Project Hundy Build Thread - 2000 UZJ100 Land Cruiser (Deathstar)

[cruiseroutfit]

...In one position, the LED bar can be turned on only if the OE fog light switch is on and in essence the lights act the same as option one you described. With the third switch in the other position, the LED is controlled completely independently from the headlights and other lights.

Clear as mud, I am sure, but it is one more solution, albeit a slightly more complex one from a wiring perspective...

The big hangup there for me is needing two switches, I don't have any blanks left on dash at this point and I want to keep it tidy inside. Worth considering though, I'll give it a second look. Better yet would be finding a double throw factory switch that would give me multiple options but I don't think they exist for the dash blanks I have.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Probably silly question but will your sunroof clear the light bar in both open options?

I had to adjust my roof rack for that....

Hmmm, I suppose I ought to look but my rack is full length and the light bar will sit a fair distance forward of the sun roof so I don't anticipate any issues. Worth looking before I commit

 

[OregonLC]

The big hangup there for me is needing two switches, I don't have any blanks left on dash at this point and I want to keep it tidy inside.

Build a custom panel an mount it overhead in the garage door pocket. This guy does nice work, I've seen one of his panels in person.

http://www.gaugeplates.com/switches.php

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Build a custom panel an mount it overhead in the garage door pocket. This guy does nice work, I've seen one of his panels in person.

http://www.gaugeplates.com/switches.php

That is an option I may look at down the road. Worst case I wire it with one of my previous options and have to make a change later.

 

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

Build a custom panel an mount it overhead in the garage door pocket. This guy does nice work, I've seen one of his panels in person.

http://www.gaugeplates.com/switches.php

I like your speakers guys. I can't hardly hear my speaker built into my Ham radio that sits on the floor. Was thinking of having Car Toys connect it to my stereo some how like my phone. Someone talks, music drops, they are done music comes back.

Kurt have you looked into this already?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Personally, I would want independent control over the LED bar. I would also want it hard wired. LEDs don't pull much power, so it would be nice in emergency / camp set-up / recovery situations when your truck is off.

 

[Jordan345]

Here is how I made my switch plate above my head to house my light switches. Back up, spots, rock lights and camp lights. Room for two more, but probably leaving blank. I don't want to put lockers/winch switches or such up there as it is easy to mix up with the lights. At least if hitting the wrong light switch I won't engage a locker at 70 miles an hour on the highway.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Here is how I made my switch plate above my head to house my light switches. Back up, spots, rock lights and camp lights. Room for two more, but probably leaving blank. I don't want to put lockers/winch switches or such up there as it is easy to mix up with the lights. At least if hitting the wrong light switch I won't engage a locker at 70 miles an hour on the highway.

That looks great!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Let there be light!

Outback Proven delivers the goods once again

The 100 Series Land Cruiser (like many other stock vehicles) badly suffers from the poor lighting performance out of the headlights. While both high and low beams benefit from the upgraded loom, the low beams stand to gain the most as they are just dismal at best in stock form. I added the 'upgrade' bulbs and that surely helped but it was still needing attention.

High quality connectors, harness, relays and fuse assemblies

Harness Arrangement & Layout

Rough Layout Under the Hood

Australian manufacture Piranha has a solution specific to the US specification 100 Series Land Cruiser with plugs that match the factory harness for a 'zero-splice' fit, Piranha part# LIS100. Simply unplug the factory harness from the headlamp bulbs and then plug the Piranha harness directly into the bulbs, they are plug specific so you can't go wrong. Depending how you mount the relays and fuse holders you will either plug the Piranha kit into your stock harness on the passenger side or drivers, doesn't really matter. One each side (driver/passenger) you will need to tie the ground into an existing bolt (which are present on both sides) and then last but not least, connect the power to the battery. As the battery is on the left-hand side, I chose to mount the relays and fuses on that side as well.

Relay & Fuse Bank

Installation is very straightforward and can be done in under an hour depending on your under hood setup. The engine bay of my 100 Series is getting quite stuff so I had to spend some extra time building a relay and fuse mount bracket. I could have placed them in the corner near the main battery but it would borderline require me to pull the battery to swap a fuse or relay in the Piranha harness. The bracket simply bolts to the inner fender well just inboard of the main system fuse block. It's an overkill solution but provides me instant access to the relays and fuses.

Template for Relay/Fuse Bracket

Test Fitting Template In Position

Completed Bracket Ready For Install

Once you have those mounted and everything connected. Test the system and then tidy up your wiring with a handful of zip ties. You shouldn't need to cut, lengthen or trim anything unless you rearrange things or require the relays/fuses to be in a specific spot.

Bracket Mounted, Relay's & Fuse Holders In Place

Finished!

The Piranha harness has a light-on powered spare lead for both the high-beams and the low-beams. These allow perfect trigger points for auxiliary light kits if needed. I didn't utilize them for my setup but I zip tied them under the relays in the event I do need them in the future. I've got some before and after light shots I'm working on and will be headed on a trip soon to the desert to really get a feel for the improvement.

