OlympiaFJ60

FJ 60 Rust Repair

Brandon — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:12:46 +0000

I have been watching a few patches of rust grow on the Land Cruiser for several years. I was washing the truck a few weeks ago, it’s after winter wash. While washing the left rear quarter I noticed a big patch in the very corner blast off. It was a hole about 1″ by 3″ long. I was just finishing loading up the remains of an old FJ60 I parted/scrapped. For as much rust as it had, I was presently surprised to find the very corner I needed was intact.

I cut out the bad area and used it as a template to cut out the patch. Evidently I didn’t do to well measuring as I had to cut a little extra and double patch. After getting the patch about right, I tacked it in place, then went around, ever inch or so at a time to keep it from getting too hot, and filled in the missed spots. After that, I ground it down, filled with some “Liquid Metal” sanded and painted.

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It took a while, but wasn’t too bad for a first try. Hopefully it will last for a while.

Mt St Hellens Eruption

Brandon — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:29:53 +0000

May 18th, 1980.

The best part was not having to finish school that year. I was in Mrs Littlefield’s 2nd grade class. She was a great teacher and I had a good year, just cool some how, not having to finish the year and not have to make it up. Had to go back to get my book fair books though, they came in after the 18th.

I think we had attended 8 o’clock mass, would have been near the end of communion at 8:36. We were home and probably already had breakfast. My neighbor and best friend Lorence was over; he, David and I were playing outside, Sibel’s house was just a whole in the ground and a dirt pile, we were playing in the dirt pile. Then the clouds started rolling in, it made the lake look dark an sinister, so we went down to play by the lake, creature from the black lagoon if I remember correctly. At some point, Ella called and Lorence had to go home because the Mountain had erupted and they didn’t know what was going to be in the ash clouds. Stephen was at a boy scout camp, up past Yakima I think and Christopher was down the street at some friends. As the darkness set in, there was a sliver of light, 360 degrees around the horizon. We settled in to cleaning storage closets. We didn’t have cable and I think mom and dad just wanted to keep our minds of what was going on.

I remember not being able to drive anyplace. The Entz’s took the neighborhood into town in their boat. Little red wagons in hand, the mom’s walked to Butrey’s to pick through what ever the store had available. Christopher and Stephen “got” to help clear off the roof, there were fears of collapse after it started raining. Dad has pictures of the mud flows off the shop roof.

Christopher worked at Spedburg pool and had to go in over the next several days. The pool had been filled, and they would have had the boilers on getting the pool ready for the season. The ash had sunk all the blankets. Using scuba gear, they had to clean the bottom and recover the blankets.

To this day, if you dig down in the field, you can find the layer of ash that has settled.

Wirring the ARB Fridge

Brandon — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:36:35 +0000

From ARB’s Tech Bench.

Proper ARB Fridge Power Supply

With the introduction of the new ARB Freezer Fridge that utilizes a highly sophisticated power supply with low voltage cut-off and fault code diagnostic system we’ve found these units are very sensitive to poor performing power sockets and the associated circuits of the vehicles they are used in. Typically
the problem plugs are at the rear of a vehicle and the problem is low voltage at the socket. The result is a fridge that reads an incorrect dead battery and shuts off flashing a low voltage code.

………………………..

The Fix: ARB now offers a kit with 18 feet of appropriately sized wire, needed terminals, fuse, and female socket to wire a full time permanently hot fridge plug into the vehicle. This is a cost effective solution to add the needed power capacity for the fridge and gain an additional outlet in the rear cargo area of the truck ensuring the fridge functions as it was designed. The kit part number is 10900011 (see new “ARB Product” for more info)……………

Full ARB article available here Proper ARB Fridge Power Supply (160) in pdf

Now available from East Olympia Cruisers.

So I ordered one, even though I had just added a plug during my Communications Upgrades. I wanted to get the Hella style positive locking plug. It comes with every thing you need to easily connect the fridge directly to your battery. There is the plug, with a short pig tail and connectors. There is 18 feet of 2-10 primary wire with with an inline fuse and crimp connector and housing to connect to the socket pig tail.

You will find the socket smaller then the average 12v accessory outlet, but it is very solid sealed metal bulk head type socket. It also has a spring loaded cover.

Since I already have a 6awg primary wire running from my battery to the back of the vehicle, I didn’t need the supplied wiring or fuse, but I have not been able to find the socket any other place. I mounted the socket right next to my 12v accessory socket and wired into my auxiliary fuse block in the rear quarter panel.

