Project Hundy Build Thread - 2000 UZJ100 Land Cruiser
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Let there be light!
Outback Proven delivers the goods once again
The 100 Series Land Cruiser (like many other stock vehicles) badly suffers from the poor lighting performance out of the headlights. While both high and low beams benefit from the upgraded loom, the low beams stand to gain the most as they are just dismal at best in stock form. I added the 'upgrade' bulbs and that surely helped but it was still needing attention.
High quality connectors, harness, relays and fuse assemblies
Harness Arrangement & Layout
Rough Layout Under the Hood
Australian manufacture Piranha has a solution specific to the US specification 100 Series Land Cruiser with plugs that match the factory harness for a 'zero-splice' fit, Piranha part# LIS100. Simply unplug the factory harness from the headlamp bulbs and then plug the Piranha harness directly into the bulbs, they are plug specific so you can't go wrong. Depending how you mount the relays and fuse holders you will either plug the Piranha kit into your stock harness on the passenger side or drivers, doesn't really matter. One each side (driver/passenger) you will need to tie the ground into an existing bolt (which are present on both sides) and then last but not least, connect the power to the battery. As the battery is on the left-hand side, I chose to mount the relays and fuses on that side as well.
Relay & Fuse Bank
Installation is very straightforward and can be done in under an hour depending on your under hood setup. The engine bay of my 100 Series is getting quite stuff so I had to spend some extra time building a relay and fuse mount bracket. I could have placed them in the corner near the main battery but it would borderline require me to pull the battery to swap a fuse or relay in the Piranha harness. The bracket simply bolts to the inner fender well just inboard of the main system fuse block. It's an overkill solution but provides me instant access to the relays and fuses.
Template for Relay/Fuse Bracket
Test Fitting Template In Position
Completed Bracket Ready For Install
Once you have those mounted and everything connected. Test the system and then tidy up your wiring with a handful of zip ties. You shouldn't need to cut, lengthen or trim anything unless you rearrange things or require the relays/fuses to be in a specific spot.
Bracket Mounted, Relay's & Fuse Holders In Place
Finished!
The Piranha harness has a light-on powered spare lead for both the high-beams and the low-beams. These allow perfect trigger points for auxiliary light kits if needed. I didn't utilize them for my setup but I zip tied them under the relays in the event I do need them in the future. I've got some before and after light shots I'm working on and will be headed on a trip soon to the desert to really get a feel for the improvement.
Outback Proven delivers the goods once again
The 100 Series Land Cruiser (like many other stock vehicles) badly suffers from the poor lighting performance out of the headlights. While both high and low beams benefit from the upgraded loom, the low beams stand to gain the most as they are just dismal at best in stock form. I added the 'upgrade' bulbs and that surely helped but it was still needing attention.
High quality connectors, harness, relays and fuse assemblies
Harness Arrangement & Layout
Rough Layout Under the Hood
Australian manufacture Piranha has a solution specific to the US specification 100 Series Land Cruiser with plugs that match the factory harness for a 'zero-splice' fit, Piranha part# LIS100. Simply unplug the factory harness from the headlamp bulbs and then plug the Piranha harness directly into the bulbs, they are plug specific so you can't go wrong. Depending how you mount the relays and fuse holders you will either plug the Piranha kit into your stock harness on the passenger side or drivers, doesn't really matter. One each side (driver/passenger) you will need to tie the ground into an existing bolt (which are present on both sides) and then last but not least, connect the power to the battery. As the battery is on the left-hand side, I chose to mount the relays and fuses on that side as well.
Relay & Fuse Bank
Installation is very straightforward and can be done in under an hour depending on your under hood setup. The engine bay of my 100 Series is getting quite stuff so I had to spend some extra time building a relay and fuse mount bracket. I could have placed them in the corner near the main battery but it would borderline require me to pull the battery to swap a fuse or relay in the Piranha harness. The bracket simply bolts to the inner fender well just inboard of the main system fuse block. It's an overkill solution but provides me instant access to the relays and fuses.
Template for Relay/Fuse Bracket
Test Fitting Template In Position
Completed Bracket Ready For Install
Once you have those mounted and everything connected. Test the system and then tidy up your wiring with a handful of zip ties. You shouldn't need to cut, lengthen or trim anything unless you rearrange things or require the relays/fuses to be in a specific spot.
Bracket Mounted, Relay's & Fuse Holders In Place
Finished!
