Olive (10 Viewers)

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Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Threads
44
Messages
325
Location
Wilmington, North Carolina
Intro post for a '79 55.
Had a '71 intended for a long term build, but I just haven't had time to dig in deep. My son @theglobb had also pulled a '76 (we will call this one Rusty) out of the woods near here that we picked up for little $$.
Came upon this '79 that appears to need much less work than the '71 so sprung the 3rd one on my wife. She's an angel.
Traded the '71 to @Roastchestnuts to clear up space.
The 79:
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The '71 that went to @Roastchestnuts :
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And Rusty the '76:
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Back to the '79 - the guy who had it imports out of the Middle East. No idea of how many true miles. There seems to be not much rust, but the thing is absolutely full of dust. Like remove a door card and there's an inch of packed dust in the door bottom. No weatherstripping. No seat belts. Slit rim wheels. Suspension was absolutely shot. Checking on suspension replacement options, I saw a Youtube video of Mr Landcruiser (Australia) where they fitted a 55 w/ parabolic leaf springs. 60 series front springs and 75 series rear springs with a spring perch relocation. I contacted the Terrain Tamer guys in CA, and they looked into it and put a kit together for us. I had a couple of glitches with the install, but with feedback Terrain Tamer sent replacement components - they have been outstanding to work with. It was a drastic improvement in the ride quality. Photo with the suspension upgrade:
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More photos:


It's been repainted but supposedly in a factory color. I haven't searched in depth but found one reference to color 276 being Bronze Olive.
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Factory Aisin seat foam retainers:
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The seat support was not good, so my quick fix was to pull the seat from Rusty as a replacement. It sits much better, and the slide mechanism actually works.
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More photos:


It's been repainted but supposedly in a factory color. I haven't searched in depth but found one reference to color 276 being Bronze Olive.
View attachment 3980571


View attachment 3980569

Factory Aisin seat foam retainers:
View attachment 3980572

The seat support was not good, so my quick fix was to pull the seat from Rusty as a replacement. It sits much better, and the slide mechanism actually works.
View attachment 3980573

View attachment 3980574
It looks good with those new springs!
 
No manual hubs is no problem. I never saw them in the middle east. My FZJ75 and my Troopy both have drive flanges. That's the way they came from the factory. My personal opinion is it's a waste of money to change to manual hubs. I'm sure others will disagree.

That is some interesting homebrew on the hubcap hardware. Those are not the original rims. Probably newish FZJ75 rims that are still available new. The same rim that is available today fits my '83 Troopy and my '94 FZJ75 pickup. I know because I bought new spare rims for them and they both took the same rim. Here is the rim:


Here are the original part numbers for the rims that came on your pig. They would have almost certainly been the 16" option. These have the hubcap clips. A little confusing but the "Wheel" part number is the assembly and includes the retaining ring. The "ring" number is only the retaining ring as sometimes they were replaced separately.

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My son found a set of Toyota 16” steel wheels w clips on Facebook marketplace, so I’ve got those to replace the split rims.
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I mounted the 235/85R16’s and 33/9.5R15’s on the 55 just to get a visual on tire sizes. I like the 33’s better visually than what’s currently on it, so I’m thinking about 255/85R16’s.
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Thoughts? Other tire recommendations?
 
Rear view:
View attachment 3981716

No clips on the wheels, it had hardware for attaching hubcaps
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Rear:
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Front:
View attachment 3981721

No manual hubs.
Clue me in on the pros and cons of that.
So nice!!!
And drive flanges vs lockouts - always ready for 4WD.
I think all the 40s came from Japan w/ drive flanges, as did the early Pigs.
'76-'78 Pigs were reported to come from Japan w/ ASCO lockouts. They are 'long-body" lockouts to accommodate the long birfs that started w/ the disc brakes.
It just means you are spinning the front driveline, even when the t-case is in 2H.
 
'76-'78 Pigs were reported to come from Japan w/ ASCO lockouts. They are 'long-body" lockouts to accommodate the long birfs that started w/ the disc brakes.
Only for the NA market or at least they definitely didn't come from the factory with them for General Countries.

I wonder what Toyota model had those 16", non retaining ring rims with clips as OEM? @Shyrock do you get any additional information on them?
 
No manual hubs.
Clue me in on the pros and cons of that.
CONS,
You will be spinning the front axles full time and your birfields should or would need to be serviced more often. Also spinning the front drive shaft and depending on angles will cause more vibration at highway speeds (you know in mine at about 70 MPH if you forgot to un-lock the hubs) then fuel mileage suffers spinning all that junk all the time..

PROS,
Stronger, you don't have to get out when your stuck in two wheel drive just pull the lever into 4WD.
 
Only for the NA market or at least they definitely didn't come from the factory with them for General Countries.

I wonder what Toyota model had those 16", non retaining ring rims with clips as OEM? @Shyrock do you get any additional information on them?
I think Johnathan said the 16" wheels came off a 40 series South American import. The guy was doing a restomod and had plans for something big and flashy. Flashy isn't our mode. I like the look of the old steel wheels. I'm also not a fat tire guy, and haven't found as many 16" tire options as I had hoped for. Right now considering the Toyo 255/85R16 MT's.
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I'd prefer all terrains and see where a 225/95R16 Toyo was announced for Australia and Japan late last year. No idea if it would ever be available here.
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Find a set of the NA OEM 15" rims and run the Kenda Klever RT. 33x9.50-15:

View attachment 3981938
Those Kenda’s are what’s in the photo w the darker wheels above. I mounted the ones we put on the Saltwagon 40 for that photo. I had hoped to just run those on the 55, but those wheels are riveted, and they would not spin due to interference w the brake calipers.
 
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These are the 17" version of that wheel with the Kenda tires.
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More information about the wheels here.. starting on page 8
 

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