Woohoo, got to play with the cruiser tonight...installed CDL, hatch struts, & LEDs

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Came home tonight from being out of town for two weeks to find a nice BIG box from Cruiserdan, a tiny little box from George, and a long thing box from cruiserparts.net. I was very pleased

Amongst the things from Dan was the CDL switch, new rear hatch struts, a front axle rebuild kit, a bunch of hoses, a PS battery tray for setting up dual batts, a FSM( )and a few other odds and ends. The box from George had 2 dome-light LED modules, and lastly the box from cruiserparts.net contained my new draglink which will make the 80 driveable again once installed(old draglink was turned into a "U" in an accident)

Seeing as how it's raining here I decided to get to work on the interior stuff. First I installed the LEDs. I forgot that LED stands for light emitting DIODE and couldn't figure out why the darn things wouldn't light up. Then it dawned on me to turn the module around the other way. As soon as I did that it was like someone turned the sun on

Took me about 10 minutes total to replace both dome-light bulbs with the LED modules. The difference in light output is amazing; however, I still want more light in the cargo area. I'm in search of some small light fixtures to put behind the rear most speaker grills in the ceiling. Light shines through them nicely and they are the perfect spot for lights. I tend to carry stuff in the back that casts a shadow on the gate from the current rear dome-light. That's why I'm looking for more light. If/when I come up with a solution I will be sure to post it up for everyone to see. All in all installing the LEDs was like a 1/4 job.

After the LEDs I set to work on the hatch struts. I'd been putting these off for a year because they're not the cheapest things around and you can't get them from Pepboys or the like. However I hit my head on the damn liftgate one too many times It was time to fix the problem. The replacement of them is very straight forward. 2 10mm bolts on each end of each strut. Pretty self-explanatory, remove the old, replace with new. Took about 20 mins with a 5 minute break to let my neck/head rest from supporting the gate while I disconnected one of the struts(you can use a prop bar of some sort for this, but I didn't have anything long enough and the gates not TOO heavy if you leave one of the struts on). Strut replacement gets a 1/3 rating

The most involved part of the evening was installing the CDL switch. Not difficult, just requires patience to make sure you don't break the dash. Took me about an hour and a half total. I began by reading how the dash comes apart, then took the dash apart, and started looking for the connector. This is where I had trouble. Mine had fallen behind the HVAC just out of sight. I came back to the computer and tried to find the slee write-up, but it's not in the Tech section. Took me about 20 minutes to find a link to the article which is in the products section under the installation instructions for the CDL switch. DUH. After I found the write-up and figured out just what I was looking for it was smooth sailing from there. BTW, when you find the connector there is a plug in it. At first I thought it was just a jumper wire connecting two pins, but after about 5 minutes of wrestling with that wire I realized it was actually a male plug, not just the wire. Got it unplugged, inserted the switch, and plugged it up and tested it out. The switch lights up, and when activated turns on the center diff-lock emblem(the orange diff-lock emblem) and the ABS light. Now that I was sure it worked I put everything back together the way it was and cleaned up. I'd give it a 1 1/2 rating.

Tomorrow I'll do the underhood stuff and the draglink so I can drive my "new" cruiser

Ary

 

[RavenTai]

Sounds like a good day

I have been thinking about tail gate light,

George sells loose driver boards and Leuxons, two LED's could be run of one board and flush mounted somewhere on the lift gate to light the tailgate and rear cargo ara, I was thinking of covering part of the door handle recess in Plexiglas and putting the LED's behind, they are tiny and make little heat so can be mounted just about anywhere, same could be done with the rear speakers on the LC, could also work something into the center stop housing as it faces down when the lift gate is open,

I need to figure out a way to kick on these lights only when the rear is opened but not with the back doors but still have the rear turn on the rear dome, possibly a diode or transistor somewhere,

You should try this out and tell use how to do it

 

[drohweder]

I installed georges LEDs in my FJ55s dome and was really dissapointed with result. I thought It was going to be much brighter, perhaps the dome wasn't getting enough juice in that old rig. Now you got me thinking about doing it in my wifes 80.

What did the CDL switch cost you from Cdan?

 

[YngTLCOwner]

Just installed George's LEDs last Sunday! I was really impressed w/ how they turned out. I first installed the front dome and the difference between stock and leds was way different. After installing both front and rear domes the truck inside just lights up. But, then I installed the Map light and that just took everything up another notch. Overall, I really love George's LEDs. So far best bang for the buck and easy to install.

Just tonite I had a few friends in the truck since I got the LEDs installed and everyone's first reaction was "damm its bright in here" which was a good thing. I would not go back to stock ever again.

Steve

 

[97 FZJ80]

George did mention that the later LEDs were brighter than the earlier LED lights. I find the my LED dome puts out about the same light output as my original setup of 10watt bulb + reflector.

I'm thinking about adding another dome light with George's LED in the cargo area, and maybe some lights on the liftgate (similar to Raven's idea) and some footwell light for the front passengers.

 

[hoser]

Yes, replacement struts for the hatch are expensive. However, you can get them refilled for a about half the cost of new. They can even change the struts valving if say you had a ladder attached your liftgate or something heavy.

http://www.strutwise.com/

 

[Beowulf]

Now that I was sure it worked I put everything back together the way it was and cleaned up.

You have only done part of the job if you didn't do the pin-7 mod.

-B-

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

You have only done part of the job if you didn't do the pin-7 mod.

-B-

That's on the list. I didn't get home till 7 last night and it was getting late by the time I finished everything. I just came in from replacing the draglink and everything looks good now. I'll do the knuckles next weekend and then get a professional front end alignment(used the tape measure method for now). Next on the list for today is vacuum hoses and a couple other random ones. Then I will begin working on a rear sub install that utilizes the factory spot.

Ary