September POTM - Cruiser Guy, Guatemala

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Thanks everyone for your vote of confidence! I'm happy to be an inspiration to pig owners and wanna-be owners world wide!

Here's some photos of the H42 and H41 gear sets side by side.

The photo of the gears on the tranny output shaft is the H41 and next to it separately are the same gears from the H42, not as big a difference as I had expected. The front gear is the first gear and the syncro assembly is behind and after that is the second gear.

Next is a picture of the H41 and H42 counter shafts, the H41 is on the left and the H42 on the right. The H41 looks like the gears are a little beefier but again the diameters are not as different as I had expected. This time the small gear is for first and the large one runs off the tranny input shaft.

The reassembly starts on Monday and I hope to take photos and post up progress as we proceed
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I've got the H41 gearset in the H42 case so to all the nay sayers who claim that an H41 gearset won't fit the H42 case, SORRY, the H41 gearset fits just fine.

Here's a picture showing how close to the top of the case the first gear gets to. If the case cover was not slightly recessed in the top, then the top and first gear would probably touch.
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Well the H41 is in and running. I have to say the H41 is probably a better combination than the H42 was for the engine, tires and gearing that I have.

There is a bit of gear noise, more than I think there should be but I'm thinking that is due to a transfer gear I needed to get that was not as nice as I'd have liked. I may have to pull the transfer off and change that gear out.
 
battle said:
hey cruiser guy,

What shackles and shims did you put on your pig when you installed the sor springs? Did you use shims front and rear or just the front? I'm considering new shackles, but am not sure what to buy. I'm running the sor springs (about two months now) and am very happy with them. Thanks in advance for the info.....

paul
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In response to this PM, I used the SOR shackles #288-80 (I wanted #288-96 but they were out of stock) 1" over stock length, I also used the greaseable pins and poly bushings as well as 2.5 deg shims on the front only but make SURE that the shims are in correctly. Initially I installed them backwards and the handling was terrible. Remember the shim is to correct castor NOT to point the pinion flange to the transfer case!
 
The gear noise is taken care of. I put a new bushing into the transfer gear I had and ditched the transfer gear that was causing the noise (it had a pronounced groove in the teeth where they mesh). I still have a leak that I'm chasing down in the transfer case. I'm thinking it's the idler shaft "O" ring. I've already done the speedo "O" rings and the brake seems dry too. I'm going to replace that this weekend and hopefully the thrust washers will stay in place for that short time.

I now have a fully functioning PTO setup on the '55 as well. I'm just waiting on some "U" joints so I can replace the bad one in the PTO shaft.

Also the piggy goes in on Monday to get an A/C compressor and have the A/C system charged. Finally I won't have to sweat when driving the piggy here in Central America. This weekends job will be making/fixing up the under dash vent hoses! I bought some silicone hose couplers that I hope will work for that purpose to replace the crumbling rubber ones.

The last things I need to do is rebuild the steering box. I think there is play in there still as the TRE's look good as do the drag links.
 
cruiser_guy said:
Here's another poser shot of the '55 after washing it from all the mud from the villages. I have also pulled the front bumper in preparation for the winch install.

You can see the frame rail extention going on. I spent two hours getting the bumper mount off so the frame rail extension could go on!! I'll do the other side tomorrow. With the election going on here in Guatemala it's not a good day to go out much anyways.
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battle said:
Awesome pig! Are you happy with the lift?-ride quality, handling? I'm thinking of putting the same setup on my pig. Did you do any steering mods when you installed the lift
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cruiser_guy said:
I'm quite happy with the ride quality and handling. In the course of the lift I installed some 4 degree correction shims (first they were wrong and the handling was terrible but once corrected it was fine. I also changed out the center arm bearing as there was significant movement there. I think I still may have some slop in the steering box that needs to be fixed. It's either that or the tie rod ends are getting bad. The rough roads here accentuate any slop in the steering...
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I was wondering about your ride quality as well - those front shackles did not look like they had much angle to them...
 
PabloCruise said:
Wow! Very cool! Do you have any pics of the PTO set-up posted?

I should clarify, I was wondering about pictures of the shaft running from t-case up to front of the rig...
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Here's some pictures I took during the install but I neglected to take a picture of the completed setup. The first pic is just the shafts and the second picture shows where the PTO bearing mounts. The red arrows are threaded holes in the frame (there's two more behind the PTO bearing). I did not have the OEM mount and I've been unable to locate one so I simply got creative and welded one up from heavy gauge (about 16ga.) sheet metal "C" channel. There's not much load on it and the OEM mount on the '60 is not any heavier.

I'll try and get some more photos this weekend of the mount.

Just a question for folks who do have the OEM PTO, does the front underguard fit with the PTO shafts in place?
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Here's a few more photos of the PTO setup and the front bearing mount that I had to fab up. I also had to lengthen the PTO shaft about 3" so I assume the shaft I got was from an older 3 speed truck.

The '40 series and '55 series PTO shafts are NOT compatible. The '55 series has a much longer front stub shaft than the '40's due to the bearing mount location being much further back.
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I got the under dash vent hoses all fixed up using black silicone rubber elbows and couplers. Finally we can direct air somewhere other than at our feet!! If folks want I can post some pics and a parts list.

Does anyone know how to make the air come out the window defroster vents? Do I just close off the A/C vents or?

