I've stopped using amayama because they list parts as available then later say it isn't, where as other sites haven't done that in my experience.
Builds Over the Hills, and Far Away (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Sundowner
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- #182
True of most things in my life, unfortunately...but that's how I learn.
Usually, I don't; I do my best to verify things. In this case I had both companies check availability for me, and both were very happy to give me the go-ahead...and then both were notified by their supplier/stockist that certain parts weren't available. So, I did at least try to get some human interaction and verification.
Suggestions on a preferred vendor or agent? Whom have you worked with directly, that you'd feel comfortable directing me towards?
No argument, but it's not always easy; I don't have a twenty-year history with this platform like I do with TJs, so I'm in the dark about who to contact. I know that world inside and out; the 73 is still quite a mystery to me in many ways.
Also, having significant hearing loss in certain frequencies makes it all the more difficult; phone calls aren't a default option for me when all else fails. Mostly, I'm at the mercy of texts and emails...but at least I then have a written record of things.
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- #183
I won't use them again. They did give me a cancellation after I requested it, but it never should have gotten that far to start with.
I think cross-checking later platforms may be the way to go, here...but that's gonna be a problem for a future time: my broken/used set of sliders came in, so I'm going to start cutting and welding tomorrow and hopefully get this thing back on the road. I also got the wiring I need, so harness-rebuilding can hopefully soon commence...and none too soon: I need to get going on my sleeping area because I have a prospective overnight trip coming in a couple of months. I need to recertify my WFR rating, and that's going to be a weekend spent somewhere nearby...but it'll be too far to commute, so it's a good opportunity to spend the night in the truck.
prwillard2
SILVER Star
Onur you have some connections that have been cultivated over years of relationship building.
I have tried to cultivate a relationship with a local Toyota dealership here in SoCal, and given them tens of thousands of dollars in business. However, they have told me they don't have the connections you do to Fort Worth (believe that's where you said the international parts can be shipped from).
I tried and tried to get parts for my Troopy that wouldn't require me to use megazip or partsouq, but in the end the human at the other end of the counter couldn't get me what I needed because it wasn't in his parts system.
They don't make Toyota parts peoples like they used to! Had some luck making friend-like with a local dealership parts guy. It took some time and buying easy US parts system stuff gave me an opportunity to discuss my rigs and what I'm after in a parts guy relationship. With some knowledge gleaned directly from Onur on what Toyota needs to sell parts for rigs not sold here (HS-7) I was able to get a 1HZ short block secured through the duder.
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- #186
Been there, for sure.
That's more than I got. I just wanted an oil filter, and when I said that it was for a JDM Toyota, one of the parts guys just laughed and walked away and the other pushed the keyboard aside and patiently explained why they would never be able to order a single thing for my rig. So... I haven't been back to that dealership. Or any of the other three that effectively gave me the same responses.
Same. I had numbers and locations and all kinds of info, but the person on the other side of the counter just couldn't do anything with the info. So I tried another route.
True of many other things as well.
I've actually gotten a surprisingly cold reception at all of the dealerships. The customers there go nuts when I pull in, but the staff either doesn't even notice or actively avoids me...and that's consistent among several locations.
I mean, if you know the method, I'm ready to take notes; as both pointed- and borne-out, I'm obviously doing this very, very wrong.
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- #187
Pop Quiz: Identify the problem in the following image.
PabloCruise
SILVER Star
Yep! And we like to go to the Black Hills as well...
- Thread starter
- #189
I'll hit you up when I head that way.
Meanwhile...no takers on my Pop Quiz? No matter: here's the answer...
See that little cable and bracket on top of the seat slider? Yeah... that's on top of the seat slider; that flatly stalled out my plans to just weld up the proper length on the Corbeau and get it installed. Instead, I'm either going to have to drill out the spot weld, save this bracket and move it to the top of the Corbeau - because the cable actuator is actually kind of, like, important and stuff - or just remake this bracket entirely and still move it to the top of the Corbeau unit.
