SnowroxKT 1994 Land Cruiser Build

1994 FZJ80 Land Cruiser, 115k miles as of November 2019


June 2020


It all started when the wife committed to come caribou hunting with me. Previously I had used my Tacoma (link of that build) to take me out into the middle of nowhere for off-road trips and hunting expeditions. Well the family has grown since I bought the Tacoma, and it just wasn’t fitting the family’s needs anymore, (not enough seating basically). My wife wouldn’t even drive the Tacoma around town, let alone off-road; partially due to it being a manual transmission and it just wasn't fun for her to drive, it was so built for trails that driving on pavement just, well... sucked.


We had considered buying an ATV or a Suzuki Sidekick for her to wheel while I kept the Tacoma but that had a lot of negatives too: storing and maintaining another vehicle, having to tow her through tougher terrain, and not being all that interested in driving separate rigs everywhere we went especially with our end goal of buying an RV to tow my "Toy". I even thought of building our 2018 Toyota 4Runner and wheeling that, but that’s the wife’s DD/family vehicle and she didn’t like that idea too much to say the least. So in short, I went from 2 usable seats to 5 (I don’t have the third row seats), 4 to 6 cylinders (2.7L to 4.5L), dual ARB air locked to triple e-locked (OEM center lock, Harrop E-Lockers in the diffs, compact to midsize, and from 37's down to 35's for now. The 80 drives light years better than the Tacoma after the solid axle swap. I actually drove the 80 up from Salt Lake City over 71 hours to Anchorage, Alaska while pulling a trailer full of bumpers, Comeup winches, factory suspension parts, original differential guts and gears (link to YouTube video of the trip) (carrier replaced when Harrop E-Lockers installed), and a couple family items from my Grandmother as she passed away shortly before the trip to see her and pick up the cruiser.


Here are a couple pictures from the ad:



And from our first trip out.

Mod List
Factory Center Locking Differential
Slee 4” Lift

2 x SOF4FM Front Coil Springs
2 x SOF4RM Rear Coil Springs
2 x N60070L Shocks
2 x N60071L Shocks
1 x SD24 Steering Damper
1 x Double Cardan Front Drive Shaft
1 x Front Sway-bar Drop Kit
1 x Rear Sway-bar Drop it
1 x Front 2" Bump Stop Drop Blocks
1 x Rear 2" Bump Stop Drop Blocks
1 x Set Stainless Steel Extended Brake Lines
1 x Front Panhard Rod
1 x Rear Panhard Rod
1 x Set Adjustable Rear Upper Control Arms.
2 x Breather Extensions
1 x Emergency Brake Cable drop bracket​

Sleebuilt Front Lower Control Arms
Nitro 4.88 differential gears
Harrop E-Locker Front
Harrop E-Locker Rear
SCS F5 17” Wheels x5
BFG 315 70 R17 x5 +1 matching spare without rim
Sony Model DSXA415BT Single Din Bluetooth Media Receiver
Alpine PWE-S8 Compact Powered Subwoofer (under driver’s seat)
Blue Seas 1039 Dual USB Charger 4.8A, next to rear heater controls, 14 gauge wire to Tap-a-circuit
Blue Seas 5026 Aux Fuse Block, 12 position, with grounding bus, 6 Gauge wire from 100A circuit breaker
100A Resettable Circuit Breaker feeding Aux Fuse Block, mounted on Vapor Canister
Center Diff Lock Switch, OEM
ARB Front Winch Bullbar Installed at the Cruiser Outfitters parking lot
Comeup 12.5RS Winch
Factor 55 Offset Fairlead
All aftermarket wire from Polar Wire
Pfran LED interior lights
SuperBright LED T4 for HVAC and switches
SuperBright LED 74 for keyring, glovebox, shift indicator
EGR Disable
Garmin Overlander GPS Navigation Thanks for this Expedition Overland!
Premium Gaia GPS Offroad Navigation
Trailsoffroad sticker
Baby yoda vinyl (From the Mandalorian) by @Airborne22
X2 Group 27F battery 930CCA
Rear Heater delete, keeping parts in case I change my mind here.
PAIR System Delete
O2 Sensors moved to PAIR location

More to come.