The Piranha harness has a light-on powered spare lead for both the high-beams and the low-beams. These allow perfect trigger points for auxiliary light kits if needed. I didn't utilize them for my setup but I zip tied them under the relays in the event I do need them in the future. I've got some before and after light shots I'm working on and will be headed on a trip soon to the desert to really get a feel for the improvement.
cruiseroutfit
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The Piranha kit made a marked improvement in the stock headlight output but for high speed jaunts in in the desert, I still wanted something more, something with some spread. Kyle, a good friend and customer (and Cruiserhead) deals in high quality LED lighting with his Iron Moose 4x4 company. We had set up a handful of them for customers and the quality was fantastic and the pricing reasonable. I opted for a single row 30" light bar featuring 18 10W LED's (Part# SM-955). The single row was just the right dimensions to fit between the Eezi-Awn rack and the roof. Mounting was straight forward, I didn't want to drill through the rack and have bolts or nuts on top so instead I built a simple bracket that utilizes the bolt slide extrusions on the bottom of the roof rack. The light is securely mounted and I can still sleep on the rack without a bolt in my back or slide storage bins from side to side.
Iron Moose Lightbar Mounted
Getting power to a roof-rack is a conundrum in it's own right. Run the lines up the front? Route them out of the rear hatch? Drill a hole and come use a weather-tight fitting? All can and have been done with great success but the 100 has a 'lip' near the windshield that really lends itself well to the wiring. As the relay is mounted under the hood on the passenger inner fender, it made sense to shoot it right out of the cowl, up the w/s and tie it off cleanly to the rack and subsequent plug. I opted for 4 conductor insulated wire so that I have room for additional rack power needs in the future, I use a Weatherpack for the connection on the roof, using 2 conductors for this light and leaving the other two plugged for future use. I have a pretty good back up light in place but perhaps a camp light up high in the future? We'll see if a need develops.
Wiring Routed Along W/S and Under Hood
I posted earlier about my lighting quandary, more specifically how to switch the LED bar. Options were aplenty but I was torn between having the freedom to operate the LED sans headlights and wanting to be able to dim the high beams and kill the LED in a single action. In the end I opted for an OE Toyota roof light switch constant powered so that I can run the LED under any scenario. I'll give it a go for a bit and if I decide to change, it is an easy swap. In the meantime, I'll run it as-is and see how it works out for me on some upcoming trips. I swapped out the bulbs so that the 'running' light is green to match the other switches (comes orange) and the 'on' light is now orange, very easy to notice you have it on.
OE Toyota Roof Light Switch On Dash
Finished Product
I'll get some better shots posted, I'll be in the dark desert soon enough!
Iron Moose Lightbar Mounted
Getting power to a roof-rack is a conundrum in it's own right. Run the lines up the front? Route them out of the rear hatch? Drill a hole and come use a weather-tight fitting? All can and have been done with great success but the 100 has a 'lip' near the windshield that really lends itself well to the wiring. As the relay is mounted under the hood on the passenger inner fender, it made sense to shoot it right out of the cowl, up the w/s and tie it off cleanly to the rack and subsequent plug. I opted for 4 conductor insulated wire so that I have room for additional rack power needs in the future, I use a Weatherpack for the connection on the roof, using 2 conductors for this light and leaving the other two plugged for future use. I have a pretty good back up light in place but perhaps a camp light up high in the future? We'll see if a need develops.
Wiring Routed Along W/S and Under Hood
I posted earlier about my lighting quandary, more specifically how to switch the LED bar. Options were aplenty but I was torn between having the freedom to operate the LED sans headlights and wanting to be able to dim the high beams and kill the LED in a single action. In the end I opted for an OE Toyota roof light switch constant powered so that I can run the LED under any scenario. I'll give it a go for a bit and if I decide to change, it is an easy swap. In the meantime, I'll run it as-is and see how it works out for me on some upcoming trips. I swapped out the bulbs so that the 'running' light is green to match the other switches (comes orange) and the 'on' light is now orange, very easy to notice you have it on.
