New Member HJZ73 + 4x4 engagment issues

[osocountry]

Hi there,

I just joined the forum so am taking the opportunity to introduce myself or rather my new rig - the 1990 HZJ73. It's a recent purchase & somewhat of a dream come true as i always admired Land Cruisers on my travels in various countries like Africa and the Middle East not to mention their reputation that followed these vehicles.
Having recently settled in British Columbia Canada i found a true reason to purchase a 4x4. My 1st rig was a 1991 Toyota 4Runner which took me virtually everywhere but had it's limitations.
The HZJ73 is therefore my upgrade & with all the challenging back country that exists in this province i have many plans to modify the truck. A 3 inch EMU lift (under the axle) with slightly larger tires 33 / 12.5 / 15 or slightly narrower as i feel they may be more affective. Finding tires or a happy medium that incorporate both mud & snow seems difficult. ARB lockers would be a dream as i have come across many situations where unnecessary traction is lost due to one tire spinning on very extreme ground whether steep loose rock / dirt, snow or mud. Another challenge will be to figure out a roof basket for my fiberglass roof.
My recent truck issue:
The one situation that i am facing with my truck is that my 4 wheel drive system and lockers do not activate or engage. I discovered this due to recent heavy snow fall and icy conditions. The 4x4 is engaged from the inside via two buttons - Front Hub Lock & 4X4 - the lights come on but all i get is 1 rear wheel which spins when stuck. So i am worried and hope that this is a fuse issue. I am not sure though and fear freezing may be a cause due to water vapour or selonoid issues. From this point on i am merely speculating and trully am no expert on Land Cruisers. Hopefully my learning experience will increase through ih8mud

 

[bigbrowndog]

Cheers and welcome from Oz.

 

[crushers]

first test for front drive:
engage the front diff but do not engage the front hubs
crawl underneath and turn the driveshaft... it should not turn.
if it does then the front transfer case engagement is faulty.

now disengagge the front drive and engage the front hubs
crawl underneath and turn the front driveshaft... it should not turn.
if it does then the hubs are not locking.

your lockers only work in low range.

welcome to Mud

 

[osocountry]

Thank you very much Wayne - i will go home and carry out those tests as soon as i can escape from work.

 

[lshobie]

When you engage the front hubs listen to the hubs themselves - you should hear the little motors turning the hub (have someone press the button while you listen by each one) - if not check the fuse - if that is ok it might be the brushes in the hubs. You can also check the Factory service manual for hub diagnostics.

Regards.

 

[Jim_Hbar]

Oso:

X2 for what Wayne and Louis are saying.

I'm assuming that your L/C is Unit 06-26 from Outback ... If it is, the first thing that I would do, is let Marko know that the hubs aren't engaging... If you are near the shops that they use, Outback will look after you!!!

That being said, my hubs didn't work either, and it was only an issue with the contacts to the slip rings on the spindle... Check for my thread on hubs...

Welcome to Mud, and nice looking unit - Mine was 05-36 from Outback, and I'm currently running 33x10.5 BFG AT's

 

[osocountry]

Again i would like to thank you all for your contributions & help - it is certainly comforting to find and have Land Cruiser enthusiasts to talk to plus learn from.
I will check all those suggestions tomorrow in the day light.

 

[UpsideDown]

How about manual hubs as a conversion for the HZJ?

 

[lshobie]

We will be offering our customers the manual conversion kit with all of our cruisers from now on - eliminating the pain in the ass of the hubs not working when you really need them.

We are making our own kits instead of ordering from Japan - the price for the Japanese kit is rather insane - although it does use new manual hubs. We'll be using reconditioned hubs to keep the price rational.

Regards,

 

[crushers]

hummm, of all the elec hub'd units i have brought in only one has acted up and that was my bush truck and even then it was only because the magnets broke off the hub during a service.

i can offer the manual hub conversion but till it is broke why fix it.

secondly, and this is interesting, of all the 4WD problems this winter not a SINGLE elec hub faulted. ever one of the problems were manual hubs not engaging properly.

i have seen maybe 4 elec hub complaints on Mud so far concerning this problem. if this is the case then manual hubs have caused much more grief than the elec has...

now i am not saying elec hubs don't or won't have issues but i think we are blowing this concern way out of porportion...

cheers

 

[crushers]

to further this discusion, it seems these are having issues when they arrive from Japan almost as if these units are not being inspected before being shipped. if so it could be faulty service in Japan or neglect.

this is my personal experience with my own trucks:
Bernis daily drive---no elec hub failure after 2 years
Bernis bush rig---no problems after 2 years of wheeling in mud, frozen river dunkings (over and over) and being engaged and disegaged repeatedly in sub zero weather.
my bush rig---no issues turning 36" tractor tires and a very abusive driver. one finally quite when replacing a busted birfield. a magnet got broke off.

2 of these shows these hubs standing up to severe abuse even sub zero river dunkings.


once again, i am not saying these might not end up with their faults and if i see a rash of these quitting then i will be recommending a switch to manual.

 

[lshobie]

I have seen 2 failures, one on a truck I brought in (wasn't working when it arrived) and another on a friends HZJ73, price out an electric hub and you will understand why going to manual is a better idea. These trucks are 15 years old, the brushes have seen 15 years of turning - most of the time the front hubs haven't been off the low kms units - so replacing with manual makes more sense economically. I think manual hubs are less problematic than electric - in my opinion. I also see more posts on here about electirc hub than manual hubs.

If my customers want a manual install I will do it, if not no biggy. I'd change them out on my own unit that is a no brainer.

Regards,

 

[crushers]

hummm, we will agree to disagree.

when i pulled my bush rig apart to replace the broken birfield the brushes were in fine shape still.

i agree swapping to manual is easy enough to do.

like i said, i have seen a dozen frozen manual hubs in the last 6 weeks vs not a single electric hub...

curious, what was the milage on the 2 units? yours was broke in Japan and what was the circumstances of your friends not working?

 

[lshobie]

105k kms, and my friends was 98k kms, electric motor not working I believe.

I dont think a manual hub should freeze up if it has maintained properly. Are the frozen manual hubs you are talking about frozen when you go to engage them before you start your run, or when you try to disengage them after driving through all those rivers in minus 25 weather?

 

[crushers]

most of these trucks are daily "oil rig" drivers, some are just daily drivers with off roading as well.
they are completely the result of lack of maintainence, no doubt about it. the interesting point i was trying to make is although my wife and i have abused these 2 trucks we have had zero "external influence" problems.

personally i think it comes down to maintaining the hubs but the elec seem much more resistant to external influences than the manual...

to be honest i was expecting problems, especially after being soaked in icy river water and driving in -20C weather, pushing snow and driving through deep liquid mud and not even looking at the hubs on the LJ78 in 2 years of this abuse. i know my manual hubs would have needed a servicing by now...

don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with changing them out for manual setup but i think that jumping the gun and saying the electric are problematic is misleading...

your firends problem, was it workign before when it arrived and now isn't or it arrived malfunctioning?

 

[lshobie]

No idea, I havent asked him, not sure if his importer tried them or not.

 

[Entaran]

338,000 kms on a hzj75... manual hubs never rebuilt... still lock perfect. 4wd still engages fine... rear lsd has seen better days though.

I think i'm happy I don't have canadian weather.

 

[oldblue]

When checking the 4WD Mod, You must run the engine first, to bring up the vacumn, if this is not done , you still won't get the front driveshaft to lock.

 

[guacharin]

welcome osocountry, enjoy the forum, cheers

full regards

 

[Bear80]

I'm curious about your wheels. They look like the 15x7 we have here in the US but with a deeper offset. What size are your wheels?