Day Run to Pismo/Oceano dunes.

Last Sunday I just had to "Get out of Dodge" as some would say... I took my girls to Pismo/Oceano dunes it's a great place to go & drive on the sand.

My 9 year old shot a video for me, I just have to laugh from a father's heart... its definitely an narrative from her veiw point. At least it made me laugh.

BEWARE IT'S SHAKY

Enjoy.

Oh yeah I also got stuck... then I twisted that dial on the dash & back right out. Elockers are the best thing ever.

Here is long version.

2" Rear Bump Stops a installed.

I made some 2" rear bump stops out of some square tube. It was to big of a jump up in size. Meaning going from 1.25" bumps to 2" was to much. After getting them on & making measurements it lowered the tire by 1.5" wild Eh? Here is some pics to show. Just .75" difference did this. I also found just drink around town through dips & speed bumps, it was hitting the rear bump quiet offten.

Just to show how close these 37"s are to everthing. Here is more pics.

New 1.5" Bump Stop Pucks up front for the 37"s...

I installed the 1.5" Bump Stop Pucks up front for the 37"s... I had them on before the body lift, but took them back off.
I also did some fender bashing with a hammer to make room for these huge tires.

Above is before hammer.

Below is after.

I need to trim a bit more.

Tires 35" vs. 37" on same 80 series

Hey there, just posting up some pics to compare what 37s look like compared to 35s/315s on my Cruiser. Same lift etc...

Test Flex Fitting new 37" ST Maxx tires on 4runner wheels with the Lx450 Cruiser

I had a little bit of time to streach her legs out yesterday in the creek bed. I went to my favorite spots as usual.
All I have to say is if it doesn't rub then it's about .25" away from doing so, EVERYWHERE! These pics are with the sway bar on, it does flex much better with it off. Way better. At this point I dare not disco the sway until I cut the front fenders or better said, gut the insides of my front fenders. Yes, I will retain the front flares & clading. Only one other rig I've seen has done this.
Here are some poser shots.

Can you say one stuffed 37?

The side wall tread is completely in there.

My right rear (RR) only rubs the top of the fender.

The left rear (LR) is a different story... it rubs in three spots.

The fronts will need bump stops pucks or some inner fender gutting... I'm definitely going to eventually  cut & here is how.

The Cruiser got new shoes...

The Cruiser got new shoes today.
A set of 37" Cooper ST Maxx tires. The 315s finally where sold.

Got 37s?
I just did!
Finally, three sets of tires later in 1.5 years...
I really didn't think they would fit without major modification, so I went 315s.
Since I did a lot of reading on IH8MUD.com and found that it was very possible. A shout goes out to all the people who did it before me & documented it here on IH8MUD. I went with the Arizona Boys method of fitment. Special thanks goes out to @Tools R Us & @richardlillard1 .
I choose to go with a 4.9"/125mm back space 4Runner wheel & 1" spacers. They do come very close to everything with some very slight rubbing. With some small tweaks I should be able to flex it out worry free.
I have 2.5" suspension lift with a 1" body lift.
Basically a 3.5" lift. Cooper ST MAXX tires spec out to be a tad taller than the STT Pro.
More info coming... let's go wheelin.

The lugs are more spread on the 37s compaired the the 315s.

The 3.9" back spacing worked out really well. I was shooting for a 3.75" BS...

Update: Batt box & Air Compressor

178,000 on the 2.10.16

Batt box:
I aquire a Fj60 battery box from my good friend Toyota Don, it fit perfectly after a bit of a trim just behind the fan shroud.
Thanks Don.

Air comp:
At the time I was researching for the best on board air compressor, there was three that stood out to be the best in my mind. The Puma, ARB twin & the wild card Air Zenith unit. All three where very impressive with destinctive advantages... The Puma is the most economical as a complete unit with 2cfm @40psi w/1.5gal. tank, it just needs wireing, but I just could not get past the fact it would be taking up very needed cargo area. The compact Air Zenith unit is 4.25cfm @30psi & 3.22cfm @40psi. Very impressive numbers for a compact single piston unit. The ARB twin was the most impressive with the highest rating of 4.68cfm @30psi. This was also the most expensive unit.  Also I had seen a few threads on mud that several had mounted it behind the rear corner panel out of harms way & did not take any cargo space away.
Just at this time @socalife posted up 8 of the ARB twin units for a very fair price. So good that he sold all 8 within approx. 6 hours of posting. Well I was one of the 8 that got sucked into the feeding frenzy.

At this time I'm in the process of how exactly I'm going to mount it & wire it up. For now I have it set up as a make shift portable unit with a set of cheap jumper cables. It isn't pretty, but will work for now until I can properly get it mounted.

