Builds Project LXXIV - 1988 BJ74 Land Cruiser Build

[cruiseroutfit]

...Did I miss something about sliders? Which ones are you installing? Is there room for 3" exhaust where the mount to the frame? I ran 3" on my old 13BT before I swapped to a 1HZ+t and noticed an improvement on turbo lag and EGT...

Great question, I hadn't addressed the sliders in the build thread quite yet. Those are Cruisin Off-Road sliders (he is here on Mud). Knowing this was going to be a super condensed build we looked towards buying production stuff. The sliders are quite nice, honestly I've not spent any time looking closely at them, our partners at Land Cruiser Direct installed those before shipping a batch of trucks out to us.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

This is a really good write up. Im in the process of buying a 74 and this is some good stuff. What about low range transfer case gears, and or a Toybox addition?

We shall see how it does this next week in the San Rafael Swell and Moab. If gears are needed we have the Mark's in stock and the Advance Adapters can come on our next stock order Given 33's are the max tire this truck will see and it absolutely won't be used for true rock-crawling, I have no plans or considerations for a Toybox, if it needs gearing it will be axles or t-case reduction. It doesn't feel lacking at all on the highway, granted I've only put ~100 miles on it following the lift/tires but it motors up to speed without problems.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Kurt, great write up. We still need to find a rear bumper that uses the newer arb tj/yj style pivot to not block the rear lights on a 70 series. Front bumper is impressive- price range???

The rear bumper does have lower lights in the shell itself (cutouts shown in picture). One can set them up however they want, I opted for turns and extra stop lights. I'm actually working on those today. That is still something we plan to work out with ExpOne on phase two of these prototypes. I'd really like to use a set of late model FJ40 tail lights frenched into the rear bumper. Thoughts there?

I don't have any pricing on the bumpers as we need to get back with them on changes, hardware, etc. but I'm guessing ~$600-800 on the front and $1200-1500 on the rear based on their other vehicle offerings.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I checked the Kaymar site and they dont show a rear bumper for a 74 series truck thats made anymore!!!

They have them en route to the US right now, 3 coming and I'm pretty sure 2 are already spoken for. If your interested in one, give us a call and we can get your name on the 3rd

 

[BJ74Guy]

Id love to, but what am I getting? Id like a bumper, tire carrier and one to two fuel cans and maybe a high lift jack..

Im definitely interested.


Im hoping to do a spring over on 37's. 5.29 gears and Id like as low a low range as possible. Thats why I was thinking a toy box.

 

[theferg]

...I'd really like to use a set of late model FJ40 tail lights frenched into the rear bumper. Thoughts there?.

Yes. For sure. Or the 75/79 series pickup or troop carrier taillights...they're basically the same. But ya. And I've been dreaming up the same thing since our convo on the taillights the install night. Any time I'm ever designing (in my head) a rear bumper for one of my rigs over the years, I've planned to use those taillights. Heh

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Id love to, but what am I getting? Id like a bumper, tire carrier and one to two fuel cans and maybe a high lift jack...

That is exactly how they will be setup sans the hi-lift. Not sure if these particular ones have an established solution for the hi-lift. I leave that thing at home

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Yes. For sure. Or the 75/79 series pickup or troop carrier taillights...they're basically the same. But ya. And I've been dreaming up the same thing since our convo on the taillights the install night. Any time I'm ever designing (in my head) a rear bumper for one of my rigs over the years, I've planned to use those taillights. Heh

James (ExpOne) and I discussed that as an option but at that point the bumper was already cut. There is some gusseting behind the bumper that will need to be altered for the 40 style light but it should be easy enough. I like the late model 7x stuff BUT they are going to be costly and a bit harder to get stateside, I stock a few dozen of the 4x Series ones in both medium and high quality (Japanese) as well as a few of the OEM options, all still available. That said... keeping it 7x lineage would be neat.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Interesting, I've never caught wind of that in my years participating at CM. CM is put on by a club and committee members come and go so it's possible that someone along the path wasn't a fan. Fwiw the head honcho now (Jeff Zepp) is a past 70 Series owner and has nothing but appreciation for them. I'd be curious who/when thought they weren't real Land Cruisers lol.

Its something I saw in the early days of MUD ,probably when the 7* series forum was called the "International Forum" LOL Memory says it was MOAB but it could have been something else.
Obviously it was in the days when the 7* series were a lot more scarce in the US than it is now.

 

[Malahki]

Id like as low a low range as possible. Thats why I was thinking a toy box.

I'm also wanting lower low gears but without altering my high range ratio. Tried contacting Marlin Crawler about the Toybox becoming available again, with no response. Also contacted North West Fab about the Blackbox but they still don't have an input shaft for this application.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Is it cool to take 7* series there now? I remember maybe 10 years ago owners of 7* series being told by organisers they weren't real landcruisers or were weird things or something to that effect.

