Toyota Land Cruiser

Published by jfs on Saturday, May 16, 2009

I have a 1994 FZJ80 Toyota Land Cruiser with factory lockers front and rear. Here are related blog entries. My thoughts with any mod are along the lines of long duration expedition travel, keep me safe and alive and get me over or around obstacles, but probably no serious or technical rock-climbing or mud-playing. Probably not fully isolated, but likely single vehicle and I’d like to be self-sufficient for at least 3 days. I will be carrying myself, my wife, and the two dogs, but I’d like to keep the middle row of seat unimpeded to allow me to carry up to 3 passengers when needed. I also do not want to haul a trailer.

Purchased Modifications:

1. ARB Bumper: I’ve replaced the front bumper with an ARB winch bumper. I’ve also mounted the AC dryer skid plate made by Slee.
2. Roof Top Tent: I removed the factory roof rack and used some spray on bed-liner to cover the stripped paint and partially removed adhesive. I then mounted 4 Thule load bars and placed on them an Autohome Medium Overcamp. This is a longways folding tent which will allow for the potential to carry a kayak next to the tent. Currently, all my stuff fits inside the Cruiser, if more space is needed for storage, I intend to build a half width roof rack to sit next to the tent. I ran power via a trailer hitch connector up through the roof when I filled in the holes from the factory rack. Eventually I will mount lights inside the tent, and or provide a 12V outlet for other accessories up there.
   
3. Toyo M55: Tall and skinny tires, 255-85/16. No fat mud boggers for me. Also installed with the tires is a yellow-box speedo adjuster to account for the 1” change in tire diameter.
4. Battery: Sears Platinum Group 31M battery. Just barely fit in the stock spot, but went right in and performs great running my accessories.
5. ARB Fridge: 33Qt ARB Fridge, I ran a dedicated outlet back to the fridge and put a fuse box in the back as well for future modifications.
6. George’s Task LED: I won a Christmas raffle and scored a pair of LED replacements for the door activated overhead lights. I still need to replace the map light with an LED. It looks very wrong with the color temperature between the lights being so different.
7. CDL Switch & 7-pin mod: Now the center differential locker can be engaged in 4-high or 4-low. I often engage this on-dirt roads in order to disable ABS.

Built Modifications:

1. Cargo Unit: The cargo unit is constructed in 4 pieces. Two base units, one on either side, a top unit solid all the way across with folding wings for access to the edges, and a drawer to hold the fridge. It was all made from cheap 1/2 plywood, the top was then carpeted and the bottom pieces painted grey and later painted with plasti-dip.This is how the cargo unit is setup, standing at the rear looking towards the front of the vehicle. Here it is all assembled and placed in the vehicle. The fridge is on the left and slides right out as shown below. The Hi-lift jack mounts to the very front of the unit. The red wire across the rear is there to strap the dog’s harnesses to, to keep them secure. The top piece is secured to the base units with a hold down at each corner, the base is then secured to the vehicle using the third row seat bolt holes.
   
   Inside the cargo unit fit these four rectangular bags. One for me, one for my wife, one for the dogs, and one for spare parts. Although I currently use one of the bags for parts and my recovery gear, I often carry them in the wings of the cargo unit. This allows access from the middle seats, from the rear windows, and from the rear with only the rear hatch up. I do not want to get stuck and not be able to reach my recovery gear.
   
2. Kitchen Box: The kitchen box is the most recent build, and it is not finished. I have built the box itself and mounted the stove to it, but have not yet added storage shelves for food and gear. I have also not finished the wood. I would like it to be waterproof enough to survive out in the rain if I forget to bring it in at night. I also need to intend to attach legs so it can be free-standing or, rest halfway on the tailgate under an eventual awning. Here are some shots of it open and closed. The dishes I will carry are pretty standard camping style dishes. I recently found some nice looking collapsible bowls at Camping World, so they are on my list to acquire. One other thing I carry that I do like to point out is my spice rack. I spent a long while at one of the big east coast sporting goods stores, finding a bag and small bottles and the end result fits together so well it is as if it was made to be.
   
3. Carputer: I run a Mac Mini Core Solo as the brains of my carputer. It is interfaced to an EGalaxy Touchscreen (a DWW-750FM before Digital World Wide went away). The head unit manual pops out to expose the 7” screen and then folds back in to look no different than any other aftermarket head unit. The head unit also serves as an amp, a little better than the stock Toyota amp, and I rarely feel the need for more. Replacing some of my speakers however, is next on the audio list. I use a Globalsat BU-353 GPS antenna, it sits right on the dash tucked away out of sight. Never had a signal problem with it inside the car. All the computer parts are currently under the driver’s seat. Pictured is the mini, a Carnetix power supply, an arduino board to interface with the inclinometer board and the tire pressure sensor box. Also shown is the Toyota alarm unit.
   