OE Toyota Roof Light Switch On Dash
Finished Product
I'll get some better shots posted, I'll be in the dark desert soon enough!
cruiseroutfit
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The new LED light bar proved to be a great addition though it wasn't quite apparent initially. I fired the light a couple of times on the lonely highway as my buddy Ryan and I bombed south towards St. George where we were launching for an off-road adventure. The light was extremely visible but lacked any real 'reach', which makes sense as I opted for the flood pattern rather than the spots. All was well, the upgraded headlights kept things illuminated and the aux IPF lights on the bumper were there just in case. Fast forward a few days and a particularly soggy and washed out section of trail above Panguitch in southern Utah. Our group of 6 vehicles found ourselves winching, road building, using the Maxtrax and digging, progress slowed drastically as we literally had to coerce each truck through washouts and muddy ravines. Enter the LED light bar, it proved invaluable as a work light for winching and recovery operations as well as a fantastic 'trail light' as we led the group off the mountain. Couldn't be happier with its performance.
One of many recovery situations, Adam's Tacoma and the 100 lighting up the night
(Photo by Adam Tolman)
While on the trip, Ryan and I had some on-going discussions about the many merits of HAM, one of which was the APRS tracking. I've used the APRS for several years now but my setup has been a standalone system that literally just plugs into a 12V outlet and does it's thing. Family and friends back home can watch our progress (on sites like aprs.fi) and I can check it late to recount our route and pace. Turns out there was a far easier solution and of course Ryan would know about it. Green Light Labs makes a module (Part# GPS-710) for my Kenwood 710 Series 2M. It allows my unit to act as the APRS radio while still allowing me full access to communications. Even one better, the Kenwood 710 allows me to real-time track other APRS users, send text messages or get real-time weather readouts from weather stations operating in the area. I was sold... while we bounced down the trail I ordered up the GPS-710 module and crossed my fingers it would show up before I rolled out for the Moab to CruiserFest trip in just a few days. I placed the order on Thursday and it must have arrived Saturday as I was greeted by the box when I returned home Sunday. The install took literally 5 minutes and after adjusting a few radio settings, it was working. Tuesday night I rolled out for the CruiserFest trip with the APRS sending out beacons as planned. Ryan's group was meeting at City of Rocks, Idaho the following day, as planned I was able to see Ryan's real-time location and track him as we converged on our planned Simpson Springs meeting location. Totally nerdy? You bet. Practical application for remote travel? Absolutely!
Moab to CruiserFest convoy on Left, City of Rocks to CruiserFest convoy on right - Converging.
(Photo by Jason Goates)
One of many recovery situations, Adam's Tacoma and the 100 lighting up the night
(Photo by Adam Tolman)
While on the trip, Ryan and I had some on-going discussions about the many merits of HAM, one of which was the APRS tracking. I've used the APRS for several years now but my setup has been a standalone system that literally just plugs into a 12V outlet and does it's thing. Family and friends back home can watch our progress (on sites like aprs.fi) and I can check it late to recount our route and pace. Turns out there was a far easier solution and of course Ryan would know about it. Green Light Labs makes a module (Part# GPS-710) for my Kenwood 710 Series 2M. It allows my unit to act as the APRS radio while still allowing me full access to communications. Even one better, the Kenwood 710 allows me to real-time track other APRS users, send text messages or get real-time weather readouts from weather stations operating in the area. I was sold... while we bounced down the trail I ordered up the GPS-710 module and crossed my fingers it would show up before I rolled out for the Moab to CruiserFest trip in just a few days. I placed the order on Thursday and it must have arrived Saturday as I was greeted by the box when I returned home Sunday. The install took literally 5 minutes and after adjusting a few radio settings, it was working. Tuesday night I rolled out for the CruiserFest trip with the APRS sending out beacons as planned. Ryan's group was meeting at City of Rocks, Idaho the following day, as planned I was able to see Ryan's real-time location and track him as we converged on our planned Simpson Springs meeting location. Totally nerdy? You bet. Practical application for remote travel? Absolutely!
Moab to CruiserFest convoy on Left, City of Rocks to CruiserFest convoy on right - Converging.
(Photo by Jason Goates)
cruiseroutfit
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nice info on the HAM and lights. the light bracket is sweet. you should make a couple more...