That's gonna take a bit of time...but wait! There's less:
Pictured: It would be easier if I paid attention, even just once.
Trip lever on the hinge release: move it downward an inch and it won't engage, which means the seaty no worky. I actually knew about this piece, but this is actually a simpler fix; I can either weld a small flag in place, or I can make something that slips over the lever and snugs into place. I kind of like the latter solution because it's not permanent, but it's a lot more work...but I need an excuse to learn how to run a mill or a 3D printer or something like that, right?
On a similar front: I'm going to go with an earlier suggestion - the offset plate - as an inexpensive proof of concept for seat placement, which is a phrase that here means "a proof of concept that would be inexpensive if I had not angered one or more of the Old Gods." So, my thought is to take a piece or two of 6061 or mild steel and just pop a couple of holes in them, and then shift the seat forward a couple of inches in order to see if said shift is as bad as I foresee it being. So, in order to do that, I decided to finally get my drill press running-
Side Note: several months ago, I bought a very nice Powermatic 1200 for almost $400. The guy just wanted to be rid of it, and since it was three-phase, nobody wanted it...but I guess they didn't know that with an inexpensive VFD you can dial the speed on a 1200 down to about 1/2 RPM and still have enough torque to run a rather large tap. I also got a Cardinal vise and a Jacobs chuck in the deal, and the machine came with the large production-style table... so: score one for Bonzo. That being said, I haven't gotten around to wiring it up yet, so I went ahead and did that and popped the chuck into place, and promptly found that despite having a total spindle runout of - and I'm not kidding about this - .0005"/.0127mm, there was a distinctly visible wobble in the chuck.
I wondered if it was just a bit of off-axis machining, so I threw a bit into it and looked again...and the tip of the bit was oscillating by somewhere around .05" to .06", which is approximately way too f****** much in any country with any sort of metrology. Conclusion: bent chuck arbor.
So... I popped the chuck off the arbor, which is a phrase that here means "I took an hour and ruined a set of wedges and a pair of pliers (don't ask) getting the arbor extracted. The chuck taper is a #3 Jacobs, and even if you have no idea what that means, the important part is this: once a tapered connection starts to give, it pops lose... because that's the entire point of a taper. So, you can imagine my confusion when the arbor started to move, but wouldn't come loose.
I'll spare everyone the details; here's what I found when the arbor finally came free:
Pictured: Correction: I've angered several gods.
I honestly don't know how one can gall a piece of hardened tool steel this way. Actually, no... I take that back. I do know: you can do this by being a complete moron and chimping your way to success. Specifically, you 1) fail to seat the chuck on the arbor correctly, B) throw a massive bit into the chuck, and 3) just keep on gettin' it when the bit stalls. Naturally, the inside of the chuck is basically trashed.
Pictured: Scrap metal.
I can't fix that; I don't think there's enough metal in there to ream it to a larger taper...so, I think I'm just going to have to replace it, and maybe pull this one apart for spares. So... I had to order an interim chuck that'll do until I can find a replacement Jacobs at a palatable price, or until I save enough pennies for an Albrecht.
Pictured: I didn't know the USDA graded drill chucks.
That's pure Chineseium, but it'll do for now...and it'll either give me a backup option once a proper chuck is again in residence, or it'll be a giveaway to someone that needs one. Or, I could always pick up a #3 Morse tailstock for the lathe, and use it there. But that's a future problem; for now, I'm glad to be able to drill holes in metal accurately again.
So, yeah, that about covers it..except for the part where my aluminum order got cancelled because of a stocking issue. At this point, I should probably just give up on seat relocations and start working on some goat fencing and an altar, instead.
Stay tuned; more coverage at 6:00.
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- Thread starter
- #190
And for our 6:00 PM Edition...
Pictured: I own a motorcycle?
