Builds OL'BETSY ZX: 1991 HZJ77 (1 Viewer)

[Gun Runner 5]

I could write a story just like that only mine would have very few words over one to two syllables.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Well, it only took a year, but I finally got this rig out for an ACTUAL trail ride with some buddies. I've been 4wheeling IFS since 1995 so it was definitely a change to have a solid front axle. We didn't do anything super gnarly, and of course I got zero pics of the few cool spots, but it was nice to get out and see what she could do. I still need a lot more seat time to get used to the gearing, the corners, and the approach/departure, but it really was a great day. I loaded it down with all my gear including water, so I could get a realistic feel for how it was going to work. (still waiting on longer shackles to level up the rear, so that will definitely help with departure).

Wheeling a diesel without boost is also going to take some getting used to. But in some ways its actually easier.

Only dropped the PSI to 22 (hardly aired down at all) but even at that level, the ride was pretty comfortable. The suspension seats helped immensely. There was one hill that I've done in previous rigs that I only got halfway up before I started to bounce and dig on the loose gravel. Likely poor gear choice, combined with a lighter front end (levelling the back end should help), but overall she plodded through wherever I pointed the wheels.

Down the road a locker would be excellent. But for its inital 4wd run, I was super happy...

Here's a vid capture from my buddy driving behind me... my other buddy and I were seeing how slow we could go without stalling... LOL.

One of the stops...

Here's my little co-pilot while we were airing down (she's not the dog in my avatar. Sadly, he passed away last year, at 15. But suddenly my youngest is getting up there too - heading for 13 years old).

The cockpit:

 

[JDM Journeys]

So while I was waiting for my resistor to arrive, I figured I'd install my new extended shackles, to level up the rear. Yeah... Now my truck is down again. Arggg

Had OMESB1 bushings on hand, and spent half the afternoon knocking out the old ones (there was a drill involved, along with BigBertha the sledgehammer, who usually only comes out for special occasions). Cleaned everything up, started greasing the new bushings, when I realized they were too small. My bushings appear to be OEM, or something close. Spring eye is 40mm, but my ARB bushes are 35mm, so no go. Now I have no attached spring on one side, and am waiting for OEM bushes from overseas.

Yes I know this counts as a JDM Journey, but honestly, wouldn't it be nice if plans went to plan now and then?

 

[Rigster]

It's nice to see all those different brands getting along so nicely on a backroad adventure!

Sorry to hear about the bushing woes my friend, I also had a heck of a time getting the 19yr old bushings out of mine when I was installing the lift! Sheesh!!

 

[JDM Journeys]

It's nice to see all those different brands getting along so nicely on a backroad adventure!

Sorry to hear about the bushing woes my friend, I also had a heck of a time getting the 19yr old bushings out of mine when I was installing the lift! Sheesh!!

Thanks buddy. Can't always go by what the PO tells you, right? Since I had to ship the bushings, I also tacked on a couple of filters. With winter coming, an extra spare FF is never a bad idea.

My resistor is still floating around LAX somewhere, so I'd have to wait regardless. Remains to be seen whether she'll fit OUT of the garage once the back is levelled. This just forces me to take my time and be more thorough with getting everything cleaned up thoroughly.

In the meantime, I still have to get the other side apart. Sigh. Big Bertha will be happy to be called upon again...

 

[JDM Journeys]

Big Bertha indeed got the nod for round two. She's a 14 pound sledge (incl solid steel handle) that my brother fabbed up for me years ago.

Some pounding got it moving. Then I Swiss cheesed the bushings. Finally I cut the shackle in half so I could twist each end out one at a time. I know heat would've helped but my Tiger torch crapped out. Need to get a new one...

In any event, both sides are now out, spring eyes are cleaned up, and ready for new (greasable) shackles and bushings. The old pins were pretty rusty, and not greasable like the fronts, so I'm hoping to get a little more travel from the rear leafs when this is complete? Plus another inch under the fuel tank...

 

[JDM Journeys]

Well, Partsouq failed me, and is off my list going forward. They shorted me one filter AND all my bushings, gave no notice, and shipped the other filter by itself, which of course was still subject to shipping and duty. Not happy, and still without bushings.
@cruiseroutfit to the rescue! They had them in stock, and there are now 8 little bundles of joy winding their way from Utah to Alberta.

Then there's my resistor. My buddy sent it from NM at the beginning of the month. It's been in Canada a couple times (according to USPS) but is now back in Seattle. The severe flooding in BC has been playing havoc with already stressed supply chains, and things are getting rerouted all over the place.

I've never had issues like this for parts acquisition in 15 years of owning foreign market vehicles... Sign of the times?

Meanwhile, I have a cool new light setup on its way from GTFO-Overland… made by HardKorr. Should be the perfect camp lighting solution... Just... You know... Have to wait for it to get here.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Sometimes you have to throw yourself on the mercy of your buddies, because you know that they'll come through for you. Such was the case with my pal JL. Today, despite floods, Canada Post incompetence, and some sort of global you know what, I got my resistor in the mail.

