What did you do on your 70 series today? (8 Viewers)

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New shoes for BJ
BF Goodrich AT KO2 in 31x10.5
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Do you have any more info on the rear jump seat mod? I like the best of both worlds approach you'd get for a SWB/MWB
As many of us we realize we are not as "brave"as our parents were at taking risks when raising our children. While it was perfectly normal, acceptable, and standard practice for small children in the 70's and early 80's to ride wherever we would fit in a vehicle with or without seat belts/car seats/ etc. The back of a pickup truck with a camper shell was normal for carpool, as was a cargo van with a household sofa in the back, the cargo area of station wagons, laying across the rear window ledge in a buick lesabre etc............In spite of how I grew up I don't feel OK with my son riding in highway or heavy traffic on the troop seats in the back without seat belt or other protection, or buckled in the front seat without some type of child seat.
I do not have a forward facing back seat or the small "jump seats" I have full length "troop seats" that can sit 2-3 adults on each side in the back.
There are no factory anchors for child seats in a bJ73. You can however get creative with ratchet straps and anchor down a child set quite securely. In the picture I have my sons childseat secured to the front of the troop seat facing forward with a ratchet strap in front, seat straps hook to the troop seat underneath, another ratched strap goes around the seat for the rear center strap to secure the childseat to. A 4" thick outdoor chair cushion is wedged between the upper childseat and the sliding window so my son is not leaning on the glass window and there is some minor bit of protection if there were some type of collision and the glass broke. The troop seat on the left side of the vehicle is removed for more cargo room and ease of loading in and out of the left cargo door.
I also have a square wooden pedestal and anchor points to the floor to mount the car seat centered and slightly aft of the front seats. This is better from a safety perspective, but it gets more in the way when loading up the vehicle to go camping(can't put bicycle inside).
When off roading you must put some thought into the dangers inside your truck and "what could happen" in a slow speed tip over or roll over. In addition to being more conservative/careful when driving. I ensure my son only buckles the lap belt off road so he is able to get his head down or move if need be. Care needs to be taken to secure cargo inside the vehicle. Things that would hurt an adult in a rollover like a unsercure jack, 20foot chain in a bag, ammo can toolbox, etc. Can seriously inure a child.
 
As many of us we realize we are not as "brave"as our parents were at taking risks when raising our children. While it was perfectly normal, acceptable, and standard practice for small children in the 70's and early 80's to ride wherever we would fit in a vehicle with or without seat belts/car seats/ etc. The back of a pickup truck with a camper shell was normal for carpool, as was a cargo van with a household sofa in the back, the cargo area of station wagons, laying across the rear window ledge in a buick lesabre etc............In spite of how I grew up I don't feel OK with my son riding in highway or heavy traffic on the troop seats in the back without seat belt or other protection, or buckled in the front seat without some type of child seat.
I do not have a forward facing back seat or the small "jump seats" I have full length "troop seats" that can sit 2-3 adults on each side in the back.
There are no factory anchors for child seats in a bJ73. You can however get creative with ratchet straps and anchor down a child set quite securely. In the picture I have my sons childseat secured to the front of the troop seat facing forward with a ratchet strap in front, seat straps hook to the troop seat underneath, another ratched strap goes around the seat for the rear center strap to secure the childseat to. A 4" thick outdoor chair cushion is wedged between the upper childseat and the sliding window so my son is not leaning on the glass window and there is some minor bit of protection if there were some type of collision and the glass broke. The troop seat on the left side of the vehicle is removed for more cargo room and ease of loading in and out of the left cargo door.
I also have a square wooden pedestal and anchor points to the floor to mount the car seat centered and slightly aft of the front seats. This is better from a safety perspective, but it gets more in the way when loading up the vehicle to go camping(can't put bicycle inside).
When off roading you must put some thought into the dangers inside your truck and "what could happen" in a slow speed tip over or roll over. In addition to being more conservative/careful when driving. I ensure my son only buckles the lap belt off road so he is able to get his head down or move if need be. Care needs to be taken to secure cargo inside the vehicle. Things that would hurt an adult in a rollover like a unsercure jack, 20foot chain in a bag, ammo can toolbox, etc. Can seriously inure a child.

I was raised by river runners in the Grand Canyon. We call this approach "rigging to flip." I assume the mounting points for the troop seat were custom?
 
I was raised by river runners in the Grand Canyon. We call this approach "rigging to flip." I assume the mounting points for the troop seat were custom?
I think there is some misunderstanding. I believe my "troop seats are factory original". They bolt down in several places, but I believe they are factory.....My BJ73 is originally from Spain. There are things that indicate previous government/military/police service. Troop seats and rifle flash suppressor shaped divets in the headliner are the main indicators. My BJ73 is also extremely basic. Originally no locking hubs, but drive hubs for the front end. No AC. No options at all on the interior. I don't think the troop seats are custom. Just less common than the normal consumer rear bench seat.
 