Today the truck went in to get the A/C compressor installed and the A/C system charged up. I should have it back by the weekend when I need to go to ElSalvador to renew my temporary permit. At least I won't sweat to death this time!
 
Kief said:
Still think that guy that sold you that winch shorted ya! ;). Looks Great.
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Hey it was tough getting the cable off the drum so I could respool it. It was tangled pretty bad. I had my kid in the truck changing directions of the drum while I pulled and fiddled with the cable to get it off (yes, I kept my fingers out of the way when the drum was turning). Once it was off we hooked a weight on the end and spooled it back on tightly this time.

Kief, you may get the chance to see it again this summer depending on which truck we drive up. I've almost got everything ironed out on it. There's just a couple of little things to take care of.

p.s. I couldn't see any photos of your 45, they were off Craigslist already.
 
cruiser_guy said:
I got the under dash vent hoses all fixed up using black silicone rubber elbows and couplers. Finally we can direct air somewhere other than at our feet!! If folks want I can post some pics and a parts list.
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Please!
 
The truck is still at the A/C place. He's having a little trouble with it. The expansion valve was bad and is no longer available so he got a new one to fit and work. Now he's working on the electrical and the A/C amplifier is looking for a coil signal but with the diesel that is not possible since there is no coil.

I have the '55 A/C manual courtesy of another 'mud member and that has the wiring diagrams which show a lead from the coil which we think is what is keeping the A/C system from running. Does anyone have any ideas to over ride this lead and get the A/C to run? We're wondering if a lead off the altenator might be enough to "fool" the A/C amplifier into running.

Ideas? Suggestions?
 
Well the A/C is up and running!! He converted the system to R134a so it will be fully serviceable at home. He needed to recreate a control system since the A/C amplifier could not be fooled as easy as simply creating the controls. I brings the temperature down nicely though I need to redirect the air so I don't freeze my knees!

I'll get some pictures up this weekend as well as a list of parts for the vent hose repair.
 
cruiser_guy said:
Well the A/C is up and running!! He converted the system to R134a so it will be fully serviceable at home. He needed to recreate a control system since the A/C amplifier could not be fooled as easy as simply creating the controls. I brings the temperature down nicely though I need to redirect the air so I don't freeze my knees!

I'll get some pictures up this weekend as well as a list of parts for the vent hose repair.
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Kewl!
 
cruiser_guy said:
The truck is still at the A/C place. He's having a little trouble with it. The expansion valve was bad and is no longer available so he got a new one to fit and work. Now he's working on the electrical and the A/C amplifier is looking for a coil signal but with the diesel that is not possible since there is no coil.

I have the '55 A/C manual courtesy of another 'mud member and that has the wiring diagrams which show a lead from the coil which we think is what is keeping the A/C system from running. Does anyone have any ideas to over ride this lead and get the A/C to run? We're wondering if a lead off the altenator might be enough to "fool" the A/C amplifier into running.

Ideas? Suggestions?
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Was he able to do it based on the diesel tach signal?
 
PabloCruise said:
Was he able to do it based on the diesel tach signal?
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No, he abandoned the A/C amplifier completely and started from scratch. All it really needed is a thermostat to keep the evaporator from freezing, a pressure switch to ensure there is freon in the system as well as shut off on high pressure and the interior thermostat to control temperature in the truck. He used a variable thermostat inside, like what is found OEM so that you can vary the temperature. It really is not very complicated. The A/C blows cold at least for the little drive I've had it on. I'll put it though it's paces this weekend when I go out to El Salvador. If it can keep me cool in the jungle without overheating the truck on the hills I'll pronounce it good!

For the A/C hoses you need 3 @ 2" I.D. silicone elbows, a 2" silicone coupling, a 2 1/4" silicone elbow and a 2 1/4" silicone coupling. I did not have the OEM hose on the passenger side so I got some 2" I.D. air hose from an industrial hose supplier for that side and the 2 1/4" fittings fit snugly over that and I sealed them with some clear silicone because I didn't want to buy a big tube of black silicone. The OEM hose fit inside the 2" fittings with a little persuasion (of course the old cracking rubber fittings need to get peeled off). I used hose clamps to keep everthing connected.
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Well we made the trip to El Savador today (President's Day is a school holiday so I was off work), and though we didn't need a coat in the truck it was certainly a noticable and welcome improvement to not having A/C! Remember, this truck is tinted dark on all but the winshield, drivers and passengers windows so there is alot of benefit there already.

My next project will be locating some carpet to match the SOR carpet that I can make up cargo trim panels with. Does anyone know what the carpet is called? I'm thinking just a black short closed loop carpet is all it is.

I already have the hardboard cut out and I have an OEM speaker mounting on BOTH sides of the back (one of the things I took and installed from the extra body way back when). I also want to get the OEM radio working again. I'm not sure if it's a fuse or the fact that there are no speakers hooked up right now or what that is not working.
 
There is some disagreement on piggy seat fabric patterns. I have OEM piggy seats as far as I know. This is some photos of my seats as well as a link to a '78 that is being restored and has, what appears to me to be, the same seats as I have. 78 Land Cruiser

Perhaps my seats are for a '78 model year. We recovered the door panels because the old ones were destroyed as were the old seats. We were going to recover the old seat until we came on these seats for a deal that could not be refused. Now the fabric we were going to use on the seats is lost so the seats and doors do not match.

Does anyone have the correct door and cargo area panels to match these seats?
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