Since 2007, Red Line Land Cruisers has been known for Toyota FJ40 work. But with wife, life and kids, the 80-Series Land Cruiser came into fold. Yes, FJ55’s have been closely associated to/with us as the owner, Justin Robbins, has been know to build and wheel one in particular, the “War Pig.” Robbins has even held the pink slips on three LV45‘s over the years.
Enter – Project: Snowflake, an 1983 FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser by Red Line Land Cruisers
Why did we purchase a forty-three year old 1983 FJ60 Land Cruiser in 2026? This was a customers vehicle that we fell in love with the moment we drove it! Through circumstance of the owner moving, and wanted to sell it. No we are not going to flip it! So, what are we going to do it and what are we doing with it? We have our wants, desires and dreams – but we do have some future in-house projects for it – so follow along!
This 1983 FJ60 Land Cruiser started coming to us as a customer back in 2019 for various service items that now has the rig sitting a a good place for a rig with 245,000+ miles on the odometer. Hoses, belts, ignition, all the “big-200” service items have been taken care of!
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This 60-Series under new ownership by Red Line, what did we do first?
The first thing Justin, owner of Red Line Land Cruisers, attacked was pulling the carb!
The carburetor is an aftermarket unit and we would very much like for it to be a proper Toyota FJ60 carburetor!
Running a factory Toyota AISIN carburetor provides better off-road reliability, seamless integration with factory linkages, and superior resistance to vapor lock compared to aftermarket options like Weber or cheaper clones. The AISIN carburetor is engineered with internal baffling and float designs specifically built to handle steep inclines and side-hill off-road angles without starving the engine.
And we can not leave out the OEM durability that the genuine Japanese AISIN carb provides as it utilizes higher-grade castings and diaphragms that last for decades, whereas cheap aftermarket clones often suffer from poor machining and require constant tuning. Yes, we rebuild and tune a lot of carburetors here at our 6,200-ft elevation as we sit at the gateway to the Rockies!
Out with the aftermarket carburetor…
Freshy gasket going in!
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2F Air Filter – FJ40 (01/75 – 06/80) FJ60 (08/80 – 07/87)
Toyota Land Cruiser RL1249 (EN8-2F)
With the proper Toyota AISIN carburetor now installed, we can re-install the air filter housing and also pop in a fresh air filter!Air filters are restrictive, but they provide protection. Everything is measured on a sliding scale of benefits and trade-offs. Yes, there are less restrictive air filters than this one, but we do not recommend them for use on dirt roads or off-roading. Not unless you are looking to rebuild your valvetrain sooner than later. This particular air filter we use is the right combination of “flow” and “protection” for a 2F engine in an FJ40 or FJ60 being used as Land Cruisers should be used – IN THE DIRT.
We found this air filter to be one whole AFR numerical unit less restrictive than another filter we were using. Think of it as the equivalent of driving down about a thousand feet of elevation. At the same time, this filter offers the proper filtration needed and recommended by Toyota because this is the company that makes Toyota’s air filters for Land Cruisers – DENSO! We have these on the website: 2F Air Filter – FJ40 (01/75 – 06/80) FJ60 (08/80 – 07/87) Toyota Land Cruiser RL1249 (EN8-2F)
With a “freshy” air filter going in, we also replaced the crusty air cleaner hose that goes to the valve cover inlet for positive crake case ventilation. This is “Hose, Ventilation, No. 3” for the Toyota namesake purist.
OK, lets take a look around the engine compartment and see what else is calling for attention! And yes, this engine bay is calling for some serious TLC as in “Tender Loving Care” with lots of Bioworx® Bio-Based Auto Care and COS Auto Detailing “elbow grease” for this 1983 FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser. Do you see what we see?
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ENGINE COMPARTMENT THINGS
Did you see this in the previous photo?! Yes, this FJ60 could have been involved in some sort of moonshine transportation operation! While we love the innovative capping of this windshield washer bottle, we feel inclined to get the washer bottle back to a factory capped containment version. Hopefully this has not been discontinued!
Power steering hose seems to be leaking somewhere. This will have to get addressed at some point.
Quick check of the P/S dip stick and yes, the power steering fluid is going somewhere. We will top it up and address things as we go.
We will address the EGR plate with our version as well.
RL1091 FJ60 Late 2F EGR Intake Manifold Block Off Plate Kit, Toyota Land Cruiser (SN2-20)
Air conditioning is MIA! We will want to address this at some point! Thank goodness this rig is sporting a white roof and body!
Battery, while it is still working after five years, we would like to start fresh.