The new A/W Intercooler is paying dividends. Never saw temps greater than 375 degrees (C)
Photo courtesy of Odd Iron Off Road
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New headlights for the Prado. Installed some Philips Lumileds LUXEON X-tremeUltinon LEDs. Easy to install and look great at 6000k. View attachment 2468480

I run some Philips LED lights too; I think the same ones. I actually really like them. I know a lot of people will never let go of the halogens, but really the LED lights have come a long way and are pretty good now.
 
I run some Philips LED lights too; I think the same ones. I actually really like them. I know a lot of people will never let go of the halogens, but really the LED lights have come a long way and are pretty good now.

It's not about letting go of halogens... it's about realizing that halogen housings are designed around an omnidirectional source of light which an LED can't provide. Trucklites, JW Speakers, knock-offs of those, etc. that have a housing designed for the directional source of light that an LED provides, are awesome. But if you put LED "bulbs" into a halogen housing, you are not going to get the same lighting pattern. Properly made LED housings aren't cheap though.

Compare your Phillips LED pattern to your older halogen lamp patter against a wall. It won't be the same...
 
It's not about letting go of halogens... it's about realizing that halogen housings are designed around an omnidirectional source of light which an LED can't provide. Trucklites, JW Speakers, knock-offs of those, etc. that have a housing designed for the directional source of light that an LED provides, are awesome. But if you put LED "bulbs" into a halogen housing, you are not going to get the same lighting pattern. Properly made LED housings aren't cheap though.

Compare your Phillips LED pattern to your older halogen lamp patter against a wall. It won't be the same...

Right. Here in Germany LED replacement bulbs for H4 or H7 are mostly illegal. All vehicle equipment needs vehicle specific authorities approval here. There is only one LED brand for H7 replacement bulbd that managed to overcome the issue of different geometry and obtain a licence for a few vehicles here.
Reason: It is not only about you to see more with brighter lights, but also the vehicle coming up must see and must not be blinded by too bright lights of a faulty geometry.
But, of course, our old headlights in standard H4 are not super bright, so the desire for more is understandable.
I put one of these OSRAM extra bright (claim) heavy duty (legal) H4 bulb to see whether it makes a difference.

Amazon product ASIN B00CDJVY4W
 
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It's not about letting go of halogens... it's about realizing that halogen housings are designed around an omnidirectional source of light which an LED can't provide. Trucklites, JW Speakers, knock-offs of those, etc. that have a housing designed for the directional source of light that an LED provides, are awesome. But if you put LED "bulbs" into a halogen housing, you are not going to get the same lighting pattern. Properly made LED housings aren't cheap though.

Compare your Phillips LED pattern to your older halogen lamp patter against a wall. It won't be the same...
Most of the LED housings (Truck Lites included, sorry) look tacky as hell on a Japanese 90s vehicle. I don’t want my Land Crusier looking like a got damn Transformer. Pretty sure after the amount of diffusion from the stock halogen housing, whether it’s 100% omnidirectional or not, projects nearly identical to a halogen. Just a helluva better color temp and brightness. As far as oncoming traffic, just adjust your headlights to the correct angle... in Japan our JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance) inspection every two years inspects our headlight output for that purpose. These Philips were purchased in a Japanese auto store (Autobacs) and are approved for road use. The housings are temporary until I throw these bulbs into an LED housing that doesn’t look like a spaceship.
 
Most of the LED housings (Truck Lites included, sorry) look tacky as hell on a Japanese 90s vehicle. I don’t want my Land Crusier looking like a got damn Transformer. Pretty sure after the amount of diffusion from the stock halogen housing, whether it’s 100% omnidirectional or not, projects nearly identical to a halogen. Just a helluva better color temp and brightness. As far as oncoming traffic, just adjust your headlights to the correct angle... in Japan our JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance) inspection every two years inspects our headlight output for that purpose. These Philips were purchased in a Japanese auto store (Autobacs) and are approved for road use. The housings are temporary until I throw these bulbs into an LED housing that doesn’t look like a spaceship.
You are right alot of the new LED headlights are tacky. Multicolored running light rings etc.. I replaced my Halogen H4's with some LED replacements and they don't perform well in the Halogen housing as previously mentioned on this thread. I replaced my halogen with LED's because I wanted lights that didn't burn out ever few years and I wanted to be able to leave my lights on for longer without draining the battery down. Not sure why lightmakers think that people who buy LED replacement bulbs think we all must want something that looks different from stock. I want something like the military puts in their trucks now that don't have any "added styling" like this:

I switc
 
The Philips H4 LED bulbs have small LED elements placed in exactly the same spot as the halogen elements in the regular H4 bulb. I think this is where they differ from the cheap chinese versions. The light pattern is excellent in my setup even with the old H4 Koyo housings. Definitely a big improvement. They also use significantly less power.
 

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