Builds The Trail Snail Build | Above Average Overlandish

[SmokingRocks]

me too^ Watched my old boss (competition buggy wheeler) break his jaw and knock out some teeth when the jack flipped out.

Which is why I am extremely cautious when using them

 

[SmokingRocks]

Yaesu 8800-R with separation kit
Comet CA-2x4SRNMO Antenna
RG-58 Fender Mount

 

[SmokingRocks]

No more "chasing sheep"!

 

[JohnnyOshow22]

I feel like the radio would be in the way right there under the steering column, does it hit your knees at all? And nice shiny castor plates. I'm assuming they are stainless?

 

[SmokingRocks]

I played with mounting location a lot with the radio. I couldn't do what everyone else did (back side of the drivers side kick plate) because for some reason my stock equipment back there is different. So I tried a ton of locations and that was the best, not one bit of interference and the speaker is angled pretty much right at me.

Plates are zinc coated. They will get paint.

 

[SmokingRocks]

FML I OVERHEATED AFTER MY RADIATOR RAN DRY

My fan is killing radiators. I don't know what is going on but the fan just tore up my brand new radiator. I thought the last time was some rock or debris between the fan and the core but now I know for sure that its the fan. Im perplexed and worried.

Yesterday I was testing my new HAM and was driving to my buddies shop, 200 yards to the shop I noticed my coolant gauge was in the red. I pulled over and shut it down got out and found more holes in the radiator core. Engine was running fine with no smoke when I shut it down. I hope I didn't kill it.

I'm lost I have no idea how the fan is jumping up to the radiator. New engine mounts, didn't have a problem before my first coolant change, and even then it ran fine for a couple hundred miles before it ripped up the first radiator. The fan when installed is like 2 inches away from the core so I am perplexed as to how it is getting past the shroud and into the core. Has anyone ever seen this before?

I am going to replace the radiator and not run the fan (2 electric pushers should be fine). Once I have it back together I will do a leak down test and I will also power brake in drive and reverse to see if I am getting excessive engine movement. I don't get it though, the previous engine mounts were broken in half so I would imagine that this issue would have happened way earlier if that was the core of the problem.

Hope I didn't kill my engine right before moab...

 

[JohnnyOshow22]

Damn.... Is the fan loose on the water pump or bent in anyway? I just don't see how it could hit the radiator without major movement.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Yea I'm baffled. The water pump was put in last year and is fine, the fan was bolted on tightly. After it happened it was still behind the shroud. I am mystified.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Well here she is at the shop. Everything taken apart ready to repair / replace.

SOO I think I have figured it out. The fan was rubbing the shroud under certain engine loads as you can see in this photo.

I looks like that under more extreme load (perhaps a kick down full throttle gear change) the fan was catching the lip of the shroud which I can only assume deflected the blades in toward the core. You can see a cleared black mark on the shroud where I believe the fan blades were catching and bending in.

So that caused this.

So I am wondering if anyone knows wether or not I can have this radiator repaired or do I need to just get another one... Thoughts / suggestions?

 

[SmokingRocks]

Koyo 1918 Replacement ordered. The fan will not be going back on, air movement will be left up to the pusher (soon to be puller) fans.

 

[SmokingRocks]

New fan blade and clutch ordered. Will investigate why the engine is moving so much, suspect engine mounts / improper installation.

 

[SmokingRocks]

New Aisin fan and clutch installed. Clearance is tight on the bottom of the shroud and vast on the top edge? Perhaps the engine mounts are lower than they should be? The fan pulls sooooooo much more air than the old worn out clutch and busted ass fan did.

So I have a plethora of items I need to tackle before making it out to CM 2016 (already registered). I need some advice here guys / gals, with a limited budget remaining I need to know which of the following I could get away with using non OEM parts.

Prices shown are after core exchange if applicable. OEM Pricing via vendors is shown as an addition to the rock auto (R.A.) cost.

• New Fuel Pump and sock (R.A. Denso ok at $110? its + $200 to go with OEM)
• New Fuel Filter (R.A. FRAM is $14.65, +$23.35 for OEM) - OEM includes crush washers, not sure about R.A.-
• Reman Starter (R.A. Denso 1.4kW = $96, ACDelco 2.2kW = $120, OEM Reman 2.0kW is +$134 or 110)
• New OEM Plug wires (R.A. Denso or NGK 5mm = $51, OEM date-stamped, Yazaki factory +$84)
• New upper intake manifold gasket (R.A. VICTOR REINZ Paper $18.47, OEM +0)
• new throttle body to IM gasket (can't find it on R.A., OEM is 8 bucks)

So I am not trying to price gouge our great vendors, if I could afford it I'd buy all items through them no questions asked. But having recently put about $2,000 into this rig I am getting to the end of what I have allotted to spend on the trail snail this year. I've learned in the past that there are certain items on these rigs that really must be OEM so I am trying to not make those mistakes again.

