What have you done to your rig today?

[simps80]

Made some brackets to adapt my favorite ever Toyota OG elephant horns for the missing 70 71 only lame front fender mount horns.
Found some original Toyota #4s in my bolt buckets to mount them
Used non JIS captured nuts please forgive me

 

[MDH33]

The elephant horns look right at home in there! Nice solution.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Finally got around to dealing with my ripped CV boot (the smallest fold developed a tear, the zip ties are on either side of it). Field repair was still holding although grease was starting to creep out from under it. Duct tape and zip ties FTW!



Brand new Toyota installed. Note this is full droop, the tire is still off the deck, my normal angles are nowhere near this.


Rebuilt the old one so I'm ready to R&R the driver side, whenever that might be. I swear, though, the rebuild was a significantly bigger PITA than removal and installation.

 

[Rzeppa]

Many years ago one of the the strikes for the driver's seat seat draw latch on my 1971 FJ40 broke, but there's a second one so I didn't bother with it, with plenty of other cruiser projects to attend to. A month ago the second latch broke, so I finally got around to replacing them today. I was able to use one of the original threaded holes but had to drill and tap for the rest.

 

[AlpineAccess]

It's a small thing, but no idea why I didn't do this years ago. Got a new key fob!

Programmed it yesterday - getting the immobilizer programmed was tricky but kind of fun once it worked.

Went OEM and am glad I did. The range is nearly 5x the distance of the aftermarket fob I tested - and the buttons actually work unlike the original fob I have.

Edit: flipped picture so product #'s are easier to read. FYI this is a master key transmitter for 1998 - 2002 vehicles (newer needs a different FOB so don't buy this model).

 

[nakman]

Yesterday in the 200 I installed one of these...

and also one of these...

so now when I park I can get battery numbers like these...

These things always take 3x longer than I think they should, but all turned out ok. My only real issue is the PO put in a fancy fuse holder that uses mini ANL fuses, which of course I don't have on hand. And you can't get them at Advanced Auto, AutoZone, O'Riley, or Home Depot.. so I came up with this solution:

I'm having some mini ANL fuses shipped in from Brazil, they should be here on Saturday.

Solar/dual battery digression.... I also unplugged my IBS controller so that I can isolate the 2nd battery for a while and get it a good charge... I don't think the batteries charge as well when 2 batteries are hooked up together, at least not in the first day... and when you first start charging the solenoid in the isolatoer/combiner is clicking all the time trying to figure out if it should share the juice or not. And even with 2 fully charged batteries the highest I'll see voltage-wise is like 13.3-13.7... and that's after a good day (I have this same setup in the GX, had the same setup in the 60, etc.) but as you can see above I'm at 14.3v when isolated to just one battery. This is easier to do in the GX as it's got a Blue Sea ACR with remote switch, so you can just sit there and toggle a switch to watch the numbers move. But in the 200 with the IBS I have to yank a connector to do this. I still prefer either of these to a Redarc though, as I think you should be able to combine batteries from 2 to 1, not just 1 to 2, and Redarc just doesn't do that without another expensive add-on, or jumper cables.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

Pulled the transmission from the 80 yesterday. Took me most of the day since I did 95% of it myself.

 

[fjc man]

Wouldn’t it have been easier to pull the transfer case first? Especially with that style floor jack?

 

[Rzeppa]

Wouldn’t it have been easier to pull the transfer case first? Especially with that style floor jack?

I was thinking the same thing. Man that's a looooooong piece of hardware!

 

[DaveInDenver]

This is easier to do in the GX as it's got a Blue Sea ACR with remote switch, so you can just sit there and toggle a switch to watch the numbers move. But in the 200 with the IBS I have to yank a connector to do this. I still prefer either of these to a Redarc though, as I think you should be able to combine batteries from 2 to 1, not just 1 to 2, and Redarc just doesn't do that without another expensive add-on, or jumper cables.

Do all Redarc work that way or just their chargers? A DC-DC charger can only be one way, that's just an unfortunate law of physics. Regardless of who's making it there can only be an input and an output on a charger. You can use jumper cables or a parallel solenoid to self-jump, though.

