What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (35 Viewers)

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Comparing the old bushing to the new.
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Next leg of the journey heads West on RT 66 Friday.
As I was doing some last minute historical research on the original Route 66 I discovered some interesting history in a Federal Highway Administration document. I was compelled to do some more Internet research after looking at the maps in my copy of the Fascimile Edition (1926) of the oldest Rand McNally Road Atlas, printed in commemoration of 50 years of continuous Road Atlas publishing.

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"The most flagrant example was the route designated U.S. 60. As a multiple of 10, the number should have been assigned to a transcontinental, east-west route between U.S. 50 (Annapolis, Maryland, to Wadsworth, Nevada) and U.S. 70 (Morehead City, North Carolina, to Holbrook, Arizona). However, the Committee of Five assigned the number to a crescent route from Chicago to Los Angeles, with only the routing through the Southwest in correct numerical sequence. Although this route, because it crossed most of the transcontinental highways, would inevitably be one of the most heavily traveled U.S. highways, the fact that three of the States through which it passed were represented on the Committee of Five (Avery, Piepmeier, and Sheets) made this exception to the numbering plan suspicious--and would result, as will be seen, in the most contentious battle over approval of the U.S. numbering system as well as creation of what would become one of America's best known highways."

The State of Kentucky objected to the designation of Route 60 from Chicago to Los Angeles, partly because it left the state off of a numbered transcontinental highway.

"By April, the Route 60 issue was the last major matter to be decided before the BPR could respond to the public demand for a map of the U.S. numbered highways. Complicating the matter was a resolution proposed by Senator Park Trammell of Florida asking the BPR to make no change in the marking and designation of interstate highways that would end the marking of highways by names. Chief MacDonald advised Avery that the resolution had been made as a result of a "determined effort" by commercial organizations to defeat the U.S. numbering plan. Upon discussing the matter with Chief MacDonald, Senator Trammell had withheld the resolution, but MacDonald was still concerned that the numbering plan might be defeated by what he described as "a great deal of false and mischievous propaganda."

The solution to the confusing puzzle came on April 30 when Avery met with Piepmeier in Springfield. Oklahoma's Chief Highway Engineer, John M. Page, noticed that the number "66" had not been assigned to any route. Avery and Piepmeier immediately sent a telegram to Chief MacDonald: "We prefer sixty six to sixty two."

In July, Kentucky agreed to this arrangement--U.S. 60 from Newport News to Springfield, U.S. 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. When James informed Avery of this news, Avery wrote to thank James for his interest in finding a solution. As for the Chicago to Los Angeles highway, "We assure you that it will be a road through Oklahoma that the U.S. Government will be proud of." As for the U.S. 60 shields, he "will have to junk them.""

So, for the purposes of the upcoming leg of the FJ40 Cross Country Expedition I'll refer to my road atlas map, which was apparently prematurely published given the above history, and look at Route 60. Route 66 is nowhere to be found. Another mystery solved.
 
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Did a run up in the Wilderness designated area north of Sedona. Our club Copper State Cruisers will be doing a run nearby and camp out where we had a picnic today. My girlfriend Darlene brought out here her new SR5 4WD 4Runner
 
been a while since ive been able to get here on mud. went for a quick 5 day trip across the border into botswana, then up to hwange park. 2000Kms in 3 days of driving.

downside, i managed to get not only malaria but also tick bite fever, so have been man down for the past 2 weeks.

on the plus side, just before i went on the trip, I managed to finish off the load tray lift and side steps.

from this:
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to this:

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loving the stance now. makes me glad i decided not to chop the bed short, but lift it up instead.

now i only need to get new shoes
 


on the 64 fj45LV I replaced the old tin cup clutch master(sadly), hard line, soft line and slave(with later model parts). As it turns out, I had the master and slave mismatched(bore size) for the last 10 or so years, always wondered why the clutch was so hard. Well now.....the clutch feels like the 82 fj40, which is very nice.

Also realized......again after many years, I was missing the slave spring. replaced it.....and as a side benefit....that cured the vibration I had when decelerating from over 60mph, I guess that spring does serve a purpose ;) (assume the fork was bouncing around or something) Took the LV up to about 70mph on the hwy monday. For a 52 year old truck with the orignal motor and drivetrain, its a pretty darn quick.

also took some pics of the oil pan(on original F motor)......as its been modified. All I can guess is at one point the ole 45 springs were sagging so bad, the front diff was hitting the oil pan.......so this was the "fix" (the pan was cut and welded)

oh.....and a few months ago the amp meter started to work out of the blue....no idea what I did(nothing AFIAK), but I might have to try to get the wipers going again.....I think the 2 are somehow related(the wipers did work once) Next is to move the tailpipe on the LV, it comes out the back and in doing so goes thru the DS wheel well, which is fine with small tires but won't work with 33x10.5s....which will come when I OME it ;)





Few weeks ago I replaced the rear lights on the 82 fj40. I used a pair of OEM(2x left side I recall)) and made a right side(new gasket and lens) the old ones were not in bad shape for being 35 years old. I took the rear covers off to paint, but then found another set.....so they are on(not in pics) Pretty sure I have done some other odds and ends on it.








spent sunday sorting new OEM parts, I had about 10 boxes filled with Titus Till Toyota bags full of new parts just from last year ;)
 
Purchased 2 steel doors for the 40. Both are in acceptable shape, no dents or rust on the exterior of the doors and some expected rust on the bottom, nothing patches can't take care of. The windows are in good shape and the felt track with the chrome edges is intact and looks to be in good shape. Both windows roll up and down and the door latches seem to be working properly. No rust found under the old crumbling weather stripping.

Question and opinions appreciated.....This seller has an original yellow bottle jack, handles and he says the clips to hold them to the body. Everything will need to be stripped and painted, rusty as expected. I know what he is asking but I would like to know what the people here value this for as a purchase.

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Nice, mine should be here this week...[/

Thanks.I pre-soaked with PB Blaster and used the Autozone OEM branded puller.The only one that gave me trouble was the one you have the least access to,near the stabilizer.
I heated that one with a small propane torch really well and a mallet took care of the rest.

Good luck!
 
Not me, or my 40 (unfortunately) in this video....but it sure does make me want to get one!

May be an old video that was already posted here, but it's worth a watch if you haven't seen it....just disregard the corny Landcruiser jeep reference in the title, enjoy!
 
Pretty girl; hideous homemade roll bar on that 40.
 
Well finally got the tub back on the frame. I thought it would never happen with all the welding patching and body work/painting. I had to install a little running light bling, just because. Now it's time to go thru the wiring harness. Also put on the cut out fenders. (Not in pic) they look good, although I do wish I had repaired the PO's handiwork.

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Those look great, give us some night shots when you get a chance won't you?

Night shots as requested. Haven't gotten to aiming properly for driving yet but I will get to that this weekend. Low and high beams

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I don't know if they are the same model reacer65 sells mine are trucklite 12/24 heated LED 7" round headlights. The figment is great they stick out further then JW speakers but I don't mind way better light then stock. Also same type of lights used on military vehicles so I know they are rugged enough to handle the desert.
 
Not me, or my 40 (unfortunately) in this video....but it sure does make me want to get one!

May be an old video that was already posted here, but it's worth a watch if you haven't seen it....just disregard the corny Landcruiser jeep reference in the title, enjoy!


oh my! I don't know what to say to that. If that was a commercial for something I'd be ordering up whatever they are pedaling.
 

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