Thanks pal. Beers are owed.

If you look back a month or so, you'll have read about my secondary glow system being inop, and my theory and diagnostics leading to the resistor in the intake mani...

Today it was time to cross my fingers and put my theory to the test. To delay a little, I tested both for continuity, as per fsm. New one passed. Old one didn't. So far so good...

Guess there was no more excuses not to install it?

Bolted it up (24mm socket)… put terminals back on... And turned the key.

Glow light on. Glow light off, start it up, small puff, and then smoooooooth! Secondary glow FTW! No more billows of white smoke. We are back to a proper 24v start again! Woohoo!

 

[JDM Journeys]

My bushings arrived yesterday courtesy of @cruiseroutfit and they fit! Greased up my extended shackles and bushings, and got creative with my little bottle jack, (worst picture ever) but eventually they slid right in and I buttoned it up. A quick hub to fender lip measurement showed front and back exactly the same distance! Woohoo!

Since my last time driving this rig was early November, my first stop was the carwash, to rid her of all the accumulated mud...

I might discern a little more flex out of the rear springs, but it could just be "wanna be" from the butt dyno? Either way, she's now sitting level, and I can move back to setting up my cargo area.

Oh wait. When I brought her home from the car wash and shut her off, the stereo stayed on. With no key. Arggg. Guess I need to haul dash apart? I used the mystery converter beside the glove box to power it originally, and it worked properly until last night. (By properly I mean red/yellow power and memory did the things they were supposed to do. Until now...)

 

[JDM Journeys]

The converter fixed itself. Lol. Dunno what else to say about that?

Today I started work (finally) on attaching my awning to the t-track on my tent.

I used some very trick awning brackets from hitch-web. I've been planning on getting these since early fall when I got the tent, but man alive they're pricey.

I tried to find an alternative but there just wasn't really anything as simple/ effective. So finally I bit the bullet and ordered them.

Doing it by myself wasn't a lot of fun but some wd40 on the awning grooves helped a little.

I don't have a pic out of the garage yet, but it went on very securely, and although the limited space meant I could only turn the fixing nuts 1/16 of a turn every time, after a while I got the bolts secured.

One bracket was really close to the rack as you can see in the pic, so I had to clearance the bottom a little.

Ultimately these brackets are necessary to allow enough clearance for the strut on the side of the tent...

I'm still drawing electrical systems on paper napkins but I'm going to have to get moving on something soon...

Because we are finally talking about big trips for next summer, eh @janyyc ? Wonder if Mr. @Rigster might wanna come along too?

 

[Rigster]

Because we are finally talking about big trips for next summer, eh @janyyc ? Wonder if Mr. @Rigster might wanna come along too?

By "big trip" - what does this mean exactly? I am not one to let fear and common sense stop me... I usually have a yearly fall expedition for around 2 weeks, so I may be able to extract myself from life and family for some part of said trip and possibly meet up with you guys or some such!

 

[JDM Journeys]

By "big trip" - what does this mean exactly? I am not one to let fear and common sense stop me... I usually have a yearly fall expedition for around 2 weeks, so I may be able to extract myself from life and family for some part of said trip and possibly meet up with you guys or some such!

We are thinking NORTH. I'll pm you the details. Nothing carved in stone yet, but plans are forming...

Took the old girl to work yesterday in the snow, ice, etc. So much fun! Nice to be able to start it (with no plug in installed) and not have a smokeshow that lasts for ages!

Really is "driving" when there are no electronic nannies helping out. Love it!!

Goodies on the way to support longer trips too. Here's a hint: You can't survive long without this...

 

[Rigster]

Cupholders?

I have been driving my Land Cruiser more these days... the recirculating coolant heater I installed works a charm, and the 70 has surprising traction on icy roads, but at over 5000lbs, I suppose you would expect that.

LOL - Your awesome pics of the wide open roads reminds me of taking my boys to their uncle in Edmonton for the first time and the sheer awe in their voices when we came out of the mountains and the twisty roads and they exclaimed "Holy papa, the road just goes on forever... "

 

[JDM Journeys]

Honestly Darren, I miss a good old twisty seaside road, with a silly steep hill thrown in for good measure. You can take a fellow out of Newfoundland, but you can't take the newfie out of the feller...

CUPHOLDERS? Come on now. I said you wouldn't survive "long". I didn't say AT ALL! No, cupholders was my first mod, even before I replaced the fenders. Oddiron got me sorted on that one... you'll have to wait and see. The package just cleared customs, so depending on how long BC wants to hold onto it, I should have it early next week. Here's another hint... Its BIG but lightweight.

In other news. I had my first freeze up in 13 years today. Maybe I should call it a FRIEZEL?

