New member with HJ61 in Belgium (1 Viewer)

[Paul07]

Another phone backup, so status update of sorts. The HJ has been running just fine. Installed some COB panel LED dome lights and declared war on the marten that made off with part of my under hood insulation and wire harness, thankfully nothing a quick bit of soldering couldn't fix.

Other than that, my front left caliper decided it wanted freedom and made a break for it, managed to damage the mounting hole threads in the process.

Which of course led to project creep. As is tradition.

I started by disassembling so I could "just" drill out the holes in the drill press, rethread and get a couple of helicoils in there, but somehow I ended up rebuilding the knuckles, locking hubs, brake calipers and changing all bearings, seals, brake discs, brake lines and wheel studs. Also gave everything a good clean and painted a few bits and bobs. Brake pistons were in amazingly good shape for the mileage, dust boots were shot though. The knuckle rebuild really wasn't needed, but being able to inspect all replaced parts and seeing the previous owner obviously took care of things gives me some peace of mind.

Some pics, starting with the "as seen on TV" before/after thanks to the magic of photography of course:

Bonus pic in case anyone's interested in a comparison pic between the regular inner axle seals and the heavy duty Marlin Crawler items:

Quite pleased with the outcome. In retrospect, I should've ordered a fresh set of knuckle studs as well. Mine were fine, but "just in case". Cleaned the old ones, reinstalled with some blue Loctite and torqued to spec, good enough I suppose.

Lessons learned: knuckle rebuild in a couple of hours per side? Sure. But if you intend to really clean everything along the way and replace/paint a few more things, better clear your weekend schedule.

Where dir you buy the heavy duty Marlin Crawler seals?
I wanted to buy some frome the US but they wanted over 50 dollars just for the shipping to France

 

[FRQ]

Where dir you buy the heavy duty Marlin Crawler seals?
I wanted to buy some frome the US but they wanted over 50 dollars just for the shipping to France

One of the forum vendors: Cruiser Outfitters. I ordered some heavier items as well though, so no idea on postage. They use USPS if I remember correctly, so shipping for a few seals should be nowhere near $50.

 

[Paul07]

Thank you. I have asked Marlin Crawler?Inc and they asked even that :

International Economy: $92.71 for the seal wich costs only
$8.99
I will try with cruiser outfiters or if someone want to sell those Marlin Crawler Heavy Duty Front Inner Axle EcoSeals please let me know
thx
Paul

 

[Komanche]

Hi FRQ I have 2x 140Ah batteries... And take a look at Milner offroad leaf springs, they are very well priced and very good working...

 

[FRQ]

And take a look at Milner offroad leaf springs, they are very well priced and very good working...

I'll have a look at the Milner stuff, thanks for the tip. All my cars are running fine and I need something to tinker with anyway. Atm I've been dreaming up solutions to non-existent problems.

1) 24V LED dome lights. Hard to find. Sourced a bunch of models from the land of smog and Mao. First one fried. Second one tried to set my truck on fire (I suspected as much and luckily put a metal tray underneath it). I think a lot of these have a ~12-24V operating range and are being sold as 24V. Max operating range + crappy build quality =



Third one seems to be the charm:

Its fallen brother:

Top model: Uncle Xi Jinping's Subsidized Happy Inferno Insurance NoNo Burnytime. Bottom: its replacement (trunk dome light), no issues so far. I also tried a larger SMD 5050 panel in the main dome light, but that was a real pain to install and ended up dying. Sadly no photo, threw the thing into the trash before even attempting to diagnose.

2) Piecing together an OEM toolkit. Trickier than it seems. The tool bags/rolls are being remade, but there are quite a few variants of the kits. I've been buying eighties Toyota toolkits for next to nothing when I come across them, nearly there I think:

Afaik, HJ61 jack on the left, shorter unit is probably 40 series

Who obsesses over OEM decals? Nobody. That's who. I'm weird.

Mmm, translucent yellow NOS goodness. Almost looks like eighties Hazet but marked "made in Japan".

3) The trunk situation. Steamcleaned at full blast until a moustached Turkish man wearing nothing but a small towel and a sweater of back hair materialized out of nowhere to use the HJ as a bath house. Also bought some rubber matting and cut to size (2 layers, the second one fits perfectly over the folded down rear seat, handy when transporting large, greasy parts. For basic tool storage, after some searching I found a perfectly sized Dutch military crate. Fits perfectly between the wheel wells with a nice low profile.

The Dutch military is good for something after all, who knew.

4) Extra lighting. I bought this, still not sure if I like the look: 7" KC Daylighters + Chinese 24V 110watt HID kit. I'll get around to it eventually.

Anyone know if the 24V HJ61 main headlight harness is the same as the FJ's? I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading.

Well, a saturday well wasted. I believe I'll go get some sort of life now.

 

[HoJo 61]

Some sort of life??? Looks like you already have one!
Nice work as usually.

 

[FRQ]

Well, more than a year later, nothing to report, it's almost as if Toyotas are reliable! Did finally get around to installing those KCs and a new set of BFG A/Ts though:

I also had this for a while, but sold it on, too much of a good thing etc:

Currently my 4WD sickness seems to have taken a turn for the more obscure in the form of this 1984 Tercel 4WD:

I was wondering if there are any other Tercel 4WD owners lurking in the shadows here, especially in Europe, since I might need parts at some point and those are far and few between. Next up on my list, an AE95 Corolla AllTrac.

 

[batthewmrown]

Currently my 4WD sickness seems to have taken a turn for the more obscure in the form of this 1984 Tercel 4WD:

Oh man, such an awesome car! Currently looking for one for my wife. Oh, and yeah, the 60 is pretty sweet, too.

 

[FRQ]

Oh man, such an awesome car! Currently looking for one for my wife. Oh, and yeah, the 60 is pretty sweet, too.

Thanks, took me a while to track down a nice one, seems to be "easier" in the US, check out the Tercel4WD.com forums. There's currently one for sale in Nebraska that seems really nice. Prices have just begun to rise, so now is the time to buy.

Make sure you get a rustfree example, waxoyl all body cavities and you should be able to keep it running for the next 20 years. Parts are dirt cheap too, quite a difference from the Landcruiser game.

Only troublesome item to find is the 6 speed manual gearbox. I'm constantly keeping my eyes open for a spare to put into storage should I ever need it.

Good luck with the search!

 

[FRQ]

Anyone know if these hub protectors are original to a HJ? I just bought a one owner, low miles 61, never been tampered with and these were on it. They're clearly OEM Toyota and specifically for full floater rear axles, just don't know if they came on HJs from the factory. I swear I saw a similar set in the Toyota EPC once but can't find them now.