I'm still having starvation issues, my starter got stuck the other day (in an emergency situation when I really needed it) and I'm done with the PO's slashed and butt connected engine harness which is contributing to issues. I have a harness ready to go in but figured I'd deal with all of these items while I had the old girl on the lift.

Cost to go all OEM vs all R.A. is an additional $420 (after R.A. discount)

Suggestions?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

New Aisin fan and clutch installed. Clearance is tight on the bottom of the shroud and vast on the top edge? Perhaps the engine mounts are lower than they should be? The fan pulls sooooooo much more air than the old worn out clutch and busted ass fan did.

So I have a plethora of items I need to tackle before making it out to CM 2016 (already registered). I need some advice here guys / gals, with a limited budget remaining I need to know which of the following I could get away with using non OEM parts.

Prices shown are after core exchange if applicable. OEM Pricing via vendors is shown as an addition to the rock auto (R.A.) cost.

• New Fuel Pump and sock (R.A. Denso ok at $110? its + $200 to go with OEM)
• New Fuel Filter (R.A. FRAM is $14.65, +$23.35 for OEM) - OEM includes crush washers, not sure about R.A.-
• Reman Starter (R.A. Denso 1.4kW = $96, ACDelco 2.2kW = $120, OEM Reman 2.0kW is +$134 or 110)
• New OEM Plug wires (R.A. Denso or NGK 5mm = $51, OEM date-stamped, Yazaki factory +$84)
• New upper intake manifold gasket (R.A. VICTOR REINZ Paper $18.47, OEM +0)
• new throttle body to IM gasket (can't find it on R.A., OEM is 8 bucks)

So I am not trying to price gouge our great vendors, if I could afford it I'd buy all items through them no questions asked. But having recently put about $2,000 into this rig I am getting to the end of what I have allotted to spend on the trail snail this year. I've learned in the past that there are certain items on these rigs that really must be OEM so I am trying to not make those mistakes again.

I'm still having starvation issues, my starter got stuck the other day (in an emergency situation when I really needed it) and I'm done with the PO's slashed and butt connected engine harness which is contributing to issues. I have a harness ready to go in but figured I'd deal with all of these items while I had the old girl on the lift.

Cost to go all OEM vs all R.A. is an additional $420 (after R.A. discount)

Suggestions?

When it comes to plug wires and starters I have a hard time going with anything other than OEM. Not uncommon to see OEM wires last 15 years
Tons of factory original OEM starters still going strong after 20+ years with just the contacts replaced.

 

[The Eradicator]

4Crawler has a good article on why not to go with a rebuilt starter:
Toyota/Chrysler/Mitsubishi - Nippon Denso Starter Solenoid Repair
I went with an aftermarket rebuilt starter on my FZJ and it would sometimes get stuck trying to start. When it did that I had to jump out, disconnect the battery, whack the starter with whatever was available, and reconnect the battery to see if it had stopped. I ended up having to buy an OEM rebuilt starter.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Thanks for the supporting information. I've been chatting with beno and I think I am going to source the following from him.

Fuel Sock and clip
Fuel filter
Wire set
Gaskets
Starter Rebuild Kit

 

[sbman]

I was going to say I wouldn't put a Fram anything on anything. It's a budget brand and built accordingly. R.A. has Wix for $1 less than fram if you decide to go non-oem. I used R.A. Denso wires on my rebuild and they were 100% identical to OEM in fit, finish, construction, and origin, I have no doubt they are the same product as OEM. Keep in mind Toyota doesn't make most of these parts, they source them. Denso also does not manufacture all the parts that are branded in their name, they also source stuff from other manufacturers.

For gaskets, fuel sock and starter rebuild kit, OEM is the way to go for sure, it is doubtful that those parts are sold outside of Toyota distribution. The deciding factor for me is usually the pain level for install and the penalty for failure of the part. Spark plug wires? Easy to swap out. Intake gasket? No way I'd put anything other than OEM due to the cost in time and trouble to replace a failed part.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Easy of replacement as a metric is a good point. Thanks. Might just do the denso wires to save the 84 bucks.

