100 Series (R-Equipt) Land Cruiser. New Bern or Bust.

Figured out the National Luna dual battery woes.... I swapped out the solenoid. Problem solved.....for now.... I still want to put the IBS system in at some point... BUT a $25 solenoid is easier and cheaper than almost $500....
 
Figured out the National Luna dual battery woes.... I swapped out the solenoid. Problem solved.....for now.... I still want to putvyhe IBS system in at some point... BUT a $25 solenoid is easier and cheaper than almost $500....

Nice
 
SO... its been a LONG time since I've posted anything in here. Not only was it the steering pump, but I also had the steering rack replaced. Sadly the Hundy hasn't been on any adventures worthy of note... Just wasted mileage commuting to and from work.. I'm struggling trying to find a suitable replacement battery for the Die Hard Platinum Group 31, as it's nearing the end of days.

I will be getting some new tires in the near future, so I'll be doing a review once that happens. I think its time to break tradition of BFG AT's and try something new! A good friend is running the Falken Wildpeak AT, I think I'm going with his advice on those! :) With the weather finally cooling down and my life slowing down a bit, I'll be able to focus on Land Cruiser projects and some camping time. :)
 
Soooo... where to begin.... since my last post I've lost my Mom, retired from the Marine Corps, had a few surgeries, sold my house in AZ, started a new "job" and lost a few friends along the way.

Most of 2019 was spent in NY taking care of my Mother before she passed in 2020, B.C. In the summer of 2020 I packed up the Hundy and hit the road bound for Yuma; not to spend time in my beloved desert, but to repair (tenant inflicted damages to my home so I could finally sell it. The trip out was rather uneventful, other than getting smacked with COVID vaccine side effects on night #1, camping in Alabama.

I've been running the Falken Wildpeak AT's since 2019. I'm actually pretty impressed with their road manners. Got pretty decent mileage averages, too. :) at the end of my month+ working day and night to fix my house, I DID get to do some desert time in my KofA wilderness.... Aired down to about 10 psi, they tackled the terrain flawlessly. Washboards, rocks, some slow crawling spots were done so in comfort and with ease.... After some camping, lots of hiking and climbing, returning some of my Mother and Sisters ashes to some special places, and a near death experience of my own; it was time to hit the road back to NC...

The trip home WAS going smoothly (except for a lost wallet back in either Texas or Louisiana? Or everywhere in between or ahead of me; but that's another story unto itself) until I was just outside of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, it was a beautiful Sunday morning... I felt a strange intermittent vibration that soon became a violent wobble; I immediately pulled over to investigate... My rear (passenger side) wheel was sitting at about a 30° angle and missing 3 of its 5 lug posts!! Thankfully I was about 500 feet from an exit ramp and slowly limped about 1/2 mile to a gas station, called a tow truck, and got a lift to a shop. Thankfully they were able to press new lugs into the undamaged wheel spacer and I had them replace the brake pads while they had it on the lift. Now that all 4 wheels were straight, spinning and stopping as Toyota and physics intended, I drove the rest of the way home.

Fast forward to 2021 and a trip to Expo East at Infinity Downs, where the band was back together again for some great times with old friends; deep conversations and delicious victuals were had throughout the day and well into the wee hours of darkness. As with all of our gatherings it seemed like the retrograde was upon us, all too soon...

I DID procure myself a new Redarc dual battery / solar controller to replace the aged and inconsistent National Luna setup. I installed it with some minor modification to the mounting bracket. Removing the NL system and connecting the REDARC, remains on my to-do list.

About a week ago my starter decided to quit its job. The motor would spin when I went to start the engine, but that's about it. So once again we took the ride of shame on the back of a flatbed towtruck and were unceremoniously deposited in my driveway awaiting parts and time to complete the arduous task of a starter swap. For those of you unfamiliar with the 2UZ-FE engine; the starter is nestled snugly beneath the intake manifold..... I did some light reading on the task ahead of me, scouring the wealth of knowledge on IH8MUD. The pre-work study sessions were invaluable.

Saturday had arrived! I donned my coveralls, broke out an arsenal of mertic wrenches and dove in head first, LITERALLY!! After a few hours of funky yoga poses on top of the engine and in the engine bay, the starter was exposed, along with some sort of, what appeared to be, an abandoned nest? After removing its remains and cleaning the area, I liberated the retired starter and discovered its failure point; as the jackshaft and pinion had remained behind when I pulled the starter out. The bearing had completely disintegrated....

I cleaned everything thoroughly. Did the airfilter, MAS, put it back together and fired her up. :)


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