Build Sandy the Tan FJ60
- Thread starter Hokie LX
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- Thread starter
- #462
Let me preface this post with...I know, I know, spacers, eww, you'll ruin your wheel bearings like 5 minutes bro, get proper offset wheels, do an 80 axle swap and IFS hubs, etc, etc, etc.
Now that that's out of the way, I did buy some TG spacers to put on the 60 to try and see if it makes any difference with stability off camber. 4" track width increase in the rear, 3" up front. I'm planning to do the 80 axle/IFS upgrade but still trying to find an unlocked disc 80 FF axle nearish to me.
Front Before/After
Rear before/after
Now that that's out of the way, I did buy some TG spacers to put on the 60 to try and see if it makes any difference with stability off camber. 4" track width increase in the rear, 3" up front. I'm planning to do the 80 axle/IFS upgrade but still trying to find an unlocked disc 80 FF axle nearish to me.
Front Before/After
Rear before/after
Have been wanting to do this too, curious if you notice a handling/roll difference.
- Thread starter
- #465
@TRFarmers were kind enough to exchange my headlight washer bottle I won in a raffle recently for one of their new lower thermostat housings. Received it the other day and man is it a nice piece! Mine was in decent shape when I redid my cooling system so I will keep this as a spare.
That is “perfectamondo”! It’s always in the back of my mind that someday the top portion will materialize. But alas, my 62 model is limited in production years and probably not a meaningful Return on Investment. If your “spare inventory” is as large as mine, you’re definitely headed in the right direction!
It’s almost like prospecting for gold….and, finding it! Someone can correct me, but I’ve been led to believe that the “2” & “4” represent Casting Numbers.
- Thread starter
- #468
Well, had an eventful day today. I was adding a rear leaf back into my dobinsons leaf pack in preparation for GSMTR (shoutout @GLTHFJ60 for the letting me borrow his press to press my ubolt plates back into something that resembles flat. I finished up and the truck had a few minutes of the following series of events...
Went to go start it up and the ignition beep slowly died when I put the key in, AC didn't turn on, then blower motor died, then no start, only crank. I started poking around with the blower motor wires, AC compressor wires, then realized my fusible link seems to be the culprit. Putting some upward tension on the fusible link behind the battery seemed to fix the issue and then all systems miraculously started working again and truck fired right up as usual. Going to diagnose further tomorrow and see if this is just a bad connection or a failing fusible link.
Luckily, back in November 2022 I snagged a couple new ones as they were going NLA so, if needed, I'll use one of them.
Went to go start it up and the ignition beep slowly died when I put the key in, AC didn't turn on, then blower motor died, then no start, only crank. I started poking around with the blower motor wires, AC compressor wires, then realized my fusible link seems to be the culprit. Putting some upward tension on the fusible link behind the battery seemed to fix the issue and then all systems miraculously started working again and truck fired right up as usual. Going to diagnose further tomorrow and see if this is just a bad connection or a failing fusible link.
Luckily, back in November 2022 I snagged a couple new ones as they were going NLA so, if needed, I'll use one of them.
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send your old Fusible link here for a rebuild
- Thread starter
- #470
Well, that’ll do it. Does anyone know if you can buy the white female end that connects to the battery? Having trouble finding a PN for it
Gone gone gone, unfortunately. I have some used fusible links you can swap in or cannibalize rather than using your pretty new ones, but they'll cost ya!
Really, you should just get my replacement kit and quit heartachin' over these old links
- Thread starter
- #472
If anything I can throw together a replacement modern day fuse setup to replace this but was hoping to make this a quick fix. Going to take these apart and see if I can salvage them.
The problem is, sometimes when plastic gets charred like that it becomes conductive. So whatever is on that pin (I believe that's the alternator charge path) is imparting a voltage into the charred area of plastic. If the voltage potential is great enough it can arc to nearby contacts, burning the plastic more, and then it starts snowballing. Now, all three of those pins are joined at the battery and should have equal potential, so I don't *think* it would present issues ... but you never know.
A couple years back I was repairing a 1970s guitar amp for a guy, a real big, loud, heavy one. 600V DC on the main B+ rail. One of the dropping resistors had become so hot over the years that it charred the board underneath it in a 2" circle. I measured about 500V right in the dead center of the charred area - and PC board material is not otherwise conductive! That voltage was leaking to nearby traces and getting into all sorts of places it didn't belong too. I've seen the same thing happen on vacuum tube sockets as well - both plastic and ceramic. Somehow they get charred and then the voltage starts leaking through to another pin on the tube where it doesn't belong. Caveat to that is 600V is a lot different than 12V, and in the case of the tube sockets I've seen the voltage was more like 300-550V. But it can definitely happen.
FWIW a fusible link and a fuse/breaker behave differently in overcurrent situations. Fusible link can handle more than rated current for a short period of time before it burns through. A fuse or breaker will trip instantly.
Point being, you may see more fuse blows/breaker trips than you would see burned fusible links for a given circuit+load.
- Thread starter
- #475
Well digging deeper I found the *real issue. Wire not well connected on the harness side. I put my new link in and the behavior was still there so dug deeper and found this. Should be an easy fix.
Yes and no. Different fuses are manufactured to different specs.
Here's a time-current graph for one type of fuse. Some fuses will open quickly and others slowly, with lots of variation in between. You could test fusible link wire and generate a graph like this for those as well.
In addition to that, fuses behave differently at different temperatures. So you have to factor in a temperature derating graph as well.
I've noticed most cheapo fuses on Amazon don't have any data like this. You try to Google search the brand name, trying to find a website where they might have more data ... nothing. I wouldn't trust my truck with those fuses, period. The key in replacing the fusible link is to find fuses with a time-current curve that closely matches fusible link wire, after considering engine bay temps and derating the fuse accordingly.
Resettable breakers are a slightly different story, although some of them have graphs similar to the time-current one above. How that graph changes after each over-current scenario is a little different. I would think there are micro changes to the metallurgy of the internal switch that opens - likely a bimetallic strip sort of affair. So do they maintain the same curve over their lifespan? Maybe, maybe not.
Anyway, we're now way off topic. Sorry @Hokie LX . Glad you found the problem though. PM me, I think I have a part that could help you with that particular problem.
- Thread starter
- #477
De-pinned the connector, cleaned up contacts and put a new female end on. All fixed. Also my idle voltage is now even better which is dandy. At idle it’s at 13.7V with everything running and 14.1-14.2 with the lights off and fan on lower setting.
Who knows how long that’s been loose like that. Glad it’s fixed.
Who knows how long that’s been loose like that. Glad it’s fixed.
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- Thread starter
- #478
Got a picture of the new character I added to Sandy's driver quarter panel at Relic Run when I tagged the roof.
Also fixed the cracked tailight lens. Grade A restoration work here. I have new lenses but with GSMTR coming up, I have a feeling that this will happen again and I'd rather it not be a brand new lens.
Also fixed the cracked tailight lens. Grade A restoration work here. I have new lenses but with GSMTR coming up, I have a feeling that this will happen again and I'd rather it not be a brand new lens.
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I just take the taillights out and leave them at camp now.
- Thread starter
- #480
That seems like the logical thing to do