   The software on the mini is a custom front end I wrote. It has a music interface, no fancy playlists just next, back, and pause. iTunes runs in the background so I could set it up to handle basic playlist manipulation. The next button down is the fuel log. Stores basic information and tracks mileage, this is all based on entered data. Without OBD-II I have not found a way to pull the odometery information from the Cruiser. To enter data into the fuel log, I use a VirtualKeyboard application I wrote. One click to the bottom button brings it up, and it has a minimize button on it to send it away. The final icon that is done is the GPS. This uses iGuidance running under Parallels. I keep playing with RouteBuddy but in my opinion it isn’t there yet.
   

Carried Gear:

1. Hi-Lift: I have a 60” Hi-Lift Extreme. It is mounted to the cargo unit. I also carry the off-road base which I have modified slightly to also serve as a base for the stock Toyota bottle jack.
2. Spare Parts: Inside one of the rectangular bags in the cargo unit I carry these spare parts.
   
3. Flashlight: I carry a Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 3C 4W LED Metal Flashlight. It’s cheap and solid, as well as blindingly bright. It fits nicely in the door pocket. Unfortunately, the driver’s seat is so close to the door, I often have to open the door to get at the flashlight. Not convenient when I am using it to shine at a road sign or to check out a camp site. I’m thinking of using some quickfists to mount it somewhere else.
4. Fluids: I carry some extra ATF and 10W-30 synthetic oil both shown in the spare parts picture above. I also carry some 50/50 coolant, essentially whatever is left over from my last coolant flush.
5. Chairs: I carry two Kermit folding chairs. They roll up and fit in the wings of my cargo unit.
6. Tools: I carry these tools in addition to some of the things in the parts bag. I carry that revolving orange light to use when parked on the edge of roadways. Currently it draws too much current to use overnight, but I’m hoping to replace the bulb with an LED drop in.
   
7. Machete: I carry a machete for bushwhacking purposes. It slides right under the rear seat.

Future Plans:

1. Water Storage: Here’s my plan for this:
2. Fuel Storage I need to carry more fuel, but I’m not sure if an auxiliary fuel tank is worth the cost. Maybe if I learn to weld I could build myself one. Otherwise it may just be a jerry can or two on the roof or eventual bumper. Currently, I have no options except inside to carry more fuel.
3. Winch: Possibly a Warn M12k, possibly a Superwinch EP9. More thoughts here
4. CB & HAM: I have a Uniden CB that I bought after reading it fit nicely into the ashtray spot. Unfortunately, that is on the new model dash, not on mine. Still not sure where I will mount it. Part of my indecision is because I haven’t decided if (or most likely which) ham radio goes in the vehicle. Since I envision a lot of single vehicle travel, a ham radio would be a smart move.
5. On-board Air: I have a York compressor and will eventually mount it under the hood. Since mounting brackets are no longer commercially available and I don’t have welding skills yet, this may be a while.
6. Seat Heaters: I have seat heaters for the front seats but have not yet installed them.
7. Center Console: With all the stuff I am installing around the front seats, and all the gear I want instant access to, I’m thinking of building a custom center console. I may move my carputer out from under the driver’s seat to a spot a bit higher and more accessible. It would be nice to have an arm rest at a reasonable height. And of course an 80 needs more cupholders.
8. Sliders: Need something to protect my rocker panels. Also something to stand up and reach the roof top tent cover will make putting it away without standing inside much easier.
9. Rear Bumper: I want to get the rear tire out from underneath the vehicle. I need to retain the ability to tow, some extra protection to the rear would be nice. Storage for a jerry can or two and finally, if I can get equal length dual swing-outs, I’d like to do something like this rear awning
10. Dual Battery: My platinum battery does well running my accessories for a long time, but in case of drainage or long winching, having a second battery will give me a backup starting source and piece of mind.
11. Lighting: I hope to wire in some overhead LED lights into the tent to make moving around easier at night. I also want to improve my ability to read signage, choose camp sites, and what not. I’ve been looking at the GoLight remote controlled spotlights for this. For the most part I am happy with the stock lighting in the 80. I do intend to upgrade the wiring and hopefully to replace a lot of the bulbs with LEDs or HIDs to cut down on wattage needed. My current biggest grip about the stock lighting is poor reverse lighting As I often back into situations (parking, campsites, etc…) I want to really illuminate what is behind me as I do so. I tried out some cheap reverse lights mounted to the wind deflector, but they just caused glare off of any dirt on the rear window.
12. Make it home spares: On a longer expedition I want to carry spares of parts I might need to make it back to the paved road. Things like a bir-field perhaps. Not sure what else.
13. Fire Extinguisher: Need to find a good spot, under one of the seats probably. Something accessible. Also need to do some research into what kind of extinguisher.
14. Shovel Multi-tool: Hoping to build some heads that fit on the end of the Hi-Lift Jack like this Poorman’s Maxax build. I want a shovel, a hoe, and an axe. I can’t think of a use for a pick or a rake so I don’t think I need those
15. Saw: There are a lot of downed trees on forest service roads, a way to cut through them would be good. A regular chainsaw is probably too big, but a hand saw too slow.
16. Suspension: I don’t feel the need to be any higher or increase instability with the Land Cruiser, but with all the weight I am planning on carrying, I will need to upgrade the suspension. Probably the 2.5” OME heavy setup.