Builds Let's Baseline my new to me 1993 Land Cruiser (5 Viewers)

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Ok, so I’m waiting until our family survives financial armageddon before really starting the 2m radio project. I did manage to fish the power cable through the fire wall and picked a spot to mount the radio, but I need extra cables to mount the control head remotely and an extension for the mic. So I’ll save those photos for when it gets properly mounted.

In the spirit of cheap and free work on my cruiser I’m posting my homebrew spare tire trash bag. In my family its PG name is the “cheaparoo” and it serves the important function of hauling trash, dog and human poop on the OUTSIDE of the vehicle.

It was a free external frame pack. I removed the frame, and lashed it on with paracord. I’d prefer fastex buckles or cam straps, but this worked fine trucking around central Oregon last summer. It lives in my garage when it’s not on s*** hauling duty, I’m pretty sure it would die quickly from UV exposure if I left it on...plus it’s fugly as hell. I’m tempted To make my own. I’d prefer it to close with buckles, and have a much heavier fabric, but for now it works And fabric and buckles are not free...usually. Ive been on the hunt for the next bag to repurpose, but suddenly old packs are trendy and cost a bunch at the thrift store.

 

[NY2NC]

Awesome thread. I read all 7 pages. I'm in the process of getting my 1994 ready for a long 30 hour drive to the Grand Canyon from NC. So, I'm putting my own baseline list together. Great work!

 

[hikermike]

I don't see it on your list, but take a look to the left of your steering column and see if you have a switch for a center differential lock. If it's not there, you can add that $1200 accessory for a few bucks with just a switch. the wiring etc is already installed and you'll be a true 4 wheeler. There's sveral threads on this forum on how to do it.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

@hikermike, the Selective front and rear locking diff switch doesn’t do much good without the actual locking differentials in the axles. My rig did not come equipped with the e-lockers, so the switch might wire up, but it won’t actually function. I did buy the center diff lock switch and install that. Lots of good info on the diff system in the 80 series FAQ.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

@hikermike, the Selective front and rear locking diff switch doesn’t do much good without the actual locking differentials in the axles. My rig did not come equipped with the e-lockers, so the switch might wire up, but it won’t actually function. I did buy the center diff lock switch and install that. Lots of good info on the diff system in the 80 series FAQ.

@hikermike Looks like I didn’t read Your post very well, I see that you said central diff lock. I was confused by the location on the left side of the steering colum. The switch on my rig is above the A/C next to the ECT and rear defrost switches. I did instal that one a while back when I put in my new head unit.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Well this is gross. I was browsing through the forum looking for more information to help plan the NSS Connector surgery that seems unavoidable when i stumbled across the existence air cleaner dust collector. I was hesitant (maybe excited too?) to see how full and gross it was in there....and it was half full of these.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Pigtails and soldering or crimp new pins?

Ok Planning out my NSS harness plug “plug-ectomy”. So far I’m still inclined to do this job myself. I have found a quality connector (Deutch 8pin “waterproof”) it come in a couple of flavors: Pigtail which involves soldering the wires in the engine compartment or a crimp version, which involves crimping tiny pins in the engine compartment. I’m not an old hand at soldering, but I do know which end gets hot. Ive soldered in the engine compartment on this rig already and its been successful. However doing 8 wires in this spot is not really getting me excited.

So I welcome the opinions of this community on what you would do. Crimp or Solder? The goal obviously being that I don’t want to do this again.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I cut the NSS plugs off of the harness and the NSS switch this afternoon in an attempt to solve three things that are apparently concetted to this electrical connection.
1. No reverse lights
2. No PRND2L light in dash
3. No Gear holding in L or 2 it shifts right on up.

I bought an 8pin waterproof connector and some nice heatshrink crimp connectors and a new ratcheting crimp tool and went to work. It was all going as well as can be for working in the shadow of the PHH in the wheel well, but the harness side wires and the plug side wires dont match up color wise or number wise. So I did my best to connect the appropriate wires with their nearest color. I decided not to do the heat shrink until I could get everything tested, and unfortunately no Reverse lights or PRND2L lights in the dash. I didn’t opt to test drive as I didn’t want the head from the engine to shrink the heat shrink.

I’m pretty disappointed and I’m taking a break so as not to make more mistakes. Any suggestions?

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Well the ‘Mud community came through in a big way! I was able to finish up my NSS “Plug-ectomy” and now I have functioning reverse lights, PRND2L dash lights, and the truck will hold in L. These things have never worked before and I’m frankly excited to have some engine braking on the trails.

I used a ratcheting wire crimper I bought online, a waterproof Deutch 8pin pigtail, heatshrink crimp connectors, and Tesa wire harness tape to do this project. I was on the fence about crimping vs soldering the pigtail, and I’m really glad I opted for the crimp route. Soldering in the wheel well would have been really challenging and I’m sure with the vibration the solder (at my skill level anyway) would have failed. Exposing the wires in the wiring harness was extremely difficult. The Toyota harness is well proceed with a plastic loom and very durable tape/ plastic heat shrink. It took very careful cutting to get to the NSS wires without damaging the other wires bundled in the loom. This all happens just below the PHH, so it requires some contortion to work on this.

I can confirm that my reverse lights are weak! I can also confirm I’m part of the “D light out” club. I’m excited to get on to some other projects. Here are a couple of photos from my process, but I failed to snap a final picture. Rest assured that the harness is wrapped up tight in Tesa harness tape, and the heat shrink connectors are now shrunk!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Updated list on post #1.

