What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (37 Viewers)

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Had my buddy work on this for my 6014 winch plate. Lost the circle and made the TEQ a bit bigger. Sending to sheet metal shop Monday to get cut out.
 
We thought we had it all done today...

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but right at the end it decided to not charge from the alt. It is a GM 1-wire so not much to trouble shoot. It appears it just died on us. Going to try and replace it tomorrow.

This Cruiser just doesn’t want to give up its demons. 😬

The Dakota Digital is an absolutely fantastic cluster by the way, really nice product.

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Cheers
 
Last edited:
George Amonette said:
Does it ever stop? I've had it in for suspension and tires, then A/C stopped working, needed battery o.k., then aa new starter, radio lost it's display then took it to the paint shop which it needed, started to really enjoy it (no bills, just driving it) then it started leaking oil on the PO rebuild engine, shop said they thought they found it (oil sending unit), drove it home and found oil under it the next morning, BACK to the shop, plus I noticed a little water under the A/C unit on pax side. They noticed the tie rods needed replaced which has helped with the steering play. So I can understand it's 38 years old and might have a few things worked on, but then the pax's side seat belt anchor came apart on my wife. So I'll say it again, does it ever end? Thanks I feel better.
Click to expand...
Yes it does end. I bought mine in ‘91 as as $1250 beater. I put about $1000 a year into it for the next 10 years. In the next 17 years I’ve had to replace the tires and change the oil... other than that I’ve spent about $100 a year. After 28 years and 100k miles, it’s due for some body work, but the body was worse when I bought it in ‘91.
They are incredibly built machines... most of what needs to be done is catching up on deferred maintenance and neglect. Once you get things brought up to your standards, it’ll slow down to a trickle... and then it’s the things you choose to do. The personalization and customization may never end.

They’re not like some other vehicles that spend more time on a hoist than on the road. A colleague of mine told me that at his previous job they joked they’d never be out of work if you have customers that drive a Eurovan... and they’d always hope that the owner managed to get off the lot before something else broke.

Hope I haven’t just kicked a hornets nest... no personal experience with one.

When I owned a ‘71 Triumph GT6, I heard it said that they (old Triumphs) were only as reliable as the mechanic who worked on them made them. Mine, even though it was a $400 basket case that had sat for over a decade, only ever let me down once. It broke down on after I put off fixing a clunking U-joint for weeks and kept driving it. Despite their reputations (ie the Lucas intermittent electron) it was just as reliable as a new car. So it’s all about how you take care of your ride. In its case... a Toyota Landcruiser alternator and some careful soldering of lights and redundant ground wires also made a big difference.
 
George Amonette said:
Does it ever stop? I've had it in for suspension and tires, then A/C stopped working, needed battery o.k., then aa new starter, radio lost it's display then took it to the paint shop which it needed, started to really enjoy it (no bills, just driving it) then it started leaking oil on the PO rebuild engine, shop said they thought they found it (oil sending unit), drove it home and found oil under it the next morning, BACK to the shop, plus I noticed a little water under the A/C unit on pax side. They noticed the tie rods needed replaced which has helped with the steering play. So I can understand it's 38 years old and might have a few things worked on, but then the pax's side seat belt anchor came apart on my wife. So I'll say it again, does it ever end? Thanks I feel better.
Click to expand...

It doesn’t stop, in my opinion, but it does slow down. My truck spent 2011 - 2017 largely under the knife. I drove it 2000mi total in that time. This year and last, I drove it 2000mi each year.

Things still break - currently it’s the speedometer cable, but they’ve slowed way down. It’s all about staying on top of maintenance. I’ve focused all my energy on getting the 40 up and running and now it’s arguably more reliable than my 12 year old Mazda with 150,000mi that I’ve been deferring maintenance on for years.

At the end of the day, any vehicle, if driven will break - after all we are piloting a pile of metal powered by tiny contained explosions with components rotating at thousand of RPM’s - designed specifically to avoid flying apart for as long as is mechanically feasible - it’s a wonder they hold together as well as they do.

bikersmurf said:
Yes it does end. I bought mine in ‘91 as as $1250 beater. I put about $1000 a year into it for the next 10 years. In the next 17 years I’ve had to replace the tires and change the oil... other than that I’ve spent about $100 a year. After 28 years and 100k miles, it’s due for some body work, but the body was worse when I bought it in ‘91.
They are incredibly built machines... most of what needs to be done is catching up on deferred maintenance and neglect. Once you get things brought up to your standards, it’ll slow down to a trickle... and then it’s the things you choose to do. The personalization and customization may never end.

They’re not like some other vehicles that spend more time on a hoist than on the road. A colleague of mine told me that at his previous job they joked they’d never be out of work if you have customers that drive a Eurovan... and they’d always hope that the owner managed to get off the lot before something else broke.

Hope I haven’t just kicked a hornets nest... no personal experience with one.

When I owned a ‘71 Triumph GT6, I heard it said that they (old Triumphs) were only as reliable as the mechanic who worked on them made them. Mine, even though it was a $400 basket case that had sat for over a decade, only ever let me down once. It broke down on after I put off fixing a clunking U-joint for weeks and kept driving it. Despite their reputations (ie the Lucas intermittent electron) it was just as reliable as a new car. So it’s all about how you take care of your ride. In its case... a Toyota Landcruiser alternator and some careful soldering of lights and redundant ground wires also made a big difference.
Click to expand...

This is sort of the internal struggle I face right now. I’m in the market for a replacement commuter car and VW Alltrack/Sportwagen seem to check a lot of the right boxes - but I’ve never heard good things about VW from a reliability perspective and this car is supposed to be the one that PREVENTS me from daily driving my (mostly reliable) FJ40 everywhere.

The same mentality actually steered my away from a GT6 as my first project car and into a FJ40 (no regrets).

I’m of the same opinion you are @bikersmurf - any car can be reliable as long as you stay on top of maintenance - but with a 2 year old and a mountain of house projects - garage time is getting hard to find these days. “Reliability” is a term developed by people who want their car to “just work” without any major intervention on their part - as much as I want a car that I can cart a rear-facing car seat (or two, someday) around in that isn’t a soulless crossover lump - there’s something to be said about putting in the absolute minimum of effort to keep something running and have it start 100% of the time.
 
New Sniper kit and rebuild head purchased and shipped from @FJ60Cam!

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Yup alternator was dead. 🙄

Swapped a new one in this morning and it is good to go!

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On to the next project Monday morning. 😄

Cheers
 
Attempted to burp the radiator, then gave her a rinse. Insurance purchased, trip permit should be here Tuesday...

Need to trim those ubolts!
:)

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George Amonette said:
Does it ever stop...[edit]..., started to really enjoy it (no bills, just driving it) then it started leaking oil. So I'll say it again, does it ever end? Thanks I feel better.
Click to expand...
If it stops leaking oil, I know it’s past time to add more...

I’m gonna get to that soon, but in the meantime, I’ll need another chunk of Amazon cardboard to catch the drip...

the next engine won’t leak...
 
Unfortunately I have only been able to stare at her. We are having this beam replaced. The original beam was deflecting. So the garage opening has been blocked. The contractor should be finished tomorrow and I’ll drive The Iron Yak Tuesday.

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