LJ70 Build Thread!

[Ben]

got to work at 7am today so i could spend an hour painting my new sliders, before having to start work.

coat of red oxide primer.

then in my dinner break at work, i nipped to maplins and bought a multimeter, as my intention for tonight was to try and sort out some of my electrical faults.

my new manual also arrived today, courtesy of amazon.

id already got another max ellery manual, but it didnt seem to cover my truck in the sort of detail i need. the new manual is very good, and has a lot of good information in.

this is my other manual.

so at 5pm when i finished work, i connected the 3 wires to the alternator and it seemed to be working perfectly.

volts started going up on the voltmeter, and sat nicely in the centre of the gauge.

checked what voltage the batteries were getting from the alternator.

next i decided to try and fix the windscreen wiper fault. the windscreen wipers worked perfectly but kept blowing the fuse. so for the past few months ive been driving without them, which hasnt been good in heavy rain.
i tried to think when this fault first appeared, and it seemed to be since id done all the bodywork. when i did the bodywork i replaced the bent rear door, but i never changed the windscreen wiper motor in the replacement door. so i suspected this is where the fault might be.

so i removed the relay for the rear wiper, and this seems to have cured the fuse blowing issue. granted i havnt currently got a working rear wiper, but at leats i can now see where im going in the rain.

next i changed the steering bar i bent at Lincomb.

so one bent steering bar, with decent rubber gaiters. and one straight bar with knackered rubber gaiters.

got the new bar in the vice, and removed the damaged gaiters.

and fitted the ones i removed form the other bar.

new bar fitted.

gave the sliders a coat of black enamel.

hoping to get the sliders fitted tomorrow.

 

[Rob]

so i replaced the rubber hoses with longer ones, and cable tied these as much out of the way as possible. the fuel lines are now 1.5"s away from the exhaust. which isnt ideal, but ive felt the lines after when the engine is up to temperature, and they are no where near hot enough to be a problem.

1.5" does seem a bit close, bear in mind that Lorin melted his spare tyre which is under the truck and the exhaust is about 1.5" to 2" away from the tyre. The standard exhaust box on mine seems to be a lot closer but I imagine that the rear box on a standard exhaust is at a much lower temp than the rear part of a free flowing SS exhaust with minimal restrictions. I would move them further or make a heat shield ASAP.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

You could wrap that section of exhaust in something like this which I used on mine where it passes close to the LPG tank and is very effective.

 

[Ben]

thanks guys.

im not happy with how close the fuel lines are to the exhaust, and i will look into moving them. the lines go to the fuel filter which is mounted on the passenger side of the bulk head, so what i might do is try and move them so they run along the passenger side chassis rail, which will mena there well away form the exhaust.

failing that i will get some exhaust wrap, like John suggested. which i might do anyway, as my ARB air line is also a bit too close to the exhaust.

fitted my rock sliders yesterday, and immediately tested them with my hi-lift jack.

started designing my steering guard tonight.

the problem im having is, should the guard extend down underneath the steering bar to fully protect it, or just go up to it?

if it goes under it, it will need to go very low, so that the bar doesnt hit it on full droop.

this is how the bar sits normally.

but when i jack the chassis up till the front wheel comes off the ground, simulating full droop, the bar drops down quite a lot.

im thinking of using one flat piece of stainless, with no bends or folds in it, so was thinking of using 10mm.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

10mm is way to thick. I used something like 4mm with the bottom bent over a distance of about 20mm so that it is horizontal.

Roger

 

[Ben]

i know 10mm is very thick, but i was thinking of not having any bends in it.

guess i could go down to 8mm or possibly 6mm at the very smallest.

ive already thought of a great way of attaching it, which will mean i wont need it bending to any precise angles.

heres the pics i took of yours at Lincomb Roger.

wish id taken a photo more side on now. would have given me more of an idea of how far under your steering bar your guard comes, (if it does) and how much clearance youve got to allow for suspension droop.

why i need a guard.

