Maze Part 2

Wake to a lovely sunrise. We enjoy coffee and wait for the kids to wake, then introduce them to the “no stepping on crypto” game.

Crypto

On the way to the rough part of Teapot Canyon.

The desert soil sustains a mat of organisms that themselves hold the sand and prevent erosion, its called “crypto” because early biologists weren’t sure what it was (fungus, lichen, etc).

The game when hiking in the desert is to never disturb crypto. A wide wash is full of sand, no crypto, its fine to walk on it. Solid slickrock (exposed sandstone) is also fine to hop around on. But in between there are weird brown and black towers 0.25 to 6 inches high which are crypto formations. A single footprint in old crypto can last for many years.

The rule is that, if you need to step on crypto then you’ve messed up and need to instead turn around and find another way.

After breakfast we’re back in the car for what should be the most difficult driving on the trip, Teapot Canyon, which is just ahead of teapot rock campground. The road hugs the short cliffs and skirts the top of a shallow canyon. This area is the roughest part of the road but the lifted truck has no problem. Really the only time I need help is with steep rises where I can’t see the track ahead. Teapot itself is a doddle, the only real work is kicking stones off the trail that previous folks have placed. So, OME 2.5″ lift and stock wheels makes the bj60 much easier to drive into the maze than a stock ford explorer. The only damage was a dented exhaust tip. The 3 bikes on the back were no problem.

Awesome Rocks!

I do notice that the idle rpm is still creeping up, is now at 850 or 900rpm…

Amazing Rocks, these were once tree roots.

 

After teapot canyon the road is significantly easier, we continue past the wall to lunch at standing rock where the wind picks up and becomes furious, whistling loudly and causing largish rocks to fall and explode around the base. We continue on to chimney rock and our first night in the maze.

Stormy weather at Standing Rock.

 

That evening we spend a few hours exploring the maze rim until we see a snowstorm hurrying toward us from across the maze. We run back to the tent just in time for a hailstorm.

On Chimney Rock (its bigger than it looks)

Boys hiding from the wind.

Snowstorm Coming from across the Maze!

So cold… we’re cooking in the vestibule. Good tent!

Post Snowstorm Sunset at Chimney Rock

 

Into the Maze

After a few more days climbing and mountain biking in moab I drive back up to SLC to pick up the fam-damily. Do the final gear sort, etc, fill the water tanks, some last minute grocery shopping, etc, etc.

One thing I don’t have is a spare fuel/air diaphragm for the engine. For a few weeks prior to the trip the idle speed has been creeping up. First it was 700rpm, then 800rpm. The engine sounds smoother at that rate but its not supposed to idle there. Problem is most likely an issue with a leather diaphragm that is responsible for the fuel flow to the motor. If the leather is torn it will slowly continue to tear and eventually the motor will be idling at max rpm, blowing white smoke, etc, etc. Its something that needs fixing. After the long driving to Utah the idle is now at 900rpm.

I’d tasked my lovely wife with obtaining one in seattle but it was not to be. I just need to hope it doesn’t deteriorate on the trip. Probably wouldn’t be fun to drive out of the maze with a 3000rpm idle…

Load the kids up and leave early the next morning with our goal the campsite at teapot rock. We drive south on 15 to prove, take a left at hwy 6 until we reach Green River, then maybe we tank up on Ray’s Burgers (a maze tradition of old that the kids might appreciate.) Finally we take a right on hwy 70 for 10 miles or so, then a left at Hwy 24. After 50 miles or so its a left turn on E Lower San Rafael Rd which is a dirty road and easy to miss, especially at night. There is a sign at the turn off indicating this is the road to Hans Flats Ranger Station.

We do in fact miss the turn off, pull a U-turn 1/8 mile later and are bumping through the dust. On previous trips this road suffered from terrible washboarding but this time the road was very smooth.

Small sign for turnoff to Hans Flats (and Maze). We’ve now missed this turnoff on 3 different trips.

Drive to Hans Flats is longer than I remember, but just as barren (and awesome!)

Yay! Almost in the park!

Kids doing their job.

We stop at the ranger station to check-in and verify our permits, purchase a new copy of Desert Solitaire and start on the more seriously bumpy track to the flint trail. Lots of side roads and the drive to the flint trail is longer than I remember. Can’t believe we drove this before in an overloaded Volvo Wagon!

Stop at the flint trail overlook for a snack, watch a tiny vehicle wend its way up, and then we’re heading down ourselves.

Flint Trail from Overlook. A vehicle is visible if you look closely.

About to begin the descent! Kids are nervous. Fully loaded with 10 days of food and water (and poop bags!)

