RHD JDM mall crawler (1 Viewer)

[Oregon trail]

Alright I decided it’s probably worth documenting my build here. I have documented it a lot through instagram that can be hard to follow.

It’s a 1996 Land Cruiser that is a RHD diesel with a Toyota 1HD-FT I6 engine. Bought it in April 2022 bone stock and even better it’s a JDM import little stupid mirror and all.

As for what’s been done. There is quite a bit and I’ll do my best to go over it.
First thing I did was coastal off-road bumpers and sliders. a donison 4” flexi coil lift and a drawer system I made.

Wheels came with the rig

It didn’t take long for me to want a bit more out of the rig. Had a shop instal ARB lockers and then not to long After orders up a set of 40” max is razr MT tires.

I decided I wanted to see how far I could take stock shafts on 40” tires. I made it surprisingly about 9 months. I added some EBC yellow stuff pads as well to help stop the rig on the larger tires. They wear fast but they have been amazing. I personally can get the tires to lock up even on 40s. Also deleted the LSPV.
Somewhere in this time I added small things like radios, lights, cell booster and I’m sure other small things that don’t matter much and most of which have been removed for the sake of weight.

First Moab trip in the rig went well. Stock shafts and gearing.

After a Moab trip I decided to redo the whole
Suspension setup.

 

[Oregon trail]

After the first trip out to Moab I decided it was time to fix the huge flaw the 80 series has. the suspension geometry. And that meant links. Although I had been wheeling it locally and mostly instate for a few months before the Moab trip as well.

Right around new years of 2022 I ordered a bunch of metal and brackets from barns 4wd with a plan to do front and rear links.

I decided to start on the rear. The plan was to do a reverse triangulated 4 link rear. I wanted to keep the fuel tank since it sees a ton of road miles. With a bit of research and talking to dimitry at stelar built who built a 4 runner in a similar way I started in on it. I chopped off the stock links and built a truss on the axle. I didn’t run anything threw a suspension calculator, I read a ton and followed all the basics on link designs and packaging determined the rest. I used barns 4wd brackets other than the uppers by the rear bumpers which I made myself out of 1/4 plate. And 2” .250 wall dom for the links and barns flex joints.

Two things I did because I wasn’t confident and liked where the axle was at. was not pulling the axle. That made the truss kinda look like crap and sucked working on it under the rug and I didn’t want to redo brake lines so I made a couple spots to leave them in place. Ultimately that was a mistake and would be much cleaner and easier to pull the axle. I basically left the original dobison links In place with the axle where I wanted it and then did the uppers. Then eventually pulled the lowers and did those. After it was all said and done I learned you still have to set it all up pulling the axle out is no big deal.

The front and rear I decided to keep the springs I already had installed. That was partially because I didn’t have money for coilovers or maybe entirely. I decided to use 14” fox shocks though. I knew they were so long they would let the springs drop free but my theory was it would still increase stability and I firmly believe they did I have zero regrets. But I had to change the shock location. Ended up making custom mounts that went behind the axle in the rear and custom frame side shock mounts as well. I fabricated them all out of 1/4 plate and welded them up.

I don’t have a picture of the upper frame mount but it’s pretty basic. One ended up ripping off earlier this year. It was made in away that let there be leverage on the outside edge and the constant movement wore away at it. but now it is reinforced. I had already installed a rear antirock bar but unfortunately had to relocate it up up a few inches through the frame. The other issue I faced is now the axle shifts slightly on articulation which made it not clear the tires anymore either. But spacers solved that problem for now at least.

After the rear I moved to the front 3 link. I didn’t document this nearly as well for IG so I have less content. But basically I did lower shock mounts to go to eyelets instead of the pins and modified the shock towers as well to take the new and longer shocks. I also decided to do longer links than I had seen most run. Which hasn’t been an issue. The rear link length has self clearance a tad lol.front Link length ended up being about 70%. I can’t remember the exact amount but it was definitely between 70 and 75%. Upper link axle side separation is right around 10” and it’s bumped at about 4” up travel. Now having been in there more I’m not sure why I bumped it that soon cause I’m pretty sure I could get another inch atleast. But I’m not changing it any time soon.

