40 Guy builds a 100 Series

[Rezarf <><]

Replaced #1 Cylinders Igniter Coil after getting a rough idle and P0301 Code on the ScanGauge 2. Picked up a spare for igniter for my spares bag and future incidents. Fwiw, I picked up the igniters from amazon for ~$50 bucks and they are OE Denso units that are made in Japan. The dealer wants BIG $$$$$ for the same.

 

[Rezarf <><]

The other day I stopped into Slee Offroad, as it is local to me. It is a store filled with man jewelry and a staff that truly knows their stuff. As I was poking around the store front I got to looking at the tire carrier/bumper on display and realized it was the older centered version for the 100. I asked if it was for sale and was told it wasn't welded up correctly and that it won't bolt right up to a 100 do to the clearance of the mounting brackets and the frame. Bummer... I left thinking, "what a waste, there is the bumper I have been hunting for a few years sitting there new on the rack but it doesn't fit."

By the time I got home, I had decided to give Christo a holler and see if he'd sell me the "blemished" bumper without warranty and I'd chop, cut, re-weld, grind it till it fit! After his initial concern of what I was getting into and a few emails Christo gave me a VERY generous price and I took the deal. This gives them a chance to display their new current offering on tire carriers/bumpers and I win with a "new" Slee Rear Bumper and tire carrier at a steep discount. :victory:

On a side note, I went by yesterday to bring it home and the shop was busy as they were leaving for Cruise Moab today. I did see the 200 they built to debut their new products and all I have to say is WOW! Great, now I want a 200... BAD!

My initial measurements show it won't take much to make it work, I think a little grinding and I am there... famous last words right!?

Onto the pics...

Man Candy!

I'm SOOOOO stoked, I got this for about the same or a little less than I could build it myself, and it is the older grey metallic that will match my ARB Sahara bar well. Christo makes some of the very best equipment for the Land Crusier community and he's a stand up guy to boot! He and his staff are first class all the way and the Land Cruiser community is a lucky to have them! Thanks again Christo!

I plan on:
*Hard mounting my Partner Steel Stove to the rear of the tire carrier,
*Mounting my 60" Hi Lift
*Flush mounting some LED rear flood lights into the bumper
*Using the tire carrier to mount my rear camera.
*Adding a gas strut to assist in opening.
*Using the Antenna mount to mount an 11# propane tank in a custom mount.

Stay Tuned.

 

[JPsLC]

It's nice to read about good work in a well organized thread. Subscribed!

 

[Rezarf <><]

It's nice to read about good work in a well organized thread. Subscribed!

Thanks for the encouragement, my home brew Dual Battery system is up next!

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Drew, love what you're doing to your 100. I've finally gotten the wife's permission to make some tweaks to hers :sombrero:

Have you considered adding a fold down table to the tire carrier? I almost want a tire carrier again just for the opportunity to have a table lol.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Thanks Arya! Yes I have, I hope to keep my partner steel stove 18" on a drop down on the rear of the tire carrier and create a slide out shelf/table to one side or the other. I've got a good plan if and when I get around to drawers.

 

[Rezarf <><]

So I tore into my engine to get at the starter contacts. I went by the local auto parts store to have them test the battery and alternator just to make sure and everything came out peachy there, so I knew it was the starter. Well, it took me an afternoon into the evening with some breaks and dinner, and reading in the manual but alas I got down to the starter and replaced both sides of the contacts and the plunger with OEM parts from Toyota.

If you didn't know the starter is conveniently located under half of the engine Robbie of Toyota Trails Tech Guru Extraordinaire happens to be a friend and local mechanic to me. He said that the starter is located there to avoid the heat soak factor of the factory exhaust system, he talked about it being smart and that it helps the longevity of the starter itself... that may be, but it sucks to get to it.

You only need to unplug, unbolt, unclip everything that attaches above the cylinder heads. All in all it wasn't hard, just time consuming.

It was a welcome sight to actually see the starter.

Here is a shot of how dusty and worn my contacts were. The unit smelled like burnt electronics... yummmmm. I cleaned it up, checked all the wires and started replacing parts.

I think the plunger and both contacts sets were only around $30ish bucks from my local Mr. T parts dealer. I could be off but I don't have the receipt handy. I am glad I replaced the plunger too as mine was very worn.