 

[Birder]

Ben, are you sure your bar was bent by something coming in from the front, if the image shown is just after it happened, IMO it looks like it was bent by a force on the front of both wheels pushing inwards at the same time and the proposed guard will not stop that. I can see any marks on the bar where it was hit.

In off-road racing we found that if you keep making things stronger and stronger, it simply transferred the problem to another place. All we did was make it the simplest part to change that bent and carried a spare. We used rose joints as its simply a bolt to remove and no taper TRE join to get out. Remember there is a point where something has to give, either you or your truck .In your case it will never be you so your poor truck has to take the hit.

Had you thought about making the steering rod so it is stronger and has a permanent bend taking the rod up higher so its out of the way. Its only straight as thats the cheapest and strongest for the price.

If you do, just make sure you get the length right as you can only adjust the track on a rod with a bend, one full turn at a time.

 

[Ben]

no, sorry that pic wasnt taken straight after i bent it. when it first got bent it was pointing straight in like id driven into a tree stump or something.
that pic is after trying to straighten it with a winch, which didnt really work, as it just kept twisting and moving the bend.

the new steering bar is something i hadnt thought of, thanks.

i will look into it, and give it some thought.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben, are you sure your bar was bent by something coming in from the front, if the image shown is just after it happened, IMO it looks like it was bent by a force on the front of both wheels pushing inwards at the same time and the proposed guard will not stop that. I can see any marks on the bar where it was hit.

In off-road racing we found that if you keep making things stronger and stronger, it simply transferred the problem to another place. All we did was make it the simplest part to change that bent and carried a spare. We used rose joints as its simply a bolt to remove and no taper TRE join to get out. Remember there is a point where something has to give, either you or your truck .In your case it will never be you so your poor truck has to take the hit.

Had you thought about making the steering rod so it is stronger and has a permanent bend taking the rod up higher so its out of the way. Its only straight as thats the cheapest and strongest for the price.

If you do, just make sure you get the length right as you can only adjust the track on a rod with a bend, one full turn at a time.

The front arm that Ben bent is the relay rod. This connects the steering box to the hub knuckle via the pitman arm. The Tie rod is the arm behind the axle casing and this connects the n/side steering knuckle to the o/side knuckle. It also controls the tracking via adjustable length ball joints.

Any force acting on the side of a front wheel will attempt to move the wheel and then the steering wheel because the force is transmitted via the various ball joints, rods steering box etc. This is why you keep your thumbs out of the way on the steering wheel. What it wont do is bend the relay rod, unless you have the steering on full lock and the force attempts to push beyond this point.

Speaking from experience, a suitable plate will protect the relay rod and it's ball joints from most situations. I love rock crawling and although I have bashed the bash plate on numerous occasions, it has done It's job well.

Roger

 

[Birder]

Correct Roger, it is the relay rod, i think we call it the drag link, sorry i was not looking at the image while typing,

however from the image the drag link bent through pressure put on both ends, not from it being hitting by a rock, and i still cant see how a bash plate will stop that, but it will stop rocks hitting. Also now it has been bent it will bend again with less pressure if its just been straightened.

 

[wobbly]

Ben

I reckon you will get a better boost pressure if you sort a more rounded connector hose from the box to the inlet - gas/air isnt like water, it loses pressure on each bend - the pipe you have fitted turns almost 90deg straightaway.

You havent mentioned trying to 'tune' the turbo so its running at standard Toyota settings?

Looking good mate.

Pete

 

[Ben]

thanks Pete. i hadnt thought about the airbox to engine hose, but i can see what your saying. i will have to see if i can get something better.
i would like to keep the 4-runner airbox though if possible because it means i can get the filter kits from milners which are an absolute bargain, as i also fitted the 4-runner fuel filter and housing.

i havnt given tuning much thought, but it is something id like to do. i think i want to get my new exhaust made first though as im sure the one ive made is restrictive over the standard original exhaust as the pipe reduces quite a lot on some of the sharp bends where ive welded pieces of pipe together.

how would i go about tuning it? im guessing increasing fuel pressure and boost? would i need to fit a boost gauge?