I really wasn't sure what I ordered from Japan that would have been here this quickly...but it turned out to be my Sumitomo connectors from Eastern Beaver; I guess they're located a little further east than I originally understood. Paired up with the wiring that got here from LS a few days ago, I'm now actually ready to start building the switch harnesses for my seat heaters, which will of course take much longer than it reasonably should on account of my endless supply of confusion.
Pictured: Actually, that purple is a good match for the factory stuff...
Also, that's a new arbor shaft for the Jacobs chuck...which was ordered before I knew that the chuck itself was completely and totally smurfed, which I'm still slightly miffed about. I can still use it, though... whenever I find a deal on a chuck.
Speaking of deals: I just snagged these from forum member @HitTheDirt. $200 shipped and they're in good shape; can't beat that price. Now I have options for carrying...well, pretty much anything that's mostly flat and several things that aren't, now that I think about it.
Pictured: Pending that I ever get around to mounting the rack itself, of course.
So, yeah...things are looking up.
Pictured: I own a motorcycle?
I really wasn't sure what I ordered from Japan that would have been here this quickly...but it turned out to be my Sumitomo connectors from Eastern Beaver; I guess they're located a little further east than I originally understood. Paired up with the wiring that got here from LS a few days ago, I'm now actually ready to start building the switch harnesses for my seat heaters, which will of course take much longer than it reasonably should on account of my endless supply of confusion.
Pictured: Actually, that purple is a good match for the factory stuff...
Also, that's a new arbor shaft for the Jacobs chuck...which was ordered before I knew that the chuck itself was completely and totally smurfed, which I'm still slightly miffed about. I can still use it, though... whenever I find a deal on a chuck.
Speaking of deals: I just snagged these from forum member @HitTheDirt. $200 shipped and they're in good shape; can't beat that price. Now I have options for carrying...well, pretty much anything that's mostly flat and several things that aren't, now that I think about it.
Pictured: Pending that I ever get around to mounting the rack itself, of course.
So, yeah...things are looking up.
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- Thread starter
- #192
So, three important things to know:
First, I am alive and kicking; I'm mostly kicking myself, but that's a rather small point of contention in the big scheme of things.
Second - amongst some other things - this happened...
Pictured: Progress!
...and third, this happened.
Pictured: Depression.
The rack went together...well, mostly-fine; I'm going to have to fix a slight problem that's being caused by it being used on a completely different vehicle than that which was intended, but that's a small matter. The bigger issue is that I can't use the gutter clamps at all; due to the ZX-package chrome trim on the gutters and tight tolerances at the rear doors, seven out of eight of the legs simply cannot be used. They fit into place and I even got them roughly shaped and adjusted so as to level the rack on the non-level and curved gutters, but the clamps are a complete no-go. To use them, I'd need to modify and refinish all of them, and find some way to adjust and move the rear doors in order to generate clearance...and that's not a winning plan when applied to a mounting solution that was supposed to be temporary in the first place.
So, solution: get started bending tube to make the permanent mounting solution...
...which would be easy, if I had a tube bender. But, I don't; anyone got one laying around that they aren't using?
First, I am alive and kicking; I'm mostly kicking myself, but that's a rather small point of contention in the big scheme of things.
Second - amongst some other things - this happened...
Pictured: Progress!
...and third, this happened.
Pictured: Depression.
The rack went together...well, mostly-fine; I'm going to have to fix a slight problem that's being caused by it being used on a completely different vehicle than that which was intended, but that's a small matter. The bigger issue is that I can't use the gutter clamps at all; due to the ZX-package chrome trim on the gutters and tight tolerances at the rear doors, seven out of eight of the legs simply cannot be used. They fit into place and I even got them roughly shaped and adjusted so as to level the rack on the non-level and curved gutters, but the clamps are a complete no-go. To use them, I'd need to modify and refinish all of them, and find some way to adjust and move the rear doors in order to generate clearance...and that's not a winning plan when applied to a mounting solution that was supposed to be temporary in the first place.
So, solution: get started bending tube to make the permanent mounting solution...
...which would be easy, if I had a tube bender. But, I don't; anyone got one laying around that they aren't using?
