Maintenance and upgrades on our "new" FJ62... (1 Viewer)

[orion]

Hey all...recently picked up an '88 FJ62 for my wife to drive, and decided to start a thread on it. Partially to keep track of everything that's being done to it, and also to share / pick up knowledge along the way.

We found it by happen-stance. My wife has wanted something "fun" to drive, specifically something older...so we've been looking, but not seriously. Just waiting for the right vehicle to show up on our radar.

I came across this 62 for sale here on 'Mud, and it was a friend of my brother's in Alabama ( @roryhamaker ). Coincidentally, I was headed that way for Mardi Krawl a couple weeks after I saw it posted for sale. The stars were aligning.

It's a grey 62, 171,XXX miles on it, with a bad motor (rod knock). However, it came with some nice extras (bumper and BMW seats), AND a good spare motor (!!!).

Sellers pics:

(the paint looks shiny here, only because it's wet!)

Overall a nice truck, with low miles.

She wanted "vintage", so the bumper and leather BMW seats made their way to my 60......win-win for both of us.

After the deal was done, Rory and my brother ( @ufg8r ) were super helpful in getting it moved around in Huntsville, and getting the spare motor dropped off at my brother's place.

I grabbed the motor when I was up there, and arranged for shipping the LandCruiser the next week.

Driving home from Mardi Krawl, I looked like the Beverly Hillbillies:

...

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[orion]

So it got delivered, late one evening in early April:

The delivery driver killed the battery by leaving the key on...so we had to push it off the trailer, and jump it to get it into the driveway.

I immediately moved my 60 out of the garage, and began the teardown. Decided to not mess with the motor in the truck, and just swap in the spare motor.

In the process, I figured I would do the stuff you should do while a 3FE is out of the truck...oil pan gasket, rear main seal, and oil galley plug fix.

I started with the oil galley plug. Damn glad I did, as it was ready to let go:

With very little effort, it just pulled out:

Then it all went wrong for me.

I picked up some 8x1.25 allen plugs, and grabbed my tap...which promptly broke off in the head. Sigh.

I tried everything to back it out (it would wiggle, but not move)...and in the end, I used a long thin punch to break it with one whack. I pushed the pieces through into the head bolt hole (which was plugged with a paper towel)...and I was back in business.

One shiny new tap later, and a little more care while tapping...and it was threaded. Allen plugs installed, and ready for the next item on the list.

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[orion]

Yanked the one 3F out, and got the other ready to drop in.

New oil pan gasket:

New rear main seal:

...and then I dropped it in, and cleaned up things along the way. Relocated the fuel pressure VSV off the drivers side fender, did new vacuum lines, etc...

Before reinstalling the harness (I read on here to pull it all with the motor - Great tip!)...I fixed a few things like this:

(O2 sensor plug)

Rolled it out of the garage (3 weeks after it was rolled in) and she fired (almost) right up, after building oil pressure.

(success!!!!)

We drove it around for a week or so, and did little things to it each evening (chased an exhaust leak, added a can of R134 to get the A/C blowing cold again, swapped the dome lights to LED's, etc...)

Then parked it again to address the big stuff - Knuckle rebuild and leaf spring bushings.

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[orion]

I knew it needed leaf spring bushings, and as it turns out...there were OME greaseable shackles in the back of the truck. I actually sold these to the PO, and he never got around to installing them! (they were originally on my 60 prior to a shackle reversal and extended rear shackles).

Here's the condition of the stock bushings...probably pretty typical for 30 years old:

As I said...I had OME shackles to put on, and decided to buy 4 greaseable pins for the fixed ends of the springs after trying to remove the first one (I figured I might have to cut them all out).

In doing all this, I decided to add an OME long "add a leaf" for a small lift...figured, why not?

But decided to tackle the knuckle rebuild first...

Not a bad job, just so messy (and so much extra time has to be spent cleaning off grease and scraping old gaskets before reinstalling).

Here's one interesting find - The (original?) knuckle bearings had a very distinct wear pattern on them- past due for replacement!