Kids are anxious but it really isn’t so bad. I remember it being bumpier and narrower. The low range was great, just idled down the trail in Low Range 3rd gear.

At the bottom we came to a fork whose left branch went along a wash. I remember this shortcut from before and take it, against the wishes of the wife. This short cut cuts a lot of unnecessary distance, meets up with the trail to the maze in 1/4 mile or so.

Kids are antsy, we stop and take out their bikes and they ride ahead on the road. Lots of places are too difficult for them to ride.

Finally we arrive at Teapot Rock campground. I don’t remember ever noticing this site before. My father and I once slept on the trail because it got dark before we reached the site.

Teapot Canyon Campsite

Teapot Rock campsite is a little northeast of teapot rock, on the south side of a lovely gully. Terrific views, fine sunset, gourmet indian food.

Yay! We did it!

Camped at Teapot Canyon.

Front Sway Bar installed – Survey Says?!

Survey says: “Awesome.” Survey says: “don’t drive your lifted 60 on the road without one.”

True, I’ve no honest notion of the state of my shocks, my springs or my steering joints, but installing the front sway bar has made an enormous difference in my truck’s handling.

Used to be the truck felt like the front wheels were tucking under the front of the car. The truck would dive and lean to the outside of every corner and that feeling limited my speed. Truck didn’t feel like it would tip but I was definitely losing grip from the lean.

Now the truck is tastefully flat in the corners, the truck handling really is transformed. Amazing. Amazing.

To any doubters I say: try this! $60 for extended links, $6 for bottle of epoxy spray, its a huge value. I’d have paid $1000 to have the handling this much better.

Installation Process:

Hardened Steel Tap for Chasing Threads

First thing the brackets bolt onto the frame, there are holes waiting with threads. The previous owner had coated the frame with some rust preventative coating so bolts wont’ go in, first every threaded hole must be chased with a tap. If you don’t know, a tap is a special hardened steel screw that cuts threads into metal. But running the tap through the threads I clean them out so bolt will not be damaged.

Tap with Tiny Wrench. Gently spin tap in and out to clean out the existing threads. Idea is to clean, cut as little as possible. Avoid cross threading!

Holes tape about 5 minutes each to tap. After chasing the threads my precious new Toyota bolts thread cleanly.

Tapping frame on passenger side.

Bolt bracket into place.

Sway bar bracket bolted into place on passenger side.

I pre-installed the Man-A-Fre extended sway bar links to sway bar. This was a mistake:

1) No way to thread the sway bar into place with the linkages in place.

2) I installed the linkages the wrong way.

Stock BJ60 Sway Bar with Man-A-Fre extended sway bar links installed pointing the wrong way!

Don’t be stupid like me – the front diff hump is on the passenger side.

Next steps were very simple. These steps should be done for each side before moving to next step:

• Chase threads where brackets bolt to axle housting (there are only 2 of these)
• Thread the sway bar through springs so it lies in front of bracket mounts.
• Apply grease all over the rubber bushing, wrap it around the sway bar and insert it into metal bracket.
• Insert bracket tab into axle housing.
• Bolt other side of bracket into axle housing.

Now you have a sway bar that can be rotated on the axle housing. Next:

• install linkage between frame bracket and sway bar end. You’ll need two wrenches for this.

Now take a victory lap and enjoy the new responsiveness and non-scary turning.

Back home and hose it all down with Fluidfilm. You’ll not be touching it for a while except maybe to check that bolts are still torqued tight.

Sway Bars installed, looking back at passenger side.

 

Frame, frame bracket, man-a-fre linkage an sway bar on passenger side.

Drivers side bracket.

 

The morning after

Wake the next morning feeling Terrible. Under a car in the mud with a grinder, my eyes ache, I’ve burns on my face and forehead. Feel I have had the briefest taste of manual labor in years. Body sore all over, and sort of pissed about the amount of work I needed to do to get the car ready to leave.

There’s also the matter of an old land cruiser in my driveway now, under my care, expecting maintenance…

I do need to go to work, but first thing I need to deal with the Washington State Licensing as the BC Travel Permit is only good until the end of the day. Licensing is good and wonderful, but I need to pay a bunch of money for sales tax, or import tax, or whatever they want to call it. Then they reveal that washington state requires both parts of the BC Insurance Registration form. They can’t actually register the car until they have the second half of that form. Shit. I text the seller, he’ll mail it to me asap.

I get temporary washington plate taped to teh back window, and head to Discount Tire to replace the tires, at least the two rear ones which are missed and dangerously old.

