What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (21 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Got my battery disconnect installed, just waiting for the final cable I need…
Mounts good on the backside of my Ford shock towers.

Also, doing a bit of deferred maintenance, like fixing a slight radiator leak.

image.jpg
 
Finally fixed the fuel gauge!! 🎉Ended up being a bad sender. I went though everything and was at a complete loss. I got a new sender a few years ago thinking that was the issue. Didn’t solve the problem so I went through everything else I could think of with the help of the info on this forum. Was totally stumped and just left it in a state of frustration for way too long. Last week I finally I gave it another shot - rechecked the wiring, the grounds, the gauge itself, and continuity of the wiring. It all checked out so I decided I’d just try another new sender.

Popped that one in and sure enough, the gauge worked! Played around with the float to what I think is best in order to read an accurate full and empty ( I’m running a LRA tank, and the float was hitting the side of the tank in the original mounting position and wasn’t allowing the float to swing the full range). So far so good- still need to get it to empty to confirm it really works. 😂

Also test fitted a new heater box, installed hood vent drains, and refreshed the ash tray & glove box (they were back so brought them back to the proper pewter grey), prepped the instruments cluster for a refresh and pulled out a new transmission tunnel to prep. Ordered a slew of other parts to finish the heater install. All good stuff 🤙

View attachment 3825596

View attachment 3825597

View attachment 3825598

View attachment 3825599

View attachment 3825600

Finally fixed the fuel gauge!! 🎉Ended up being a bad sender. I went though everything and was at a complete loss. I got a new sender a few years ago thinking that was the issue. Didn’t solve the problem so I went through everything else I could think of with the help of the info on this forum. Was totally stumped and just left it in a state of frustration for way too long. Last week I finally I gave it another shot - rechecked the wiring, the grounds, the gauge itself, and continuity of the wiring. It all checked out so I decided I’d just try another new sender.

Popped that one in and sure enough, the gauge worked! Played around with the float to what I think is best in order to read an accurate full and empty ( I’m running a LRA tank, and the float was hitting the side of the tank in the original mounting position and wasn’t allowing the float to swing the full range). So far so good- still need to get it to empty to confirm it really works. 😂

Also test fitted a new heater box, installed hood vent drains, and refreshed the ash tray & glove box (they were back so brought them back to the proper pewter grey), prepped the instruments cluster for a refresh and pulled out a new transmission tunnel to prep. Ordered a slew of other parts to finish the heater install. All good stuff 🤙

View attachment 3825596

View attachment 3825597

View attachment 3825598

View attachment 3825599

View attachment 3825600
Made some more progress on the dash. Finally got around to disassembling, rebuilding, repainting and refurbishing the instrument cluster the best I could. It turned out not half bad, especially considering that all the gauges work properly now. For the first time ever, I’ve been able to drive the car and have the speedo, oil pressure, temperature, gas, and amp meter gauges all work. I used pewter paint from Cruiser Corp just like I did for the glove box and ashtray, managed to clean and clear up the glass which was actually pretty decent shape. Salvaged the blue high beam indicator light and used simple green on the dials to get those cleaned up. A bit of bright orange modeling paint for the indicators and then put it all back together. Amazing what a difference it makes in the appearance of the overall dash.

IMG_9110.jpeg


IMG_9111.jpeg


IMG_9112.jpeg


IMG_9113.jpeg


IMG_9126.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Yes - I’ll make work of that a post back 👍
I mounted the tent on top of the metal tech family roll cage (Metal Tech FJ40 Land Cruiser Pre-built Full Profile Roll Cage - https://metaltech4x4.com/metal-tech-fj40-land-cruiser-pre-built-full-profile-roll-cage/?sku=MT-FJ40-15010&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_Yq-BhC9ARIsAA6fbAiTmbz5aJ3wjk4ugvSKqYVIe-JZtKDzudxslp-KZzdxLzHPrjMnBDsaAhilEALw_wcB) we welded together. When we built the roll cage, we tried to make the top as flat as possible to accommodate mounting a tent. This took a little work but we managed to get the B pillar height at the same height as both the A and C pillars. With thatdone we went ahead and welded 90° tabs inside of the cage to accommodate single M8 through bolts. Using the bottom track of the Rhino Rack recon cross bars bars (Roof Rack Parts | Bars - https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/bars) and through bolts we mounted the two crossbars. The RTT then lays on top of the crossbars and using a different set of 90° brackets on the side tracks of the Rhino Rack Recon deck bars we mount the tent. The Recon bars makes it incredibly simple due to having usable mounting tracks on all four sides of the bars and because the deck bars are incredibly stout. Hopefully that makes sense. See the pics below for more detail.