 

[dnp]

Really cool find! Do you have a link to information on Piranha products? I did a quick search and couldn't find out how to contact them.

Thanks!

 

[theferg]

Nice! Where'd you get that kit? Wondering if they have a Tacoma version... Or maybe a Hilux version that would work on a Tacoma...

Upgrading my wiring harness on my old 80 series was one of my favorite upgrades. I would love to do it on my Tacoma and my LX470 as well.

 

[FlammableFishie]

Let there be light!

Outback Proven delivers the goods once again

The 100 Series Land Cruiser (like many other stock vehicles) badly suffers from the poor lighting performance out of the headlights. While both high and low beams benefit from the upgraded loom, the low beams stand to gain the most as they are just dismal at best in stock form. I added the 'upgrade' bulbs and that surely helped but it was still needing attention.

High quality connectors, harness, relays and fuse assemblies

Harness Arrangement & Layout

Rough Layout Under the Hood

Australian manufacture Piranha has a solution specific to the US specification 100 Series Land Cruiser with plugs that match the factory harness for a 'zero-splice' fit, Piranha part# LIS100. Simply unplug the factory harness from the headlamp bulbs and then plug the Piranha harness directly into the bulbs, they are plug specific so you can't go wrong. Depending how you mount the relays and fuse holders you will either plug the Piranha kit into your stock harness on the passenger side or drivers, doesn't really matter. One each side (driver/passenger) you will need to tie the ground into an existing bolt (which are present on both sides) and then last but not least, connect the power to the battery. As the battery is on the left-hand side, I chose to mount the relays and fuses on that side as well.

Relay & Fuse Bank

Installation is very straightforward and can be done in under an hour depending on your under hood setup. The engine bay of my 100 Series is getting quite stuff so I had to spend some extra time building a relay and fuse mount bracket. I could have placed them in the corner near the main battery but it would borderline require me to pull the battery to swap a fuse or relay in the Piranha harness. The bracket simply bolts to the inner fender well just inboard of the main system fuse block. It's an overkill solution but provides me instant access to the relays and fuses.

Template for Relay/Fuse Bracket

Test Fitting Template In Position

Completed Bracket Ready For Install

Once you have those mounted and everything connected. Test the system and then tidy up your wiring with a handful of zip ties. You shouldn't need to cut, lengthen or trim anything unless you rearrange things or require the relays/fuses to be in a specific spot.

Bracket Mounted, Relay's & Fuse Holders In Place

Finished!

The Piranha harness has a light-on powered spare lead for both the high-beams and the low-beams. These allow perfect trigger points for auxiliary light kits if needed. I didn't utilize them for my setup but I zip tied them under the relays in the event I do need them in the future. I've got some before and after light shots I'm working on and will be headed on a trip soon to the desert to really get a feel for the improvement.

Not sure if you know the answer, but would swapping the loom affect performance of an HID retrofit? I've been meaning to get in there to fix up my current retrofit, but haven't gotten around to it. So I guess when I get in there, why not swap the loom if it would make a drastic difference?

 

[SmoothLC]

Nice to see that there's an option to upgrade OEM headlight performance.

Let us know the source (Cruiser Outfitters?) and price if you don't mind.

Thanks.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Really cool find! Do you have a link to information on Piranha products? I did a quick search and couldn't find out how to contact them...

Nice! Where'd you get that kit? Wondering if they have a Tacoma version... Or maybe a Hilux version that would work on a Tacoma....

...Let us know the source (Cruiser Outfitters?) and price if you don't mind...

Sorry guys, I totally meant to touch on that in my write-up. Piranha products are imported to the US by Outback Proven, the distribute, we retail. I'll be stocking these asap and will have pricing available in the coming days. This was literally one of the first kits they have made, I'm going to suggest some minor changes that will help speed up the install but even the current kit is ready to go. I'll try and get an update for your all soon!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Not sure if you know the answer, but would swapping the loom affect performance of an HID retrofit? I've been meaning to get in there to fix up my current retrofit, but haven't gotten around to it. So I guess when I get in there, why not swap the loom if it would make a drastic difference?

Hmmm, I do not know the answer on that one... if anyone here does please chime in. I'm going to guess the answer is no, not only will it not improve anything it definitely won't plug into your system either. That said I don't know if the HID systems can be improved by upping the power to the lights directly?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The Piranha kit made a marked improvement in the stock headlight output but for high speed jaunts in in the desert, I still wanted something more, something with some spread. Kyle, a good friend and customer (and Cruiserhead) deals in high quality LED lighting with his Iron Moose 4x4 company. We had set up a handful of them for customers and the quality was fantastic and the pricing reasonable. I opted for a single row 30" light bar featuring 18 10W LED's (Part# SM-955). The single row was just the right dimensions to fit between the Eezi-Awn rack and the roof. Mounting was straight forward, I didn't want to drill through the rack and have bolts or nuts on top so instead I built a simple bracket that utilizes the bolt slide extrusions on the bottom of the roof rack. The light is securely mounted and I can still sleep on the rack without a bolt in my back or slide storage bins from side to side.