Discount tire is empty and has a reasonable selection. The guy there admits that while my front tires (Michelin ltx at) are too old for them to touch, he thinks they have plenty of life left. There’s quite a range available, from off-road to highway. As this is primarily a highway/snow vehicle I’m looking for a highway tires that can handle the weight. Michelin LTX AS are popular with minivans, quiet, good grip and 80k mile guarantee, I get a pair for the rear. The swap is complex:

• rear wheels are rusty and crappy
• I’ve good shiny wheels in the back with tires that went through a car fire

Discount tire puts the new tires on the shiny wheels. I keep on of the current rear tires on crappy wheel as a spare, and discount tire disposes of the remaining 3 tires. Yes?

Handling of car is greatly improved with same-size tires on the rear.

On way home I stop at Toyota Dealer for my first oil filter and gasket. Parts lady is very helpful, oil filter is $5.50, gasket is $1.25. I decline to purchase a fuel filter for $83 or an air filter for $58.

Oil change is super easy…

• Undo oil fill on engine
• Sit under the vehicle with paper towels at the ready
• undo enormous drain plug and ensure that oil falls into drain pan
• replace drain plug
• using funnel, pour 6.5 quarts of oil into engine (until dip stick reads full), I used rotella t6 5-40 (same stuff as in motorbike and Porsche 930)

Now replace filter. I undo the oil filter sized canister on the side of the engine… wow, its rusty. Been a while since it was changed. Wow, its really on there, need a filter wrench… Whats this… diesel! Shit. I’ve just undone the fuel filter. I screw it back on and go looking for oil filter. Down under the engine, in another honestly convenient location is a huge oil filter, a Mahle OC374. Dang, Toyota parts lady gave me a filter for a Camry or something. Ok, I’ll change the oil filter later.

Start engine and smell diesel. See diesel dripping from fuel filter. I tighten with wrench (a no no according to book) but leak is still there. Shit. Probably the filter gasket is toast.

Look on internets, this is 3b motor, fuel filter is a Napa 3386 (wix 33386). I drive to Napa for the filter. Guy looks up vehicle, his machine says it takes a Napa 3396 (wix 33393). I get the 3386 anyway: $5.50. Also get an oil filter, a Napa 1515 (which is slightly smaller than the Mahle that was on there before).

Return home and install the 3386. Engine has a little priming pump built-in on the side:

• take off old filter, pour fuel into yoghurt container
• rub some motor oil on the new filter’s gasket.
• hand tighten filter to filter mount
• tubing over nipple next to filter mount and into yoghurt container
• open nipple with wrench
• priming hand pump is built into engine about a foot below the filter mount
• pump primer until fuel comes from tubing, keep pumping until all air is out
• close nipple with wrench

After cleaning up I start the engine. Still leaking! I remove filter and take photos of filter mount. It looks good. Feel around… feels good. Hmm. I dunno. Defective filter?

I call Napa and ask him to compare the 3386 and 3393. He says the 3393 has a slightly smaller diameter gasket. Shit. Well, that would do it. Gasket too large won’t seal against the smooth surface.

Back to napa and purchase the 3393. Dang its an inch longer and $10 more: $15.50. At this point I’m sort of shaking my head. Why the heck would the diameters be different?

Sure enough the 3393 seals perfectly. No issue at all except maybe it now extends quite close to the engine now, might be tough to fit a filter wrench on it when its time to remove.

Hopefully doesn’t spend all its time like this.

Back under the car for the last step, the oil filter. Fortunatly the oil filter is MOSTLY right side up so removing it doesn’t pour oil all over everything. Filter looks to hold about a quart! Unscrew and a bit of blackness spills but mostly contained. I fill the new filter with new oil, not quite to teh top, slick a little round the gasket and screw it back on. definite benefit to lifted truck, the maintenance is comfortable!

Start the engine, sounds better, cleaner. Maybe psychological but the engine seems to be waking up from a slumber. Next morning is below zero and car had a much easier time turning over, I credit that to the 5-40 oil. Some people worry that the first number is too low. The first number in oil weight is the cold viscosity (thickness), second number is hot viscosity. Cold oil is naturally very thick, like syrup. It thins with temperature until it has the consistency of alcohol. Having oil that’s thinner when cold has little to do with its ability to protect the motor when warm. When oil is too thick it won’t flow properly on startup. Motor oils with a broad viscosity tend to fall apart sooner, but the shell is proven stuff so no worries there.

Next steps will be air filter, transmission fluid, transfer case fluid, and fluid for both diffs.

Lots of steps to go but vehicle sure looks like it needs it.

So, for reference, my 1984 BJ60 wants:

• wix 33393 fuel filter (napa 3393)
• wix 51515 oil filter (napa 1515)
• wix 52159 air filter (napa 2159)

For motor oil I used Rotella T6 5-40 (which is probably overkill in every way, but should ease start-up).

