RMP&O's 1984 FJ60, v8, lockers and more!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Just a couple of things that stood out to me when I read your comments; the drivetrain noise is likely from the Ranger overdrive. They are notorious for that. The fact that the fan has chewed the shroud may indicate a dead motor mount. Take a carefull look at that (my 350 rippped a brand new Toyota motor mount in half really quickly.) The steering gear should be checked for play. Both ends of the drag link are adjustable and so in the steering box. BTW, nice rig!


Had not considered the motor mount for the fan shroud damage. Makes total sense. Motor mounts look a little shabby, they are just big rubber donuts but look pretty cracked and worn.

Yeah, steering needs some looking into. Like I say no play or slop in the tie rods or drag link. That is why I think it is in the steering box.

I don't mind the noise so much from the Ranger OD. Reminds me of driving any old full sized truck. Although my 94 Chevy with an NV4500 is not as loud! Still, a sound deadening will do this truck some good.
 
I've got a v8 60 as well and living in arizona and knowing a couple other guys here with v8 swaps the mechanical fan does a much better job then the electrical.

I would actually check what type of temp gauge your running. On mine I have a mechanical temp gauge but compared to the ecms reading from the coolant temp sensor its always 5-10 degrees off. Some day I'm going to switch to an electrical temp gauge.

Also make sure the air is purged properly out of the system and there is coolant in the overflow tank. A little bit of air will make it run quite a bit warmer.

Temp gauge is some generic one. No brand name on it at all. It is not a mechanical though, it is eletronic. It is ugly and I don't like it much but if it works fine with me for awhile. I have no reason to believe it is not working right....

My buddy said the same thing about the air in the cooling system. We poped the cap and let it idle awhile, it burped at leats one air bubble out. After we fixed the exhaust leak and drove it down the road, I saw temps jump from 210 to 230 in about 2-3 seconds and then drop back to 210 in the same amount of time. My buddy said that was the system burping out another air bubble. I aksed a guy I know in town who runs a auto service shop what he thought. He said 210 is ok but 230 is to hot. I asked him if air bubbles would cause it to run hot, he said it doens't have an air bubbles in it! How he knows beats me. He said start with the thermostat. So I picked up a new 190 thermostat today at Napa for $8! Again, loving the cost to make repairs! In the Taco with the S/C, you have to run a special thermostat, which costs $140-160!!!
 
fuel gauge

Try contacting Man-a-fre. They may be able to sell you just the sending unit kit. Or call them and have them send you a copy of the instructions (as a reference) and some measurements for the rod that is included in the kit, and then do the mod yourself?

I bought a new 01 Taco DC and put literally every TRD part on it that was available, plus front ARB, rear custom tire carrier, and SnugTop. All the while, also had cruisers. It was alot like yours. It was a great truck, but I don't miss it. I like the simplicity of older cruisers and they are very comfy and spacious for long drives. Plus, insurance and registration is alot cheaper!

:cheers:
 
are you running fan clutch . .? runs same temp rolling around the town ?

You can make your own tire carrier for a fraction of the Kaymar one cost ..

Feedback on those tires !!!!!

Hey bro...

No fan clutch.

Most the time she is running at 210 but is jumping up to 220 or 230 more and more often. It is to hot, I want 190 with nothing over 200ish. Have not put in the new thermostat yet. Will start with that and see what happens.

Yeah I looked up tire carrier options for the Kaymar. WTF @ $600+ for a tire carrier!!?? That is retarded when I can have a whole new custom bumper fab'ed for that price! I don't even like the Kaymar tire carrier that much, looks weak to me. So yeah, making my own or having a buddy fab me a tire carrier that will work on the Kaymar is my plan.

So far loving the MTRs!! Give me time to test them off-raod....probably this weekend.
 
Try contacting Man-a-fre. They may be able to sell you just the sending unit kit. Or call them and have them send you a copy of the instructions (as a reference) and some measurements for the rod that is included in the kit, and then do the mod yourself?

I bought a new 01 Taco DC and put literally every TRD part on it that was available, plus front ARB, rear custom tire carrier, and SnugTop. All the while, also had cruisers. It was alot like yours. It was a great truck, but I don't miss it. I like the simplicity of older cruisers and they are very comfy and spacious for long drives. Plus, insurance and registration is alot cheaper!

:cheers:

yeah sounds like the easiest and cheapest solution to just call Man-A-Fre. If they don't have it I see no reason why making the float rod longer would be to hard..., cut, extend, weld, done. Will at the least see if I can get the tank instructions, I am big on reference. Got a bunch of parts books for some other trucks for this very purpose! To many times I took something apart and forgot how to put it back together, parts books with exploded diagrams work well for us stupids! ;)

I am sold on the old school. Totally agree with you about the Tacos and the FJ60s. I feel like I am driving a 3/4 sized old school Suburban but with a muscle car engine...and of course the FJ60 looks way better then any 27yr old Suburban! I had a muscle car in high school ,not owned one since. Few years later I had the 87 FJ60. So you can be sure I am re-living teenage days of glory driving the v8 FJ60 around.

