3 years ago I bought a 94 FZJ80 with a blown head gasket and 340k for parts for 1k. A year later I bought a locked 97 FZJ80 for 1200. Frame was gone but motor only had 160k on it and ACC had already done the head gasket and top end. The intention was to take the 97 drivetrain and lockers and swap it into the 94. This was the plan until a year ago I had a customer come to me with his fj40 wanting to get the rear end rebuilt and brakes working. He had mentioned a year earlier that he would give me his 96 LX450 if I would do the work. I told him I would be up for that. So he brings the LX to me with signed title and I briefly looked it over. Faded paint but no dents in the metal. Bumpers all dinged up and almost 400k on the vehicle. So I figured I would just part it out and be done with it. So this summer I had my interns spend a month tearing the 94 and 96 apart to get ready for the swap. Once they went back to school I was left with a huge task of trying to do this on my spare time which I have zero. So I decided there was no way I was going to have time to do this build and it sat stalled. So this is where the idea for the Troll Patrol began.
The Troll Patrol is a name my guys in the shop came up with when I was planning on making this Frankenstein cruiser. Basically a 97 harness and ecu in a 94. I really wanted the OBDII. Plus the 97 had all the locker wiring. BUt with zero time I decided after looking at the LX that I would build it instead. The concept for the truck was to have an expo truck. Something I could take on our camping trips and that would be comfortable to sleep in and drive more than 3 hours and not be worn out like my 40 does to me. So first was a suspension and drive train. I tapped Justin @ Redline for a 4" slinky lift with Icon 2.0 shocks. Slee pan hard bars and castor plates. We then removed the elockers from the wrecked 97 and regeared with Nitro 4:88's (Just Differentials or JT's) and their master diff bearing kit with solid pinion spacers. We ended up using the locked 97's rear housing since it only had less than 200K on it. The front locked axle was toast and bent beyond repair but the diff was in good shape. So I drilled out the LX front housing for the elocker studs and clearance it for the actuator and then welded up the unused holes. Turned out perfect. Then stripped the 97 locker harness and ecu and swapped it into the LX. A new double cardan shaft on the front to make it smooth. Then installed a set of 35" Mickey Thompson Deegan 38's.
Next we removed the carpet and interior and get it ready for a thermal layer and then Rhino line the interior to about 1" up the sides. Then I'll put the plastic panels back in but will keep the carpet gone. The idea being I want to minimize heat and be able to hose the interior out. Last thing I have done to date was remove the stock stereo. Installed 6.5's up front and some Polk Audio 4" speakers in rear doors. Eventually these will be replaced with 6.5's as well. An old Kenwood double din stereo up front along with a new Pioneer 5 channel amp. A small Kicker 10" sub is in there right now. All of this is mounted to a temporary panel in the right rear quarter. I ran 2/0 cable from the dual Interstate batteries up front using a 500 amp Blue Sea battery switch. That I can manually control.
In the future.
Twin 170 amp JS Alternators. One for the vehicle and one for the separate back battery system.
In a box I'm building that will reside where the spare tire is and is accessible from the inside. 2 Interstate AGM batteries
Espar D2 diesel heater with plumbing the air to a kick panel.
Some sort of fridge that will half be in the box but will be hidden with a plastic grate for ventilation.
A platform that can be compartmentalized so I can put it in with or without the rear seats.
100 Watt solar panel
Solar charger
1000 Watt digital inverter.
4X4 Labs Rear bumper
Hybrid front bumper
Plan on removing the LX cladding. Adding steel tubing behind it with new anchors welded to the tubing and then having Rhino lining fill the cladding solid as well as spraying the outside of it. Yeah I know and additional 200 lbs of weight.
Metal Tech Sliders
If I can get to that point by this coming summer I'm doing good.
TBC
The Troll Patrol is a name my guys in the shop came up with when I was planning on making this Frankenstein cruiser. Basically a 97 harness and ecu in a 94. I really wanted the OBDII. Plus the 97 had all the locker wiring. BUt with zero time I decided after looking at the LX that I would build it instead. The concept for the truck was to have an expo truck. Something I could take on our camping trips and that would be comfortable to sleep in and drive more than 3 hours and not be worn out like my 40 does to me. So first was a suspension and drive train. I tapped Justin @ Redline for a 4" slinky lift with Icon 2.0 shocks. Slee pan hard bars and castor plates. We then removed the elockers from the wrecked 97 and regeared with Nitro 4:88's (Just Differentials or JT's) and their master diff bearing kit with solid pinion spacers. We ended up using the locked 97's rear housing since it only had less than 200K on it. The front locked axle was toast and bent beyond repair but the diff was in good shape. So I drilled out the LX front housing for the elocker studs and clearance it for the actuator and then welded up the unused holes. Turned out perfect. Then stripped the 97 locker harness and ecu and swapped it into the LX. A new double cardan shaft on the front to make it smooth. Then installed a set of 35" Mickey Thompson Deegan 38's.
Next we removed the carpet and interior and get it ready for a thermal layer and then Rhino line the interior to about 1" up the sides. Then I'll put the plastic panels back in but will keep the carpet gone. The idea being I want to minimize heat and be able to hose the interior out. Last thing I have done to date was remove the stock stereo. Installed 6.5's up front and some Polk Audio 4" speakers in rear doors. Eventually these will be replaced with 6.5's as well. An old Kenwood double din stereo up front along with a new Pioneer 5 channel amp. A small Kicker 10" sub is in there right now. All of this is mounted to a temporary panel in the right rear quarter. I ran 2/0 cable from the dual Interstate batteries up front using a 500 amp Blue Sea battery switch. That I can manually control.
In the future.
Twin 170 amp JS Alternators. One for the vehicle and one for the separate back battery system.
In a box I'm building that will reside where the spare tire is and is accessible from the inside. 2 Interstate AGM batteries
Espar D2 diesel heater with plumbing the air to a kick panel.
Some sort of fridge that will half be in the box but will be hidden with a plastic grate for ventilation.
A platform that can be compartmentalized so I can put it in with or without the rear seats.
100 Watt solar panel
Solar charger
1000 Watt digital inverter.
4X4 Labs Rear bumper
Hybrid front bumper
Plan on removing the LX cladding. Adding steel tubing behind it with new anchors welded to the tubing and then having Rhino lining fill the cladding solid as well as spraying the outside of it. Yeah I know and additional 200 lbs of weight.
Metal Tech Sliders
If I can get to that point by this coming summer I'm doing good.
TBC
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