Hey kid, watch that sugar drink doesn’t spill and stain teh seats!

To the Great White North – Eh

Wake at 6, leave seattle at 7:15.

Interesting vehicle on the way up. Someone likes Scooby Doo:

Someone likes Scooby Doo (Note license plate.)

We missed the exit to Lynden (don’t expect any signs) and had to backtrack to Lynden, Crossing The Border at 9:45. Reached the seller’s place at 10:15am. Arrive, truck is:
– still wearing its monster tires
– has no bumpers
– very tall like a hot wheels

First View

Walk around, the suspension, springs and underside have a light coating of rust, but otherwise it appears very very rustless.

Rusty and no bumpers.

Crawl under, check for play in the drive line, the slip joint, the diff, etc, everything is tight. The Knuckles are clean with a light coating of grease. Really looks ok. Pop hood, engine has a light coating of oxidation, white or red. Its dusty and looks like its been sitting. There is oil leaking from top of valve cover, so new seal is needed. Inside, the panels are removed from the rear for inspection and sure enough, no rust inside anywhere. The classic spots look great.

Engine wise, the pipes and plumbing are a bit of a mess. The turbo plumbing is sort of a joke, using flexible positive pressure tubing for suction.

Engine was run that day so I don’t get to see a cold start, but starts right up into a vibrating diesel idle at about 600rpm.

Out on the highway my impressions:
– it really needs an alignment
– wow the silly big wheels make it hard to accelerate
– too bad no pyro, can’t see what’s happening with exhaust
– no boost so can’t tell if turbo is even working
– heat works but is weak
– it really needs an alignment
– shifts well, good syncros
– seems low on power compared to the 4 speed I drove before, which is odd because I’d expect the turbo with shorter gears to feel stronger. Doesn’t want to rev. Driving with the big wheels it seems ok, easy to maintain 2500rpm and 65mph. Only later realize that those large wheels mean the speedo is reading low, we were probably doing 70-75.

Where’s the bumpers? Oh, they’re in teh back. Wheres the wheels? Oh they’re back there too. Where’s the parts? Oh, they’re at my house, we’ll need to go pick them up. Damn. I’m pretty close to telling him to spend a week or two to get his stuff together, but relent. Ok then, let’s get to work. The seller is game and we start right away with fetching the parts at his nearby place.

My ride’s duty discharged, he heads off to his business in La Conner.

Ouch. He’s got parts in the back of his truck, in a trailer, and inside his garage. We sort through them and get the ones I need.

Loading bits into the back.

Back to his work we go round back. There’s 10-11 wrecked cars there. One is a 1988 Land Cruiser FJ62G that burned from about 10 inches above the frame. Roof rack melted. Seller says it’s probably from a bad stereo install what with those later cruisers running 24 volts. Its donating its: wheels and bumpers to me. Only thing is, the bumpers are still attached. The fronts come off in about 35 minutes, the rear bumper though… it’s really on there, 10 bolts and none will come free with the force I can apply in the limited space available. I get to spend 5 hours on my back, on wet cardboard, with a grinder cutting the bolts off the bumper and sparks burning my face. Good thing I brought eye protection. This time the seller needs to be back inside doing his work.

Lifting rear for wheel change.

Man… man. Root beer brown beauty is looking pretty good at this point. Well, I did learn an appreciation for the excellent bolts toyota uses to hold its bumpers on.

By 5:30 I’ve cut off the rear bumper and mounted them both onto the FrankenCruiser. I’ve taken off the front sway bar to find the rear sway bar he gave me is actually a front. So I only need one front… Dang I wanted a rear sway bar but now its dark and I still need to get through customs. I mount the wheels, remove the wheels from the hulk and into the back.

Note that the burned hulk where I got the wheels and bumpers is land cruiser donor number 8.

A BJ62G died and now others can live.

Hot fire caused by miswiring stereo into 24volt system.

Can see what seat frames look like without their covers.

Right before we leave for licensing seller notices the left turn signals are stuck on. “That is not right!” He takes off the front turn signal to check for dual filament bulb (classic mistake on Porsche too), but its ok. Next he digs through the wiring in the back and finds a device for working trailer lights. Disconnects it and all is good.

Getting in the car I notice the brake warning light is on. Hmm. Release ebrake it stays on… Hmm. Ask seller. We check brake fluid level, its low… Hmm. He’s under car, I’m pumping pedal, a brake fitting is leaking. Its a new AN12 coupling, was just a little loose. Tightened it no longer leaks. He buys a pint of brake fluid. We check again, no leak.

