Builds Let's Baseline my new to me 1993 Land Cruiser (1 Viewer)

[PNWTreeOctopus]

ABS Woes…

$500+ later I now have a brand new speed sensor kit, complete with a whole new wiring harness and all the brackets. You probably already know that the speed sensors are only available new as part of the kit.

New on the left, old on the right. These new ones are pretty different than the old ones.
-plastic housing
-no shims
And two magnetic pickups vs one.

After some research on the forum I concluded that it is possible to run new style sensors (95-97) in old rigs (93-94). The old style sensor is not Available new and a used one will cost you a pretty penny and are not readily available…especially if you’re in a hurry to fix. So $$$$ to foothills Toyota.

The part fits fine—no issues installing. But my ABS light went on after starting up the truck. I did clear the ABS codes before my first start up. But it came back with code 36: open circuit in R front speed sensor.

Endless

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Well after a cup of coffee I have have a new plan. I'm going to reinstall the old ABS sensor and see if it reverts to the old behavior (intermittent ABS light and pulsing stops when turning at slow speeds) if thats the case then I'll switch sensors side to side and see if the problem chances sides. If not then I'll be swapping out the whole harness. Its possible that this last round of manipulating the wiring harness made things worse. I'm going to try and remove the sensor without removing the wheels, which would save me a lot of time.

I leave for Utah in 10 days. My family moves from this house in 49 days. House goes on the market in about 75 days. I have endless stuff to do and zero time to get them done! So LC may have no ABS for its cross country adventures.

The last of my air fittings arrived yesterday. I believe my new braided airline from Grimm Offroad is going to work well with the Arb 90 degree fittings I have. Hopefully I can get all of that finished up so my QPM can go home to its little spot before I move with all its major pieces in place. I'll post up the pics when its all done and tidy.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I replaced the passenger side front ABS harness (and reinstalled the old speed sensor). I pulled the old harness and it has some break in the wire somewhere. After putting the new one in I started the truck up and no ABS light. Took it for a test drive and the light came on with in a block or so. Drove more and the light went off at 35-40 MPH. The light came back on at low speed again. Then at 45ish MPH the light came off but when I applied the brakes moderately the truck pulled to the right and made everything feel kind of crazy and unstable. Not cool--so I cautiously limped home. I'll pull the ABS codes again and see if there are new ones.

I'll finish replacing the diver side harness and put in both new speed sensors and see what happens next.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Hopefully last of the ABS issues

I removed the driver's side ABS wiring harness this morning and replaced both speed sensors. The harness came off easily despite being sealed to the radius arm with undercoating. I smeared some dielectric grease in all the connectors and bolted every thing down. The new harness is impressive in its massive amount of brackets. I'm 100% happy I ended up ordering a new harness from Toyota. Its very easy to say "I'll just trace down the break in the wire and splice in a new bit to correct the issue..bla bla bla." But getting to some parts of the wiring harness would be tedious (at least for me). I can easily see why folks would then choose to ditch the ABS, especially when so many people share their positive experience running with no ABS.

I digress. I took the rig for a test drive to a steep gravel hill into a parking lot in Fairhaven ( a neighborhood of Bellingham). ABS worked perfectly and no codes. I took it up to speed on the freeway and made some strong stops on the off-ramp. I feel satisfied that the ABS issue is now solved. Its no joke that you need to treat those sensors very, very carefully when you remove your airfields during front axle services. One last gotcha: don't drop any lock washers into the hole for the speed sensor. Its difficult to get them out, and its why you need a tiny telescoping magnet in your tool box.

Key notes for the special 93-94 year folks:

• Available speed sensor kit 04895-60013 happily works with our special rigs.
• New style sensors will physically plug into the old harnesses, but are quite different looking from the old ones.
• If you are following along in the FSM for speed sensor replacement, I no longer had my 2mm spacer (read washer) below my speed sensor bracket. I did not consult the 95-97 FSM to compare the procedure. I was happy that my "air gap" seemed ok and I didn't need to figure out shims for the new sensor (I don't think they exist...)

Nice and shiny!

When I bought my truck there was so much much and dried mud/oil/grease/gravel/sand on the undercarriage I didn't even know this bracket was here.

Don't drop this into the hole. Also buy a telescoping magnet. because you will probably need it.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

More fun!

Getting my windshield replaced today. I’m tired of my huge crack. I’m bringing my own Toyota windshield gasket. I’m very curious if they will discover any rust under the old gasket. It leaks pretty badly, and I’m hopi g this helps with my intermittent damp carpet.

 

[Dusten]

I was working on my lightning and dropped a washing in a spark plug hole. A stainless washer.

It took me 3 hours with tape and a screw driver and my boroscope to get it out so I feel your pain

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I was working on my lightning and dropped a washing in a spark plug hole. A stainless washer.