 

[NY2NC]

Well the ‘Mud community came through in a big way! I was able to finish up my NSS “Plug-ectomy” and now I have functioning reverse lights, PRND2L dash lights, and the truck will hold in L. These things have never worked before and I’m frankly excited to have some engine braking on the trails.

I used a ratcheting wire crimper I bought online, a waterproof Deutch 8pin pigtail, heatshrink crimp connectors, and Tesa wire harness tape to do this project. I was on the fence about crimping vs soldering the pigtail, and I’m really glad I opted for the crimp route. Soldering in the wheel well would have been really challenging and I’m sure with the vibration the solder (at my skill level anyway) would have failed. Exposing the wires in the wiring harness was extremely difficult. The Toyota harness is well proceed with a plastic loom and very durable tape/ plastic heat shrink. It took very careful cutting to get to the NSS wires without damaging the other wires bundled in the loom. This all happens just below the PHH, so it requires some contortion to work on this.

What was it that made you do this? I carefully examined all the wiring and found nothing visually wrong with them. Some were corroded, so I cleaned them really good. I still have no dash indicator lights or reverse lights.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I based my decision on 1. No reverse lights, 2. No PRND2L lights in dash, and 3. No gear holding in L. My visual inspection yielded that my NSS plug was corrded. My brand new OEM Toyota NSS didn’t solve the issue. I confirmed that the plug itself was working by checking the continuity. Have you done this? Its in the AT section of the FSM under Troubleshooting. The FSM gives a Continuity checking procedure to see if the switch itself is toast.

The dash lights and reverse lights (And gear holding) will only function if the circuit is closed, so I leaned into the fact that it was an electrical issue in the connector. The harness side is really difficult to inspect, but when I finally separated it the pins were corroded. I also spent month reading and re-reading and re-reading again the threads on the NSS plug, and decided to go for it. If I were in your shoes I would do the easy things first before cutting the plug or paying someone to do it. Seperate that plug and flush it with electrical contact cleaner. Add some dielectric grease. Read this Thread, and the one linked at the end.

 

[NY2NC]

I based my decision on 1. No reverse lights, 2. No PRND2L lights in dash, and 3. No gear holding in L. My visual inspection yielded that my NSS plug was corrded. My brand new OEM Toyota NSS didn’t solve the issue. I confirmed that the plug itself was working by checking the continuity. Have you done this? Its in the AT section of the FSM under Troubleshooting. The FSM gives a Continuity checking procedure to see if the switch itself is toast.

The dash lights and reverse lights (And gear holding) will only function if the circuit is closed, so I leaned into the fact that it was an electrical issue in the connector. The harness side is really difficult to inspect, but when I finally separated it the pins were corroded. I also spent month reading and re-reading and re-reading again the threads on the NSS plug, and decided to go for it. If I were in your shoes I would do the easy things first before cutting the plug or paying someone to do it. Seperate that plug and flush it with electrical contact cleaner. Add some dielectric grease. Read this Thread, and the one linked at the end.

Thank you!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Mail call!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Ok, 9011’s installed. Brighter, but I’ll be excited to see the difference on the road.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Maintence Day: Transfer case drain and refill and transmission fluid drain and refill. I opted to drain the transmission from the drain bolt and leave the pan on. I drained about 5 quarts out of it and only managed to spill half a quart all over my leg and garage floor trying to put the used ATF into the empty quart bottles....what a slippery mess.

The cruiser has been promoted to main ski vehicle and maintenance funds are easier to secure from the CFO, given that we are commuting up to the mountain in it. With COVID shuting down the lodge at Mt. Baker Ski area, we’re going to be using the LC as our lodge this year since it’s a helluva lot more comfortable to live in than our Subaru Forester. In the spirit of making the LC more useful as a mini ski lodge, we pulled the trigger on some Reef Drawers and wings from LSO. They are paid for and I’m awaiting a shipping notification. I’m really excited to have a place to keep all the little stuff organized and out of sight. LC in “ski lodge” mode last week on an early season lap with one of my ski buddies.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

New Chapter in this baseline thread!

I got a package from Land Shark Outtifitters...actually 3!

That’s a pair of Reef Drawers, 80 series specific wings, locking drawer faces, deciders and some fancy cam straps. Woohoo!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Assembly of the drawers is as good as everyone says. The extruded aluminum is pretty neat to work with. The CNC routed and cut panels are clean and precise, and the Baltic birch I’m my boxes has no voids at all that I can see.

the process is really straight forward. Sand the edges of the plywood pieces so thing fit properly, then grab blue threadlocker and fit machine screws and nuts.

Then you assemble, loosely tighten things down.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

After building one drawer with loosely tightened hardware you check to see if the bottom is seated into the dados with the clever “checking tool/drawer angle piece”

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Unfortunately after whipping out a nice drawer on one of these rare sunny winter days in NW Wa, I started on my second drawer and found a problem...

This is the rear panel of the second reef drawer and unfortunately there is some damage. The plys around the dado for the drawer bottom are lifting and there is a gouge. The gouge is cosmetic and in a hidden spot, no biggie, but the lifting plys are for 1/3 of the drawer width and nearly the entire depth of the drawer. So I have an email off to Land Shark Outfitters. So far they have been really nice to work with, but things are on pause for the moment it’s a little disappointing, but I’m hoping LSO can ship one quick. Bend isn’t too far from where I live, but I may miss my nice weather window to paint. No big deal.