It’s the little things in life! The 90480-15002 Grommet, Hood Prop Rod needs replacing, but at least the 53452-90351 Holder, Hood Stay is still intact and functioning with both sides or prongs fully functioning!
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OIL FILTER – MILEAGE
Oil was changed in 2024 at 246,300.
Obviously this is a sad scenario and this image was snapped today on June 11th, 2026! The milage was initially estimated up, but as you can see, this vehicle has not moved enough to get it to the 246,300. This is about to change!
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CHOKE CABLE – CARBURETOR THINGS
Choke Cable – it’s a carburetor thing… Need to fix this…
What on earth is going on with this thing!
Something is not right with this choke cable as you can pull the choke out, but it does not go in so well.
As soon as we pulled the choke cable from the back of the dash, we visually saw what was going on!
So sort of “BOBO” trail fix for sure!
Justin went to his “stash of things” and only had one cable that was super crusty but it has a decent housing.
OK, great, we have things apart, but to make this one cable from two business is just not going to work for us this round. This is a push – pull cable that needs to be stationary for both directions.
Back in it goes for the time being!
Good thing we have a freshy-built Toyota carb on here. It’s summer time and it doesn’t need choke and we know to fix this!
We someone…
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COLORADO EURO-ASIAN TRUCK MEET (06/13/2026)
Took Project Snowflake out for it’s first meet! Shot a little video clip from the June Edition of the Colorado EURO-ASIAN Truck Meet and posted to the Red Line Land Cruisers Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZi3ln6Nidt/. We had a total of five 60-Series Land Cruisers show up, making it the dominate marque and model for this months meet. The COEuroAsian Truck Meet is on the second Saturday each month ( ☔️ ☀️ ❄️) at the parking lot of the Caffeinated Cow – Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Caffeinated Cow
1791 S 8th St G, Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Google Map Link to Caffeinated Cow
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ONE K-MART PARKING LOT SPEED BUMP AWAY
FJ60 Mirror Kit, Driver And Passenger Side, with Hardware (BO1-16) RL1395 we also have our passenger side mirror listed for sale too:
USED: FJ60 Passenger Side Mirror from Project Snowflake (GS1-28)
ODOMETER NOT WORKING – FJ60
Previously we made this post referencing the odometer and how the vehicle has not moved…
Obviously this is a sad scenario and this image was snapped today on June 11th, 2026! The milage was initially estimated up, but as you can see, this vehicle has not moved enough to get it to the 246,300.
Over this past weekend, we attended the July Edition of the Colorado EURO-ASIAN Truck Meet, also a decent shakedown drive around Colorado Springs with a stop-over dinner visit to PizzAmoré, collecting 64-miles on the digit wheels within the trip meter portion of the gauge cluster. But the mileage was not collected on the odometer portion, although the white “tenth of a mile” number drum is working. OH BOY! We will have to see what happens when the odometer collects, let’s say seven hundred miles… will the “246” become “247?” Are we going to wait this long? Can we fix it? Hey Justin! Another item to add to the “TO DO” List!
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SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE – FILLER CAP GASKET
The factory service manual calls for the replacement of the FJ60’s fuel filler cap gasket at every 60,000 miles or every 72 months (6 years) as shown below. Our Project Snowflake FJ60 is an 1983 model and the year is 2026 (June), so this FJ60 is getting a new filler cap gasket replaced! We don’t know when or if it was ever replaced, and we want to establish our “zero point” on Snowflakes maintenance schedule. With that, six years from now, year 2032, or 60,000 miles, but doubt we will turn that many miles on it! But whichever comes first, we will be replacing the gas cap gasket. Sounds so futuristic doesn’t it!
Gas cap gasket replacement time for our FJ60 Project: SNOWFLAKE! Toyota does call this the Filler Cap and yes, there needs to be some cleaning in this area as well!
Here is the gas cap out and showing the underside where we will remove the four screws to gain access to the old gasket.
Hopefully you are using JIS screwdrivers for all of your Toyota and or Japanese motorcycle work! Yes, it’s truly a thing and you can feel the “fit difference!”
When you remove the old gasket, don’t just toss it out! There is a tin metal retainer that is under the gasket. You will have to squeeze the gasket out of the thin metal retainer and try not bend it.
You will notice that the metal retainer is formed to the same shape as the gasket and you will want to make sure to reinstall it the same way it came out.
With the metal retainer now on the new gasket, we are ready to reinstall the new gasket into the gas cap.
Place the gasket, with metal retainer back into the cap and it came out.
Install the four screws – with your JIS screwdriver!