 

[Ben]

had another deliver from milners last week.

new genuine bottom rad pipe as id found a split in mine. new glow plugs as she doesnt seem to fire up as quickly as id like in the cold mornings. new rad cap as old one was leaking. and new kingpin bearings.

drained the coolant.

fitted the new pipe, then refilled the rad with filtered coolant.

had a body repair chap at work repairing a couple of dents on some of the vans, who offered to repair the chip in my windscreen for free.

removed the old glow plugs.

slightly different to the new ones.

decided to fit the new bearings next.

i was struggling to get the old bearing races out, but once i removed the half shaft i saw theres 2 cut out bits, which i was able to position a screwdriver blade in and tap out the old races.

didnt get anymore done on it today as ive been busy sorting 4-runner parts out. packaged my old engine up, as palletforce are collecting it this week, and it will be on its way to the new owner.

sold even more bits off the 4-runner today, wheels and 2 doors.

im currently £400 in profit from my engine swap, and i will have at least another £500-£600 for whats left. so ive decided that that can pay for my front ARB locker and X-ENG handbrake!

 

[wobbly]

Hi Ben

The Ct20 doesnt offer much in the way of upping the boost - I've looked at it on IH8MUD - I've come to the conclusion that upping the boosts seems directly linked to cracking the head. I cant remember the exact figures but I think the normal turbo pressure is something like 8-10 and it can be upped to 12-14, IHMUD seems to be the place to look - although because of the North American bias of the site their problems seem to be running sustained extra boost for long periods of time up long turnpikes. not so much a problem here!

I've been moaning since I bought the truck that it seemed gutless - when I replaced the rocker gasket a couple of weeks back I found the rubber pipe from the turbo pipe to the rocker cover was split on the back end (you couldnt see the split and it was throwing the oily gas back towards the block where it wasnt so noticeable). I changed that - with a genuine toyta part that seems to be hand made by specialits all on triple time, if the costis to be believed - but it made an instant difference...shame it u/s at the moment!

I think you need a pre-formed length of pipe, something without such a sharp bend.

Pete

 

[Landcruiser Power]

Hey Ben

Yes the 2 main things you need in tuning a diesel are boost gauge and a EGT gauge, I think you mite find that you will have a CT12 or a CT12b thats what came factory in the 1kzte, now ive been running high boost in my truck on that turbo for 3 years, now I have been running a pre turbo nozzle spraying water to keep it cool, and it works great as the turbo is cool to touch even at long periods of high boost, I have the main Manuel for the fuel pump, that as every thing to re building to tuning if ya wont it let me no

 

[wobbly]

My bad..

Of course, you dont have a Ct20 anymore do you!

Ignore comments about boost and cracked heads.

Pete

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben

I reckon you will get a better boost pressure if you sort a more rounded connector hose from the box to the inlet - gas/air isnt like water, it loses pressure on each bend - the pipe you have fitted turns almost 90deg straightaway.

You havent mentioned trying to 'tune' the turbo so its running at standard Toyota settings?

Looking good mate.

Pete

Also the rippled nature of the hose will create turbulence, which will slow the flow of air at the bend.

Roger

 

[Roger Fairclough]

It my be my imagination, but the thread size on the new heater plugs look smaller than the old ones.

Summer or Winter, starting, as long as you wait for the heater plug light to go out, should be instant.

Roger

 

[Ben]

thats one of the other electrical faults that still need fixing, glow plug light doesnt come on, and glow plugs arnt working.

at least now the new plugs are in, i can on cold mornings stick a wire on the + terminal on the battery, and the other end on the glow plugs and get her to fire up nice and easy. bit of a pain though, and probably not good for the plugs, but it works well.

still got the wiper fault aswell. seems to blow the fuse when starting the vehicle, which is strange.

really need to find a decent auto electrician, who isnt going to rob me blind, to fix the few faults ive got.