That could be arranged
cruiseroutfit
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I suppose an update on the winch is in order too. As I mentioned in the original build planning, I opted to try the Warn VR10000 unit, reviews were great and the quality looked on-par with Warn's reputation. The past few weeks have offered me a handful of opportunities (not sure if that is the right word ) to use the winch. I was part of a group called the UCEIII, our goal was simply to drive from Utah's lowest elevation to Utah's highest elevation, nearly entirely on dirt. It just so happened Utah, particularly the southern half of the state was getting pounded with rain storms, washing away trails and roads throughout the region. We were in for some fun. Sure enough we found fun at around every corner, particularly that stretch above Panguitch in which we were attempting to get to Powell Point outside of Bryce National Park for the evenings camp. Not too far in we encountered our first washed out ravine, a ~6' deep section of road was washed ~3' deep. We did what we could in the rocky ground with shovels I opted to give it a go. Things went well for about 5 feet, time for the winch. We stretched out the line and attached it to a large tree up the road via a tree strap. A few quick tugs and my rear end was no longer hung up and out and we were on our merry way. The behemoth that is a 100 Series pushed and drug enough dirt to allow those behind me a near 'paved' experience The adventure didn't end there, we encountered numerous mud holes or washed out sections, if we were not winching we were digging and using the MaxTrax.
Road paver and the winch
(Photo by Adam Tolman)
Fast forward to last weekend and I was en route from Moab to CruiserFest primarily on dirt with a group of 12 from across North America. We were not on the trail for more than an hour before we stumbled across a German tourist super stuck in a particularly wet section of the Blue Hills Road north of Moab. He was axle/fender depth mired and the road offered little in the way of traction for a snatch strap. Out came the winch. We were able to get ~100' away from him on a better section of road, we winched him every bit of that 100' and a bit more in order to get
him free of the mud's intense suction. Two thumbs up for the VR10000.
Robert, the stuck German Tourist as we get set up for winching
(Photo by Mitch Massey)
) to use the winch. I was part of a group called the UCEIII, our goal was simply to drive from Utah's lowest elevation to Utah's highest elevation, nearly entirely on dirt. It just so happened Utah, particularly the southern half of the state was getting pounded with rain storms, washing away trails and roads throughout the region. We were in for some fun. Sure enough we found fun at around every corner, particularly that stretch above Panguitch in which we were attempting to get to Powell Point outside of Bryce National Park for the evenings camp. Not too far in we encountered our first washed out ravine, a ~6' deep section of road was washed ~3' deep. We did what we could in the rocky ground with shovels I opted to give it a go. Things went well for about 5 feet, time for the winch. We stretched out the line and attached it to a large tree up the road via a tree strap. A few quick tugs and my rear end was no longer hung up and out and we were on our merry way. The behemoth that is a 100 Series pushed and drug enough dirt to allow those behind me a near 'paved' experience The adventure didn't end there, we encountered numerous mud holes or washed out sections, if we were not winching we were digging and using the MaxTrax.
Road paver and the winch
(Photo by Adam Tolman)
Fast forward to last weekend and I was en route from Moab to CruiserFest primarily on dirt with a group of 12 from across North America. We were not on the trail for more than an hour before we stumbled across a German tourist super stuck in a particularly wet section of the Blue Hills Road north of Moab. He was axle/fender depth mired and the road offered little in the way of traction for a snatch strap. Out came the winch. We were able to get ~100' away from him on a better section of road, we winched him every bit of that 100' and a bit more in order to get
him free of the mud's intense suction. Two thumbs up for the VR10000.
Robert, the stuck German Tourist as we get set up for winching
(Photo by Mitch Massey)
cruiseroutfit
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I'll look forward to that, and I happen to owe you a few as well
That is great to hear zimm, I think the VR series will prove to be a far better range for Warn then the Tabor's they replaced. I didn't really deal/hear with any Tabor horror stories but the VR is so much closer to the standard lineup both in appearance and more importantly spare parts. We have a big Warn service center here in SLC that repairs winches shipped in from all over the west. They gave the VR thumbs up based on the internal components they see failing on other winches.
Blackwater
Im getting old! :(
Kurt, Great to hear how well the Vr10 has worked for you. I've had the VR12,000 for coming up on a year and its paid for itself time and time again. I pry have 6 to 8 good pulls on mine and it has been flawless. Last week I even helped my Folks pull some massive bush roots out from their front yard LOL...
Me Pulling my buddies FJ40 upright after a little mishap. We attracted quite the crowd..
Me Pulling my buddies FJ40 upright after a little mishap. We attracted quite the crowd..
cruiseroutfit
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I honestly wasn't sure so I did some breif checking. There must be something different motor-wise between the VR8 and VR10, line speed at 8k is still slightly faster with the 10k despite the 25% deeper ratio, amp pull is also lower leading me to believe it has a different motor?
PS. Left you a voice mail today. Long story short... no lights/codes after an AHC ditch