Iron Moose Lightbar Mounted

Getting power to a roof-rack is a conundrum in it's own right. Run the lines up the front? Route them out of the rear hatch? Drill a hole and come use a weather-tight fitting? All can and have been done with great success but the 100 has a 'lip' near the windshield that really lends itself well to the wiring. As the relay is mounted under the hood on the passenger inner fender, it made sense to shoot it right out of the cowl, up the w/s and tie it off cleanly to the rack and subsequent plug. I opted for 4 conductor insulated wire so that I have room for additional rack power needs in the future, I use a Weatherpack for the connection on the roof, using 2 conductors for this light and leaving the other two plugged for future use. I have a pretty good back up light in place but perhaps a camp light up high in the future? We'll see if a need develops.

Wiring Routed Along W/S and Under Hood

I posted earlier about my lighting quandary, more specifically how to switch the LED bar. Options were aplenty but I was torn between having the freedom to operate the LED sans headlights and wanting to be able to dim the high beams and kill the LED in a single action. In the end I opted for an OE Toyota roof light switch constant powered so that I can run the LED under any scenario. I'll give it a go for a bit and if I decide to change, it is an easy swap. In the meantime, I'll run it as-is and see how it works out for me on some upcoming trips. I swapped out the bulbs so that the 'running' light is green to match the other switches (comes orange) and the 'on' light is now orange, very easy to notice you have it on.

OE Toyota Roof Light Switch On Dash

Finished Product

I'll get some better shots posted, I'll be in the dark desert soon enough!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The new LED light bar proved to be a great addition though it wasn't quite apparent initially. I fired the light a couple of times on the lonely highway as my buddy Ryan and I bombed south towards St. George where we were launching for an off-road adventure. The light was extremely visible but lacked any real 'reach', which makes sense as I opted for the flood pattern rather than the spots. All was well, the upgraded headlights kept things illuminated and the aux IPF lights on the bumper were there just in case. Fast forward a few days and a particularly soggy and washed out section of trail above Panguitch in southern Utah. Our group of 6 vehicles found ourselves winching, road building, using the Maxtrax and digging, progress slowed drastically as we literally had to coerce each truck through washouts and muddy ravines. Enter the LED light bar, it proved invaluable as a work light for winching and recovery operations as well as a fantastic 'trail light' as we led the group off the mountain. Couldn't be happier with its performance.

One of many recovery situations, Adam's Tacoma and the 100 lighting up the night
(Photo by Adam Tolman)

While on the trip, Ryan and I had some on-going discussions about the many merits of HAM, one of which was the APRS tracking. I've used the APRS for several years now but my setup has been a standalone system that literally just plugs into a 12V outlet and does it's thing. Family and friends back home can watch our progress (on sites like aprs.fi) and I can check it late to recount our route and pace. Turns out there was a far easier solution and of course Ryan would know about it. Green Light Labs makes a module (Part# GPS-710) for my Kenwood 710 Series 2M. It allows my unit to act as the APRS radio while still allowing me full access to communications. Even one better, the Kenwood 710 allows me to real-time track other APRS users, send text messages or get real-time weather readouts from weather stations operating in the area. I was sold... while we bounced down the trail I ordered up the GPS-710 module and crossed my fingers it would show up before I rolled out for the Moab to CruiserFest trip in just a few days. I placed the order on Thursday and it must have arrived Saturday as I was greeted by the box when I returned home Sunday. The install took literally 5 minutes and after adjusting a few radio settings, it was working. Tuesday night I rolled out for the CruiserFest trip with the APRS sending out beacons as planned. Ryan's group was meeting at City of Rocks, Idaho the following day, as planned I was able to see Ryan's real-time location and track him as we converged on our planned Simpson Springs meeting location. Totally nerdy? You bet. Practical application for remote travel? Absolutely!

Moab to CruiserFest convoy on Left, City of Rocks to CruiserFest convoy on right - Converging.
(Photo by Jason Goates)

 

[LCHardriver_02]

That rocks! I had not heard of such a thing as APRS tracking. Now, I want it! Damn you...

 

[OregonLC]

I've heard that Kenwood has an updated 710 coming out next month with built in GPS...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

That rocks! I had not heard of such a thing as APRS tracking. Now, I want it! Damn you...

It is pretty dang cool. For about 5 years I've been using the Byonics MicorTrack RTG: http://www.byonics.com/mt-rtg

For the money it is hard to beat and if you like electrical projects you can buy their individual components and build a kit on the cheap. However pairing it with an actual radio offers the realtime tracking (I can track the RTG users for example) and the text option. Still dabbling in just what I will use it for but this last weekend was a perfect case in which I could see the group we were supposed to meet sans cell signal.