 

[Ben]

i ordered my X-ENG handbrake on sunday night, and this morning it arrived.

so tonight i set about fitting it.

heres what was in the box, minus the cable bracket which i didnt spot at first as it was hiding under all the shredded paper in the box.

so first job was to remove the original handbrake cable.

cable removed.

next i fitted the new cable in place, and connected it to the handbrake lever.

next i unbolted the prop shaft from the transfer box. the instructions said to also remove it from the axle, but i found this wasnt necessary.

the next job was to unbolt the output flange from the back of the transfer case. (thats the bit the prop bolts onto.)
this is held on with a big 32mm nut, and i found i was unable to undo it, even with a big breaker bar. so i used the latest workshop tool, which ive decided is now my favorite, its even better than the new mag-drill.

what the instructions didnt mention, although i probably should have known, was that once this part is removed, transmission fluid will p155 every where.

so i quickly wound the nut back on, and then jacked the back of the truck as high as i could, in the hope that all the oil in the transfer box would now be at the front of the box, and not leaking all over the floor.

this did help, and now with the output flange removed, the oil only dripped out.

next job is to gently prise the dust cover from the output flange.

dust cover removed.

next job is to tap out the prop bolts.

new longer bolts fitted, and dust cover tapped back on.

and bolted back onto the transfer box.

next job is to fit the mounting bracket that the calliper will bolt to.

mounting bracket, spacers, and bolts.

the instructions did at this point mention that some transmission oil would be lost, from 6 bolt holes that hold the rear speedo housing to the transfer box.

after seeing the state of the oil that came out, i will definitely be changing the oil asap. i will also make sure the breather pipe is pipped up to the snorkel with the axle breathers, as the oil definitely contained some dirty water.

so bracket bolted in place, with blue spacers between it and the transfer box.

next job was to fit the disc.

next job was to fit the calliper.

the instructions stated not to fit any washers with the 2 main calliper bolts. but 4 big washers were in the kit, and they wouldnt have fitted any of the other bolts. so i decided to go against the instructions and fit them.

calliper fitted, with 2 more blue spacers on the bolts.

at this point i noticed how close the cable guide is to the chassis cross member.

i struggle to see how this would not hit the cross member on an un-body lifted vehicle. but i may be wrong.

very difficult trying to get a pic that shows quite how close it is, its within a few millimetres, and this made fitting the cable a bit tricky.

anyway...........next job was to re-fit the prop. i thought this may be tricky, as the instructions stated i needed to fully remove the prop, earlier. but i managed to manoeuvre it back into place and it bolted straight back up.

next job was to connect the cable to the calliper. as ive said above, this was a bit tricky, due to how close it is to the cross member.

once the cable was connected i noticed that the cable is kinked. it appears that the angle on the cable guide is slightly wrong.

another possible issue i noticed was how close the top of the calliper mounting bracket is to the body. on my truck which has a 2" bodylift, it is 1" underneath the body. i also have no exhaust heat shield in this area anymore as i removed it, as my exhaust no longer goes above the prop.

next i needed to remove all the excess cables and brackets from the rear axle.

gave the cable a final adjustment, and tested it all worked ok.

finally fitted an X-ENG sticker to one of my side windows. i did request 3 small stickers with my order, when asked on the online ordering page, but unfortunately there was only one in the box.

so to conclude..........................

the kit arrived very quickly, and all the bits were in the box (minus the stickers). the instructions said 2 hours fitting time, and this was spot on. all the bolts and spacers are provided and all seem good quality. the mounting bracket has been perfectly laser cut, folded, and drilled, and everything lined up perfectly, apart from the cable, which seems slightly out of line with the calliper, meaning a kinked cable. the instructions were quite easy to follow, although they could be improved. and the end result a handbrake that works perfectly.

however i do have concerns about whether this kit would fit a standard height vehicle. mine has a 2" bodylift, and the exhaust and heat shield have both been moved well out of the way, so the kit fitted fine.