This blog talks about the repairs made to the Land Cruiser (HZJ75 1991), which the manager who has lived in Kenya for a long time and has been working as a cameraman for 20 years has been riding.
Please note that repairs are African style and the Road Traffic Act is completely different from Japan.
Originally, the manager who had never even replaced the fan belt, since I got this Land Cruiser 20 years ago (2002), now I am doing many repairs myself.
That's because I often had a pain in repairs.
I had to pay for it and it would be destroyed, so I started to repair it myself.
Originally a machine-loving manager, when he started repairing, he forgot that time had passed and was absorbed in the work.
He also likes being covered in oil and sweat.
So, he wrote an article about Land Cruiser maintenance like this.
Land Cruiser's article for the first time in a while
Since I wrote the article last time, Land Cruiser has played a lot, so I want to write mountains.
I take pictures with my smartphone as much as possible. Looking back at those photos, I realize that I'm doing more work than I expected.
I felt that car maintenance was a part of the caretaker's life. I would like to introduce a number of such repairs soon.
In this blog, I found out the cause of the noise that I had been worried about for a while and solved it, so about that.
Kenya has more rough roads than Japan.
There are cracks in unexpected parts of the body.
Since the car is a car, I dare to drive on bad roads.
Land Cruiser with a long suspension stroke, if you are running only on flat ground, the suspension seems to be dull, so try stretching as much as possible.
I wonder if there is no particular need for that.
It may be better to run softer so that cracks do not occur.
This 75-inch Land Cruiser has quite a few cracks.
A number of cracks that were repaired when the entire body was painted in March 2020. (The arrow indicates where the crack was repaired)
The cause of the crack may be wrinkles, such as making a large hole (hatch for safari) in the ceiling or attaching a carrier.
Cracks occur mainly around the front pillars.
Cracks occur in other places as well.
It often happens on the left side of the car for some reason.
Noise is now generated when turning left
For a while, when I turned left, I started to hear a popping sound.
The noise gradually increased. Recently, it has even occurred when overcoming bumps for deceleration.
It's not the light sound of a thin metal plate, it's not a loud sound. I suspect that a crack is running somewhere on the body, and search around the noise source, but I can't find the crack.
In order to find out the location, I asked a mechanic in the neighborhood to ride with me and look into it from below and shake it. However, the cause cannot be determined.
So I tried various things.
I tried myself to stop the noise.
I checked, adjusted, replaced all the bushes around the noise area, and tightened the screws firmly for looseness. Noise does not fit in ...
Replace the spring bush, replace the stabilizer link, and firmly pinch urethane or tire tubes in areas where metal rubs against each other. No, the noise doesn't go away ...
The gearbox mount (transfer, bush that supports the gearbox) was completely torn, and I thought this was the cause and replaced it. that? The noise doesn't go away ...
Thanks to that, the noise while the car was running was considerably reduced.
However, the essential noise remains.
Gearbox mount bush, metal plate and rubber were completely peeled off
A mount that supports the gearbox and transfer. When accelerating, the twisting force of the propeller shaft is supported by this bush. One side is pressed and one side is pulled.
Bush has been supporting the gearbox for 31 years. Well done!!!
It seems that it will be used as some kind of modified part.
The new mount on the right is certainly made in Malaysia.
Experience shows that it is made by a recent good third manufacturer and has a service life of about 1/3 of genuine parts.
Is that 10 years?
However, the price is 1/4 or less than the genuine parts you buy at a regular Nairobi store. Prices do not change much in the long run.
The above parts are surely purchased for about 3500 yen. It was cheaper than I expected.
For parts that do not pose a major safety hazard, actively use cheap parts. After that, I had a pain and I would buy genuine parts even if they were expensive.
Crack found
The noise while driving is not pleasant, so I want to find it anyway.
By the way, recently, I had a mechanic in the neighborhood ride with me again and revenged to find cracks.
While running in the neighborhood, I sometimes looked down and shook to look for cracks.
I'll definitely find it this time! There was a mechanic's intention. It was worth it, and I was able to find the crack that caused the noise.
The cause was a crack in the body as originally expected.
The place is the left toe part of the person sitting in the passenger seat.
The crack was running straight, so I thought it was a structural structure where metal plates overlapped, and I didn't notice that it was a crack.
The underside of the floor cover in the first place.
Cracks around the feet on the passenger side, the left foot of the person sitting in the passenger seat, and the toes.
When I started welding for repairs, I found the cracks extending not only there, but also long to the boundary between the floor and the wall.
It was hard to find because it stretched straight to the boundary between the floor and the wall.
Clack found!
The cracks will be filled with gas welding.
First, prepare for welding work.
Welding is from under the floor.
The caretaker cures on the body, puts water in a damp rag and a PET bottle so that cables and resins are not damaged, and waits on the floor.
The base of the jack stand was sandwiched under the mat so that the mat would not touch the floor.
The flames of acetylene gas and oxygen are extremely hot. The surroundings get extremely hot during work.
Apply a wet rag to the work area during welding work.
To prevent the rag from drying out, use a PET bottle with a small hole in the lid as a water gun and continue to pour water slowly and constantly.
Once upon a time, when I took my eyes off, the tip of the radiator fan blade was burned and melted.
If you leave it to others for curing work, something will be burned.
There are many workers here who will cut corners if there is a chance.
There are some workers who can do it, but ...
It took a little longer than I expected, but it finished safely without burning or melting.
Do a driving test.
The noise that I was worried about was completely settled.
It's the quietest since I bought it 20 years ago.
Let's go to the safari!
Two spare tires are always available.
A car that you can polish yourself
For the caretaker, if the car is in good condition, the attachment will be weakened, and it will be felt as a mere means of transportation.
For many years, his partner Land Cruiser has been appealing for his presence through a breakdown that can be easily and cheaply fixed like this.
The more I fix it, the better I feel and the better I get, so I become more and more attached to it.
A car that you can polish yourself, a car that shines the more you polish it.
The Land Cruiser HZJ75 is just such an attractive car.
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end
Next time, I will write about the fact that I lowered the differential.
After all, it is a winding of adjustment by myself.
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