Out with the old, in with the new. These are about 1/2" on each side... this is the culprit if your 100 begins to start intermittently. The new one is on the right

 

[Rezarf <><]

I thought this pic was telling if you are trying to decide to splurge or not on a new plunger...

Cleaned out and ready to reinstall

New plunger, new contacts, cleaned, and reinstalled. The awesome part about this is getting this far is exactly 1/2 way to finish! Arggg :rant:

Most awesome part was the truck started up first time. I was bracing for the idea that I had to have missed something in all the reconnecting and wiring but what do you know... even a blind dog finds a bone sometimes. Fired up on the first try.

 

[Rezarf <><]

I also had a little time to work on my winch. I ended up training my m12000 for a Warn xd9000 and enough cash to buy a synthetic rope. I bought my rope from Custom Splice in the 3/8" x 100' in grey color. I also had enough scratch left over for a Slee aluminum haws fairlead.

I pulled the ARB bar off to mount up the winch with grade 8 bolts and unspooled the wire cable. Man on man, that old cable bird nested on me big time!

Pretty awesome approach angle sans bumper. I measured how far Warn painted the cable red so you know when to stop free spooling the winch and leave enough wraps on the drum for safety. I decided to use that concept on my synthetic rope.

The Warn control solenoid box fits like a glove into the opening on the Sahara bar but leaves you no room to mess with it inside if you need to trouble shoot anything. I double checked all the wiring was correct and snug and bolted it down.

I went ahead and added about 7' of tubular webbing to the eyelet end of the winch rope. This will serve the same purpose as the painted cable and give a visual clue as to when to stop spooling out rope. I like that I can see it from the end of a 100' pull of the rope if I am working solo in a recovery.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Winch refresh place holder

 

[Rezarf <><]

Gearing up for our camping season here in Colorado. As soon as the snow melts in the high country we are off and about all summer before the white stuff comes back. I took some time to go through my gear and pulled out an old favorite my Kelty Carport. In lieu of a retractable awning I can set this guy up in about 10 minutes solo or 15 with someones help

It can snug down creating an open floor tent with access to the rear door, erected on either side or rear depending on what we are hoping to gain. It has windows on three sides that can be rolled up for screens or down for a little more weather protection or changing privacy. It also comes with 2 poles that can be used as legs to raise the far end and create a large open area for eating, chilling or quick shade.

I love this thing...

 

[fireball]

Hella 4000s and a Sahara bar. A man after my own heart

 

[Rezarf <><]

Thanks fireball, I spent last night drooling over the 3 sets of drawers you built over on mud. I am impressed and inspired by your skills man. I love the natural wood tones you left for the finish. I hope to do something similar but I think I'll end up carpeting it since I am planning on a steel frame and HDPE skins.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Next up, I started working on rear lighting for camping, negotiating off road trails and rear illumination to avoid the elderly at Costco I wanted a removable non-permanent solution to adding a few rear facing LED lights that I can move to a roof rack down the line. Here is what I started with:

Hella has a line of LED lights called OPTILUX, this is their Mini Light Bar 6, it is small and super bright, I chose a pure flood light for this application as I wanted to spread out as much light as possible. I am impressed with these lights so far, they are well made, waterproof and seem rugged. Simple two wire hook up, more on that later.

The reflectors and lens look really good on these. I have used a set of import knock-offs before and the quality of these units is easily felt and seen.

Engraved logo.

Here is the self made kit I used to install these guys where I wanted them to go. Shrink wrap, new metric hardware for the spacer, ABS spacer materials, wire management, Hella mounting bracket etc.

 

[Rezarf <><]

So to make these non permanent I decided to mount them right under the rear spoiler thing (anyone know what this thing actually does? I am assuming it keeps mist off the rear window). To mount the lights off the spoiler mounting bracket I needed to fab some simple spacers. I grabbed a block of ABS from the scrap bin in my garage and began to measure and cut them to fit.

This is where they will mount up, this is the mount of the spoiler at the very top of the rear hatch. There are few bolts that hold the spoiler on that are captured in this mount, so I am going to tap into the rear-most threaded hole to mount the lights onto.

After a little measuring and fitting the lights I drilled the hole in the right spot.

This is how the mount will space the light off the bracket. It is simple but effective.