We head to some private canadian version of licensing and I purchase a BC Transit Permit. At the office they assure me I only am entitled to the bottom half of the insurance paper, the top half belongs to the seller. Transit permit good for 2 days is $41.

Then… I’m off for the border. Its 7:30 and I haven’t eaten lunch or dinner. Its cold and dark, no stereo.

Arrive at US Customs, drive slowly through crash barriers and expensive looking scanners, stop at gatehouse. I gather my folder of papers. Guard asks for my PIN. My PIN? What PIN? Your vehicle PIN! Uh… what? Vin? Yeah sure. I hand him a bundle of papers. He goes through and hands each one back to me. In a hurry. Asks if I’m a USC. A what? USC! USC! Uh? I show him my passport. Citizen? Yeah USC!

Jeese. Whats with the lingo. Strong accent. Hispanic? Clipped. His view of professional but I can’t understand him. Maybe idea is to make the CBP uncomfortable? Some-a-sort-a professional technique, eh? Get me to jump out of truck and run for it? I bet they’ve all sorts of stories.

Anyway, he tells me to park and go inside with the paperwork. Nice building. Much better than an airport. Makes me glad that smoking is rare today. Inside a CBP officer is waiting for me at the counter. I present paperwork which is:
– BC ownership paper
– EPA declaration (exempt)
– NHTSA declaration (excempt)

He goes through it. Asks for keys, for me to take a seat. He goes out and checks car for 4-5 minutes, he flashlights through the piles of old parts in the back. Then he comes in and sits at his PC terminal for 10 minutes. Clicking. Computing Duty. I pay with credit car. Back to desk, more clicking. While I wait the three bored looking guards in the background discuss the prices on bullets, the relative merit of 223 vs 9mm. Prices at walmart… Is this what they really talk about? Or is it on my behalf? Other than their talk the place as quiet as a remote border post.

There’s a memorial to a fallen officer on the wall. Two nuts from Symbionese Liberation Army tried to get back into the US in the 70s, killed a guard here.

Extra shame too as border was much less formal in the 70s. Just to the east of the border crossing are a pair of country roads, Henderson Rd and its canadian equivalent: 0th Avenue. The two small roads are exactly parallel running east west and separated by a ditch and some power lines. This is the border. There’s no wall or fence. Could easily drive the cruiser across. With a subaru I’d need to take it at a diagonal. There are menacing high tech looking camera towers though. Probably wouldn’t make it far these days. But makes me think it’d be pretty easy to get across if you needed to. If you’re desparate enough to shoot police, probably better off just going across yourself instead of worrying about your passport stamp.

Eventually he walks up with the precious form in hand. He graces me with a quick snap, the frankencruiser visible in teh background.

The 7501 is mine! FrankenCruiser visible in the background at Lynden Crossing.

Finally back in the states I head south for home down these dark country highways.

Fill up in the USA:

Long day: filling up near Lynden at 9:30pm.

Call from the Franken-Seller

Deal was very loose but I think I was very clear that my goal was to stay below $9k. The same day that Root Beer Brown Beauty sold (congrats!), I get a message from Franken-Seller that the price needs to go up by $250, and that those lovely Optima batteries need to be switched for the lead acid batteries in his truck. I can’t blame him for wanting the batteries and I do think it is good that he spent more time to figure the prices, but I’m sorry he had to raise the price. Fact is he’s been getting lots of interest ever since he agreed to sell to me, so a little seller’s regret. Too bad he agreed to it on the phone though… Sigh. Anyway, no sweat, just a little thing in the big picture.

Message today asking if I wanted spare parts. I agreed. Includes extra parts for dash, heater, glass and… sway bars… which are NOT currently installed on the cruiser.

Sway bars are important for tall vehicles, and even more so when they are lifted to even taller. US 60 series cruisers didn’t come with sway bars, and didn’t even have mounts for sway bars on the rear, canadian (or maybe just later canadian) 60s came with front and rear sway bars. These are essential for good highway manners, especially when loaded, and double-especially when the truck has its center of mass raised with lifted suspension. Fortunately the sway bars are easy to install although I’ll need to get some extension links to mount them on this lifted truck. Seems the extensions for 4 corners are readily availabe and will cost about $70.

From reading the land cruiser forums on the internets I am finding an unusual misunderstanding of suspension and the roles of the various components. Even for the internets the memes around land cruiser suspension are very wrong. This is not a case of small discrepencies, but people lifting trucks and throwing out sway bars, then trying to fix by purchasing a different brand of shock. Nowhere have I seen any mention of corner balance, center of mass, or calculations to determine the correct spring/sway/shock rates. I might actually get a chance to do some math here.