Now your gas cap aka Fuel Filler Cap is ready for another 60,000 miles / 72-months worth of service!
We have both the FJ60 Gas Cap Gasket (Only) or the Cap with Gasket:
FJ60 Gas Cap Gasket – Only (FU1-8)
Toyota Fuel Tank Cap Assembly 1981 – 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser (FU1-8)
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FJ60 WINDSHIELD WIPER MOD
With our newly acquired FJ60 Land Cruiser, we want to drive it! June is historically the stormiest month of the year in Colorado Springs. ☔️ The weather brings a classic mix of morning sunshine and afternoon showers or thunderstorms, typically peaking between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. These storms can bring brief heavy rain, lightning, and occasional hail. We need windshield wipers or windscreen wipers for the UK folk! 😎
As you can see in the images above, our wipers are not fully contacting the windshield across the blade. We need full contact! Lets get some new wipers on here!
Sorry Rain-X, we need to get these old dogs off! We are sure they were great when first installed. Typically here in Colorado Springs with the high elevation (6,035 feet) and intense UV, wipers do not last more than a year!
Yes, we are Yota’nerds as we want the “classic look” of the traditional metal frame carrier wiper blade! Toyota had to go and DISCONTINUE the 85212-YZZ10-TM wiper blade that was used on FJ60, FJ62 and FJ80 model Land Cruisers. We loved this wiper blade for its performance and most of all, it’s classic looks as it had the factory metal frame assembly that holds the rubber blade. But it has been discontinued and for some time now. honestly, we were avoiding the issue for a while as we only have one staffer with an FJ80 and this was before we had the FJ60. But here we are without a wiper blade solution.
We had to come up with a solution! Thus, we started purchasing a bunch of candidates and arrived on our choice.
18″ Wiper Blade with Metal Frame – FJ60, FJ62, FJ80 Toyota Land Cruiser (Set of 2) (BO2-W5) RL1237. Since Toyota has discontinued our wipers, we are now using these Mexico made blades from the German company, BOSCH for the same metal frame structure holding the rubber blade, and it is a direct replacement to the discontinued Toyota 85212-YZZ10-TM wiper blade.
These wipers come with the appropriate hardware for our “flag mount” style wiper arm. We are getting excited!
AND BOO! Our wiper is not fully touching the windshield! What the heck is going on here? Back to the computer to see if we had purchased the wrong wiper. With that searching, we also discovered that other FJ60 owners were having issues!
What we found was a thread on IH8MUD referencing Toyota 4Runner arms. We had both a first generation 4Runner and a 2nd. Gen. 4Runner sitting on the lot and we started trying the different arms onto SNOWFLAKE.
Both generation of Toyota 4Runner wiper arms worked! Then we discovered both generation of 4Runner windshield wiper arms have been discontinued. While we love using OEM Toyota parts, sometimes Toyota makes the decision for us and we have to source outside vendors.
While we have an option between first and second generation Toyota 4Runner wiper arms for our 1983 FJ60, we are going with the first generation arms as those came on 1984 – 1988 4Runners and our rig is an 1983 model within the 1980 – 1987 FJ60 Land Cruiser range. We’ve assemble a set of both wipers and arms; FJ60 Wiper Arm Set, Toyota Land Cruiser (BO2-W5) RL1397. If you just need the blades, hit 18″ Wiper Blade with Metal Frame – FJ60, FJ62, FJ80 Toyota Land Cruiser (Set of 2) (BO2-W5) RL1237.
Now this is how it is suppose to be! Me hold up the wiper from the windshield as the arm has tension!
Here we are releasing tension and dropping the blade onto the windshield. THIS IS GOING TO WORK!
HUSTON! WE HAVE FULL CONTACT! Our windshield wiper is full touching the windshield! But does the wiper maintain contact through the entire wiper arm stroke? See our video of before and after:
“And that concludes the test of our emergency broadcast system. Had this been a real emergency, your G5 cellular device would be melting in your hands” – Red Line Land Cruisers / Project SNOWFLAKE
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WHEELS TIRES – Project: SNOWFLAKE FJ60
The previous owner of this FJ60, this rig was rolling on these Nankang MudStar Radial M/T 32 x 11.50 x 15 tires mounted on aluminum rims.
Nice beefy look, right?! We know you like this look…
We know if you rolled up on this FJ60 rolling down the road, you would start licking your lips! We know you are in BFB club, but there is NOT a V8 under the hood to push these fat meats through the hood or woods!
Can we pose a question to you?
Look at these two stacks of wheels.
