Lowering rear cone bumps & cutting down coils.

While I was swapping out rear coils I did a quick & dirty vid.
It is what it is...
2.5" frame bumps & @Hitit66 1.5" puck bumps for the cone bumps in the rear.
Since the vid I reduced it to 2.25" rear bumps.

Spanish Lake Trail father daughter trip

I was finally able to get out & do some wheelin tent camping this last weekend with my oldest daughter.
It's kind of our annual hang out together thing.
We spent some time hanging with the 4x4Him.com Christian Wheeler group at there Rock Hopper Roundup weekend.
We went Rouge from their selection of trails to get the Spanish Lake Trail off my Bucket list.
It was a Fast & Furious 9 hour round trip back to Bald Mountain Base Camp.
I want to go back & hike up to Rodgers Ridge to see the Kings Canyon Nation Forest from the North side down into the Kings River Canyon next time we have a chance to go back.
Fun Fact: from the trail head of 6,500' up to campground 8,900' elevation that's a 2,700 foot climb.

Update, 10% Tcase gear set, light bar...

My original guess on RPM for the 488 gears 37s was approx 100 rpm high. Thought 60 mph was 2950 but reality is 2850. Plus the Lx likes to tow at 58 mph which cruises at 2700 which is fine on flat ground.

So, I picked up a set of 10% High gear set for the Tcase. This should get me back to wear I wanted originally around 2970 doing the math. If in axles would be like 5:36 gears.

I trimed my front bumper to allow my winch cover to fit & added a cheap LED light. It works for now I've never been happy with how it looks. It's only held on by 2 bolts & it's bent. I've cut on it so many times. I'm eventually gonna get a welder & fix it or built a complete new one... same for rear.

Next weekend I will be actually doing some tent camping & wheelin with my oldest daughter... 1st time this year geez time flies... its almost Augaust.
Spanish Lake Trail if its open.
Its been on my bucket list for at least 5 years.
It will be a great time.

Had to trim rear fender flares a bit more... since the new rear control arms... then snapped a poser shot.
The morning sun hit the side & made it look gold in color.

Later all...
Happy trails to you...

New to us Travel Trailer

Hey y'all its been a long time since I've posted... reason being I have changed gears as far as the family camping action.

We have sold the old 6x12 box trailer & found a trailer to suite the family needs that the Lx450 could tow... well barely.

After months of research, hunting, finding then purchase we have a 2016 Keystone Passport 238MLWE.

It took a lot preparation of the Lx450 to be able to tow this trailer safely.

4:88 axle gears, all new rotors, pads, master cylinder & hand brake rebuild also suspension upgrades like rear 4-link control arm bushing & pan hard relocation bracket. Oh & a tow controller that I showed install on previous post.

All that said here is some pics.

We have gone to Oceano Dunes

 Lake Lopez

San Simion

New Lower Contriol arms from SPC Performance xAxis™

I got these:

My fzj80 series Redarc Tow Pro Elite Trailer Brake install lx450

Ive been working hard getting the Lx450 Cruiser ready to tow our new to us travel trailer.

The Redarc Tow Pro Elite was the trailer brake setup I purchased.

I did not see any 80 series how to vids on the installation of one so I did a real quick vid for the next person to do one.

Enjoy  

My 80 series OEM Toyota Rebuilt Starter fzj80 Lx450

+

My Hatch Latch Hack Repair 80 series fzj80 lx450

Today I went out to the rear hatch and no worky worky. I can't say how frustrating that was or what happened next, but in the end I was able to zip tie hack it till I get the proper plastic clip on order.

I decided to grab the camera to bring you alone to share the journey together with you. Also below is the helpful resource link to a great forum called ih8mud.com

https://youtu.be/X8t8lgbd78Y

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/tail-gate-locked-open-lever-does-not-engage.744048/#post-8593415

69293-89102

Picture of the OEM yellow clip that breaks. 

Road & Dirt Tripin with my oldest 2018

My oldest & I took the long way up to our local base camp area (approx. 9 hours) where we go wheelin. This time we went directly East across the valley to Pine Flat on up to Black Rock Reservoir on up to Wishon Reservoir down through the McKinley Grove trees past Dinky Creek on up to Saver Lake to fuel up & grab some pizza before we headed up toward Huntington Lake to Bald Mountain base camp approx. 6 miles in from Tamarac Ridge Snow Park.