It took me 3 hours with tape and a screw driver and my boroscope to get it out so I feel your pain

fortunately it took all of 3 seconds to retrieve this one. That moly grease saved the day and caught the washer right on top of the birfield. I'm glad I didn't need to go shopping for a borescope...but there is always tomorrow.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Small Update

I took a nice little drive today. I had a few goals:

• Return my kids season ski rentals in Glacier
• Say my goodbyes to the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie NF
• Retrace some favorite places I shared with my father (today is is death anniversary)
• Enjoy the pristine windshield
• Finish my 500 mile diff break in
• Evaluate my brake system before I head to UT next week

I had a nice rainy drive, and enjoyed the heck out of my cruiser for the first time in a long time. Clear windshields and new wipers on a rainy day are the best. I also took advantage of the zero traffic and preformed some terrifying (for me and my cruiser) emergency stops. Brakes feel really good given that the truck is big and heavy and on 315's. I have no other 80's to compare to, but it feels the best it has yet. So that was confidence inspiring before my big drive next week.

I popped up the welcome pass trailhead road (before the WSDOT maintenance station on 542) and tried out my low range on the steepest ups and downs available to my schedule. All feels really nice. I'm excited to plan some real wheeling trips...but there is still a bit more to do between now and then. Like move across the country.

I also finished my lingering air plumbing on the QPM. Ready to install.

The small lower press fittings on the ARB manifold will route to a quick coupler mounted to my drawers. I have an elegant little ARB bulkhead mount that I'll mount once I'm all moved to MN. So that will be a wrap for the QPM stuff. I'm planning on stuffing it in the rig and hooking it all up when I have some time to actually enjoy the process. I'm not likly to be using the lockers or the compressor until the fall at the very earliest. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Dusten]

Small Update

I took a nice little drive today. I had a few goals:

• Return my kids season ski rentals in Glacier
• Say my goodbyes to the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie NF
• Retrace some favorite places I shared with my father (today is is death anniversary)
• Enjoy the pristine windshield
• Finish my 500 mile diff break in
• Evaluate my brake system before I head to UT next week

I had a nice rainy drive, and enjoyed the heck out of my cruiser for the first time in a long time. Clear windshields and new wipers on a rainy day are the best. I also took advantage of the zero traffic and preformed some terrifying (for me and my cruiser) emergency stops. Brakes feel really good given that the truck is big and heavy and on 315's. I have no other 80's to compare to, but it feels the best it has yet. So that was confidence inspiring before my big drive next week.

I popped up the welcome pass trailhead road (before the WSDOT maintenance station on 542) and tried out my low range on the steepest ups and downs available to my schedule. All feels really nice. I'm excited to plan some real wheeling trips...but there is still a bit more to do between now and then. Like move across the country.
View attachment 3315665

I also finished my lingering air plumbing on the QPM. Ready to install.View attachment 3315666
The small lower press fittings on the ARB manifold will route to a quick coupler mounted to my drawers. I have an elegant little ARB bulkhead mount that I'll mount once I'm all moved to MN. So that will be a wrap for the QPM stuff. I'm planning on stuffing it in the rig and hooking it all up when I have some time to actually enjoy the process. I'm not likly to be using the lockers or the compressor until the fall at the very earliest. I'll keep you posted.

Today was my anniversary too. Sucks

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Today was my anniversary too. Sucks

no fun at all. Taking each day at a time has become each week, each month. I can’t believe it’s been a year already.

 

[Dusten]

no fun at all. Taking each day at a time has become each week, each month. I can’t believe it’s been a year already.

It's been 9. Doesn't seem like 9 days sometimes

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Break in service supplies are in hand. But the real mission today was to fill my cup holder with this…

Because you all thought I was kidding about Starbucks…malls possibly.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Fresh Oil @222,808

Changed out that break-in gear oil. Lots of fine metals on my drain plug magnets, and a few small flakes. After some consulting with @baldilocks about gear oil with out LSD additives (I’m not really into psychedelics), I decided to go with NAPA house brand gear oil. It meets API GL-4 or GL-5 requirements. It also has no claims about Limited slip Differential additives. A NAPA employee told me that the NAPA oil is rebranded Valoline. It’s not especially fancy, but I anticipate that I will change it more frequently than my other vehicles given its intended usage.

I changed motor oil brands from M1 10-30 to the Rotella T5 10-30. I may switch to a lower weight oil this winter, though I don’t plan on using my LC a lot in the nasty MN salty road environment. I do however want it ready for service if necessary, and I do plan on some short drives to keep it happy and lubricated.

Filter is the made in Thailand Toyota. Out of fear of leaks I decided not to run the “big Toyota one” I have in my parts bin.

Full engine drain, and two diffs (plus a tiny lawn mower) is a lot of oil. Plan accordingly!

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Headed to Utah....QPM IS IN!

