even following the route it is sometimes tough up here as there are dirt roads everywhere and few signs. I downloaded all the google maps of the area to my phone so I could use the gps to pinpoint where I was even without reception, this was definitely helpful many times.
Our first pitstop was Moxie Falls

We drove most of the way into it but had to hike the final bit. when we got back to the trucks we actually got a call from Niall, he fixed the truck and had made it up and was just driving around looking for us. We told him where we were and we met up. Was very lucky that we both happened to get cell reception at the same time up in the middle of no where!

From there we kept pushing on covering about 100 miles of dirt logging roads with a few miles of more challenging 2 track, but nothing was very difficult that day.

Landcruiser Line up

View from the cockpit

To be cont...

 

[TLC Norway]

Keep em coming!
I really enjoy your approach and patience with the beauty of a 60!

I'd definately address that exhaust clearance issue, maybe a heat shield and wrapping until you can reroute the exhaust?

How do you like them bumpstops?
Confdent bumper when high speed offroad, or do they seem hard?
What brand are they?

 

[Shebamacalla]

The next day we headed back out for some more exploring still heading our way north. We passed through the "North Maine Woods" check point.

There is a daily use fee which includes dispersed camping. If I recall it was about $20 per day and they had a freezer full of ice cream sandwiches for $1!!! In this part of the state Logging trucks rule the road, if you see one barreling at you a 60mph it is entirely your responsibility to get out of the way. Luckily we didn't come face to face with one, but I am told it can be quite scary. The main issue was pot holes, most of the dirt roads are wide open so going 30-50mph was the norm, but giant pot holes can sneak up on you and ruin your day. Most really big ones have been marked (typically with sticks covered in beer cans) but some medium and small ones aren't and can be really nasty if hit wrong. Our next checkpoint was the site of a b52 crash. The remains still litter the woods from the crash in 1963. Very cool to see in the middle of no where!

This is Niall's FJ80, properly built!

We crossed many rivers and some were really raging.

Good photo ops are everywhere

to be cont...

 

[Shebamacalla]

By the next day we were getting really far north, our next checkpoint was some abandoned trains on the shore of Eagle Lake. To get there however meant a long hike through the woods/swamp. It took well over an hour each way and the mosquitos were out in force, but it was very cool to see.

We continued on and decided to depart from the planned route to get out and explore and take some risks. A few other trucks decided to join us. Not much later our narrow dirt road disappeared in front of us, luckily Scott was paying attention or it could have ended badly. The road was severely washed out and we had to figure out a way around or get all turned around. Obviously you can guess what we choose to do, the fun is finding a way around these exact type of road blocks. After scouting we decided we could drive through the creek that caused the wash out and then up the bank past the ravine.

Niall went in first and showed us all how it's done.

I went next and made it through without much of an issue. Did use both lockers to get up the wet slippery bank though, sadly I don't have a photo, someone was taking video, wish I remembered their name!

Then Scott made in through in his super capable armored 80 series.

We all then met up at the ending check point and said our farewells and parted ways. I decided to not take the direct way home and did a little solo exploration before heading back. Ended up camping another night in the back of the 60 then making the final push home the following day

All in all it was a great trip into some beautiful parts of Maine. Most of the trails were a little tamer than I was expecting but it was a great first event for NE overland and I look forward to participating in more of their events in the future.

 

[Shebamacalla]

Keep em coming!
I really enjoy your approach and patience with the beauty of a 60!

I'd definately address that exhaust clearance issue, maybe a heat shield and wrapping until you can reroute the exhaust?

How do you like them bumpstops?
Confdent bumper when high speed offroad, or do they seem hard?
What brand are they?

Thanks!! Yeah I had thought about a shield but was somewhat worried that might trap the heat in.

I literally just installed the bump stops a few days ago and I have the truck in the garage and am afraid to take it out until the spring, even though we don't have any snow yet they have covered the street in white devil.

I got the bumpstops from Ruff Stuff, but I don't think they made them, they seem pretty similar to daystar, they do seem like they should give a soft hit.

 

[Elbert]

check out energy suspension and daystar's web site for various flavors of bump stops.

 

[NQCruiser]

View attachment 1006050

That is a top photo - hope you don't mind, but I'm pinching it for my desktop background....

 

[Shebamacalla]

The cruiser hasn't left the safety of the garage since the salt hit the roads but I've been doing some small projects. I ordered some fj62 style mirrors and a nos fj62 grab bar from cruisercorps and installed those. The bar is great but I'm still tweaking the mirrors to try to get the view I want. They definitely feel cheap but I'll see how they hold up.