 

First sight, bringing the Cruiser home over a weekend, thoughts on my Garmin Overlander and installing an ARB bumper in Cruiser Outfitters parking lot thanks guys!

https://youtu.be/DM4IR-VH5Vg

Troubleshooting and Fixing the CDL (center diff lock) with a Corrosion Beating Recipe
https://youtu.be/RYMRCrKwwqc

First wheeling trip in the 80 series. Amazing trip.
https://youtu.be/Pwc1M1MWeRo

Second wheeling trip in the cruiser.
https://youtu.be/EtBR7CR52MI

 

Reserved 2

 

Reserved 3

 

Let's try and catch this up to where we are today...

The wiring from the battery to the block was a hot mess, all frayed out and junk. My starter would sometimes click and not start as well very occasionally, which I think is related to the horrible grounding from the block back to the battery.



Here is the new battery, battery terminals, and wiring back on the truck. Those familiar with the 80 series may recognize the fusible links are missing... they are attached on a circuit breaker to be shown later.


Also a hint at what else I've been doing here...

 

Since I got the call from State Automotive who did the pre-buyers inspection for me I've known I needed to replace or reseal the power steering gearbox. Replacing seemed like the best idea given the current circumstances of having two young kiddos around and limited garage time without "help" from the 1 and 2 year olds.

Obligatory pictures of helpers.

And the real trouble to come...


Snapped my pitman arm puller.


Then I borrowed my dad's 3 jaw Proto puller, and just about broke that... so off to O'Reilly's to buy a new pitman arm puller, some cranks on the 4' extension breaker bar, and a good whack and she popped loose.


New Redhead Steering gearbox.


And installed.

At this point I figured might as well get some good fluid for the new parts and ordered up some Amsoil ATF. I still need to finish bleeding this but so far it is looking good.

 

Also, I recently moved across town to the neighborhood I grew up in. Actually across the street from my old house that my dad lives in still, so thats been great! Its a 3 bedroom ranch with a 3 car garage, which is pretty hard to find in Anchorage so I'm pretty happy about that. The guy that lived here when I was a kid had an old corvette and this awesome mailbox piece... Well I can appreciate a good idea when I see one, so I had to put my spin on it!

What I've stared at for years.


Mockup after some AutoCAD drawing, scaling, and bribing a friend with a plasma table...

And fully finished.

 

Added Yodateq rear mounts to be used for antenna mounts.

My old Cobra 75WXST CB Radio will be installed as well as my new

$165 Midland MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

Midland MXT275 GMRS radio.


Talked a couple coworker brothers into picking up and offroad toy. They got this beast for a deal. Came with the 47s, an 8" Rize 4 link lift, upgraded rear axle to 10.5" Sterling, extra gear box, and a super 60 front.


Moved the Oxygen sensors up to the old PAIR location and needed some covers for the old location. I ask said coworker nicely and bam.


While removing the oxygen sensors I snapped both studs off on one of the sides...


So I cut one out of some stock without holes and I'll just weld that one shut.

 

I was losing a little bit of coolant on my way to Alaska, or shortly after getting here. I think and hope it was only tied to two sources... not a head gasket issue.

Spot 1:
Radiator Cap-the PO had used a cheapo radiator cap and it showed to be leaking. New OEM installed.

Spot 2:
Rear heater lines leaking from almost every connection like this one. I have now plumbed the rear heater out using the Wits' End kit. https://absolute-wits-end.com/80-series-1fz-rear-heater-delete-hose/
I also installed a new heater valve since my original was getting a little crusty. This also eliminated about 12 hose clamps on the system as well so I see that as a major bonus for simplicity.

 

Another spot the PO had cheaped out was this offbrand gas cap that had not been releasing pressure as it should have.
Fixed that easy enough.

The seller did include a number of little surprises, one of those surprises was two of these TEQ oil caps. The other one fit the 2018 4Runner so it got one too. Pic of that on our last trip with the T4R from Denali Park thru the Denali Highway and a few extra little spots including the Trans-Alaska Pipeline getting crude oil from the north slope of Alaska down to Valdez.

 

So I may have sank the Cruiser in a river...

Prompted some fluid changes of the axles, transmission, and transfer case.
Front axle was the only fluid to be compromised with water.

Rear axle breather was clogged, so I replaced that and extended it with 1/4" fuel line and ran it up to the gas filler area. Then I drained the rear end and topped it off with some Subaru 75W90 I had lying around. After the Nitro 4.88 gears are fully broken in, 1-2 years maybe? they will get Amsoil.

I have already recently cleaned out the front axle breather, but I will verify that to come. I may have lost a pinion seal again. When I bought it it started leaking out the front pinion, I had a shop put a new one in while still in Salt Lake City before I drove it to Alaska, but the breather was clogged. I think that pinion seal was damaged from being driven that far with a clogged breather. If that's the case, I'll have a local shop install a new one for me.

The transmission got a drain and fill with Amsoil Signature Series ATF. The magnetic drain plug was almost perfect here.


I also recharged my A/C and it is working great again. I'm not sure if it will stay working long term or not, but for now I'm happy!


A closer pic of the product I used.


And the winch installed as well. I didn't like the way the contactor mounted to the winch so I made my own bracket and like it a lot more.

 

I've slowly been adding circuits to the Blue Seas fuse block.
Circuit 1-Alpine PWE-S8 subwoofer under driver seat,
Circuit 2 to rear driver side for rear accessory power
Circuit 3 to rear driver side for

$311 ARB CKMA12 On-Board Air Compressor High Performance 12 Volt for Air Locker Differentials and Tire Inflation

ARB CKMA12 air compressor
Circuit 4 to

$165 Midland MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

Midland MXT275 GMRS radio

Tapped off of fuse block, Blue Seas dual USB fast charger

In progress picture of the fuse block. It is pretty tight working on it, but I still like the location.

And a wider view of the location

 

Next is the snorkel install, I'm still in the middle of this one.

 

$165 Midland MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

Midland MXT275 mounted. I just used

$8 3M VHB 100x200mm~ (4" X8") Double Sided Foam Adhesive Sheet Tape 5952 Automotive Mounting Industrial Grade Very High Bond 5952 (1 Sheets 100x200mm)

3M VHB tape.

 

Snorkel install almost complete, just need to reinstall the airbox and tighten down the hose clamps.

 

So far what my Blue Seas fuse block looks like.

Circuit 1-Alpine PWE-S8 underseat subwoofer
Circuit 2-ARB Air Compressor

$311 CKMA12 On-Board Air Compressor High Performance 12 Volt for Air Locker Differentials and Tire Inflation

CKMA12
Circuit 3-Spare 10 gauge wire to Driver Rear, accessory power, inverter later?
Circuit 4-Midland MXT275 GMRS Radio

 

ARB Air Compressor Switch added. The Compressor will be mounted on the rear wheel well shere the third row seat bracket is. Pics tonight of it installed.



At friends house helping give my $.02 for their super duty build on 47"x21" tires.



Start of a spare tire holder, this is the main hoop. The spare will roll in and then a ratchet strap around the top of the tire to secure it. the hoop is oversized (for now) to hopefully fit a 37x12.5 tire.

 

Glad to see you got one man! Looks like a great example of one too.

 

Dude not sure if I thanked you for the help along the search! So far she has been great, despite sinking her in a river up past the wipers a month ago

Drove home from that just find though so I'm seriously impressed.

So far every fluid has been changed. I need to do a front axle rebuild as the PO did a service but I don't think he did it quite right and I'm anticipating needing new birfields as I've heard them pop occasionally when the CDL is locked.

Wednesday she will be bringing my wife and I on the search for 3 caribou.

 

Sounds like you got a winner, Eaton harrop lockers are way better. Did you still get a full float rear? I'm happy you found a good one though, it'll make a good rig for the fam I'm sure.

I just started doing things to my cruiser again, took about a year hiatus from doing anything but oil changes. Just did fresh shocks and link bushings. Gotta do my fuel injectors now cause my MPG is steady in the single digits, but I have the lightest cruiser you could probably configure haha, so I'm sure it's something sensor or injector related. Injectors have never been done so I'm gonna go for upgrade ones instead of cleaning the old ones haha.