Builds Sold! Land Crusher - 1993 FZJ80 3x Locked - Introduction and Build Thread (1 Viewer)

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Installed my powder coated Wheel Vintiques smoothies on Friday. Specs are Series 12 "Smoothie" wheels at 16"x8" on 4.5" backspacing (no wheel spacers necessary).

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Awe, we were such kindred spirits. You with the 93 in Champaign and port installed leather and me with the 94 configured the same. And then you joined the steelie club... I’m a little sad.
 
Awe, we were such kindred spirits. You with the 93 in Champaign and port installed leather and me with the 94 configured the same. And then you joined the steelie club... I’m a little sad.

Haha! I still have the OEM aluminum wheels. I'm probably going to get them refinished. I also really like the OEM LX450 wheels.

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Just wanted to give a quick update - I've been enjoying the Cruiser and taking it on progressively longer trips. One of the things I've upgraded is the storage system. I had tied my Yeti 75 in the back hatch area to keep it from tipping over while crawling (and spilling ice-water all over the back of the truck).

That worked pretty well, but it was hard to store anything in the hatch besides the cooler. I was constantly throwing stuff over the seat or crawling around trying to get to the lawn chairs or tools or whatever. I decided to upgrade my storage space with a set of ARB drawers and slider tops.

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I also splurged and purchased an ARB Elements 63 quart fridge. It works really well and kept our water and beer ice cold at the lake this weekend.

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To tie it down I utilized the ARB Elements tie down kit (PN: 10900038) and a set of US Cargo Control L-Track anchor points, D-ring stud fittings, and the ARB cam buckle straps.

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So far I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think I'm going to add some L-Track to the other slider so I can strap things down on the driver's side.

Thanks for looking!
 
That's pretty classy. I still use my third row.
 
I strap my Yeti 75 down to the floor where the second row seats go. I mounted tie downs to the vertical portion of the floor where the step is and I made a drain hose by drilling a hole in a replacement Yeti water drain plug and epoxying in a two foot long piece of clear vinyl tubing. Last year the Yeti sat in that position for three weeks while we toured the west and it never had to move.

Not only were our drinks reachable on the fly and the Yeti not in my way when I opened the hatch but all that weight was central in my rig.

Did you install a second battery?
 
That's pretty classy. I still use my third row.

Thank you!!!

My truck didn't come with the third row seats (it did have the hardware and belts). But I'm glad it didn't. I would never use them and they would just take up space in the garage.

I strap my Yeti 75 down to the floor where the second row seats go. I mounted tie downs to the vertical portion of the floor where the step is and I made a drain hose by drilling a hole in a replacement Yeti water drain plug and epoxying in a two foot long piece of clear vinyl tubing. Last year the Yeti sat in that position for three weeks while we toured the west and it never had to move.

Not only were our drinks reachable on the fly and the Yeti not in my way when I opened the hatch but all that weight was central in my rig.

Did you install a second battery?

I never used the third row, but I use the second row all the time. I still really like my Yeti for ice and quick cooling. A cooler full of ice will get warm-drinks ice-cold in 20 minutes. The fridge takes 12 hours! I've learned to pre-chill my stuff, and let the fridge run on AC power for 12 hours prior to a trip. That saves the compressor from trying to play catchup with a bunch of thermal mass (warm beer).

I have not installed a second battery, but it's on my to-do list. I think I'll do something similar to the Slee setup (Slee - Dual Battery System (Toyota 80 Series Land Cruiser)) since I have a winch too. Hell, maybe even let them do the work.

Right now though my main focus is diesel/5-speed swap. I want more torque and better range. Plus, I want to be able to put it in 4-low in 1st gear and let it crawl (up or down). I also need to fix the caster, do some interior work, and install a better stereo. So many projects!
 
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More torque or lower rpm torque? What engine and trans?
 
More torque or lower rpm torque? What engine and trans?

Both! More torque and at lower RPMs.

Dunno. What diesel engine and manual trans do you recommend?
 
