Back on 37s

 Back on 37 MudHogs cuz it was just to much pulling hills with the 38s with the trailer in tow.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Vz3dBdQivi3yGUd7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4BLjPyCYEAQKNwJ9A

Pismo trip with the family

vids 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4tgpLGTypYSyhDRn8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/81BtF8ZiWcWfxqo79

New Group 27 battery, oil change & tire rotation...

 New Group 27 battery, oil change & tire rotation... yeah, I know, boring but necessary.

A few years back @malteaserunner posted up his new group 27 battery & I thought it was a good one to get next time a battery was due. So we are at that point after the frig would not go through the night without shutting off & slow starts on cold mornings which is like 40* degrees in Cali... it was time.

OReiley's is my local auto store so it's just easier to go that route, their AGMs have served me well since the last set went 5 years with one warrantied after 2 years in 2018. If money was no option I would do the group 31 Optima blue tops at $360 per but got these Super Starts for $199 per.

The cool thing about this battery was the separated bolts for extra cables.

Part # 27MAGM

As you can see it's a Marine grade 900MCA with 175 min reserve.

61.5 lbs

The start battery is a 24RPLT

710CCA  875CA 110 min reserve.

44 lbs.

Just to note I have a Blue Sea #7611 to keep them separated incase the frig drains below 12v.

Just for log entry the oil change was at 210,022 miles. Last change was a year & 4 months ago at 205,054. I daily drive about 15 miles per day so that is a lot of cold starts. After looking at the oil it was time... it was very dark & had a burnt smell to it.

Install of the Delta VS Icon 2.0 Icon air bump & Delta brackets

 I havent posted in awhile, well cuz absolutely nothing has happened since the Dusy Ershim trip last year.

With 4" of uptravel I hit the front bumps more often, to remedy this issue I made a impulse purchase... I got the Icon air bumps & brackets from @Delta VS .

They add a .25" of lift by the way.

I added a .5" shim to bump them down to match the 1" bump stops that I had.

Since I have moved the axle forward 1" via the eimkieth weld on drop brackets I've been fighting right side coil to frame rub.
Moving the axle forward made the coil banana a little bit. The Dobinsons banana more than the TourFlex coils.
To fix this I need to get an adjustable front panhard bar to re-center the axle, but untill then I removed some of the conflicting metal from the frame..
More caster will give less banana also.
This rubbing can be mitigated rather easily, I will show with pictures.

Can you say  ?

Below is a before pic of the rub area on the frame.
See the paint marks?

After grinding...

Here is the TourFlex coil, these sit better.
I still need to get a front panhard bar.
Im looking for a good used one.
As for a new one, does anyone sell them with rubber bushing rather then poly?

​

If I won the LOTTO

Every one has dreamt at one time or another about winning the Lottery, haven't you? 

I have lost many hours of sleep dreaming of striking it rich & thinking "If money was no option I would..." Well I would of course do what most would by paying off the mortgage or buying a newer home that's a no brainer right? Well after most needs have been met & all my teeth repaired what is next? For me, this is where it gets fun. Fun, yes fun, this is were the 4xADVENTURES.com begins.

My dream has been to get in a RV & travel to all the places I learned about growing up in the USA. Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty etc... & of course hit the Land Cruiser Museum in Utah along with the bigger Land Cruiser shops across America. Intersecting with Ih8mud members & larger 4x events. I would also have a few dream rig projects built. At this time I have to many thoughts on what to build 1st. but some dream builds on the list is a Fj55 crawler, Fj45 extracab Overlander & finish my Lx450.

It might look something like this:

 

1970 Toyota Landcruiser FJ44

IWANT! TOYOTA FJ40 Hardtop modifikasi 5 Door

Dusy Ershim 2020

I had on my bucket list one of the toughest trails California has to offer called the Dusy Ershim trail situated up high in the Sierra Nevada Forest near Courtright Reservoir. The trail is 31 miles & generally can be completed in a fast pace 3 day journey. 4 other friends with 80 series rigs like mine did it in 2 days because of the Big Creek fire started the 2nd day so we had to bug out 21 miles in one day. Crazy.

Broski started & event thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/80s-on-the-ershim.1224280/

Got lazy & tried to push a few tress over. The tress won.

The undercarriage took most of the carnage.

the muffler took a big hit toward the drivelive.

The rear lower control arm hangers took a lot of big hits.

Front arm drop hangers took abuse also.

Rear sway self clearanced itself.

Tierod hit a rock & is bent very slightly.

I used every bit of uptravel shown by yellow zip tie.

Rubbed front portion of fenders.

Barley touched exhaust.

fzj80 series Sloppy A/C vent mod fix hack... Lx450

Cool-it Thermo Gaurd FR heat shield install in fzj 80 series Lx450

38x13.5r17 Patagonia MileStar MT on a 80 series 38s

Got some new digs...

Testing the 80 series Dobinson 2.5" Front Tapered Coils

ARB Twin Air Motor Replacement Warranty & Witts End Quarter Panel Mount fzj80

https://youtu.be/60w5JZi2c-s

37" inch tires on a 2" lifted fzj80 series with minimal lowered bump stops.

Just having fun with a game I call "HOW LOW CAN I GO" with my Lx450. It turns out the 1" suspension works well, but needs a little bit more bump stops which will limit up travel so we will end up with a 2" suspension & a 1" body lift to get the up travel I want of 4" up travel. I was running a 3" suspension and 1" body lift previously.

I lowered my Lx450 80 series

I lowered my rig. 

Why? 

I don't know, just playing a game called "How Low Can I Go"

In the front is the stock coil plus 2" coil spacers. In the back are a new set of 1" lift Tough Dog dual rate 220/280 coils. 

The uptravel is only like 3" so this is only a temporary thing.

It only sits about 2" lower, but look like more than that compared to the pics below.

1st pic is 2" of lift & others are with 4" of lift.

New Cruisin Offroad Belly Skid Plate for the Lx450

I drove over a 1,000 miles to have a belly plate install by Cruisin Offroad.
Jason H. is a cool dude.