Family Snow Trip 1-16-16

As things came into alignment, pay day, day off & good weather the family made quick plans to make a snow trip. It turns out the 4x4Him group was also doing a snow run to lower Bald Mountain area. So we met up with them & made a day out of it.

We where able to get to the grean gate entrance (I'm guesing 5 miles) which was way more further than reports from other groups weeks back. By then it was 1pm, time to turn around & head back out. That took several hours as some groups behind us wanted to push forward as we were wanting to go back out creating a traffic jam. As we had to blaze another lane of travel back out. I didn’t count, but guessing about 40 rigs with 8 groups of people wanting to do different things. Crazy at best.
I was promising the kids all that day we would go sledding & tubing. As the sun was getting closer to the horizon I was getting a bit worried about it.  (OK, I was getting frustrated with the traffic jam.)
We arrive safley back to Dinky Creek Road with just enough day light left to air up & allow the kids some sled & tubing runs.
The Lord is Good to us. We all had a great time, the kids got to get out & exspend their pined up energy. I can only imagine being a kid sitting a rig most of the day basically parked hoping to go sledding the whole time. That being said they did great!
Below is some pics & even video of the day.

New OME 862 rear dual rate springs

I have been looking for a more versatile spring that will perform the ability to have a plush ride while empty, but have firm stability when loaded down on family trips. The OME 860 coils I had gave a big stinkbug while DDing around town empty then when loaded with only kids, Ice chest & misc. items it would start to squat.

After doing a lot of research I learned of springs that have two spring ratings rather than one, they call them dual rate. It turns out Old Man Emu has two to that will fit the 80 series. The 866 would be way to firm for my needs having a rating of 240/300 lbs. The other is the 862 with a rating of 170/260. 170lb. is the factory spec for the 80 series & 250lb. rate is what OME uses for the heavy 863 spring.

What does this mean?
A 170/260 lb. rating means plush/firm.
Now that I have broke them in a bit loaded & empty, they are just what I wanted. They have helped Lexi450 have even better turning manners. I can feel the plush 170lb. rate while empty, they feel very nice. When I make fast hard turns I can feel them set into the firmer 260lb. rate & it turns like it's on rails. I can't be happer.

To note: these are considered to be stock height replacement springs that gives approximately 1" lift over stock. To achieve a 2" lift I added 40mm to them giving a final center hub to bottom of flare of 22" after minus of 1" for my body lift (Stock is approx. 20"). 

If only OME would only add one more turn & .5mm thicker wire to the 862 it would increase lift by 1" like they do to the 850 & 850J. They could call it an 862J.... Hmmmm, just having fun.

Intermittent Random Inconsistent Starting

I have been have starting issues for a awhile, it started out as delayed starting then random starting, but it would start eventually. No clicking or chatering, just silence, but a click when releasing the key. Then it became bothersome & had no consistency to be able to trouble shoot. I looked to the IH8MUD.com Forum for help found some good info. Here is the thread that helped me.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/turn-the-key-no-start-intermittent.899497/

It pointed to three items to look at & some people mentioned it could be several worn items at same time which I believe is to be my current problem. The three items are battery having low cold cranking amps, worn starter contacts & posibly a worn ignition switch.  I did a quick & dirty sanding job on my old contacts to get me by for now & have over 30 successfull starts to date. A new starter rebuild kit with plunger is on the way & I will be testing my ignition system ASAP.

Here is the not so bad contacts & plunger.

Here is after very quickly sanding, they cleaned up pretty good.

It's back in & has started up every time since. I went to the nearest auto store & had them run a system check & all systems are good. I will definitely be checking for a worn ignition switch ASAP. Hope this helps.

Oil pump O-ring & front main seal replacement

There has been a bunch of thread post on this leaking oil pump repairs going around lately. @1973Guppie is having probs with his crank bolt also. My guess is the changing to the colder weather this fall.
My oil pump just has been just a seap all summer, but now became an official leak once I saw my 1st drip in the driveway. :(
@jcardona1 sent me this awesome vid by @Texasknowhow & this is my next job on the list. 

I'm not looking forward to this... a lot of people have had many problems with getting the bolt & screws out, but mine came out with a bit of a fuss. I got them all out though.

Got the parts from CDan. Plus a blue modulator.

Well, one down 7 more to go...

Praise the Lord!
I got the other 7... can you tell I was worried?

We are home free, it's down hill from here...

Got it back on torqued screws to 8 in pounds, but had probs getting the main seal out.

Lexi450 is now back to drive way status from getting kicked to the curb. No more leaks.

177,125

I also relocated the washer bottle so can add the second battery.

Fj43 BJ44 Fj46

Here is pics on my favorite midsized J4 body.