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Crazy, I have the same chrome gutter trim and didn’t have any issues!
- Thread starter
- #195
I'm glad, because this is a First Order Nightmare. When I'm saying that it's not even close to working, I'm not kidding; to get the front-door clamps properly installed I'm going to have to reduce the leg height on two of the legs to accommodate the rake of the gutter, modify their tops to allow them to seat properly against the upper portion of the legs, and probably re-bend the lower section. I see no way around the rear door issue without shimming and rehanging both doors to generate clearance...and even then I might be into a gasket or fitment issue. The gutter mounts were supposed to be a temporary solution in the first place, so I don't see the point in pursuing work on them; I'll leave them bolted on to help with placement later on, but that's gonna be awhile. Unless I can find a bender that I can borrow, I'm likely going to have to buy one...so I need to parse through some tools to get rid of in order to make room for that. Right now there's a small punch press and an Aamco shaper on that list; I really like them, but I don't have room for another large tool...so they need to go.
- Thread starter
- #196
I sure did; I looked it up (as best I could with neither Facebook nor Instagram) right after you posted it...and I'm sorry for not responding to you earlier or acknowledging that post before now. That's a dope rig, even now with the camper conversion.
Two reasons:
- At least sixteen holes drilled straight through the body tub.
- A set of mounts that I likely can't replicate with my home shop tooling...at least not without doing some more snooping to see how they've made them.
It's a slick mount, no doubt; clamping the tub between those rack mounts and a backer plate would be a very strong solution. Maybe not gorilla-tier, but definitely chimp-level...but poking holes in the tub is a last resort for me. Been there and done that with too many Jeep tubs to want to do it to a nice Toyota...but if I can't figure a way to hold up the front, I'll need to rethink my position on this.
Right now, my plan is to look to the front hinge area and see what might work, there; failing a solution, I do like the idea that was proposed about sandwiching a mount between the top and tub. That's not a bad notion at all.
Sorry about the rack SNAFU.
@sark posted a link to NeoSteel's Instagram yesterday. There was Cruiser pictures so of course I spent like an hour looking around. They did a nice custom rack on a green HZJ73. Also requires drilling holes but looks like a nice design. The posts are from around 4/4/21. See if I can post a direct link...
NeoSteel4x4
If it doesn't work search for neosteel4x4 on Insta and scroll down-down. down.
B
@sark posted a link to NeoSteel's Instagram yesterday. There was Cruiser pictures so of course I spent like an hour looking around. They did a nice custom rack on a green HZJ73. Also requires drilling holes but looks like a nice design. The posts are from around 4/4/21. See if I can post a direct link...
NeoSteel4x4
If it doesn't work search for neosteel4x4 on Insta and scroll down-down. down.
B
- Thread starter
- #199
It is what it is; it's teaching me to be better at existentialism, if nothing else (which would then be nihilism, but whatevs).
Lots of joints in that one; I feel like they know something I don't...which is kind of where I'm at with the drilling thing in general. That's how everyone solves this issue...but I don't know why. There are existing, already-drilled points that we can tie into; I've looked, and I know they're present...but nobody is using them and I'm absolutely not smart enough to be the first person that's come up with the idea. So what am I missing?
- Thread starter
- #200
One of the issues is just my rig's top being a bit out of spec, I think; the doors fit well, but the clearance is just on the tight side. It affects nothing... except this kind of thing.
Two versions of the legs are listed in Front Runner's install instructions, but they don't seem to be very different in terms of geometry. Take a look at them if you get a minute; I'd like to hear what you think.
Sorry about all the issues with this
It's not your fault, man; it's mine, for not planning well enough and checking everything before I got started. And honestly, it's fixable: I have the rack tied to the garage ceiling for the time being, so it's out of the way...so now I just need to literally sell stuff to make some fabrication/tool room. And that's kind of sucky because I really like that punch press and shaper, but they're taking up space and I'm not actively using them...so they gotta go.