Some of these pics are taken strait from instagram stories. that’s all I have since I got a new phone. Ultimately no bind in the links. I decided stupidly to not redo the steering at this time. And leave the panhard. That didn’t stay that way for long. I managed to fit a front antirock as well.

 

[Oregon trail]

I’m going to see if I can get my old phone I had during all this build turned on tomorrow . I may be able to get more pictures and details on the links and the rest of the build. It’ll also be helpful when I go into my steering setup. Ultimately after the links and antirocks were done it was a huge improvement. First time out was like a week later at browns camp OHV in Oregon and it was snowing a bit

No good wheeling photos but snow made getting into crushers impossible and so we wheeled into the top side and went back out. Sorta shut the day down. there was enough wheeling at least to learn how huge of a difference this all made and I was very happy I put the work in.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I love the build, but not gonna lie, that is tough to read lol.

Keep it up man. I want to link my truck soon.

 

[Oregon trail]

I love the build, but not gonna lie, that is tough to read lol.

Keep it up man. I want to link my truck soon.

Good to know. There’s so much info to get to and I won’t pretend to be good at laying things out well

 

[Oregon trail]

I love the build, but not gonna lie, that is tough to read lol.

Keep it up man. I want to link my truck soon.

Shoot I just went through all that it was very hard to read. Should be a bit better now. Guess I should slow down a bit and make sure it’s easier to follow and catch all the typos.

 

[Oregon trail]

here is a bit more on the link setup and anti rocks. Rear antirock as I mentioned rubbed under articulation.

You can also see my super nice bump stop extensions. They were extended about 4” i had also done a panhard correction which is also pictured but obviously I don’t need those anymore.

Here is one of the rear lower shock mounts all welded up.

Finished reverse triangulated 4 link. The upper mounting brackets are now boxed in.

Front antirock I chopped up a bit and modified it. Ultimately it ended up bending so I enforced it with some 1/2 inch plate I cut at 1” and made a rib that followed the shape of the antirock. It’s been perfect since. You can also see in this picture the front diff armor I welded up out of some plate I had around.

 

[Oregon trail]

Since this Land Cruiser is a JDM diesel I very early on had an injection pump start leaking. This would even be before 40s by a couple months. Ultimately I decided to order a higher HP pump from Gturbo in Australia as well as a turbo. To support these mods I had to do a 3” exhaust which I have zero pictures of and a intercooler. There are some companies that make them but little research and chatting with some guys I decided to bust out the Tig welder and order a bunch of pre bent tube from silicone intakes.

I honestly forget the core size of the IC but I went as larger as I could.

the design ended up very very similar to some aftermarket intercoolers on the market and has been great for EGTs.

One of the most fun fab projects I’ve done probably because it didn’t involve laying under the vehicle.

 

[Oregon trail]

Not long after finishing up the links I took the family down south to Southern California for a work trip but spent some time exploring and playing in the desert while we were there. This would have been February of this year 2023. Got more seat time and learned why doing steering and hydro assist would have been a very good idea.

Wasn’t crazy but I slightly twisted the splines in the sector shaft. Thankfully it only twisted and I drove it the 1,000 miles home and in the last 5 miles I had a wheel bearing seize that ended up being not being able to be removed.

 

[Oregon trail]

Alright so the steering. Most buy hellfire knuckles but between being a bit broke having just done the links, wheel bearing going out which took some things with it. I started talking to Jose who is on here and looking at other ways to do hydro assist. With the links I couldn’t see a way to maintain the stock steering which lead me to do a hi steer setup. So after some digging I found guys who had found ways around the typical hinsteer arms and lucky for me I also came across a guy on instagram who did exactly what I was planning for the knuckles.


I decided to do something similar to the one ton guys and do a hi steer setup of my own design that was welded on to my factory Toyota knuckles.