I also ordered a 4x4 labs double swing out bumper. He had a group buy so I couldn't pass up the discount. Swing out bumpers are not cheap!! Hoping to get that and my trail gear sliders installed this spring. Want to try to install the bumper myself but will def need help or have to take it to a shop for the sliders as they need to be welded. That's it for now. Some interior refreshing should be happening very soon!

 

[mongoose2231]

Awesome truck

 

[drillduty]

Bracing for the storm! Get that rig out of the garage tomorrow before they salt up those roads!

 

[Shebamacalla]

Bracing for the storm! Get that rig out of the garage tomorrow before they salt up those roads!

Oh they are already out salting, I actually just got back from a midnight bike ride to check out the scene. It is definitely starting to come down hard but the wind is what is most brutal.

 

[drillduty]

Great rig! I'm born and raised in Lawrence Ma. Currently enjoying my rust free FJ62 in eastern Alabama!

 

[TLC Norway]

Lookin good! I re-discovered your rig on instagram ;p

Out on the road now?

 

[Shebamacalla]

Lookin good! I re-discovered your rig on instagram ;p

Out on the road now?

Oh yeah back on the road. A lot to update but have been slammed at work and in the process of selling my house. Should have a full install and review write up of my 4x4 labs bumper shortly.

Took the truck to Vermont for some camping last weekend. The weather was great but didn't do too much off-road exploring since the trails were still pretty soft.

 

[Shebamacalla]

Been meaning to update my build thread with my 4x4 Labs fj60 rear swing out bumper install but haven't gotten around to it. Tonight is the night!

I had Luke ship my bumper to my brothers place in Pennsylvania because he has a nice big garage and I don't. So I drove over a few months back in february to visit and install the bumper. We thought we could have it completed in 2 afternoons....we were wrong. I think if we did it again we could do it in half the time, but doing it the first time had a good number of speed bumps. Hopefully this might make the job a little bit easier for others looking to install a swing out bumper.

The bumper arrived expertly crated and wrapped

We started by removing the stock bumper which is only held on by bolts.

In this photo you can see the cross member that is just under the bumper and the massive rivets that are holding the stock bumper mount and rear body mount to the frame.

Next we cut out the cross member with a sawmill and then a hacksaw to get it flush to the frame rail. technically you could remove those rivets as well and get it entirely out, but would be insanely hard with the body still on.

If you don't cut it flush to the cross member the new bumper won't slide in the whole way.

Next is removing the rivets, which is by far the hardest part.
Step 1: Cut off the head of the rivets with a sawzall
Step 2: Drill a hole through the rivet, as big as possible through the rivet but not the head on the opposite side
Step 3: Use a heavy duty punch slid into the hole to drilled to pound them out with a hammer.

Drilling through the rivets was my biggest challenge, they are extremely hard. End up spending a lot of $ on drill bits. My best tip I learned was to start small and work your way up. I think I had 4-5 different bits that I would start with the smallest and then go up in series. The other important thing is to not push hard on the drill, use a slow setting and let the bit do the work, if you push too hard the bit just burns out and doesn't do anything.

Finished rivet removal

After painting the exposed metal it's time to slide the bumper in. Getting it over the lip of the body mount was a bit troublesome but luckily a friend was visiting at this point and with 3 people pushing in unison we slid it on the whole way. Be careful not to slide it in crooked or you could possibly scratch your quarters with the quarter guards.

 

[Shebamacalla]

Ready to slide in.

Once it is slid the whole way on just install the bolts into the proper holes. Sadly the kit doesn't come with any instructions or which bolts go where. I wish I had made a list but I didn't. You can figure it out though, not that hard.

Next is attaching the Z brackets to the quarter guards and to the body mount bolt. This part was also very confusing but a quick email to luke clarified a bit. It was tough to get the bolt through where the hole in the quarter guard is. It lined up perfectly with the seam at the bottom of the quarter panel. I eventually got them in but I am slightly concerned with how close they are. If I were to drop off a ledge and it flexes more than a couple mms I feel like the bolts will contact the quarter panel, but Luke assured me this is how they have always been and he hasn't had any issues with them. To access the body mount bolt you have to go in through the truck to the small access holes above the bolts in the rear section of the floor.

Installing the swing out tire carrier and gas can basket is pretty straight forward. I was accidentally shipped the wrong accessories but Luke was more than willing to set that straight and made new ones and shipped them out free of charge.

Overall I was impressed with the customer service and the bumper is super sturdy and the swing outs work flawlessly. The powder coat job seems top notch and it looks great on the truck! I think a step by step instruction sheet and nut and bolt list with where they go would be a help to DIYers doing this for the first time.

Photo of my brothers dream garage!

And this is how it looks set up with the correct accessories!

On its first trip exploring Vermont class 4 roads and carrying some firewood to the campsite!