I took it to work again today. But the fuel was put in at the end of october, when we were still well into the plus temps. And filled from half tank at that, so I had at least 50% summer diesel, but likely closer 100%. My drive home puts me on gravel almost right away, and therefore warp speeds. LOL. I started feeling hesitation, and then suddenly a puff of smoke here and there, and loss of power, revs started to go down despite throttle position, and then she stalled. I waited a minute, then got her going again, and slowly got back up to speed. No issues after, aside from feeling a little slower than usual. Pretty sure I was getting some fuel gelling. Luckily I'm equipped with a heated filter housing which likely helped, but I'll be getting fuel tomorrow, and changing the filter as soon as I get my hands on one. Might throw some additive in too...

 

[JDM Journeys]

Finally getting back to some fun stuff out back. I've had my OVS drawers now since the fall, but have been playing with different positions etc. I've finally settled on this configuration:

Drawers as far to the sides as they can go (which is not far due to wheelwells) which leaves just enough room in between for a battery tunnel and some electrical doodads. (Battery is slid aft in the pic, but will live forward at the edge of the drawer fronts).

I'm currently fabbing a panel to house my switches and some outlets, that will sit at the back, slightly recessed from the drawer fronts... More soon!

 

[JDM Journeys]

Some more progress this afternoon. Switch panel is almost complete. Obviously still needs paint etc. Then I can work on the top, battery hold down, etc.

At some point I have to pull the whole deck plate out too, so I can make an access hatch to gain entry to the storage compartment again...

I'm going to recess this panel so if I ever need to plug something into one of those sockets and then close the back door, there'll be room for the plug. Also, the space underneath can provide storage for charging radios, lights, etc. Or I can pull a small hatch (*yet to be cut*) to reach the underfloor compartment.

The possible inclusion of the pocket on top is for charging cords, if I include it. Then on top of that would be carpet covered plywood to match the tops of the drawers.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Battery tie down is getting closer. I'll put a bar across perpendicularly to keep the top bracket from sliding sideways. Not ideal to have a tie down going lengthwise, but no room to go width wise in this spot.

Perhaps I'll make the tie down out of wood instead. We'll see. For now, at least I've got a way to keep it secure. There is a raised portion on top of the battery that will keep the bracket from sliding. I'll also be lining the battery tunnel with rubber matting.

Battery welding is fun and all. But not in the back of your truck.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Cold weather brings out the crazies, doesn't it?

If you've been following this thread (and really, why would you? ) then you might remember a few weeks back I was driving her home from work, and appeared to experience a freeze-up. My theory was that the early Oct fuel I was still running was likely summer diesel, and temps had dropped, so I was getting gelling at the filter.

Fast forward to yesterday (after I got fuel AND added some diesel 911) I decided to swap the (pretty new) filter, just to ensure I wasn't going to have more issues. Meanwhile, our temps have plunged into the -30 degree celsius and below mark, and although I put the heat on in my garage, I only managed to get it to 10C, near the heater.

Anyways, finished the filter change. Started it up. Ran like crap. Pumped the primer, took it for a drive, white smoke, still ran like crap. Came home, pumped the primer some more, and lo and behold: MOHR LEAKAGE. But not just at the filter to housing o-ring. Nope, at the bottom sensor seal too. GREAT.

Today I removed, reinstalled and tightened everything. Pumped it back up. Seemed to be leak free? Whew. Started it up. So far so good. Went to go for a drive, got halfway around my loop and it started losing power again almost like it was freezing up. See a pattern here? Limped it home where it barely idled in the garage, with lots of white smoke. Pumped the primer which seemed to bring the idle up, and watched for leaks as I did so.


Wait a minute. Bubbbles? At the edge of fuel heater element housing.

CURSES! I just found my air/fuel leak. Arggg. Looked at new orings for the heating element, but it seems like it might even be leaking where the plastic meets the metal housing?

As much as I'd like to retain the heater, I'd prefer to keep fuel PRESSURE, and the heater housing is NOLA, so I ordered the one without the heater (23301-17050) as well as a new o-ring for the water drain (23344-54010) and a new fuel filter to IP fuel hose (95332-10040) just in case.


Cold weather quickly points out the weak points of your fuel system, even as it frustrates you to the point of madness.

 

[Rigster]

The arctic weather really brings out the weak points doesn't it? I really don't know how @coldtaco does it sometimes!!

I feel your pain, I missed checking all my glow plugs when it was warmer because my machine was starting so well... now that it is -20C, I think I have a couple not working. Ordered a set of Bosch ones today. Will have to make sure I keep it plugged in when I want to use it until they come in.

Good job on the troubleshooting and the find... you'll have ol' bets right as rain in no time!

 

[JDM Journeys]

I didn't put in any kind of preheat when I serviced the cooling system, with the idea that I wouldn't be driving it much in the winter. But now I'm rethinking that decision... It's too much fun not to! Maybe next summer I'll pop a frostplug and throw an element in there?

Meanwhile, the minus 30s continue, parts are ordered, but my Victron 24->12 converter finally showed up. So while waiting on the front, I go to the back again?