So we're nearly up to date on my progress...I have the knuckles done, but need to do the wheels bearings still. Another hour for that job to be 100% complete.

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[orion]

OK, back to the add a leaf...

Got my knuckle rebuild kit, bushings, and Koyo wheel bearings from Cruiser Outfitters..and opted for long add-a-leaf's all around.

I've read they will provide a 1-1.5" lift. We're doing 32" tires, so this should be perfect.

Here's one installed...3rd leaf down, the clean grey one:

...

Now, tires...just yesterday, we had a set of 32x11.50x15 KO2's put on the steel wheels I recently took off my 60:

Wheels are Pro Comp, 15x8, 3.75" backspacing. I've already swapped on the rears (had a buyer for the old 31x10.50's)...they look great.

Here's a comparison of 3 common sizes (from left to right):

31x10.50 - 32x11.50 - 33x12.50 (unmounted)

...

That bring us to today...

I have one front leaf reinstalled, one ready to be put back on, and wheel bearings to do.

Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend, and maybe turn it around to start on the rear suspension rebuild.

We're eager to get back to driving it!

- Brian

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, If it doesn't have one put in a transmission cooler, I think these are critical. Also drain transmission and clean its filter.. Mike

 

[orion]

Hi, If it doesn't have one put in a transmission cooler, I think these are critical. Also drain transmission and clean its filter.. Mike

Good call...and a great point.

There was already one on the truck. The PO had the transmission "gone through" a couple years ago, and the fluid still looks good.

I re-did the transmission cooler lines and remounted the cooler when I put the motor back in. Hopefully the trans gives us years of trouble-free service...fingers crossed!

I'm realizing that I forgot to mention some of the work that we've done...my wife pulled the interior and added sound deadening to the entire floor, front to back. I took care of the auto shifter slop by replacing the bushings with brass ones. I also added 3-point belts to the rear seats (have 2 small kids)...etc, etc...

Lots of little stuff I should have taken pics of. Going to do better, now that I have a place to post them!

- Brian

 

[SteveH]

You don't waste any time - looks great! Where did you purchase the 'long' add-a-leaf springs?

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

Good call...and a great point.

There was already one on the truck. The PO had the transmission "gone through" a couple years ago, and the fluid still looks good.

I re-did the transmission cooler lines and remounted the cooler when I put the motor back in. Hopefully the trans gives us years of trouble-free service...fingers crossed!

I'm realizing that I forgot to mention some of the work that we've done...my wife pulled the interior and added sound deadening to the entire floor, front to back. I took care of the auto shifter slop by replacing the bushings with brass ones. I also added 3-point belts to the rear seats (have 2 small kids)...etc, etc...

Lots of little stuff I should have taken pics of. Going to do better, now that I have a place to post them!

- Brian

would you share some details about the rear shoulder belt install? this is my next project along with all new carpet.

 

[ufg8r]

So far so good Brian. Thanks for sharing!

 

[cruisermatt]

Must be an early ‘88 if it didn’t have rear 3-points already.
Manual windows too?

 

[orion]

You don't waste any time - looks great! Where did you purchase the 'long' add-a-leaf springs?

Yeah, we're getting after it! I tinker with it each evening for maybe 45 minutes...but I've also spent 2 full Saturdays on it as well.

Bought the add-a-leafs from Cruiser Outfitters, when I bought the knuckle rebuild kit.

$40 each...not too bad for a small lift (as long as the ride isn't too stiff).

would you share some details about the rear shoulder belt install? this is my next project along with all new carpet.

There's a thread on here with good pics...

(EDIT: Here's a thread with several good pics of the opening that needs to be enlarged, and the lower mount you have to drill out:
REAR SEATBELT LENGTH (FJ62) )

I cut an opening for the retractable portion, and bolted them in place with grade 8 hardware. There is one hole you can just enlarge, and then mark and drill the other.

The lower end can be mounted where there is a hole that is indented, but not drilled through (into the wheelwell).