But I thought Redarc made straight up combiners too, which are just fancy solenoids and don't know or care really about the direction of current. If they don't make their isolators "dual sensing" (meaning either side being high enough voltage can switch the solenoid, like the ACR) in this day-and-age that would be a major oversight indeed.

 

[Notyourmomslx450]

Wouldn’t it have been easier to pull the transfer case first? Especially with that style floor jack?

I used a motorcycle jack. Worked perfect, needed the floor Jack as an assist since I was doing this by myself

 

[MDH33]

Apparently I forgot to tighten the lug nuts on ds rear wheel of the 40 when I swapped wheels/tires with the 60 pre Cruise Moab. Took the 40 for a drive yesterday and with no warning, lost the rear tire. Destroyed the rear fender, exhaust, the wheel and the brake backing plate... luckily I kept it under control and the loose wheel didn't hit another vehicle.

 

[nakman]

Do all Redarc work that way or just their chargers? A DC-DC charger can only be one way, that's just an unfortunate law of physics. Regardless of who's making it there can only be an input and an output on a charger. You can use jumper cables or a parallel solenoid to self-jump, though.

But I thought Redarc made straight up combiners too, which are just fancy solenoids and don't know or care really about the direction of current. If they don't make their isolators "dual sensing" (meaning either side being high enough voltage can switch the solenoid, like the ACR) in this day-and-age that would be a major oversight indeed.

They have one that's "jumpstart ready" but the price is almost double. https://www.redarc.com.au/in-vehicle-battery-chargers When I bought this, these things were (and likely still are) all the rage among the 200 croud, mainly because of it's magical way of changing the output voltage to match the profile of your 2nd battery. So many guys are just skipping the 2nd tray now, and sticking Lithium next to the drawers in back... look at the first illustration on this page: https://www.redarc.com.au/build-dual-battery-system

I'm back to flooded batteries though, at least as far as 200's go. Die Hard Silver seems to be doing well. Costs less than AGM, can run one in both positions, and I can add a $25 PWM charge controller and back feed the whole mess with solar goodness.. baking in the solar to the VSR is a needless complication, IMO, I don't want to open the hood to plug a panel in, or have plugs dangling out on the front bumper or something. Plus I want to solar charge both batteries.

edit: this is how I park now on the street, when I need the garage for other activities. 90w foldable solar in the windshield- totally works, I get 2 batteries at 13.9v at the end of the day. And this would keep up with the fridge running, if I were to crack some windows- I'm going to test that IRL in about 3 weeks as I've got some trailhead parking coming up, we'll see how cold the beers are after a 3-night backpacking trip.

 

[Telly]

Finally got around to installing a carpet kit I bought from Rock Auto 3 years ago in the tan FJ60. Installed Kilmat on 100% of the floor boards too. This project basically took me 2 entire days...very time consuming with trimming to fit the carpet. The carpet is a little wavy around the tunnel but hopefully will settle out. Very pleased with how much quieter the cab is now.

 

[ry303]

Front brakes and bearings. That's just one side. I think it's time for a beer!

 

[Fisher67]

Installed Slee sliders on my 80. 5.5 hours but was able to do it alone. I think it is done now and ready for some wheeling! Just need to figure out why center diff light does not come on either when in 4L or when the center diff button is pressed.

 

[IoN6]

Not really "on" the rig, but more for the rig...

Had the slab redone in the garage over the last week or so. Old was quite the fish-bowl after 50ish years. Paid for the removal, prep and pour. I did the Viega radiant install.

 

[Corbet]

Installed the 27s (OK 26.8” tires) to complete the transformation. 1-1/2” front / 1-7/8” rear lift two weeks ago.

Before and after pics

 

[WVU fan]

Installed the Kaon pet barrier in my GX460. Really impressed with the design ingenuity and ease of install. I always really liked my Speski @Corbet that was in my 80 and wanted something of quality and functionality. There were some cheaper, quicker shipping options than this Prado version....but i know this audience needs no justification on me purchasing special products for my rig!

 

[Corbet]

That barrier looks nice.