I don’t think you will get more peak torque out of a stock Toyota Diesel than the 1fz puts out just a peak at lower rpm. There is the option to tune the Diesel up for greater output. I love Diesel engines and own a dodge Cummins myself but I really question the actual monetary return on doing a Diesel swap of any kind into the US spec 80. If you want it for cool points and money is no object then you certainly win there.

If I were to put a Diesel into an 80 that would be used primarily for overlanding and no serious rock crawling, I would do a Cummins 6bt and enjoy lots of power and better mpg at the same time. Tuning a Toyota Diesel up to anything close to a mildly tuned 6bt would be cost prohitbitive imo.
 
I don’t think you will get more peak torque out of a stock Toyota Diesel than the 1fz puts out just a peak at lower rpm. There is the option to tune the Diesel up for greater output. I love Diesel engines and own a dodge Cummins myself but I really question the actual monetary return on doing a Diesel swap of any kind into the US spec 80. If you want it for cool points and money is no object then you certainly win there.

If I were to put a Diesel into an 80 that would be used primarily for overlanding and no serious rock crawling, I would do a Cummins 6bt and enjoy lots of power and better mpg at the same time. Tuning a Toyota Diesel up to anything close to a mildly tuned 6bt would be cost prohibitive imo.

I agree with you. Although the Toyota diesels are really nice because they were designed for the truck, it's a very expensive proposition for not much gain in performance. Plus, finding parts is difficult and expensive.

I also agree that the 6BT with the NV4500 is probably the way to go. 400 lb-ft of torque and 200 hp without any mods to the motor. Plus 20 mpg. I have a 2002 Dodge 6BT and I love it. The torque is amazing. And it's loud and obnoxious, which I like.

I'm not sure I follow you on the "monetary return" of a diesel swap. Vehicles in general are bad financial investments. And modifying them makes it worse. The advantage of a diesel swap (at least for me) is more torque, better torque curve, manual transmission, better mpg, longer range, simplicity, and reliability. Not to save money. If you're trying to recoup the expense of an engine swap based on the fuel savings it would potentially provide, you're analyzing the advantages of the swap incorrectly.
 
Landcruiser reliability is unquestionable no matter the equipment list. You can install a second gas tank for more than double the range and save your bank account.

Again, if cool points are what you are really out for then pump the money into a Diesel swap.

You rig is very sharp by the way.
 
Landcruiser reliability is unquestionable no matter the equipment list. You can install a second gas tank for more than double the range and save your bank account.

Again, if cool points are what you are really out for then pump the money into a Diesel swap.

You rig is very sharp by the way.

Thanks so much!!! I looked a long time before buying this Cruiser.
 
Quick update - I was in Colorado last week for a Red Rocks concert. We were driving to Boulder and passed through Golden, CO. Randomly saw Slee Offroad! HAD to make a pitstop. A few hundred dollars later, and I've got a dual battery kit on order!!!

The new shop is really cool, and Ben was very helpful. Lots of slick toys and rigs!!!

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Also, my A/C went out a few weeks ago. The compressor froze on the way to the lake and I burned up the belt before I cut it off. So I'm going to use it as an opportunity to do some mods along the way - PAIR delete, EGR delete, heater valve replacement, rear heater bypass, Gates green stripe/Breeze clamps, dual battery, Ron Davis radiator, water pump, Land Tank fan clutch, OEM belts/hoses, etc.

More to come soon!
 
I was able to drain the coolant and pull the fan, shroud, clutch, and radiator last night. I've also realized that I'm incredibly slow at this work.

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While pulling the radiator I realized that the PO lost/damaged most of the isolator brackets for the radiator. The passenger side main bracket is completely gone.

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The other two isolators that you access behind the headlights were all mangled. Plus I managed to lose one of the 12mm nuts.

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Anybody know the PNs for all four of the isolator fasteners for the radiator?


The fan shroud was also cracked. Should I just glue back together or go ahead and replace?
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But this beautiful Ron Davis Racing radiator is going back in (along with some other cooling goodies)!
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Midway through rear heater bypass and PHH/FHH service. Also deleted EGR. I had to take a break and post a few pics of my progress. This project is a b*tch!

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If I pull the upper intake manifold, will I be able to access the EGR tube to remove it?


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