IMG_9421.jpeg


IMG_9413.jpeg


IMG_9417.jpeg


IMG_9412.jpeg


IMG_5917.jpeg
 
I mounted the tent on top of the metal tech family roll cage (Metal Tech FJ40 Land Cruiser Pre-built Full Profile Roll Cage - https://metaltech4x4.com/metal-tech-fj40-land-cruiser-pre-built-full-profile-roll-cage/?sku=MT-FJ40-15010&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_Yq-BhC9ARIsAA6fbAiTmbz5aJ3wjk4ugvSKqYVIe-JZtKDzudxslp-KZzdxLzHPrjMnBDsaAhilEALw_wcB) we welded together. When we built the roll cage, we tried to make the top as flat as possible to accommodate mounting a tent. This took a little work but we managed to get the B pillar height at the same height as both the A and C pillars. With thatdone we went ahead and welded 90° tabs inside of the cage to accommodate single M8 through bolts. Using the bottom track of the Rhino Rack recon cross bars bars (Roof Rack Parts | Bars - https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/bars) and through bolts we mounted the two crossbars. The RTT then lays on top of the crossbars and using a different set of 90° brackets on the side tracks of the Rhino Rack Recon deck bars we mount the tent. The Recon bars makes it incredibly simple due to having usable mounting tracks on all four sides of the bars and because the deck bars are incredibly stout. Hopefully that makes sense. See the pics below for more detail.

View attachment 3850253

View attachment 3850254

View attachment 3850255

View attachment 3850257

View attachment 3850260
Thank you!

Super simple, and a great solution.
 
I mounted the tent on top of the metal tech family roll cage (Metal Tech FJ40 Land Cruiser Pre-built Full Profile Roll Cage - https://metaltech4x4.com/metal-tech-fj40-land-cruiser-pre-built-full-profile-roll-cage/?sku=MT-FJ40-15010&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_Yq-BhC9ARIsAA6fbAiTmbz5aJ3wjk4ugvSKqYVIe-JZtKDzudxslp-KZzdxLzHPrjMnBDsaAhilEALw_wcB) we welded together. When we built the roll cage, we tried to make the top as flat as possible to accommodate mounting a tent. This took a little work but we managed to get the B pillar height at the same height as both the A and C pillars. With thatdone we went ahead and welded 90° tabs inside of the cage to accommodate single M8 through bolts. Using the bottom track of the Rhino Rack recon cross bars bars (Roof Rack Parts | Bars - https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/bars) and through bolts we mounted the two crossbars. The RTT then lays on top of the crossbars and using a different set of 90° brackets on the side tracks of the Rhino Rack Recon deck bars we mount the tent. The Recon bars makes it incredibly simple due to having usable mounting tracks on all four sides of the bars and because the deck bars are incredibly stout. Hopefully that makes sense. See the pics below for more detail.

View attachment 3850253

View attachment 3850254

View attachment 3850255

View attachment 3850257

View attachment 3850260
is that a casita up there? if so, that's bad to the bone!
 
Painted my bezel, but couldn't bring myself to put it back on the bib without painting that too.. not sure where this will end yet.

In the past I've been disparaging about the US spec dash pads... but having now seen one alternative, I now realise that they're not so bad...

Screenshot_20250301_222109_Facebook.jpg


Screenshot_20250301_222116_Facebook.jpg
 
Nice! Need to redo drivers seat for long trips. What was your process on springs and foam? Where did you get seat belts? They look great!

The seatbelts are from the passenger compartment on a UH1H Huey. Found them NOS at a company I used to fly for when they had to switch over to civilian style seatbelts. Someone had dumped them in the trash.
The foam I just added to the SOR foam. Put a sheet of 1” on top of the existing foam and some strips of 2” foam that I ran vertically between the springs.
IMG_6704.jpeg
IMG_6698.jpeg

The driver’s seat definitely does not sag anymore.
 
I believe that sign belongs to @AdventureToolCompany 's 55. Sign and location are a match.
The 55 has been in the Nederland area maybe 35 years and the sign has been in it over 13 years. The Tourists love it and he get's his picture with someone when I'm in town getting gas or coffee.

IMG_8239.png


IMG_4940.jpeg


IMG_4939.jpeg


IMG_4935.jpeg


IMG_8082.png
 
Spinning the warm 2F on the highway makes the oil needle go far right. This is the oil at about a 600 rpm idle.

oil.jpg


Some hiking. I didn't bring my ice treads. Now, years later, I figured it out. A tiny clear-running spring, midway on the trail, is keeping the muddy ice from being on top. The trail looks like all the other icy trails, but, those trails are icy from snowfall, not a thin sheet of water on an ephemeral frozen spring. I took a pain-free spill on it earlier today, got my butt wet, and a humbled perspective. I recall falling in the same spot about four-years-ago, same time of year.

hike 2.jpg


Some fly fishing. Most of the creek is still solid on top, water was low, tough conditions, winter always is. At least I got a good visual on some fish. First time out this year. Planning on many more of these Cruiser-hiking events in the near future. It is good to stretch my legs, and smell some ponderosa.

hike.jpg
 
Started on replacing the wheel cylinders on the front driver side drum brake. Looks like the rear cylinder of the pair is the one that failed. At least it had the courtesy of failing in my driveway.

Now I'm waiting on one bolt to soak with penetrating oil so I can get that wheel cylinder off. Hopefully another night of soaking will help.

I was tempted to use this as an excuse to do a disc swap. But decided with how much (or in my case little) I drive my 40 it's not worth it.
 
Finally finished the passenger side wiring loom repair (during the work pic) & its taped/wrapped & sitting in situ, redid part of the drivers side engine bay loom & tackling the fusebox & repairing wires
20250227152518.jpg
behind the bulkhead, then fitting an interior light & l'm tempted to switch out the existing centre dash glass bulb/fitting & install a 3 bulb Led strip...
20250227152926.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom