cohdj81
New-ish
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2023
- Messages
- 15
Hi all, medium time reader, first time poster here. Looking forward to attending my first meeting in the coming months. In the meantime, figured I would post a build thread to get myself introduced.
This is my 1997 HDJ81, imported from Japan in May of 2023, I bought it in October 2023 from JDM Sport Classics in Michigan with around 216k KM. I am the first US owner aside from the shop who imported it. I flew out to Michigan and drove it the whole way back to Denver over 2 days. Fortunately, it gave me no headaches and did not seem to burn any oil during the drive back. The worst part of the whole drive was that the aftermarket radio installed by a previous owner was shot, so I spent the two day drive listening to music as loud as my phone speaker could muster. Worst part of my ownership experience so far was getting through the Denver Emissions Technical Center for a DR2365 prior to emissions testing. Some of you may have seen my ordeal on the ih8mud forum, fortunately, I survived and managed to convince those folks that the 1HD-FT did not come with a catalytic converter.
From what I've gathered based on the oil change stickers under the hood, this vehicle spent most of its life in Southern Japan in the vicinity of Kurume City. The vehicle came with a plethora of maintenance records and other documentation that I have only scratched the surface of since I cannot read any Japanese. One of the cooler finds is the original owner's manual, also in Japanese. The previous owner was also nice enough to leave me their good luck charm so I keep it in the vehicle to continue it's worldwide journey.
Here's a photo of me with it the day I purchased, a very cold and gloomy day in Central Michigan.
As for the build itself, I am primarily building this to comfortably complete trails like Red Cone and Top of the World, but not for extreme rock crawling or trails which present significant risk of body damage or rollover. I enjoy dispersed camping and have built a modest camping setup in the back which I have yet to use. My vision for this build is to eventually be triple locked on 35's. My current garaging situation does not accommodate a rooftop tent, so sleeping in back or using my ground swag will be my camping style for the foreseeable future.
Will do my best to keep the mod list updated as the build goes on, in no particular order:
This is my 1997 HDJ81, imported from Japan in May of 2023, I bought it in October 2023 from JDM Sport Classics in Michigan with around 216k KM. I am the first US owner aside from the shop who imported it. I flew out to Michigan and drove it the whole way back to Denver over 2 days. Fortunately, it gave me no headaches and did not seem to burn any oil during the drive back. The worst part of the whole drive was that the aftermarket radio installed by a previous owner was shot, so I spent the two day drive listening to music as loud as my phone speaker could muster. Worst part of my ownership experience so far was getting through the Denver Emissions Technical Center for a DR2365 prior to emissions testing. Some of you may have seen my ordeal on the ih8mud forum, fortunately, I survived and managed to convince those folks that the 1HD-FT did not come with a catalytic converter.
From what I've gathered based on the oil change stickers under the hood, this vehicle spent most of its life in Southern Japan in the vicinity of Kurume City. The vehicle came with a plethora of maintenance records and other documentation that I have only scratched the surface of since I cannot read any Japanese. One of the cooler finds is the original owner's manual, also in Japanese. The previous owner was also nice enough to leave me their good luck charm so I keep it in the vehicle to continue it's worldwide journey.
Here's a photo of me with it the day I purchased, a very cold and gloomy day in Central Michigan.
As for the build itself, I am primarily building this to comfortably complete trails like Red Cone and Top of the World, but not for extreme rock crawling or trails which present significant risk of body damage or rollover. I enjoy dispersed camping and have built a modest camping setup in the back which I have yet to use. My vision for this build is to eventually be triple locked on 35's. My current garaging situation does not accommodate a rooftop tent, so sleeping in back or using my ground swag will be my camping style for the foreseeable future.
Will do my best to keep the mod list updated as the build goes on, in no particular order:
- Custom wood storage/camping platform
- Atoto 10in radio with carplay
- Pioneer door speakers
- Dobinsons 3in suspension lift
- Dobinsons IMS shocks
- Dobinsons adjustable front panhard
- Dobinsons LSPV bracket
- Dobinsons snorkel
- ARB Deluxe Bull bar
- Badland Apex 12k synthetic line winch
- Steel rock sliders custom fabbed by First Choice Fabrication in Englewood
- Custom 3inch exhaust with Magnaflow muffler by AA Performance Muffler in Englewood
- Slee extended brake lines
- OME Caster correction bushings (until I can fork over the cash for Delta arms)
- Toyo Mud Terrain 285/75/16 (Falken Wildpeak AT3W 315/75/16 ordered waiting for delivery)
- Midland MXT115 GMRS Radio mounted, have a spare/freebie Baofeng handheld GMRS as well.
