My FZJ80 journey begins... (1 Viewer)

[bajaphile]

Those are caster correction bushings to help roll back the axle after a lift. They were a good solution years ago but now we have better options (plates, radius arms, etc.). Good you are putting back the Toyota bushings, but you'll need to get some caster correction.

For the starter issues, you should start by checking all your main connections at battery, ground and starter. Ensure they are tight and clean. After that is done and you still get the issue, I'd personally pull the starter and pull it apart and check the plunger and contacts. You can look and tell if the copper electrodes are worn. You can simply replace them with Toyota parts for cheap.

 

[patrickk]

Picked up some parts today.

New rotors, brake pads, royal purple, slee plates, new oem bushings.

Dropped the radius arms off to have the old bushings pushed out and new ones in. Tonight I changed rotors and pads on the front left and got the mounts trimmed for the slee plates.

There was a casualty... The caliper bolt got the best of my harbor freight special... Glad I didn't slip into something expensive in the axle and break something.

The rotors felt a little warped, not bad, but might as well do them in my attempt to freshen the brakes.

 

[96FZJ80]

Is that a Tekton wrench? If so, go to their website to the guarantee part, upload the photo and fill in some info. They'll send you a new one. Easiest tool replacement I've ever done.

 

[patrickk]

Is that a Tekton wrench? If so, go to their website to the guarantee part, upload the photo and fill in some info. They'll send you a new one. Easiest tool replacement I've ever done.

Thanks! Submitted.

Bushings pushed, front rotors/brakes done. The wits-end poster has been hugely helpful...

 

[Heckraiser]

Is it turning over when it fails to start, or just making the "click"?

If it's just the click, best place to start (punny) would be your fusible link (little 3-wire thingy hanging off the positive battery terminal). Buy two of them, put one on the truck and throw the other one in the glove box as a spare--they're like $3 at the dealership. If that doesn't help, then the next step would be to take out your starter do your starter contacts or a starter rebuild.

I love Mount Princeton--been there with the wife a couple times and a buddy of mine actually got married there. Nice to sit your butt in the creek with a beer in hand and just take it in.

 

[patrickk]

Is it turning over when it fails to start, or just making the "click"?

If it's just the click, best place to start (punny) would be your fusible link (little 3-wire thingy hanging off the positive battery terminal). Buy two of them, put one on the truck and throw the other one in the glove box as a spare--they're like $3 at the dealership. If that doesn't help, then the next step would be to take out your starter do your starter contacts or a starter rebuild.

I love Mount Princeton--been there with the wife a couple times and a buddy of mine actually got married there. Nice to sit your butt in the creek with a beer in hand and just take it in.

It's turning over but seems to be lacking an "explosion". It hasn't happened again, so I'm not sure now. I've ordered a fusible link to keep in the glove box and will try to get video/audio of the issue if it happens again.

Mount Princeton could have been better, if we left the dog and kid at the house... Traveling with an almost 3yr old and 14 year old dog is kind of stressful.

 

[patrickk]

So I was changing the rear brakes/rotors and decided to move the shock out of the way... When pulling the bolt out, I noticed it looked like it had been put in cross threaded...

If the caliper piston wasn't a PIA enough to compress, when I went to put the shock back, the bolt broke off recessed. It was going in so easy too, and then when there was just a little pressure it snapped. I wasn't going to ram it all the way in either, because it looked cross threaded so my intent was to just get it lightly bolted back until I could order a replacement bolt.

So, any tips to get this thing out? Or am I going to be forced to drill it out?

 

[Offroader93]

Heat it up, and get a bolt extractor on it would be my best bet.. If all else fails drill and re-thread.

 

[BILT4ME]

Drill it and screw extractor........

Make sure you use anti-seize on the new one going in!

 

[bajaphile]

In my experience a cross threaded bolt would just spin, and not be seized enough to snap the head off the bolt.

It is probably seized in there already and your best bet would be to try using one of those easy out style bits, or get some left handed drill bits and start drilling. Keep the diameter of the bit small enough so if you aren't 90° while drilling the entire time you don't mess up the threads. Once you get in about halfway, the bolt should start to back out a bit. I'd also try heating it up first to help loosen up anything.

 

[BILT4ME]

I recently broke off a lower rear shock bolt when changing the suspension bushings. It just decided to break. It was not seized or cross-threaded.

I started taking it out and it snapped off. Since it had already turned once or twice, I drilled it out, used an EZ out screw extractor, bought a new bolt from the hardware store and installed it. So, since I was there, I did BOTH sides with new bolts. And I used plenty of anti-seize on the new bolts.

 

[patrickk]

Front/Rear brakes/rotors installed, new OEM bushings set, Slee caster plates installed. Her maiden voyage will be today sometime, fingers crossed there's still no drive-line vibes.