After a ton of digging and testing I was able to determine the fj or hdj80 knuckles are cast steel which means they can be welded. I preheated to 450 degrees and burned it in hot. Design wise I knew I wanted double sheer purely for strength and on top of that I was determined to keep the stock steering arms as well but I added one from a LHD so both knuckles had a stock steering arm to support my hi steer arms. My logic was if Toyota thought they were strong enough then it’s not a bad idea to keep. In the picture above you can see that steering arm.

After finish welding they were wrapped in a welding blanket and left to cool. So far there’s about a year of wheeling on them and they are doing great although I do check them time to time for Cracks.

Next was the pitman arm. The plans when doing the steering and panhard was to keep the panhard as high as possible purely because that relates to roll axis. I decided I did not want to notch the frame since but I wanted the Heim on top of the pitman arm. Now looking back notching the frame is way easier and it took a lot of work to barely get it to not bind.

It’s not the prettiest although it got cleaned up more than it is here pictured. But basically I ground maybe 1/8-3/16 out for the pitman arm to make it a tad narrower and basically making it a misalignment spacer since I didn’t have room for one without notching the frame. To ensure it was still strong it was plated on the bottom with 1/4 plate and the top used 1/4 plate to make a double sheer. After that it was a bit of work with a flap disk to relieve the heim joint and I ended up knocking down the heim joint edge as well and it now doesn’t bind. I wouldn’t do it like this again, way to much work. I will make a post about the track bar because that was a packaging nightmare by itself.

 

[cruzinfj1]

After the first trip out to Moab I decided it was time to fix the huge flaw the 80 series has. the suspension geometry. And that meant links. Although I had been wheeling it locally and mostly instate for a few months before the Moab trip as well.

Right around new years of 2022 I ordered a bunch of metal and brackets from barns 4wd with a plan to do front and rear links.

I decided to start on the rear. The plan was to do a reverse triangulated 4 link rear. I wanted to keep the fuel tank since it sees a ton of road miles. With a bit of research and talking to dimitry at stelar built who built a 4 runner in a similar way I started in on it. I chopped off the stock links and built a truss on the axle. I didn’t run anything threw a suspension calculator, I read a ton and followed all the basics on link designs and packaging determined the rest. I used barns 4wd brackets other than the uppers by the rear bumpers which I made myself out of 1/4 plate. And 2” .250 wall dom for the links and barns flex joints.

View attachment 3508960
View attachment 3508961
Two things I did because I wasn’t confident and liked where the axle was at. was not pulling the axle. That made the truss kinda look like crap and sucked working on it under the rug and I didn’t want to redo brake lines so I made a couple spots to leave them in place. Ultimately that was a mistake and would be much cleaner and easier to pull the axle. I basically left the original dobison links In place with the axle where I wanted it and then did the uppers. Then eventually pulled the lowers and did those. After it was all said and done I learned you still have to set it all up pulling the axle out is no big deal.

The front and rear I decided to keep the springs I already had installed. That was partially because I didn’t have money for coilovers or maybe entirely. I decided to use 14” fox shocks though. I knew they were so long they would let the springs drop free but my theory was it would still increase stability and I firmly believe they did I have zero regrets. But I had to change the shock location. Ended up making custom mounts that went behind the axle in the rear and custom frame side shock mounts as well. I fabricated them all out of 1/4 plate and welded them up. View attachment 3508970

I don’t have a picture of the upper frame mount but it’s pretty basic. One ended up ripping off earlier this year. It was made in away that let there be leverage on the outside edge and the constant movement wore away at it. but now it is reinforced. I had already installed a rear antirock bar but unfortunately had to relocate it up up a few inches through the frame. The other issue I faced is now the axle shifts slightly on articulation which made it not clear the tires anymore either. But spacers solved that problem for now at least.
View attachment 3508972

