Trump's 92 Land Cruiser HZJ77

monst6 said:
I just bought a 1990 HZJ77, looking at options for headlights. Are the J.W. Speaker 8700 Evolution 2 plug and play or did they require modifications? Especially with the 24v system.
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They have built in voltage regulation and work fine with 24v power; however, they are not strictly plug and play with a negative switched power source that Toyota uses for the headlights. You will need to use a 24v automotive relay to reverse the power so that both high and low beams will work as advertised. This is not necessary with the Truck-lite units, but IMO worth the extra effort and cost for the superior result.

Edit: I went back and edited my original post to include some info on this
 
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Today a long awaited accessory arrived from Venezuela.

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There are no shortage of roof racks available for the 77 and 76 series Cruisers, but I decided to gamble on a new offering. I wanted a rack that would sit as low as I could possibly manage to the roof line of the Cruiser, so that it wouldn't make excessive drag/noise. In addition I wanted it to be relatively light while still offering maximum utility for a cargo space limited vehicle. Others on the market seemed to fall short in both weight and profile. TMT 4x4 out of Venezuela has been somewhat infamous amongst other forums for making racks that, if I'm generous, would be called a nod to another up and coming U.S. based roof rack company. I don't condone that business practice, but I am willing to recognize design innovation when it exists. TMT took the same construction approach and applied it to their own original design for a 76 series Land Cruiser. It was exactly what I was looking for, and so far, is more than living up to my expectations.

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The center crossbars are so tightly tucked against the roof line that I wouldn't be able to slide much more than a credit card or two underneath it. The weight is advertised as 47 lbs... while I haven't weighed it, I would guess that is an optimistically low number. I will report back with a longer term review after getting to thoroughly employ it in the field. More pictures will follow as well... I got rained out while trying to grab these this evening.
 
I really love the slim profile of that. It’s a killer design and looks great.
 
Thanks, Dave.

For those that don't know or don't recognize, the crossbars for this rack are made of aluminum 80/20 frame work. I recently completed a couple of projects for my wife's Xterra using the same material. I replaced the factory crossbars on the X with it, and made an internal bike rack that anchors in place with the factory cargo track. These mods added flexibility for attaching fork mounts to aid in taking bikes along on trips. Now that the Cruiser has a rack with the same construction, the fork mounts can now easily transition between the two vehicles. In the future, any mount I get for securing cargo will work on either vehicle adding flexibility, though the Cruiser's rack has far more useable cargo area.

Here are a few more shots of the rack:

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Dang that's some tight clearance! I'd be worried about loading up that rack and the flex from the metal contacting the roof. I would consider putting down some compressable rubber/foam strip on the underside of the crossbars.

Any issues you've heard of in regards to this rack?
 
richard310 said:
Dang that's some tight clearance! I'd be worried about loading up that rack and the flex from the metal contacting the roof. I would consider putting down some compressable rubber/foam strip on the underside of the crossbars.

Any issues you've heard of in regards to this rack?
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I do plan on some white vinyl strips underneath the crossbars just in case. I sat on the rack with all my weight on a single crossbar and couldn't get it to contact the roof, so I'm not too concerned. I never intend on loading 180 lbs on the entire rack let alone on a single crossbar. There is no other feedback available on this rack currently as I am the first owner in the U.S.
 
WashingtonTaco said:
Looks like you could add cross bars as required and source locally.
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Exactly. Easy to measure and order anything additional here in the U.S. where I won't have to wait for over a month due to customs. That said, the rack came with six crossbars total. Initially I set it up with four but added a fifth over the weekend. I'm not sure if I will ever need more, but it's nice to know that it can easily be done.

richard310 said:
Nice. That extruded aluminum can be pretty darn strong.
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I was surprised by it... I expected it to bend a little under my weight, but seemingly nothing. I think this is the heavier duty 80/20 opposed to the ultralight series that I used on the Xterra. I'm sure the lighter stuff would probably give a bit more. Either way, I will be monitoring cause I had the same reservations you expressed when I first saw the clearance. Guess it really delivered on the low profile I was after. :lol It makes me wonder if the sunroof on my Cruiser makes the roofline come up slightly higher than non-equipped models. :dunno
 
You done anything else to your Cruiser? I just picked up a 1995 HZJ77 in Nagoya and am planning on shipping it back with me next year. I'm also looking at what mods to do and like what you've done so far.
Any parts you'd suggest I pick up while I'm here? Anything you find hard to get stateside?
 
Nothing else has been done yet. Mostly because it spends half the year avoiding road salt... I think I might have put about 600 miles on it since getting it here. I actually just got it out of the garage yesterday and am enjoying having her back on the road (I'm sure a freak snow storm will probably come through now.) As a Gaijin, you might actually find it easier to order what you need here rather than in Japan, unless you speak Japanese of course. I'd just do your best to maintain the OEM equipment before getting it stateside, so it's in great mechanical and cosmetic shape. All the aftermarket wants can be more easily filled here in the U.S. through the various enthusiast businesses that exist. Most of the 70 series offroad accessories that you're gonna want will be imported from Australia or South Africa anyway. You'll find them to be outrageously overpriced in the Japanese market.
 
Darn... that's too bad. Hopefully you can get it out and about now that things are starting to warm up. Be sure to keep us updated!

Haha, that's fair. I do speak fairly decent Japanese, so I can find stuff here alright. Though it can be a pain in the A$$ sometimes.

Yeah, a lot of those import goods are super expensive here... So I've mostly been going with Toyota OEM parts to refresh things as I see they need it. The big purchases (other than a set of Escape Gear seat covers) will have to wait until I get back stateside I guess... X__x
 
pipbernadotte said:
Darn... that's too bad. Hopefully you can get it out and about now that things are starting to warm up. Be sure to keep us updated!

Haha, that's fair. I do speak fairly decent Japanese, so I can find stuff here alright. Though it can be a pain in the A$$ sometimes.

Yeah, a lot of those import goods are super expensive here... So I've mostly been going with Toyota OEM parts to refresh things as I see they need it. The big purchases (other than a set of Escape Gear seat covers) will have to wait until I get back stateside I guess... X__x
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I'll be moving out of the rust belt soon enough, so the Cruiser should see more use here soon. Once I find the contact info, I'll share with you the "go-to guy" for finding parts out there, but I did most of my shopping for OEM stuff right from the local Toyota parts shop. I'd go in with a list of part numbers from the EPC and do my best to communicate... amazingly, they were always VERY happy to see me and always greeted me by name. (Mark-san!!!). I think it was a fun international relationship for them for a small town parts store.
 
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