Land Cruiser de-evolution
- Thread starter I Lean
- Start date
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
Looking at the paint on my LX470, especially the hood and fenders, I'd say no, they used something cheaper than Rustoleum. Krylon maybe. Makes old Dodge trucks look like good paint.
- DAA
- DAA
Productive day! I started by finishing up the rear axle...OME 860 springs, Tough Dog shocks, and I made the rear panhard bar adjustable.
Then moved to the front axle. Installed the 35 spline ARB and 4.89 gears for the final time, and routed the air line in the corner of the diff cover.
And buttoned it up with the Blue Torch Fab diff cover and a Lube Locker gasket.
Mounted the steering box. For the high pressure line, I had Hose and Rubber Supply braze on JIC fittings, then a pretty-standard hydraulic hose can connect the 100 pump and the 80 box. (you can see one of the fittings on top of the box in this pic)
Swung the housing underneath again, and started connecting things.
Pretty much done! Just waiting on front springs, and to connect the new soft brake hoses to the hard lines. (I didn't connect them to allow the axle to droop farther and make installing the springs easier) Soft lines are supposed to be for a 2001 Corolla.
Capped off the end of the hub with these AWESOME drive flanges from Summit Machine. Just the caps for now, since I have no axleshafts yet.
Then moved to the front axle. Installed the 35 spline ARB and 4.89 gears for the final time, and routed the air line in the corner of the diff cover.
And buttoned it up with the Blue Torch Fab diff cover and a Lube Locker gasket.
Mounted the steering box. For the high pressure line, I had Hose and Rubber Supply braze on JIC fittings, then a pretty-standard hydraulic hose can connect the 100 pump and the 80 box. (you can see one of the fittings on top of the box in this pic)
Swung the housing underneath again, and started connecting things.
Pretty much done! Just waiting on front springs, and to connect the new soft brake hoses to the hard lines. (I didn't connect them to allow the axle to droop farther and make installing the springs easier) Soft lines are supposed to be for a 2001 Corolla.
Capped off the end of the hub with these AWESOME drive flanges from Summit Machine. Just the caps for now, since I have no axleshafts yet.
kmboren
Recovering XJ owner anonymous
- Location
- Southern Utah
Nice different cover.
It's full-time 4WD, so I'll need to do a part-time conversion to utilize hubs. I'll be driving it in 2WD for a little while at first (with no front driveshaft), so once it's 4WD again we can decide if we like it better as a part-time Cruiser or not.
Carl this is looking amazing. I may have to ask you if you have some tips/tricks for removing all that IFS bracketry... I'll be doing something similar later this summer/fall. Also - nice drive gear covers!
You can ask, but there's not much I can tell you. Don't go too nuts when cutting off the brackets, or you'll have holes in the frame to fix. Grind til you can't stand it anymore. Then when all else fails, just plate the whole area.
Oh, and get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Bionic-Shiel...F8&qid=1526576994&sr=1-4&keywords=uvex+bionic
Yes, @frieed and I came to an agreement. They sure are pretty, huh?
While I'm waiting for my springs to arrive, I took today to take care of some of the time-consuming, but necessary items.
Plumbed the power steering, and added in this cooler from an Expedition. (there is no cooler from the factory, just the hard lines to the steering rack) Had to build a little bracket to hold it in front of the aux fan.
Installed my steering intermediate shaft, which had mysteriously turned itself pink.
Plumbed the ARB and diff breather.
Changed the plastic heater T's to stainless ones, with upgraded clamps.
Trimmed and reinstalled the inner fender shields. I don't have the rear one for the passenger side, maybe I'll try to find one of those.
Plumbed the power steering, and added in this cooler from an Expedition. (there is no cooler from the factory, just the hard lines to the steering rack) Had to build a little bracket to hold it in front of the aux fan.
Installed my steering intermediate shaft, which had mysteriously turned itself pink.
Plumbed the ARB and diff breather.
Changed the plastic heater T's to stainless ones, with upgraded clamps.
Trimmed and reinstalled the inner fender shields. I don't have the rear one for the passenger side, maybe I'll try to find one of those.
