Builds ROTW: "Elsie" full stock Middle East specs

[prossett]

Going in order...

No sweaty a$$, bro the sheepskin experts say it traps air in its natural fibres, so it keeps you cool in heat and warm in cold weather.

4x4 tours are available, but then someone else does the driving. I'd rather rent an LC and hook up with local-based off-roaders and join one of their trips. See Dubai4x4.com which is an excellent bunch of people, both family trips and hardcore.

Not many turbo or supercharge. Since the number one cause of death in the country is car accidents, and many of them single vehicle crashes, the authorities are very strict with mods. Even a roofrack can get your rig to fail the annual inspection! Of course this doesn't apply to all, and others will gladly have an engine swapped over just for the inspection... also, for desert-only use, anything goes.

Driving on sand is all about negotiating the inclines. You need to read the line ahead of getting there a bit like skiing, and you must always keep momentum on your side. Like any sport, it just requires a few basic skills and you're off; but to be real good takes a long time.

I do drive to Oman - absolutely great mountain scenery and ocean beaches. Yemen is a bit off-limits to us.

Noel!!!!!!! I am flabbergasted!!!!!! I've been here 8 years now, and have had trouble finding that winch, and you, in 24 hours, have two on hand!!!! Awesome work, buddy My problem is also that I live in the interior, about 150km away from the cities... Thanks, I'll be down to check them out one of these weekends! I'll try find your missing bits, too.

EDIT: BTW, the sub-tank feeds the main tank with gravity, so no secondary fuel pump in the 80. Check carefully once you get home and let me know what's missing.

 

[97 FZJ80]

Thanks That is one awesome truck! Most barn doors 80's I've seen are the low end model, I've never seen one that has fully loaded with dual AC and fridge! Great ROW!

What is the button in front of the gear shifter (3rd picture, Msg #5)?

Why is there a sub fuel switch if the aux fuel tank does not have a pump (gravity fed) to the main tank?

Thanks again!

 

[prossett]

The way I understand it (and I've never had to take it apart personally so I might be off a bit) is that the sub-fuel tank sits higher than the regular tank, and between them is a solenoid switch.

The wiring goes to a clip which all 80s should have: right next to the frame on the LHS, just in front of the rear wheel well. Have a look and you should see an empty wire connector hanging there.

Then it goes to somewhere in the dash (never followed it properly) where it forks out to the button on the lower dash in front of the gear shifter, marked SUB, which operates the solenoid switch; and the gauge up on the roof console.

So the solenoid switch opens and allows the fuel to drain into the lower tank. A common problem out here is the rubber hose between the two tanks deteriorates, and so when you press the SUB switch on the dash, fuel starts pouring out onto the ground.

At the filler, there's a lever you pull so that you can fill either tank. The owner manual states to first fill the regular tank, and then the sub-tank. While transfering fuel, switching off the engine also closes the solenoid switch, and the transfer rate is pretty slow - from memory, it was 1 liter a minute.

Apparently, in the LC100, there was a change to a secondary fuel pump, so that two complete, independent fuel systems can run.

 

[maverick_sr71]

Choice of tyres

I was very interested in the choice of tyres you and your buddies are using to drive in sand. They almost seem to be road tyres and not All Terrains or mud tyres.

In the red sandy desert areas of Australia we preffer mud terrain tyres. Have you used more agressive tryes and how do you rate them against the tyres you are using?

Thanks.

 

[prossett]

That's the heart of the matter when driving on dunes over distance.

For a heavy, stock 4x4 you want the least-aggressive tread possible. You go down to around 10psi and the balloon-like tires keep you afloat. Camel farmers carry a pick-up full of camels on deep sand with these non-aggressive treads.

But what you don't get with the bald tread is bite, as in climbing up sheer slipfaces.

For a light, modified truck the best tires are aggressive mud-terrains (well, paddles, actually, but they don't go on tarmac) because you have the power to spin them, and they give you bite to climb. At the annual hill climb championships - BIIIG prize money, guys! but you'll be facing 1000HP machines built for the Sheikhs, though - see www.mr3b.com - they run 35" BFG mud terrains.

So, non-aggressive tread gives you flotation but not bite, mud terrains give you bite for climbs.

Mud-terrains on a stock 4x4, say my Elsie, means I dig holes and go nowhere. The no-tread balloons on a modified rig means I spin and spin but go nowhere.

Here's a hill-climber:

Here's what it does, and why it needs aggressive tread to bite into the sand:

 

[LandCrusher'70]

Beautiful LC. Love to see the differences from the US spec LC's.

this thing about sand is interesting.
I've done quite a bit of sand driving in the SW of the US and Baja, but it usually is like, well, sand... kinda granular coarse, like sand to make concrete with. Not talcum powder. I can see that the latter might be much more problematic. I'd like to try that sometime... (may regret it I'm sure). Not sure there is any here, so may have to go to the Middle East (or Sahara?) some time...

You can find talcum powder like sand in the Truckhaven area.

 

[maverick_sr71]

Thanks for the feedback on tyres. I have to agree with you when you say that mud tyres will dig in and go nowhere and other tyres will skid and go nowhere.

Our trucks usually run heavy in the desert, 3-4 ton, as the trips involve several 1000's of km of driving in very, very remote areas. We usually run 285/75R16 tyres on the 80 series so when they are let down to 12 - 15psi they bag big time.

