Road Trip, Driving my new 80 home, problem on day three, and kinda stuck.

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Alpine4X4

Alpine4X4

Joined
Nov 22, 2022
Threads
35
Messages
453
Location
NW Colorado
Been eyeballing this special rig for a few months now, and the seller, who was previously too emotionally attached to it to negotiate a price eventually asked me to make an offer a week and half ago.

Wednesday I flew out to Maryland to pick it up.

It's a 97 imported about a year ago from Dubai.

Factory 5-Speed, part time 4WD, Sub-tank, ambulance doors, factory rear spare tire carrier, cloth seats, and no Sunroof.

As typical with a lot of vehicles over in the Gulf, the seats were covered with custom seat covers, dash mat, and center console. The seat covers are a combination of suede leather and cloth. They fit very tight, and are attached the same way the OEM seat covers go on. I found a place on the front passenger seat that I could lift the cover enough to glimpse at the factory ones, and it looks like it's a match to the fabric on the door cards.

While in Maryland, I ran over to Land Cruiser Heaven to see if they had a plastic surround for a manual gear shifter and selector, and they actually had one, and it was in the matching color I needed. You can only guess how much I had to pay for something that's virtually unobtainable. Very nice people there, spoke with a couple of the Mechanic's and got a quick tour of the shop.

So what's special about this vehicle, other than being an import, an FZJ105 Coil Pack engine was installed in it prior to being imported.

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Last time I was in Maryland was almost 30 years ago for a Military Aerospace Symposium in Washington DC.
 
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So after getting squared away with the vehicle and a visit to Land Cruiser Heaven, I hit the road heading West. My intentions were to stop every 50 - 100 miles or so to check things over on the vehicle, but it drove so well, the combination of that Coil-Pack engine coupled with a 5-Speed manual made it a dream to drive. I ended up stopping for fuel once before landing in Dayton Ohio to see an old Air Force Buddy of mine. While there, we ran over to the Air Force Museum to see some new displays. Last time I was at Wright-Pat AFB was 1989 or 90? He showed me a new memorial where he was one of the ones who helped dedicate it.

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Next day, the plan was to drive to Kansas City and relax. Unfortunately, the tires on it weren't balanced very good, and by the time I reached Saint Louis, I couldn't handle it anymore as the vibration at certain speeds because of the lack of cruise control, and my carpel tunnel said enough.

Back on the road again, with a much smoother ride. Dodging a hail storm and running though the night, I landed in Kansas for the evening.
 
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The morning started of well, and things were going great except for the crazy headwind, until shortly after heading North from Hays, Kansas on my way to catch I-80 in Nebraska.

First and second time I hear a loud vibration lasting around five seconds cruising down the road at 65-mph.

The best way to describe it...

You have a cordless screwdriver, and you have the torque settings too low, and that sound and vibration you get when it doesn't engage when trying to drive a screw. But it spools up in sound and vibration before it quits.

I do notice there's a slight resistance in the drivetrain when it's happening, similar to very very light braking.

Last few times it's now starting to do it constantly, so I decided not to push it any further.

Spent hours looking at everything, but no luck in finding anything obvious.

Both front wheels spin freely, no wobble, etc.

Front drive shaft turns when front wheels turn (don't have manual hubs).

Front drive shaft is slightly loose, but I believe it's normal.

I then test drove it again around the hotel, and noticed now the noise starts up on acceleration, and doesn't stop until you slow. Braking, clutching, neutral, and engine speed, have no bearing on it. Appears to do it when driving straight only. Same thing in reverse.

Without any tools, and everything closed on Sunday, I'm stuck in North Platte, Nebraska waiting for the Toyota dealership next to the hotel to open.

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These 2 wires look pretty sus.

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Which would lead me to want to check others in the area.

cheers,
george.
 
Indeed. Good eye!🤔
 
is the sound from when you let off the throttle? I think I had a similar vibration. After I greased the ujoints zirks the sound went away.
 
No, nothing related to speed, rpm, throttle, braking, clutch in/out, effecting it. At first I thought something was rubbing on the tires, as it's almost like a plastic fender liner rubbing on an aggressive tire sound and feeling.

I have narrowed it down to the drive line. Somewhere between the transmission and the wheels.
 
First thought is wheel bearings, but if the wheels are spinning freely when it's jacked up, maybe not, but still worth checking.

Other possibility is dry spindle bearing/bushes in the back/inner side of the spindles.
If someone changed spindles and didn't grease these they can cause a vibration.
Steering would change the load on these slightly and might explain a change when you steer.