My pillars had the insert / threaded nut (most late 60s and 62s do)...so that part was simple.

So far so good Brian. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks again for all your logistical help - Would have been a lot more stressful without you and Rory doing what you did.

Beth is excited. She's been patient, but really wants to get back behind the wheel!

- Brian

 

[orion]

Must be an early ‘88 if it didn’t have rear 3-points already.
Manual windows too?

Feb 1988 build date... (EDIT: Looks like FJ62 production started in Aug of 1987...so this one's not too early. I agree - Strange that it had only rear lap belts. It does have the rear seat headrests.)

But it has power everything...!

- Brian

 

[ufg8r]

Thanks again for all your logistical help - Would have been a lot more stressful without you and Rory doing what you did.

Beth is excited. She's been patient, but really wants to get back behind the wheel!

- Brian

Sure! Hey, and how often does the wife push you to spend MORE time in the garage! Good situation all around...

 

[SteveH]

If those are the OME AALs from Cruiser Outfitters, I added those to my stock FJ62 spring packs (in place of a current leaf) and they gave a nice lift and a smooth ride. Cruiser Outfitters warned me that they might not give much lift, but they gave me the perfect amount.

 

[orion]

^^^ Yep, those are the ones - Pic below.

UPDATE:

Got it buttoned up last night. To recap - I installed new Energy Suspension leaf spring bushings, leafs separated and cleaned up (knocked off any surface rust), added long add-a-leafs to each spring pack, and put greaseable shackles and pins on.

Gained just at 2" of lift all around (5/8" from the bigger tires, and 1.5" from the add-a-leafs).

Front end done, still in the garage:

Here's some of the parts used out back (longer center pin is a 3/8-24 allen bolt, 3.5" long), OME spacer (for use when you remove the rear spring rubber isolator), and OME AAL.

And done (of course, it started pouring rain just as I started to back it out of the garage!):

Really happy with the setup, especially for the $$$.

Lots of work, but it was 90% of the same work required to replace *just* the bushings and shackles/pins. Installing the AAL's added some time and effort...but it was well spent, IMO.

The ride is stiffer, but not "jarring". Honestly, the lack of movement of the stock pins and shackles (all of them were stuck in place) made the ride way worse than stock, so this isn't really too much different (but everything is lubed and moving like butter, unlike before).

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[orion]

Would I do it again, versus a full OME kit? Yes, for this truck.

The most important part - My wife is a happy camper.

Took my kids to school with it today - Great to see it back on the road:

And here's a before and after:

(to be fair, we did also clean up the paint and add my old (narrowed) FJ60 front bumper)

Thanks for checking it out.

We're not going to do much more to this truck, aside from maintenance and small odds and ends. Need to tint the windows, too - That's a necessity in Florida!. Not too dark, of course.

I'll add anything big we do to this thread (ex: paint job, when we get to that point).

- Brian

 

[3_puppies]

Feb 1988 build date... (EDIT: Looks like FJ62 production started in Aug of 1987...so this one's not too early. I agree - Strange that it had only rear lap belts. It does have the rear seat headrests.)

But it has power everything...!

- Brian

Must be an early ‘88 if it didn’t have rear 3-points already.
Manual windows too?

all 88's had lap belts in the rear, 3 point rear belts started in 1989 model year

there was a poverty package, manual windows and mirrors, I've only seen a few of them, I've got an 89 poverty pack parts rig in the yard right now. it had 3 point belts but manual mirrors and windows.

 

[89BIGBLUE]

I like that narrowed bumper! Now if we can fit a winch behind it...

 

[orion]

I like that narrowed bumper! Now if we can fit a winch behind it...

That's how it was set up on my 60 - Here's a pic:

I cut ~6-7" off each side, extended it out about 4"...and used a universal winch plate (cut down and bolted between the frame rails).

Worked really well. I didn't plan on changing anything, but when I got the chance to swap the 4Plus bumper off this 62...well, I jumped on it before she could change her mind.

- Brian