Left: Nankang Mudstar 32 x 11.50’s on 15″ aluminum wheels
Right: BFG Mud Terrain 33 x 10.50’s on 15″ factory FJ60 steel wheels
WHICH TIRE COMBO WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
WHICH PILE WEIGHTS THE MOST?
Again, let us remind you, there is the stock in-line six factory 2F Toyota engine under the hood. The 1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 features a curb weight of approximately 4,246 lbs. Its 4.2-liter “2F” inline-six engine produces a power output of 135 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque – on it’s best day! This vehicle is now 43-years old!
Look at this beauty! Yes, we LOVE the skinny tire look! But skinny tires are all about the FUNCTION! Hence, our tag line, “The Function is the Fashion!” Skinny tires is less wear on ball joints. Skinny tires does not kill your scrub radius.
Why Scrub Radius Matters – Driver Feedback & Feel: A positive scrub radius (where the steering axis intersects inside the tire centerline) generally provides better road feel and responsiveness.
Braking Stability: Many vehicles, particularly front-wheel-drive cars, use a negative scrub radius (axis intersects outside the tire). This prevents the car from darting or pulling violently if braking effort is uneven left-to-right.
Torque Steer & Tramlining: An excessive scrub radius—whether positive or negative—makes the steering highly sensitive to potholes and uneven surfaces (tramlining). Tramlining is the tendency for a vehicle’s tires to get pulled into the ruts, grooves, or seams of the road, causing the car to “steer itself”. Named after street trams following fixed rails, it makes the steering feel jerky or stubborn when trying to change lanes on uneven pavement.
This is why the wide tires like to grab all the imperfection in the road and in the dirt, they like to grab rut sidewalls. And there is our slapshot! Some people like to be guided through, towed through, driven for – whereas some are drivers and wish to make their own driving line choice. Skinny tires are for drivers who like to drive!
WHEEL WEIGHT – ROTATIONAL MASS
ABOVE: Nankang Mudstar 32 x 11.50’s on 15″ aluminum wheels = 72 pounds.
BELOW: BFG Mud Terrain 33 x 10.50’s on 15″ factory FJ60 steel wheels = 71 pounds.
1:1:1 One pound less (per wheel) One inch gained in the height of the tire and one inch narrower. YES PLEASE!
Why does wheel weight matter? Because Rotational Mass and the mathematical formula!
Rotational mass on wheels matters because it requires extra energy both to get the wheel spinning and to stop it. A heavier wheel or one with heavy material at the outer edge acts like a flywheel, meaning our 2F Land Cruiser engine must work significantly harder to change speed.
The effect of wheel weight depends on vehicle dynamics in several key ways:
Acceleration and Braking: Every pound added to the outer rim of a wheel fights acceleration twice: once to move the car/bike forward, and once to spin the mass up. Because of this, reducing 1 pound of rotational weight at the outer edge can have roughly the equivalent performance benefit of removing 2 to 3 pounds of static weight (e.g., from the frame or interior). We could get even more technical about all this by weighing the individual wheels and the tires as the heavy rubber is the outer most part of the rotational mass. But this is something for you to think about when choosing your wheel and tire package for your Land Cruiser.
Handling and Unsprung Weight: Wheels are classified as unsprung mass, meaning they are not supported by the vehicle’s suspension. Heavier wheels make it more difficult for the suspension to quickly react to bumps, which can reduce tire grip, cornering performance, and ride comfort.
Weight Distribution: Where the weight is located matters just as much as the total weight. A lighter tire or a forged rim concentrates less mass at the outer diameter, significantly lowering the “moment of inertia” and making the wheel much easier to turn and accelerate. Again, we are working with a Land Cruiser making 135 hp (at best in 1983), that is now 42 years old!
Yes, there is the potential for a 17″ tire to weight less than the same size tire in 15,” but this is not the only consideration of choice. Everything is a sliding scale of sacrifice. With this particular scenario, we like the 15″ tire for the sidewall “cushion” over a 17″ tire’s shorter sidewall. But everything has to be evaluated – again, sliding scale. We are just providing “food for thought” and yes, we do have our opinion, “The Perfect Wheel and Tire Package for FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser.” We are confident with time, we will also have our opinion formed as to what wheel and tire for the FJ60. For now, we are loving the factory FJ60 wheels!
Fun fact: This “chrome” FJ60 wheel is different than the 1980 – 1983 white FJ40 wheel. Both are of the same six-spoke “wagon wheel” design.
Project: Snowflake – our 1983 FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser is looking quite proper on this wheel tire combination… FOR NOW!
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