Thanks again, happy trails.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Originally posted by prossett

Noel!!!!!!! I am flabbergasted!!!!!! I've been here 8 years now, and have had trouble finding that winch, and you, in 24 hours, have two on hand!!!! Awesome work, buddy My problem is also that I live in the interior, about 150km away from the cities... Thanks, I'll be down to check them out one of these weekends! I'll try find your missing bits, too.

EDIT: BTW, the sub-tank feeds the main tank with gravity, so no secondary fuel pump in the 80. Check carefully once you get home and let me know what's missing

Paolo,

I PM'ed you for all the stuff that I need to install the subtank. Thank you.

 

[Brian894X4]

H4 button on the dash engages 4x4. AFAIK, Elsie runs in 2WD and runs auto locking hubs up front since if you jack up the front, wheels spin independently. The transfer case lever is always in H position, then you go down to N and then L4. This to me also means there's no need for CDL switch as x-case should lock power 50/50 whenever in 4WD. I'm open to comments on this as I might be wrong.

Very nice rig! I didn't see any other comments in the thread on this so far. I'll bet that H4 button "is" the CDL switch in your rig. It's just labeled different. The color of the label indicates to me that it wasn't labeled that way from the factory. Someone probably put the current lable on the CDL switch that actually makes more sense.

As for all wheels spinning indepedently, if you don't have a viscious coupling center diff, then all four wheels would spin independently, with all three diffs unlocked, but you could still have all wheel drive. Even with the VC, the front and rear may spin indepedently, with all four wheels off the ground.

So, my guess is that your 4 wheel drive system is exactly like ours here in the states, once we add the CDL switch mods. I don't think you have any auto hubs. In fact, I've never heard of any 80s with auto hubs, but I could be wrong.

Again, very nice rig! That truly is the best stock equipped rig I've ever seen.

 

[prossett]

Could be - how can I test to make sure?

Here's the starting point: if I enter sand without pressing the H4 button, the rear wheels dig down within a couple of feet, with no power at all to the front. When I press the H4 button, the front engages, often with a clunk, and clearly the front wheels start pulling. This tells me it's rear wheel drive and H4 engages 4x4.

What remains to be seen is whether the transfer case locks the power transfer front-rear (CDL) or if it is an open central diff.

Plus we need to determine how the front axle gets engaged/disengaged. It sure isn't manual locking hubs, and the only other system I know of is auto-locking hubs.

Any quick and easy tests to determine the above?

 

[e9999]

Beautiful LC. Love to see the differences from the US spec LC's.

You can find talcum powder like sand in the Truckhaven area.

ran around some washes out there...
where is that superfine sand?

 

[619TOY]

ran around some washes out there...
where is that superfine sand?

Here's a little bit:

 

[knorrena]

Prosset,

Given the climate you live in, I was wondering if you have had any head gasket issues or have heard of any head gasket issues?

Karl

 

[prossett]

Just noticed the question - sorry!

No head gasket issues, and the engine is revered by all. It is also the same engine used in Land Cruiser 70-series pick-ups, which do most of the heavy-duty desert and farm work around here - absolutely indestructible and considered one of the best engines out here. Visiting the used car lots and you see 80s with 400,000+ km on the clock still running well and keeping their value.

The 80s also have another strong rep in having cold A/Cs.

Where they have known problems are the birfs (I suppose they get neglected) and automatic trannies heating up when running distance over hard sand terrain in LO (install external cooler).

 

[GAS-A-LOT!]

OKAY! i WILL BITE! I READ IN AN OLD ROAD AND TRACK? ABOUT SOME GUYS THAT BOUGHT A NEW/OLD BUG FROM MEXICO. THEN THEY TOOK AN OLD RUSTED 68? FLOOR PAN.. OR WHAT EVER IT WAS THAT HAD THE NUMBERS ON IT... CHANGED IT AND PRESTO CHANGO... THEY HAD A BRAND NEW 68 BUG! JUST AN EXCHANGE IN VIN/TAGS/NUMBERS AND THAT WAS ALL PRETTY COOL ARTICLE... lol... ROAD AND TRAC OR WAS it car and driver.... wait!


i'm almost certain that it was low rider magazine that got a great 80 from the UAE and changed the vin's and chassy...(gots numbers on it too) and presto change o.... hot rod magazine had a uae spec 80 registered in new jersey or something... or was it super street magazine? any how...

Thats the crazy stuff these guys did to have foreign spec cars.... off course it was publicity...

 

[alaskacruiser]

prossett- I don't notice any EGR hardware on your engine. Do the LCs over there not have EGR systems? I wonder if this explains the lack of HG failure despite the intense heat over there.

Just noticed the question - sorry!

No head gasket issues, and the engine is revered by all.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Originally posted by alaskacruiser
Do the LCs over there not have EGR systems?

Here are some pictures of 80s in Dubai where there is no EGR systems on board. Cool thing is, they also have the air filter clog sensor attached to the air filter housing.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Here are the exterior shots of this beautiful white 80 Land Cruiser with subtank and triple lock.

 

[Tapage]

Love to have this factory tire carrier on my Cruiser ..

 

[whosthecoolguy]

I soooo wish the pictures still showed up at the beginning of this post.