It's out and about. 35/12.50 18's and new wheels will be here this afternoon, but I'll leave the 200 wheels/tires on until after it gets aligned tomorrow morning. It's sitting a little higher in the front than I was hoping, since it's basically level right now--I was shooting for a little bit of rake like "normal" for 100's. I'm not sure if the OME 851 springs will settle any, or not...I'd love for them to sag 1/2" or something. Hub-to-fender measures right about 24" F&R. The rear is OME 860 + a 30mm spacer. Those springs are used, so I'll be surprised if they sag.
- Location
- The Village of Kay
So cool!
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Looks awesome, Carl! Nice work, as always. Any plans for a run to test it out?
Now you just need a twin-turbo diesel V8 under the hood, like a 'real' 105 Series!
Now you just need a twin-turbo diesel V8 under the hood, like a 'real' 105 Series!
Looks awesome, Carl! Nice work, as always. Any plans for a run to test it out?
Now you just need a twin-turbo diesel V8 under the hood, like a 'real' 105 Series!
Yes, it will be going back to carpool and run-errands duty.
Sadly, I don't think the 105's ever got any V8...just I6 gas or diesels.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Yes, it will be going back to carpool and run-errands duty.
Sadly, I don't think the 105's ever got any V8...just I6 gas or diesels.
I thought the 105's were available with a solid axle and turbo diesel V8? Eh, I'm no Cruiser expert.
I thought the 105's were available with a solid axle and turbo diesel V8? Eh, I'm no Cruiser expert.
Solid axle yes, turbo diesel yes, just not a V8. @cruiseroutfit can verify or vilify, as the case may be.
I had this thing aligned, and got the bad news that my caster measurements didn't match side-to-side. Apparently I missed matching them up when I assembled the axle, by 0.4 degrees. That would have been great if my passenger side were the one with more caster...but naturally it was the driver's side. So, I now have a caster-correcting bushing in the upper ball joint on that side. No big deal, but a little disappointing.
I bought a pair of used 35x12.50-18 BFG AT KO2's, so that made my decision easy for what tire I want to run. I bought two matching new ones and had them all mounted on the 18x9 +25 MB Wheels I purchased a couple months ago. Here's what it looks like with them on it:
There is some tire rubbing at times that I'll need to address. I suspect it's hitting the bottom corner of the front bumper, so that will be easy to trim. They also rub the plastic inner fender where it goes over the pinch seam--but there seems to be a lot of room behind the plastic, so I might try to heat/shape the plastic for more clearance. Failing that, it will also be an easy spot to trim.
Turning, at full lock the tire blocks just touch the radius arm. Not very hard, they aren't crammed into it or anything--so I'll leave that one alone for now, rather than limit the steering. It does make me glad I inboarded the radius arm mount though.
Apparently I missed matching them up when I assembled the axle, by 0.4 degrees. That would have been great if my passenger side were the one with more caster...but naturally it was the driver's side. So, I now have a caster-correcting bushing in the upper ball joint on that side. No big deal, but a little disappointing. I bought a pair of used 35x12.50-18 BFG AT KO2's, so that made my decision easy for what tire I want to run.
I bought two matching new ones and had them all mounted on the 18x9 +25 MB Wheels I purchased a couple months ago. Here's what it looks like with them on it:
There is some tire rubbing at times that I'll need to address. I suspect it's hitting the bottom corner of the front bumper, so that will be easy to trim. They also rub the plastic inner fender where it goes over the pinch seam--but there seems to be a lot of room behind the plastic, so I might try to heat/shape the plastic for more clearance. Failing that, it will also be an easy spot to trim.
Turning, at full lock the tire blocks just touch the radius arm. Not very hard, they aren't crammed into it or anything--so I'll leave that one alone for now, rather than limit the steering. It does make me glad I inboarded the radius arm mount though.
I forgot the best part! With the rain today, I was able to (easily) lock up the front tires...and get the ABS to activate. That wouldn't normally be any big deal, but that confirms my custom tone rings/Ford ABS sensor/Toyota wire hybrid conglomeration works as it should I have no ABS warning lights either.
And, these big front brakes are pretty ridiculous. They work REALLY well.
That wouldn't normally be any big deal, but that confirms my custom tone rings/Ford ABS sensor/Toyota wire hybrid conglomeration works as it should I have no ABS warning lights either. And, these big front brakes are pretty ridiculous. They work REALLY well.