red beard (2 Viewers)

[pb4ugo]

View attachment 3520374View attachment 3520375View attachment 3520376View attachment 3520377i was able to get my rear heater in. it’s a bit of a messy job. it’s a flexalite mojave i’ve had sitting around for a bit. after cleaning up the OEM rear heater switch i wired it up with the red black connected to the original ignition power harness with a small jumper to the OEM rear fan wiring.
i then hooked my orange (high) to the blue/white on the switch harness and the red (medium ) to the blue/black on the switch. the yellow (low) i left disconnected as it really just makes noise whiteout really moving any air. this way i can use my OEM switch. i’ll need to wash the cab out now before i finish plugging the holes in the floor! oh yeah and a new fire wall heater hose grommet from @Racer65 thats been sitting in my box of gaskets/weather stripping! i think i’ll get some heater hose wrap and burry the wires in it too just to clean things up

i also disconnected the momentary button that for some reason activated the starter even though the key works fine . i’ll use this switched power for a couple charging accessories. the hole in. the dash is plugged for now but i may put a switch in there for some accessory dash lights. not tonight though.

I'm glad to hear your going to do something with those heater hoses to protect the passenger. Years ago I ran rubber hoses similar to yours to my frt heater. I had a friend hop into the passenger seat, he looked at the hoses then looked at me and asked, what would happen to him if one of those hoses were to burst? Needless to say, I spent the next couple of dayd making metal lines and used the stk covers at the hose connections.

 

[franklin40]

ok so snow is coming (later than most years thankfully) and i’ve got pretty much everything important done. now i need tires. i am currently driving on a set of bf goodrich kos that i’ve personally had for 12 years and they were used when i bought them. needless to say they are worn out and suck

so here are my current options and i’d like some thoughts.
i have studded duratracs that i’ve run on my 62 and love them for winter driving. i’d like to stick with them (remember dedicated winter tire here)

i can go two ways here. i have the 15x8 white spoke rims the 40 came to me with that i could put a 33x12.5 tire on or i could buy a 16 inch wheel and put a 285/75r16 on but the rims only come with 4inch backspacing so i’d need a spacer.

i like the width of the 285/75r16 a little better i think but will the extra width of the 12.5 wide tire be noticeable (or will winter driving be worse)? i have the 15 inch rims already which is nice but i don’t know if i want that width tire.

my son loves the white spoke on the red cruiser so i’m compelled to go that way like it or not!

this is how it came

 

[archie73]

12.5 for a lightweight truck seems prettty wide to me, but if they work they work. When I bought my 08 tundra it had wide square Nitto’s- with the snowflake designation. Worst snow tire I’ve ever had. I made them my summer tires and got some thinner Uniroyals. It made a huge difference on snow and ice. I understand wanting to save some duckets, but poor tires ruin more vehicles in snow country.

 

[franklin40]

that’s kind of the way i’m leaning. skinnier probably better.

 

[B y r o n]

Tire width selection has been the topic of many debates. This article sheds some light on what should go into your decision process.

 

[franklin40]

yeah i’ve read that and other articles with similar suggestions. i guess i’m more interested in knowing other personal experience with tires only 1 inch difference if it’ll make any difference at all. i don’t really want to buy more rims but i think to get the tire i actually have experience with and really like i’ll have to suck it up. this isn’t a want. this is a “need” to have good tires for safety as i’ll be driving it a lot this next year and my son will likely want to drive it as soon as he’s got his licence. heck it’s just money right?!!

 

[diesellibrarian]

I run skinny (235/85) non-studded Duratracs year-round on my FJ62. They're amazing in the snow, especially compared to the KO2s that I used to run on my 2nd gen 4Runner.

 

[B y r o n]

yeah i’ve read that and other articles with similar suggestions. i guess i’m more interested in knowing other personal experience with tires only 1 inch difference if it’ll make any difference at all. i don’t really want to buy more rims but i think to get the tire i actually have experience with and really like i’ll have to suck it up. this isn’t a want. this is a “need” to have good tires for safety as i’ll be driving it a lot this next year and my son will likely want to drive it as soon as he’s got his licence. heck it’s just money right?!!