Looking at the old pads, no wonder braking was terrible. I think they replaced the front brakes without doing the rears, because the rears looked considerably more worn down. I'm wondering if there's a bigger issue that's leading to uneven brake wear?

And the passenger side rear was worn uneven, as if the pad wasn't seated properly in the caliper.

Turns out the other shock mount bolt was jammed in there with reckless abandon as well. The inside of the mount was smooth as a babies bottom.

I actually had to leverage the bolt out, because it just started spinning.

I had to re-thread it to SAE because home depot hates metric, and I didn't feel like going further than 4 minutes from the house...

Lucy will have her maiden voyage today, and I'll report back... so long as my brakes don't fail and I fall off a mountain...

 

[patrickk]

So she's back together as of yesterday. I took her in to get an alignment after installing Slee caster plates and right now I'm sitting at +2.75* of caster. I'm not sure the truck drives THAT much better than when I had 0* of caster. Probably something I'll notice with prolonged high-way miles as I only ran a couple quick runs down the highway.

Originally I thought I had gotten away with my stock front DS because I didn't notice any drive-line vibes initially. Last night though, between 60-65 mph there was a very distinct surge/lag cycle that was occurring. The odd thing is, the only real drive-line noise I could hear was on deceleration at certain speeds, but it was still very hard to hear. I doubt my wife would notice.

If I want to pull the front DS to know for sure that the surge/lag is due to the front drive-line, what should I do before hand? Without of CDL switch, will all of the power just goto the front of the truck? Or can I just run it as it without the front DS?

Thanks!

 

[patrickk]

Just saw this on eBay. What do y'all think?

NEW FJ80 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER LEXUS LX450 FRONT OR REAR CV DRIVESHAFT CARDON | eBay

NEW CUSTOM TOYOTA LAND CRUISER FJ80 OR LEXUS LX 450. 1310 CV DRIVESHAFT. FRONT OR REAR. CUSTOM LENGTHS. GREASE ABLE SPICER UJOINTS. BUILT WITH THE 2" 120 WALL TUBING FOR A FRONT OR 3" 083 WALL FOR THE REAR.

www.ebay.com

Is this a legit DS if I've got some drive-line vibes?

 

[VirginiaCruiser]

Wits End makes them as well as Tom Woods.

Im running the tom woods and haven't had a single problem. Its pretty stout.

 

[patrickk]

Would you mind sharing the price for your Tom Woods?

 

[LC4LIFE]

Lots of people have run the Tattons shafts with mostly good results. I heard of a few that had u-joint failures after not a ton of miles. The WitsEnd DC is built with only Toyota joints so it is better. I'd measure your driveline angles before buying a DC shaft just to make sure you won't vibe with it too. Some rigs aren't happy with either type of shaft.

 

[patrickk]

I got my Tatton shaft and my drive-line vibes are gone. It was a really quick turn-around. From the time I placed the order, it was on my doorstep in less than 10 days.

Changed all my fluids in preparation for a 1.2k mile journey to Michigan on Saturday. Installed the CDL switch. Super easy and took about 10 minutes.

Things left to do at some point:​

*Adjustable Panhard bars, front/rear.
*DVS rear Panhard bracket.
*Fix burnt out dash bulbs.
*New Shocks.
*New Fan clutch (maybe).
*Sound/Temp insulation.
*Fix driver side fender.
*Fix rust spot on back lift-gate.
*Fix thin paint in some areas.
*Fix all of the crap that inevitably breaks...

 

[patrickk]

All packed and ready for a 1.2k mile trip to Michigan. First stop, Omaha!

 

[patrickk]

The trip was a resounding success. 2.4k miles round trip without a single issue. 75-80mph on the highway, one hand on the steering wheel... I have to take back my previous statement, fixing the caster has made a HUGE improvement (Duh!). My wife finally drove her and made the comment, "oh, Lucy drives way better than I was expecting..."

A few pictures from the trip:

The kid and the beast were pretty happy for most of the trip, but if someone were feeding me cheerios the whole time, I wouldn't have too much to complain about either.

And there were potty breaks. Lots and lots and lots of potty breaks.

In the beginning of the trip my wife told me I couldn't spend anymore money on Lucy until she made it there and back without any issues. So now that that's out of the way, for those of you who have taken you rigs on long trips, what should I buy to make future long distant trips easier/better?

Here's what I'm thinking:
1. Center console that can double as an arm rest.
2. Sound deadening for the floors/doors.
3. New shocks.
4. New bushings everywhere, especially the rear.
4*. New HD swaybars front/rear.
5. Turbo or v8 swap...
6. Seats? I was pretty comfortable most of the trip, so maybe just re-upholster them?
7. Travel without kids.

That's all I got for now. Looking forward to getting her off-road in the coming months and seeing what inevitably breaks...

-Patrick.