Darn, I wouldn't have bought them if I knew they weren't real Land Cruisers.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Hey Kurt,

Are those 33's or 35's?...hard to tell by the photos

Great build and very fast progress!

 

[theferg]

Are those 33's or 35's?...hard to tell by the photos

Sinc Kurt's prob in the middle of central Utah somewhere and ive seen them in person, I'll save ya some suspense--theyre 33x12.5 on the stocker 15 inch wheels.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

 

[badmoon rising]

Called today re: rear bumper - believe your are wheelin at cruise Moab ... Upon your return I'm interested in chatting about rear bumper. Need to figure out my rear bumper set-up soon. Thrilled that you own and are supporting the 70 series market !

 

[BJ74Guy]

They have them en route to the US right now, 3 coming and I'm pretty sure 2 are already spoken for. If your interested in one, give us a call and we can get your name on the 3rd

Who do I call? Can you tell me (or show me) what configuration Im buying? Id like a tire carrier one or two fuel cans and a high lift jack carrier. If its what Im looking for Ill buy it today!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Hey Kurt,

Are those 33's or 35's?...hard to tell by the photos

Great build and very fast progress!

33x12.50R15 BFG AT's, they fit perfectly on the truck. Slight rubbing in the back at full up-travel when heavily loaded but it's on the inner fender so a non-issue. Really digging the setup.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Called today re: rear bumper - believe your are wheelin at cruise Moab ... Upon your return I'm interested in chatting about rear bumper. Need to figure out my rear bumper set-up soon. Thrilled that you own and are supporting the 70 series market !

Right on, I'm just got back in the office today and have been catching up from Cruise Moab. I've got you on my list to call back tomorrow, talk soon!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Who do I call? Can you tell me (or show me) what configuration Im buying? Id like a tire carrier one or two fuel cans and a high lift jack carrier. If its what Im looking for Ill buy it today!

Cruiser Outfitters, click link below my name. At his point all 3 incoming bumper may be spoken for but they are a tire carrier/jerry can combo. Not sure if you saw my earlier reply to the same question or not. Give us a ring at the shop if you would like to discuss, I don't have access to pricing, photos, availability, etc. in the evening when I'm on Mud time

 

[cruiseroutfit]

We had made some huge progress and knocked out the majority of the smaller items but our list wasn't finished yet and the last items were going to take a little more time.

ExpeditionOne generally uses the Rotopax style gas cans on their bumper setups, however I've got a fleet of Scepter MFC's I utilize for trips and my other carriers are setup for the Scepter can. On top of that, while the Rotopax would have been a clean install (they are a neat product) it wouldn't give me an option for the license plate mounting. I could easily make a bracket that mounts to the jerry can swing carrier or bolts to the tire but I wanted to re-use the stock "Toyota 4WD" trim and light assembly that was removed from the door. We were looking around for jerry can holders online when it dawned on me that I had a handful of the Adventure Trailer can carriers left over from a previous project. Olly pulled one down from it's dusty hiding spot on the top of the pallet racking and we started sizing it up, this was going to be slick!

Rough mounting the AT can carrier

Mocking up the license plate setup

Sure enough it worked out near perfectly, mounting to the ExpeditionOne carrier with 2 existing holes and by adding just 2 additional holes to the can carrier, we had a nice secure fit to the bumper. The license plate mounting was the next stage and it proved quite simple. We removed the welded studs on the factory light as they would protrude too deep and interfere with a MFC in the carrier. Instead we drilled the hole and mounted it with some low profile screws and nuts. We added a few additional holes for the license plate itself and for zip tie holes to secure the extended wiring which was plugged back into the stock harness. Very happy with the result.

Wiring secured

Plug harness extended and tidied up.

Finished product

I've always been a 'W' guy and I'm still a big fan of their proven product line however they left me wanting in the 24V division and I had to scramble to find a solution. I attended the Easter Jeep Safari show a few weeks back and had the chance to chat with several different winch manufactures. A few had 24V options but nothing was shining as a front runner, really we just wanted a Warn M8000 in 24V but it was becoming impossible to source. Fast forward a few days and I contacted ComeUp, they had reached out to us in the past about their product offerings and they came highly recommended from a friend in the industry familiar with their product line. Not only did they have a 9k 24V non-integrated winch in stock, he could ship it that same day and we would have it in just 2 days, deal. Sure enough it arrived as planned and we spent some time inspecting it here in the shop before and during the install, I'm absolutely thrilled with the craftsmanship and material selection, finish, etc. We modified the supplied power cables slightly to allow for a particular solenoid box mounting, in the end it turned out fantastic and looks right at home in the bumper. Time will tell how it holds up under loads but I'm excited to put it through the paces in the future.

Winch Time

Shortened cables & mounted solenoid box

Finished product, just need to run the main power cables

Next up: Tie up loose ends and head to Cruise Moab

Knocking them dead