Here is the video footage of the fun in Lx450 wheelin wagon.

June 2018 6 day family trip

The last week of June I took my family up the local mountains to a annual event called Moonlight Madness. The main event runs from dusk till we hours of the morning. The 6x12 box trailer just does not fit my growing family any more so we decided to splurge with a RV from Cruise America. We had a great time & the showers are even better. I'm trying to post with Instagram vids to see how it works out verses YouTube, tell me what you think.
(Click on the pictures that have a grey arrow that should take you to Instagram to watch videos).

https://youtu.be/QpQZ6u5GJbc

My future 1st build will be...

Since I currently live in Cali. I need to follow the current smog laws.

The only four door Land cruiser that is pre smog of 1976 is a Fj55.

This will be the RockDaddyCrawler.

The engine will be simple 5.3, 4.7 or even a 383 with TBI

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/my-fj55.338305/page-13

Red Line Land Cruiser’s 1976 FJ55, code named “War Pig” won’t win any beauty contests, but it sure is one awesome, power-packed and tricked-out beast of a FJ55!As of now my 1st build will be a Fj55 as follows:

High pinion ProRock 60 Dynatrac axles

https://www.dynatrac.com/axle-assemblies/prorock-60-axle.html

39.5" Iroks on beadlock wheels.

ORI struts with flipped fj40 leaf springs or XJ rear to extent wheelbase.

Keep it patina if possible or go with Candy Teal paint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf7ewBex-fw

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/project-topless.576682/

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/trying-to-identify-this-pig.438231/

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/69-70-fj55-built-140-1-flat-belly-soa-sbc350-etc.377594/

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-land-cruiser/519801-any-clean-fj55s-out-there-2.html

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-land-cruiser/693792-rubithon.html

More Day Dreaming More, Options To Choose From

In pervious post early in the blog I listed many options of how I might achieve my dream build since then a lot has happened & I have Many more option to add to the list. I am still torn to what this dream rig would end up looking like, but I have narrowed it down to 3 types of variations.

 

#1 Four door 40 with different tops.

   

#2 Stretched J40 or Bobbed Troopy look with different tops.

   

#3 or just going to a Fj55

My new 14" aux fan install

I finally installed the Depo 14" aux fan.

Instagram videos

Resources:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/pro-comp-14-aux-fax-install-937-lx450.311276/

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/abcs-of-80s-cooling-part-ii-aux-fan-wiring.103188/

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/aux-a-c-fan.1058916/#post-11666740

Buck Rock Trail & Lookout Tower Day Trip

My oldest daughter & I made a run for the fire tower at Buck Rock in the Sequoia National Forest. We met up with several wheelers from the Central Valley Crawlers Club that was doing trail work for the Forest Service, one of them is a good friend named @ToyotaDon. It was a fast paced 14 hour 270 mile day that blurred right past us. We had so much fun I all most forgot to get pics, but we did get a few & would like to share them with you. Enjoy!

Short vid

Longer vid

My Power Steering refresh & upgrade

My power steering pump started whining when I engaged the lockers last summer, now it started to leak from the back side of the pump. It's time... also install the cooler while I'm in there.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BhksuxlAS_F/

https://youtu.be/3qmX1zoRMoQ
~~~~~~~
Parts:
 44320-60182 New Pump
44327-30030 Gasket
44411-60430 High Pressure Hose

~~~~~~~~

Resources:

I did some research & this is what I found educational for my replacement...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/power-steering-pump-and-hose-replacement-faq.201920/

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/power-steering-pump-rebuild-hose.724653/

 

Fuel Tank Replacement for the Lx450

The fuel tank in the Lx acquired a small crack on top of fuel tank. I don't know exactly, maybe this new fuel we have messed up my charcoal canister then over pressurized the tank??? It has been a common problem for the 80 series Land Cruiser. I did some research & this is what I find...

These are the parts I purchased for the job.

Plus this Cut-off Vale #77380-26010

I pick this NICE used tank up local from @megolfer on ih8mud forum.