After the rear I moved to the front 3 link. I didn’t document this nearly as well for IG so I have less content. But basically I did lower shock mounts to go to eyelets instead of the pins and modified the shock towers as well to take the new and longer shocks. I also decided to do longer links than I had seen most run. Which hasn’t been an issue. The rear link length has self clearance a tad lol.front Link length ended up being about 70%. I can’t remember the exact amount but it was definitely between 70 and 75%. Upper link axle side separation is right around 10” and it’s bumped at about 4” up travel. Now having been in there more I’m not sure why I bumped it that soon cause I’m pretty sure I could get another inch atleast. But I’m not changing it any time soon.
View attachment 3508974
Some of these pics are taken strait from instagram stories. that’s all I have since I got a new phone. Ultimately no bind in the links. I decided stupidly to not redo the steering at this time. And leave the panhard. That didn’t stay that way for long. I managed to fit a front antirock as well.

Do you happen to have any pics of the frame side upper and lowers by chance? Curious to see how you went behind the crossmember and how you tucked the upper in. I am planning on starting my 3 link tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Oregon trail]

Do you happen to have any pics of the frame side upper and lowers by chance? Curious to see how you went behind the crossmember and how you tucked the upper in. I am planning on starting my 3 link tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t. But I’ll take some tomorrow. I ended up notching the crossmember a little and then plating it back in along with building a fairly involved lower mounts.

 

[cruzinfj1]

I don’t. But I’ll take some tomorrow. I ended up notching the crossmember a little and then plating it back in along with building a fairly involved lower mounts.

Right on!! Appreciate it!!

 

[ikarus]

Nice dude. Been following you on IG since before I picked up my hdj81. You’ve got skills

 

[Oregon trail]

Nice dude. Been following you on IG since before I picked up my hdj81. You’ve got skills

Thanks man. I’m not so sure it’s skill but pure determination to make things happen and a lot of guys who put up with all my questions.

 

[azngarage]

How is the road manner with all that suspension setup?

 

[Oregon trail]

How is the road manner with all that suspension setup?

Road manners are great. I noticed more of an issue once I put in hydro assist cause the steering got super light. But I finally went from 3.5 degrees of castor to 6.5 and I’m pretty happy with it there. May go to 7 but we will see. Now I won’t say it’s as good as a stock rig with all the sway bars hooked up but I’ve driven it to Moab and it was good until 90 when it got sketch. Easily cruises 75-80.

 

[Oregon trail]

The second part of the steering setup is the panhard bar. This took a bit of planning and thinking outside the box to get the panhard and drag link within .5 of a degree. The upper bracket was pretty simple. I ordered a barns off-road track bar bracket trimmed it to fit my needs and welded that to a 1/4 plate I had cut and made. That plate had holes drilled in it so I could
Plug weld it to the frame and then weld the perimeter. Sorry I don’t have pictures of the upper.

The axle side is definitely different. Axle side there were a lot of things competing for the same space. Between springs, antirock bar, tie rod, drag link and even the way I beefed up the link brackets were in the way. Ultimately it was a game of millimeters and I found myself with very little room to make something super strong and boxed in.

My thought here was if I can’t make something super boxed in I need to over build it in any way I can. it is hard to see here that bellow the bracket there’s very little support. So since most the leverage placed on this bracket is right to left I decided to built this bracket. 1/4 plate to make it as beefy as I can and so far it’s been perfect.

I wanted to support the mount any way I could. At full lock the end is over the hi steer arms as pictured. I also played with the mis alignment pictures in order to help the panhard clearances to the bracket.

This gives you some more glimpses at the bracket and how close the hydro assist was. Again maybe 1/4 clearance but nothing touches. It’s also not plated in here either. After this I nearly drove it strait to Moab for cruise Moab. Things started to brake there but non of my fab work besides a rear shock mount thankfully.

 

[Oregon trail]

Do you happen to have any pics of the frame side upper and lowers by chance? Curious to see how you went behind the crossmember and how you tucked the upper in. I am planning on starting my 3 link tomorrow afternoon.

And I totally forgot to grab pictures for you today man I’ll get some in the morning.

 

[cruzinfj1]

And I totally forgot to grab pictures for you today man I’ll get some in the morning.

all good. I really appreciate it!!