 

[jeremy56]

I bought a starter from O'Reillys thinking why not it's a lifetime warranty. I had starting problems for weeks and was trying to troubleshoot.
I got an OEM starter and didn't have another problem.

 

[SmokingRocks]

PHASE 1: OPERATION ERADICATE PO'S P.O.S. JANKY ELECTRICAL WORK
Phase 2 involves the engine harness

I have been getting frustrated with the stall out issues / unreliability at seemingly random times with my trail snail thanks to the PO. So frustration finally boiled over into action after I pulled off the fusable link and found this work of art.

Needless to say I have decided to finally remove all traces of the PO's s***ty work... Been putting it off for too long.

So on to Phase 1:

• Redo all accessory wiring with solder and shrink wrap
• Remove and Replace under-gauged / butt connected BS
• Get rid of any found wire caps (I know but I have found them on the rig before)
• Clean up all in-cab wiring and consolidate to a sheathed loom
• Consolidate Relays under hood
• Reduce 'direct battery' connections to required only
• Add 125 amp bolt down fuse (for aux fuse box, forgot to do this when I installed it)

So I went to Napa and got all the items I required.

1. 10 gauge wire
2. Heat shrink slide and prong connectors
3. Wire loom sheathing
4. Electrical tape

Yea you might think its ghetto whatever, metal is metal.

I spent a lot of time brainstorming where I could mount a relay panel. The area around the cruise control was prime for space but meant I had to have wires run over the engine. More negatives; 1) I already had one of my 'legit' looms going toward the battery 2) the run would have been -slightly- longer 3) its the hot side.

After more brainstorming I decided to relocate the charcoal canister and mount the panel there. Reasons being: 1) It consolidates most all electrical items to DS engine bay, 2) its the 'cool side', 3) proximity to the battery allowed for a more direct ground.

So I started the build. I removed the canister and started making a cardboard template. Then I found 3 L brackets (two bolt holes each leg) and worked on mounting locations. The main L bracket is also a ground, I bolted the bottom hole and plug welded the top one to the canister bracket. Then to make the vertical bolt a 'captive stud' I put it in place with a 10 gauge wire to ground strap held it from the top with a small vice grip and tacked it to the L. The other two L brackets were mounted to the battery box after careful measurement.

I thought I did a better job taking pictures but I guess I missed the start.

Here is a test fit after I initially shaped the plate.

Back to the table for measurements and cutting

I used my 4" angle grinder for most of the early fab but since this material was very thin I had to use the dremel for finishing work. About 45 minutes was spent in rounding / straightening edges.

Also I kept the vertical legs on the two sides for two reasons, aesthetics and to maintain rigidity of the plate.

Note- This pan was teflon coated, you do not wan't to breath that crap in. Luckily it was 70 degrees so garage was open and I was using my respirator.

Fast forward after plastidip treatment:

At this point I was ready to change gears to the wiring. Which is continued below.

 

[SmokingRocks]

So I got into the lower center consol and tagged each wire and switch first. Then I started hacking away at the remaining crud under there (I had already removed some junk in here before but wasn't dedicated to going gang busters then).

This picture shows after initial tear down and clean up. There is still more to do, you can't tell by this photo but the PO had made a common ground which included about 5 butt connectors.

Found another wirenut under the dash... And multiple 'mystery' wires that were cut and just taped on the end. All came out.

I have another picture of bad wiring that I removed earlier floating around somewhere. It was about double the amount as the above photo.

Anyway I don't have any picts of creating the loom. But I pulled signal lines for each switch through the firewall, pulled 14 gauge common positive and negative lines to the area for signal power and signal ground. That's where the cab is at this point.

Then under the hood I pulled all the wires together verified length, put the properly sized heat shrink slide connectors on each wire. Now I needed to tape the loom, pulling the wires over the fender gave me plenty of room to work. Using electrical tape I taped the wires together every 8" or so. At this point the loom is ready for sheathing.

I slide the wires into sheathing then tightly wound it with electrical tape from the firewall to the relay end.

Time to start hooking everything up.

You can see the new loom run along the fender, its tied right next to my other loom.

This part is done anyway.

I am going to duct the hood vent over toward the engine then face it forward to take radiator heat out and keep water from dropping right on the panel.

Things I still need to take care of in Phase 1:

1. Relays are going to be remounted closer to their respective edges
2. Small vacuum line will be used to line the edge of the center punch hole to prevent wire chafing
3. Interior finalization
4. Labeling
5. Figure out where to put canister