Communications Upgrades

Brandon — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:07:18 +0000

In my Land Cruiser I use a CB radio and Cell phone for most on road and trail communications. Around camp and hiking I use a FRS/GMRS radio. I decided to make a few upgrades in the Land Cruiser to make communication easier and more reliable.

For the cell phone, I have added a Wilson Electronics 3 watt booster and external antenna. At the time they didn’t have the cradle, but my old Motorola phone had an antenna port in the back. Now, they have a complete kit with external antenna, booster, wiring and universal cradle. The cradle has the inside antenna and will work with any phone, regardless of antenna port. I am using mine with the Motorola Droid. While just an external

antenna can increase cell phone reception markedly, the 3 watt booster really gets your signal back out to the tower. Even when I don’t have enough signal for voice communication, I can usually send and receive text messages.

I originally had the booster just sitting under the drivers seat, an extension for the outside antenna, and the cell phone plug. I have been using the cradle for a while and love it. I’m doing some other comms work (keep reading), so I have decided to relocate the booster the the rear quarter panel. The power connector is just long enough, I moved the extension cable from the outside antenna, to the inside antenna/cradle.

One other modification I made to the cradle was to add a small magnet to correspond with the Droids sensor, making it my in car navigation as well as communications device. I will write more on this in another article.

For the GMRS radio, I went to GMRSOutlet.com were I found the Icom F2821 on clearance price. This radio is capable of GMRS, Business and

70cm communication. I had it programmed for GMRS, but also got the programming cable and software. It supports both CTCSS and DTCS tones for privacy communications. Remember, CTCSS and DTCS don’t keep others from hearing your conversations, just keeps them from interrupting you.

Because of mounting space, I decided to get the separation kit to mount the radio next to the phone booster in the rear quarter panel. With a removable face, the controls can be mounted in front. The only problem with mounting the main radio unit in the back, is the power demands. It needs direct battery connection, or at least a 10 gauge wire with 20amp protection.

I also wanted to add a power point for an ARB Fridge. so I decided to run some big power to the back. I already have dual batteries, so getting enough power won’t be a problem. I am running some 6 gauge wire to the back. I already have a 12 gauge wire running for trailer power and auxiliary backup lights, but that’s not enough power. I installed an extra fuse block in the back. Both the positive and negative line to the radio needs a 20 amp fuse. The fridge is on a separate circuit, and the trailer charge wire will be moved to run from the last fuse on the block.

For the radio mounts I decided to remove the factory jack and tool kit. With my lift, the jack doesn’t do much, but I’m going to find a place to put it anyway. The mount for the jack is bolted in on the inner fender and floor of the truck. The Tool bag mount was tack welded to one of the supports. For holding the radios and fuse block, I bent a piece of stainless sheet I had left over from my Off Road Trailer kitchen. I also had some 1″x1/16″ bar for extra support. On bar was bent up to bolt into the lower jack mounting holes, the other runs horizontally from one inner fender support to the other.

Radio Mount before installation

Radio Mount Installed with Radios

ARB Premium Recovery Kit

Brandon — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:35:22 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Seattle, January 6th/ ARB 4×4 Accessories/ — ARB USA now offers a complete pre-assembled boxed kit, the ARB premium Recovery Kit includes everything the off-roader needs to get started. Whether it be a simple snatch recovery or a more serious winch recovery, the ARB premium recovery kit has it all. Retailing for $407.00, the premium recovery kit represents exceptional value and a savings over purchasing each component individually.
KIT CONTENTS
- 1x P/No. ARB501 Recovery Bag Large
- 1x P/No. ARB705 17,500lb Snatch Strap
- 1x P/No. ARB730 26,500lb x 10’ Tree Trunk Protector
- 1x P/No. ARB720 9,900lb x 66’ Winch Extension Strap
- 1x P/No. ARB220 Recovery Damper
- 1x P/No. GLOVES Leather Recovery Gloves
- 2x P/No. ARB207D 10,640lbs, 3/4” Pin, D-Shackle
- 1x P/No. 10100020 Snatch Block 9000
Note: The ARB Premium Recovery Kit (P/No. RK9) is not suitable for all vehicles. Please verify your recovery working loads before ordering the kit. ARB recommends using a snatch strap that is 3-4x the vehicle weight, therefore, ARB recommends this kit for vehicles 5,600lbs and under. Perfect for Jeep Wranglers, small pick-ups like the Toyota Tacoma and small SUVs like the FJ Cruiser, Nissan Xterra and Toyota 4Runner.

Check with East Olympia Cruisers for more information.