Righty moves to San Diego

[perrobravo]

Finally got a chance to stretch the truck's legs a bit on some local trails. Not quite as plush as my 100 series, but man, this thing is fun to drive!


Found an alternative use for the recovery hook on the front: Trash bag holder

Got a bit of rub on the passenger rear tire with this poser shot. Was thinking bigger tires when the time comes, so will need to figure this out.

What's better than a poser shot? A second one from another angle!

 

[Locked79]

Thats one extremely clean rig. Congrats

 

[NM Frontier]

Looking good! Love the white, man its clean.

 

[perrobravo]

Decided to address an ugly bit of damage to the front seat. After a few phone calls and some research here, I concluded that replacing the factory fabric was going to be a chore/impossible. So, at least until I get around to that or another solution comes to light, I thought I'd try a pair of Tuff Duck slip covers from Specter Off-Road.

The ugly

Installed

Haven't driven much yet, but on first impression, these seat covers seem pretty solid. The brown color nicely matches the interior of the truck and the fit was right on. Sadly, the Turbo logos on the seats are covered and so passengers won't be warned in advance of the neck-snapping acceleration provided by the T of the 13B-T.

 

[NM Frontier]

Looks like a good fit, I like the Tuff Ducks I have on the 80. I think it would look good if they offered a tan color also.

 

[perrobravo]

As "charming" as the factory 70/75W headlights were with their vaguely yellow glow and RHD pattern, they are now on a shelf and shiny new Truck-Lites took their place.

Before, 70/75W old skool halogens:

Clean, modern, and high tech Truck-Lites installed.

Now just need to wait for it to get dark...and potentially twist the passenger side bulb a bit. This pic makes it look crooked.

 

[perrobravo]

Added a Lock-Rite locker as a low budget means of getting a bit more traction. Moved the front open diff to the rear with the Lock-Rite installed, then put the Limited Slip diff from the rear in the front. Let the rock crawling begin...to the extent possible with 31" tires and giant chrome porch out front, of course.

Not much to see...but there's a Lock-Rite 1630 hiding in there!

 

[perrobravo]

One of the (mismatched) batteries wasn't holding a charge and didn't seem like it would come back to life, so I bought a couple new Group 27 batteries. May need to redo the terminals at some point, but the truck starts with barely a tap on the ignition. Seems like the branding team at Interstate went a bit overboard with the size of their name printed across the top of the battery. Looks a bit more NASCAR than I prefer.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Looks a bit more NASCAR than I prefer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BJ74 in NASCAR ...... The race would take several days to complete.

 

[fireball]

Let us know how you like the lock-rite in the back and if the LSD does any good up front. I am very happy with the harrop e-locker in the rear. I have the OEM LSD in a box, going to wheel it a bit more and decide if I need a proper locker up front, or if I will end up putting the LSD up there.

Also looks like your battery connections are a bit buggered up like mine. I'm ordering some mil-spec terminals and will be remedying that shortly

 

[perrobravo]

Installed new battery terminals and cables. Turns out the ground cable leading to the block was worn through from rubbing against the battery tray. That can't be good.

 

[perrobravo]

Carefully following the instructions posted by @1978HJ45 ( https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1985-hj75-pickup.538852/page-180 ) I fixed both overly shaky mirrors. Lacking the specified Nerf ball, I chose to filet an old grout sponge and shove slices of it behind the top and bottom of the mirror.

 

[fireball]

Way to improvise! Sounds like your days of laying tile are behind you

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Following my advise on any mechanical issue is probably not in your best interest.

 

[perrobravo]

Thanks to @Radd Cruisers, Righty now has as many functioning fan speeds as Toyota intended!

Unboxing

Out with the old

New and old

 

[Gun Runner 5]

My old resistor was covered with pine straw and oak leaves. It's a miracle I didn't have a fire.

 

[perrobravo]

You never know. It might rain some day in San Diego. And if it does, maybe there'll be some deep water to drive through. And if that happens, my newly extended diff breathers will supply nothing but fresh air!

Ran the front up between the batteries

In the rear, I tie wrapped the extended breather next to the fuel filler behind the rear wheel.

 

[perrobravo]

Righty has been on daily driver duty for the last few weeks, so took the opportunity this morning to head up some local mountain trails and get some dirt on the tires. Also got to play around a bit with the Lock-Rite locker in the rear. On road, it has some quirky behavior I'm still getting used to, but even on street tire pressure, the lockers seemed to make a noticeable improvement when needed on the trail.

Quickly climbed through San Diego's June gloom

My 12 year old son doing some flexing.

Somewhere near the trees in this picture is a BJ74.

At the top, my dog found shade under the truck. I chose instead to sit under a tree and drink a Sculpin.

 

[boozewz]

Loving the updates, and the simple mods you're doing while keeping the truck as stock as possible.

Which trail is that?

 

[perrobravo]

Loving the updates, and the simple mods you're doing while keeping the truck as stock as possible.

Which trail is that?

Thanks! Every time I come up with some more invasive modifications to do, I go drive the truck and realize how well it works as Toyota made it...nearly 30 years ago!

My phone tells me this is Black Mountain Truck Trail. It is off Pamo Road in Ramona, California. Not the most exciting trail, but it is somewhat close to home, so convenient.