:cheers:
 
Spamming my own thread!!

The FJ60 is licensed, titled and insured!! :D

I drove it all day long today. Probably put well over 100 miles on the truck today around the valley and town. I fecking love it!! Gave the undercarriage a big de-grease and pressure wash and a bit in the engine bay too. It was not how I keep my trucks under there and took 2 cans of de-greaser plus over $10 in quarters to get it clean. It should be much easier to find/trace any leaks now that it is nice and clean under it. The 1/2 quart or so of oil blown off the valve covers on Sunday was spread all over the under carriage, all the way back to the rear diff. Nice to have that mess cleaned up!

Question...what is the size of the friggin rear license plate bolts? They are not 6mm or 5mm or 1/4". I think they are an odd 12-24 size but couldn't find any 12-24 bolts. So, does anybody know!?
 
License plate bolts: Pretty sure they take a 10 mm socket don't know the thread. Mine came with.

Brother I feel you. I didn't do a trade but I did just sell my decked 06 Taco and picked up a sweet 62 series with a 5.3 vortec about a month ago. :bounce: I like having the V8 because around here, its nice to be able to pull the passes with out getting all the way over to the right with the flashers on, been there too. I'm just as stoked as you, dito everything you stated about yours. Mine has little issues as well but they are part of the addiction. The wife lost the camera battery charger so my pics are on a dead camera and haven't had time to do my proper intro post with pictures. Congrats, good luck, and welcome from a fellow newbie, although I think I'm much newer "this aint your first 60". :cheers:
 
Dont wanna pollute your thread but I was poking around the 60 yesterday getting ready to swap brake boosters and I also found a bit of oil in the depressions on the top of the intake manifold at the front. Let me know if the new oil fill cap solves your oil problems, I have the cheezy rubber grommet one as well.

D
 
Myself with a 2F has never really dealt with cooling issues but I have helped diagnose multiple issues on V8 40's.

I really think the trick is a van fan or heavy duty truck fan WITH clutch and a good shroud.
 
Dont wanna pollute your thread but I was poking around the 60 yesterday getting ready to swap brake boosters and I also found a bit of oil in the depressions on the top of the intake manifold at the front. Let me know if the new oil fill cap solves your oil problems, I have the cheezy rubber grommet one as well.

D

I can confirm it is not puking oil out the breathers/filler cap. It may still be weeping. I think I am going to do away with the street rod valve covers and go with a more convetional 350 valve cover. One with a screw on filler cap. Also do away with the breathers and go with a PCV valve. Just have not figured out where to pipe the vent tube from the PCV valve.
 
License plate bolts: Pretty sure they take a 10 mm socket don't know the thread. Mine came with.

Brother I feel you. I didn't do a trade but I did just sell my decked 06 Taco and picked up a sweet 62 series with a 5.3 vortec about a month ago. :bounce: I like having the V8 because around here, its nice to be able to pull the passes with out getting all the way over to the right with the flashers on, been there too. I'm just as stoked as you, dito everything you stated about yours. Mine has little issues as well but they are part of the addiction. The wife lost the camera battery charger so my pics are on a dead camera and haven't had time to do my proper intro post with pictures. Congrats, good luck, and welcome from a fellow newbie, although I think I'm much newer "this aint your first 60". :cheers:

Hey thanks man, post pictures when you get them!

Not sure what you mean by "socket" but 10mm is way to big. 6mm fits but I could only get a few turns by hand when I was checking for fit. Going to pick up some 6mm bolts today and see if I was just tripping!

I don't mind little issues or repairs. It gets me working on the truck and that gets me knowing the truck. I like working on it. The Taco I had to get out the manual everytime I worked on it since the engine bay was so full of junk like sensors, relays, ect.

:cheers:
 
nice rig.. funny how ya kinda feel a part of the older rigs where the new stuff just doesnt have that same feeling.... you did great on the trade IMHO :beer:
 
Hey bro...No fan clutch.

I ask coz it happen to me without fan clutch at HW speeds the air flow comming throught the rad it's more than the fan can produce handle .. and that was a point in temp raising at HW speed ..

that's why I ask how it perform rolling around the town ..
 
Took a look at the temp gague while cruising around today and my fans kick on at 180 if that helps you out. I have dual electric fans with an adjuster thingie.

D
 
Well temps probs are solved! Turned out to be the thermostat....super sweet. First thing we try and it fixes the problem, cost was under $10!!

Put the thermostat in this evening. Took it for a drive and it is running at 180-195, thermostat is a 180 and it had a 190 in it. I got on it hard and rev'ed it to 5,000 to try and get it hot and it was a touch under 195. Super stoked!

