I finally mounted up my belleview winch to the fj40. Looks way better than I thought. ordered some things to get it working on the front like cables for operation and the power cable. Cant wait till they get here so I can spool my cable on.
What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (39 Viewers)
- Thread starter IH8MUD
- Start date
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Driver’s seat done. Supplemented the old SOR foam with some new stuff. Cruiser Corps covers. Nice to not be sitting on sagging springs anymore.
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I decided to see why the e-brake on my 79 was not working.
And as it turns out either my wife or sister had owned this land cruiser at some point. I can tell because it's pretty obvious that someone has driven about 25k miles with the e-brake on.
I never thought I would see pads like this in a brake that is for emergencies only.
On a good note it was not the cable which is what I had feared.
And as it turns out either my wife or sister had owned this land cruiser at some point. I can tell because it's pretty obvious that someone has driven about 25k miles with the e-brake on.
I never thought I would see pads like this in a brake that is for emergencies only.
On a good note it was not the cable which is what I had feared.
Gas mileage should improve now that THEY don’t drive it anymore 
That turned out so good.
I bought more foam during a grocery run today so I could add in some.
One of my biggest fears:
I’ve always had a fear of a sudden and catastrophic blow out of a front tire at full-beans, hiway speed… especially in my FJ40. Well, it happened today. Thank God nobody was around me.
Doing about 60-65 in the right lane, BAM! Instantly I’m in the left shoulder heading for a very muddy bog of a median. There was nothing I could do to keep it on the shoulder and soon it was tall dead grass welcoming me down the embankment, across the center bog, then, on the up hill side of the bog I was steering into the slide (later I could see 4 tracks-not 2). Gravity, steering and braking finally complied, whipping me back toward the center of the median (aka bog) but thankfully under control and slowing.
It came to a rest with the front right wheel in the boggiest part of the bog and all other wheels uphill of that. Let’s try reverse. 2h-nope, 4h nope… 2L nope… but wait? Nope? Ahhh, not thinking straight-“hubs dummy”. Locked them in and even with only 3 “good” tires my FJ40 was ready and hungry to go anywhere I pointed it! So compliant even with the carcass of the blown tire slapping lazily as I chose the least worst exit from the bog/median, which happened to be straight up the embankment at the end of the guard rail. So, rear tires full of mud from spinning, front left blown and front right wet, it still let me know straight up that grassy embankment was the best option. It was saying, “we got this!” I was so excited about how it launched us up the embankment, during that small break in traffic, that I was equally surprised when once perpendicular on the interstate, I found I was quickly out of gears in low range trying to sprint/limp across 70 mph traffic!
We made it out, and my sister and brother in-law were mere minutes away and came to assist me in my roadside rescue (thankfully not recovery). That’s another equally long story for another day!
Moral of the story: 1.) yes a sudden catastrophic blow out of a front tire WILL take a quick hard turn in the direction of the blowout. It does not necessarily mean that 100% you will flip. It can be recovered and yes, spare underwear may be a good addition to your toolkit. 2.) don’t drive around on ancient tires… this was 100% preventable and my fault.
I’ve always had a fear of a sudden and catastrophic blow out of a front tire at full-beans, hiway speed… especially in my FJ40. Well, it happened today. Thank God nobody was around me.
Doing about 60-65 in the right lane, BAM! Instantly I’m in the left shoulder heading for a very muddy bog of a median. There was nothing I could do to keep it on the shoulder and soon it was tall dead grass welcoming me down the embankment, across the center bog, then, on the up hill side of the bog I was steering into the slide (later I could see 4 tracks-not 2). Gravity, steering and braking finally complied, whipping me back toward the center of the median (aka bog) but thankfully under control and slowing.
It came to a rest with the front right wheel in the boggiest part of the bog and all other wheels uphill of that. Let’s try reverse. 2h-nope, 4h nope… 2L nope… but wait? Nope? Ahhh, not thinking straight-“hubs dummy”. Locked them in and even with only 3 “good” tires my FJ40 was ready and hungry to go anywhere I pointed it! So compliant even with the carcass of the blown tire slapping lazily as I chose the least worst exit from the bog/median, which happened to be straight up the embankment at the end of the guard rail. So, rear tires full of mud from spinning, front left blown and front right wet, it still let me know straight up that grassy embankment was the best option. It was saying, “we got this!” I was so excited about how it launched us up the embankment, during that small break in traffic, that I was equally surprised when once perpendicular on the interstate, I found I was quickly out of gears in low range trying to sprint/limp across 70 mph traffic!
We made it out, and my sister and brother in-law were mere minutes away and came to assist me in my roadside rescue (thankfully not recovery). That’s another equally long story for another day!
Moral of the story: 1.) yes a sudden catastrophic blow out of a front tire WILL take a quick hard turn in the direction of the blowout. It does not necessarily mean that 100% you will flip. It can be recovered and yes, spare underwear may be a good addition to your toolkit. 2.) don’t drive around on ancient tires… this was 100% preventable and my fault.
Forever Black works nice on plastic as well..
77mustard40
SILVER Star
Saw your foam work, how does you ass like the handy work? I need to do my drivers seat…
Seat is really firm, which is a little annoying right now. Hoping it will wear in a bit which I’m sure it will when it heats up.
77mustard40
SILVER Star
No pics but I removed a spring from my rear pack (bikini top so I’m light back there), remeasured pinion and TC flange angles and removed a 2 degree shim I had been running. I also changed gear oil in the tranny and TC, washed and waxed it and drove it.
77mustard40
SILVER Star
It will break in, mine’s the opposite… feels like my butt is sinking way down.
Finished the barn doors and moving onto the upper panels… only to discover more hidden rust. I really hate finding more to fix on these final patches. If you’ve got a rear 1/2 upper gate you want sell pm me. 3 parts left to derust and hoping to buy 2 of the 3.
CondeCruiser
SILVER Star
You are looking for an upper hatch portion? I have one.
What is the date code on those tires!? Please don't drive on the same road my family is on with tires like that.
Buffchief
SILVER Star
bben there, done that. DONT rush it!! check for square . You never know how much the body panels have moved when rusted !
Be careful with those… I bought and soon replaced ones just like them because one cracked thought the terminal clamp. I found them to be very brittle.
That said, I was also connecting two battery cables that were 2-3x the diameter of those on a diesel ambulance with overkill wiring. They went from slipping off the terminal to broken in a flash.
Buffchief
SILVER Star
Had an old PTO winch from late 60's shipped up up to me and i started the tear down. replaced all the sills and bearings. blasted it and painted then added 160 ft of 5/16" cable with the original hook and chain. Had to lengthen the drive shaft as well as locate a radiator mount "horn" to mount the forward bearing pillow block to my 1980 Fj40 to the frame under the radiator and aligned with the original hole through frame to Winch. Works like a champ.