If you don't want to buy new rims and you like the narrower profile have you considered tires that are 33-10.5x15?

 

[franklin40]

duratracs don’t come in that size. . i’m pretty set on that tire.

an alternative i could consider would be a studded general grabber.

 

[B y r o n]

duratracs don’t come in that size. . i’m pretty set on that tire.

an alternative i could consider would be a studded general grabber.

I run the same tire but on 10" wide rims which is what is recommended by Goodyear. Apparently you have a tire shop that will mount them for you on your 8" rims. I bring this up because Approved Rim Width (in.)8.5-11.0. What tire pressures do you run? I run 17 PSI rear and 21 PSI front, with SBC and 8274 up front.

You might consider this model because the approved rim width is 8 - 10.5 inches.

 

[franklin40]

i have them on my 62. i run 30 psi

 

[franklin40]

got to test my heaters today on my way to work. 1/2 hour drive and everything went well other than my feet were a little cold. defrost was good though. it’s no luxury vehicle that coddles you when it’s harsh out there but it’s fun!

hoping to finalize tires today. old hard rubber is really slippery when it’s this cold!!

 

[franklin40]

i got a quote on US wheel white spoke wheels. . they must charge a lot to ship the to canada. they want $280 a wheel plus freight and tax. i’ll be $3000 into wheels and tires at that price! thats more than half what i paid for the truck to start with!! i could be into an alloy wheel for that price

so i think i’ve decided if i want a 33 inch tire i’ll need to go with a spacer. for $107 a piece locally i can get a 17 inch fj cruiser wheel that will accept a 285/70/r17. i have a set of 15 x 7ish (maybe even a 8) white spoke wheels i can use for summer with a 33x10.5r15 which is available in a KO2. both of these rims will require the same spacer so i won’t have to worry about changing them every season with tires and all the worry about retorquing them every time. once they’re set they’ll be set.

so that’s my current thought process. i’ll see if i can make it happen!!

 

[franklin40]

to add to this all my current tires absolutely suck because they’re old and hard. i can’t use 4wd yet because my front castor is off enough that my ujoints feel like they’re going to explode and shims are back ordered all over the place for another 3 weeks. so i need to rely on good tires for now hence my push to get them soon. i was all over the road in the city yesterday because i couldnt get traction on the icy roads!! makes you really focus on driving and NOTHING else. no distractions!! it’s kind of why i love driving these things. the rest of the world melts away while your trying to stay alive

 

[dazerb]

Fyi. The kenda klevers are studdable for winter driving.
33/9.5/15 on stock steel @32#
No snow In this part of NM, but they are great on rocks and sand. Drive nice on the road too

 

[franklin40]

we got all of this in one day!

i’ll have to take a look about the kendas

 

[franklin40]

not quite as cold today but a few photos of the drive home today

warming it up in -35

beautiful roads when i get out of the city. runs like a champ. still have cold feet though

 

[franklin40]

getting tires these days is a dumpster fire so it goes that it should happen to my little barn fire.

i purchased 4 runner steelies 17x7.5 wheels (4261135340). they are all the same dimensions to the fj cruiser wheels (4261135330) but apparently have a slightly higher load rating. they were all that was available to me through my local dealer. they’re also 1/3 the price of US wheel steelies. i figured a durateac 285/70/r17 would be exactly the dimensions that i wanted but turns out they only have the RT version in this size and it’s not studable. so i compromised and went with a grabber in that size but it has a 10 ply wall instead of 6 so it’ll likely be a bit of a harsher ride. i guess i’ve got to compromise somewhere. man tires and wheels are these days!! hopefully i’ll have them mounted by next week. i need to run a spacer for this wheel to work so that’ll be the rate limiting step getting them installed.

 

[franklin40]

it got really melty here which is uncommon for january. i needed to install a washer and pump so i got one from ccot. cheap kit but works well pain in the butt to install the button where i wanted it (red button in a random hole made by a PO) but otherwise simple install. i already had an adjustable squirter in the hood so i just hooked it up to that. now i can clean my windows.

 

[franklin40]

ah nuts

noticed this while under the truck doing front castor shims