I'm leaded to the gills with the first lap of moving stuff to MN. Taking bikes and the bike rack so they can stay in St. Paul. Stupidly, I still have two more bikes to move after this. We shall see how this heavily loaded rig likes its new gears. I'm headed to Boise, then to SLC for my suspension rodeo with @cruiseroutfit. It should be a good comparison to see before and after castor correction. I'll have 900 miles to reminisce on the good times me and the old suspension had together....especially the white knuckling around the corners.

I've been working like crazy on a backyard patio project that we started just before my dad went on hospice. No surprise we set it aside half done and only just restarted that project last week. I did manage to get the QPM into its home. Unfortuanly I didn't take any photos because 1. it was a gigantic PITA to fit into the quarter panel void, and 2. I was racing the clock to complete it. It is not currently operational, I still need to hook up the positive power and shorten and connect the ground. Other than that it needs some 6mm air line to run to my quick connect chuck which will eventually be mounted to the rear drawer system. Then the last steps is to build and extend the wiring harness to connect the switches to the compressor and locker solenoids. I'm going to tackle that this fall along with getting my wiring harness re-routed and hooked back up to the new old school hella rally 4000's I mounted.

The poor folks at @cruiseroutfit are gonna laugh at my hard finished project, but I'm still excited to meet them and get those tropical fish colored springs on the Cruiser.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Teaser…

My new coils and shocks are a big upgrade.

Also there’s this…

Please excuse the truck’s filthy appearance. 2,000 miles of interstate travel has prevented me from shining it up for some photos. The difference between before the delta arms and after has been dramatic. I’ll be excited to see what long radius interstate mountain descents feel like, because before it was often a little scary to have the truck need corrections mid-turn.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Getting ready to drive back to WA…

I have been cleaning and dusting and sweeping and vacuuming out this nasty old basement. I’m eager to get some more miles on the new suspension. A couple more things to note about my journey thus far…

Upon departing Bellingham for SLC my stereo suddenly stopped functioning correctly. The speakers would cut out. I’d hit a bump and they’d come back to life. This resulted in three days of silent driving. I discovered I readily talk to myself when given the opportunity.

Yesterday I noticed my AC stopped blowing cold air. I have had a few good squeals at start up. I took a look at the various AC threads and thought I’d check my belt tension. And it seemed a bit loose so I tightened it up a little, but I now believe that the AC compressor bearing isn’t working correctly. Unfortunately tightening the belt a bit did not help. So it will be a quiet sweaty ride back to Bellingham.

My OME/Dobbinsons setup is really nice. And did I mention how nice it is to have it all back in alignment with the DVS arms?! Night and day. I feel a lot more confident smashing the brakes too, way less squirrelly.

 

[Dusten]

Getting ready to drive back to WA…

I have been cleaning and dusting and sweeping and vacuuming out this nasty old basement. I’m eager to get some more miles on the new suspension. A couple more things to note about my journey thus far…

Upon departing Bellingham for SLC my stereo suddenly stopped functioning correctly. The speakers would cut out. I’d hit a bump and they’d come back to life. This resulted in three days of silent driving. I discovered I readily talk to myself when given the opportunity.

Yesterday I noticed my AC stopped blowing cold air. I have had a few good squeals at start up. I took a look at the various AC threads and thought I’d check my belt tension. And it seemed a bit loose so I tightened it up a little, but I now believe that the AC compressor bearing isn’t working correctly. Unfortunately tightening the belt a bit did not help. So it will be a quiet sweaty ride back to Bellingham.

My OME/Dobbinsons setup is really nice. And did I mention how nice it is to have it all back in alignment with the DVS arms?! Night and day. I feel a lot more confident smashing the brakes too, way less squirrelly.

You've had the doors apart on your truck right? I noticed that if the speaker wires aren't well insulated they'll bump the door frame or window frames and short out this will turn all the speakers off

 

[Dirt Ferguson]

My wife and I stayed in Maple Falls back in March for a few nights. Nice modern cabin on a lake. Beautiful part of the world, and I wanted to explore more but, our T4R TRD Pro rental was too nice to risk even a moss-print.

Good luck on your move. Utah is rad.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

My wife and I stayed in Maple Falls back in March for a few nights. Nice modern cabin on a lake. Beautiful part of the world, and I wanted to explore more but, our T4R TRD Pro rental was too nice to risk even a moss-print.

Good luck on your move. Utah is rad.

Oh Utah is rad, but I’m moving to Minnesota. Not done with UT yet. I have plans to return when sliders are on and I can get away for a couple of weeks to get good s d gruels lost out there.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

You've had the doors apart on your truck right? I noticed that if the speaker wires aren't well insulated they'll bump the door frame or window frames and short out this will turn all the speakers off

Thanks for this suggestion. Given that the windows will be down as I plow the interstate for 1700 miles I probably won’t be able to hear a damn thing anyway.

I feel like I’m entering the next round of worn out parts. We will see what comes next…