Checking how much grease is in the knuckles with a zip tie dipped into the square inspection plug on the might give you a bit of an indication if these are likely to be dry or not.
 
Apologies for not adding any technical help to your situation.....
What kind of MPGs do you get with a 1fz and 5 speed manual? Also can you post up some better pictures of your trailer hitch

Good look with your issues and safe travels
 
calokie said:
Apologies for not adding any technical help to your situation.....
What kind of MPGs do you get with a 1fz and 5 speed manual? Also can you post up some better pictures of your trailer hitch

Good look with your issues and safe travels
Click to expand...

With a 40 mph head wind through Kansas, was getting between 13-14 mpg, from Dayton to almost Illinois, average was 17.5 mpg. At first I wasn't doing the conversion, even though I knew the speedo and odometer are in KM, and was really happy with 25 mpg NOT!

I'm guessing this Coil-Pack engine also attributes to the improvement in fuel economy, as I don't need to downshift when going up hills at highway speeds, and getting on the interstate from the on-ramp is really easy. That engine has an unbelievable amount of power compared to the regular 1FZ.

I went into this knowing the tachometer hasn't worked since it was imported, so I didn't have the opportunity to really exercise the engine, only by feel and sound. I had no trouble getting up to 85-90 mph, but those Goodyear Duratrac's really started to howl. To me it felt the rig really liked to cruise in that 65 - 75 mph range on the interstate.

The trailer hitch I assume was cobbled together in Dubai, as the ball has a metric value on it, 50mm size with weight of 2000KG.

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Does this truck have the data plate in the engine bay?
On the firewall, above the brake booster?

Something like this?

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Alpine4X4 said:
With a 40 mph head wind through Kansas, was getting between 13-14 mpg, from Dayton to almost Illinois, average was 17.5 mpg. At first I wasn't doing the conversion, even though I knew the speedo and odometer are in KM, and was really happy with 25 mpg NOT!

I'm guessing this Coil-Pack engine also attributes to the improvement in fuel economy, as I don't need to downshift when going up hills at highway speeds, and getting on the interstate from the on-ramp is really easy. That engine has an unbelievable amount of power compared to the regular 1FZ.

I went into this knowing the tachometer hasn't worked since it was imported, so I didn't have the opportunity to really exercise the engine, only by feel and sound. I had no trouble getting up to 85-90 mph, but those Goodyear Duratrac's really started to howl. To me it felt the rig really liked to cruise in that 65 - 75 mph range on the interstate.

The trailer hitch I assume was cobbled together in Dubai, as the ball has a metric value on it, 50mm size with weight of 2000KG.

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oh ok bolt on, I hear the auto trans kills HP and MPG, 17.5 MPG would be epic
 
This sounds like quite the saga!

Might be just me, but I think the rig is very nose heavy. I don't know if that would contribute to anything.

This noise is a conundum. Starts on acceleration, goes away after slowing down.

I hate to suggest it, but I am thinking something to do with a differential. Could be any of the 3.

Only happens when going straight. Well, things are balanced then, equal rotation to all 3 tires.

You might be able to test dropping a driveshaft, locking CDL, and see if it goes away or not. Speaking of the switch, does locking the CDL have any impact on the noise?
 
Pretty sweet rig. I would’ve jumped all over this one too given the chance. Did the noise occur in relation to recent use of your e-brake? Any chance it is binding creating that noise?
 
ozarkmud said:
This sounds like quite the saga!

Might be just me, but I think the rig is very nose heavy. I don't know if that would contribute to anything.

This noise is a conundum. Starts on acceleration, goes away after slowing down.

I hate to suggest it, but I am thinking something to do with a differential. Could be any of the 3.

Only happens when going straight. Well, things are balanced then, equal rotation to all 3 tires.

You might be able to test dropping a driveshaft, locking CDL, and see if it goes away or not. Speaking of the switch, does locking the CDL have any impact on the noise?
Click to expand...

No CDL, this is a part time 4WD with manual transmission.
 
FMC80 said:
Pretty sweet rig. I would’ve jumped all over this one too given the chance. Did the noise occur in relation to recent use of your e-brake? Any chance it is binding creating that noise?
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Assume you're referring to e-brake as Emergency Brake?

No, emergency brake was used initially when looking over the vehicle as it was running when I was picking it up.

I also tried it several times, both engage and release as the noise/vibration is occuring.
 
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