Thanks for al your input and info on the problem guys but for now it seems my temp probs are solved! Oh and I couldn't find my coolant tester so did not test my mixture yet.

:cheers:

Next up....new plugs, cap and timing. Pulled a spark plug today, looks like it may be running a bit lean. So going to check into that very soon. Going to check all fluids too. Also I hate to say it but the T/O bearing is making noise. I have not mentioned the guys name I traded with but he is well known and reputable so I took his word on the clutch being taken care of. Well, it sounds like total s***, t/o bearing is noisy. So in the next 2 days pulling the tranny and taking a look. If it needs a clutch I will put one in.
 
Well, Today the FJ60 got new plugs, timing checked, compression tested and a few other small things. Tomorrow it gets a new rotor, all fluids checked and a new clutch. A whole new performance clutch was only $165 so we said screw it lets put it in!

I drove it to go get some beers after work and it is running really good, just the noisy clutch, otherwise running about perfect! Hopefully we can get everything done tomorrow as I would like to take it out and do some wheeling this weekend.
 
Hopefully we can get everything done tomorrow as I would like to take it out and do some wheeling this weekend.

Take some pictures when you go wheeling!

Gotta have something to dream about at night haha
 
So mine must not have gotten that kit. Can it be bought? Am I screwed to make the stock gauge work? Just need to lengthen the float rod so it drops all the way to the bottem of the tank on empty?

I did this not too long ago. You can lengthen the float rod easily with a piece of stiff wire, the stock sender works.

I got mine to read really accurately after it was said and done by making sure that at the bottom of the senders sweep it was just on the bottom of the tank. Also the reverse with it at the top of the tank it was right at the top of the travel.

Easy to pull the sender through it's range of motion to see where the gauge says the level is afterwards.

Sucky thing is you'll have to drop the tank to do it unless you cut a hole in the floorboards. Not so sucky thing is the LRA tank is pretty easy to drop when it's empty since it doesn't use the straps anymore.
 
Well, long long day....

Had some dramas doing the clutch, see here;

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/491165-need-assistance-transfer-case-problem.html

We got it done though by 10pm. The clutch wasn't real bad but the pilot bushing was toasted. Besides the clutch we also changed the oil, put in Royal Purple. Checked all the fluids, all were very clean besides the rear diff. So we changed out the rear diff fluid. Greased the whole chassis too.

At about 11pm we took it into the hills and did some off-roading. This truck is awesome off-road! Way more then enough power. The lockers work well and I tested them a bit. This truck will go up some pretty nasty stuff easily. I do get some rub off-road, will have to look in the morning to see how much or how bad it rubs. It definately needs some new leaf springs but considering how mangled the OME I have is it does alright. The truck has no rattles or funky noises which is great in the rough stuff. I love the seating position, great field of vision. I disliked how hard it was to see out of my Taco. The heater works awesome and the rear heater works good too, that is important here where I live. It is nice having some spot lights off-road, didn't have any on the Taco. I didn't air down but the MTRs are super sweet, clean well and have tons of traction. It was raining on the way home and they did well with water on the road at speed.

Everything is working well now. It does get a bit hot off-roading, up to about 210. Regular driving though it is 185-190. A new electric fan set up may be needed to keep it cool 24/7. There is some small repairs I am wanting to do still but overall the FJ60 is now in good shape. The next big repairs will be steering box rebuild and new leaf springs.

That is all for now...I am beat tired. Will post up some pictures tomorrow of the repairs.

:cheers:
 
Last edited:
So here are a few pictures from working in the shop eysterday on the truck....

The clutch we pulled out...

main.php


A pilot bushing that didn't want to come out. Yeah we should have had the right puller for my slide hammer but didn't. So we did what we had to in order to get it out.

main.php


While the tranny & t-case were out I decided to de-grease them and pressure wash.

main.php


main.php


This is pretty lame. Not much I can say other then whoever put the engine in did a real s***ty job on the engine mounts.

main.php


When the tranny is bolted up it moves the engine a fair amount, maybe close to an inch. That means it clears the shroud with the tranny bolted to it. Engine mounts are a joke though. Welds look like s*** are weak and they didn't even weld the bottem of the bracket to the frame. Plus it uses these big soft rubber donuts that I dislike, not to mention a couple of the donuts are looking pretty bad. Next big project will be to fab up some new engine mounts. I plan to go with something that will use a leaf spring bushing, vulcanized rubber and steel. Until then I am just going to take it easy on the truck...

Oh and the clutch is adjusted to the max. I still get a bit of grinding going into rev. The brackets for the slave is another home-fab job that sucks. They stacked washers on the bracket to try and get more adjustment out of it! On top of this the friggin bracket flexes when you step on the clutch! It is retarded and so a new bracket needs to be fabed up in order to get the correct adjustment/full throw out of the slave.

I am sure there will more more lame-fab stuff we find on this truck! :rolleyes:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom