[cc93cruiser]

Hello fellow cruiser heads. First of all, I would like to tell all that I am not a cruiserhead, but a cruiser fanatic!!!! .. I am constantly trying to improve my cruiser as I have stiff competition with my dad's cruiser, that is ultimately how I would love to have my cruiser.. My intentions with my cruiser build up was to have a nice clean, expedition type 80 that can do some serious wheeling too! I love to go camping, fishing, hunting etc.... and wanted to have a perfectly built off roading machine that can also be a comfortable daily driver out in the highway! I believe I have achieved that as there is NO better platform to start with than a 80 series period!!!! You can qoute me on that one! ... When I first purchased the 80, I wanted it to be a completely stock cruiser. At the time, I had a built 60 series that was a great off-roader/daily driver, but everything changed with one trip out to Hollister Hills and my 60 was finished!!!I rolled the cruiser and that was that..Enter 80 series build up !!

I have a '93 80 series with factory Locking differentials. It currently has about 180K on the clock, no leaks no noises, runs as good or even better than my '04 Mustang

Now to the cruiser build up! Over the last 2 years, I have been slowly adding/upgrading different areas of the cruiser. There are obviuos areas that everybody with 80 series cruisers swapout such as bumpers, suspension, lighting, performance, cargo. I will post up pics and write ups throughout the whole week. Hopefully I won't run out of stuff to talk about ,( don't really have much, but it is getting there! .. )

First off, I am posting a pic of my cruiser when it was still a poor little stock cruiser, right down to the Michilen tires.. Here is the pic:





Here is a pic of how the cruiser looks like today with all the modifications mentioned below, you can compare:

[cc93cruiser]

First off is my rear bumper. It was fabricated by another cruiserhead that goes by the name of Master Ken! .. That is HannaQuality.com. The bumper offers what I believe to be the BEST protection for the rear of an 80 series with its unique "Quarter Panel Protection bars." I am sure lots of you have seen it, but here are some pics of the bumper itself. I have nothing but great things to say about bumper, and it was much more than I thought it would be:









My dad (180 lbs), has actaully stood up on the swing out tire carrier while it was opened like so, and it didn't even budge, very solid design and fabrication!

[landtoy80]

Nice rear bumper but where is the trailer hitch?
If the side bars were a little longer they would of been great against the charging deer that hit my 80.

[reffug]

nice write up cc93. looking forward to seeing more pics of the rig. could you take one of the slee transfer case skidplate? oh and is your rig supercharged? just noticing the trd stickers and wondered. again nicely done.

[landtoy80]

Where is your tailpipe?

[MaddBaggins]

I dont have a Hanna bumper, But I believe you have to lop off some of the tailpipe fot the mounting plate of the bumper. See the plate going under to the frame in the pic he shows? I think the other side is the same way. (Oh, and if you were just yanking his chain then disregard all of the above.I don't know jack anyway!)

Nice rig and write up

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by landtoy80

Nice rear bumper but where is the trailer hitch?
If the side bars were a little longer they would of been great against the charging deer that hit my 80.

No tralier hitch, had to take the factory tow package off for the rear bumper install, not a big deal for me, as I really do not tow anything in my cruiser anyways...

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by landtoy80

Where is your tailpipe?

the Tail pipe was cut off for the bumper install too. That was actually the only modification Ken had to do to install bumper. After chopping it off, Ken welded a piece of metal to the remaining exhaust pipe so it would not just hang there..

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by reffug

nice write up cc93. looking forward to seeing more pics of the rig. could you take one of the slee transfer case skidplate? oh and is your rig supercharged? just noticing the trd stickers and wondered. again nicely done.

I will post pics of the skid plate installed tomorrow reffug, if your thinking about getting one, get it! It is affordable, and it is a must, 100% solid protection, nice fabrication by slee...

[cc93cruiser]

Here is a couple of pics of the ARB bullbar non-winch... I know, I know, I should have got the winch ARB.. If it is any consolation to the non-winch ARB cruisers, the non-winch bumper seems to be a bit stronger in the area right below where the roller fairlead is supposed to be attatched in a winch ARB...... as it does not dent as easy as the winch ARB when scraping or hitting on a approach!

[cc93cruiser]

For my suspension, I actually have an inordinary setup for cruisers with lots of armor/weight to carry.. I am actually running the light springs in the front OME851's and the Medium springs in the rear OME860's.. I don't have a winch in the front, so there was no problem untill I installed the sliders! Yes the sliders, finally brought down the front suspension a little. The rear was also brought down a tad with the install of the rear Hanna Bumper. So I decided to buy a couple of trim packers, 10mm in all four corners. Once I installed the trim packers, I noticed that it really didn't do much. So instead of buying new springs, I called up Man-a-Fre and placed an order for their 25mm trim packers that is the equivalent of a 1"(they were a bit pricey !! ). They are also austrilian made and seem to be made from the same material as the OME trim packers. That lifted the cruiser noticably! .. So that is my current set up, maybe some day I will buy the heavies like I should have done from the beginning .. the good thing about my light springs up front, is that I am able to retain nice, smooth, springs when daily driving.

[cc93cruiser]

The rocker panels are a very vulnerable area on any long wheel base rig, so on 80 series cruisers it is a must to buy a good set of sliders if you want to protect your cruiser.. For the sliders I turned to Slee. Originally, I was going to buy some Hanna sliders as his sliders offer great cat-protection with his patented cat-skid plate, but he was not going to have any of them ready for a while and I needed some at the time. So then I called up Slee Off-Road. Even though I originally wanted the Hanna's, I am extremely happy with the sliders I purchased from Christo. They actually have a really nice and durable finish to them. The powder coating will take some serious scrapping! The only way I can describe the powder coating, is that it feels like 80 grit sandpaper .. The sliders themselves are extremely beefy and weigh about 70 lbs. each! Here is a pic of them installed and when I barely got them home..

[FirstToy]

Your 80 looks awesome Robert, nice build up too. It's cool your dad and you share the same interest and trucks!

[rgsiii]

You have a good lookiing truck. How did your Turbocharger impact your fuel economy?

I have an order in for one of Ken's rear bumpers, it is supposed to be here in June.

[cc93cruiser]

Turbocharger? I wish . My dad has a supercharger in his '97 cruiser, he gets about the same gas mileage as I do. My engine is completely stock except for the K&N filter that adds about 5 to 6 lbs of boost and puts out a whooping 120 horsepower at fly... ..Turbocharger, I wish ..

[rgsiii]

I saw the TRD logo on the truck and immediately thought supercharger and wrote turbocharger.

Still a good looking vehicle!

[YngTLCOwner]

Robert,
Your truck looks great! We are going to be up in your area this coming weekend. Hope to see your setup w/ the Man A Fre spacers.

Again, great looking truck you got there. Hope to have my truck set up like yours by end of the year.

Steve

[reffug]

Originally Posted by rgsiii

I saw the TRD logo on the truck and immediately thought supercharger and wrote turbocharger.

Still a good looking vehicle!

Yes I too had made this inquiry/assumption but had yet to receive a reply.

[cc93cruiser]

This is a pic of the transfer case skid plate. It is mounted in to the original 3 holes where the original factory transfer case skid mounted to. It also has extra support with a arm-bracket that is mounted to the top of the skid plate and stands on the frame rail.. It is held in place by the last 2 bolts that is holding up the the passenger side slider.. pics:




Here are a couple of pics it is installed:

[cc93cruiser]

Lighting when your off-roading is essential. Especially when your wheelin at night! I had a couple times were I was wheelin at night, and because I didn't have sufficient amout of light, I got myself into trouble (fallen into ruts etc....).I decided to go get some good lights, but did not want to spend hundreds on lights.. I bought a set of IPF's 968's and 868's! They are awsome! I have the squared 868's on the roof rack and the rounded 968's on the bullbar. I am still not finished in this department, as I think I need another set of 868's for my rack. I also have a IPF backup/utility light, but I have not yet installed it because my reverse lights are not working ( I need a new neutral safety switch ). Here is a pic of the lights installed. I also have pics of how my dad and I rigged the wire all the way to the engine bay and interior:








this is the wiring, OK I guess:


this is where the wires run down too, inside the weatherstripping to the engine and interior:


Here is a pic of the switchs in the interior (not the best location):

[cc93cruiser]

These are the tires I am running, BFGoodrich Mud Terrains K/M's 285/75/R16's. Good ole' 33" tires. I love the look of 80 series cruisers with 35" tires, but I really don't want the hassle of regearing at the moment and I obviuosly need more lift too:

[nmostofi]

Good looking truck brother I have wheeled with Robert for the past four weekends and I can tell you it is a very capible rig, we had tip toping at Frank Ryines this weekend it was fun

[nmostofi]

that is funny I just relized that is Robert in the yellow shirt in my Avitar spotting me through frame twister at Hollister thanks man

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by nmostofi

that is funny I just relized that is Robert in the yellow shirt in my Avitar spotting me through frame twister at Hollister thanks man

No problem Navid, that is what fellow cruiserheads are for! We can do it all over again this weekend! Talk to you in a bit! Later bro...

[DRTDuck]

Originally Posted by cc93cruiser

For my suspension, I actually have an inordinary setup for cruisers with lots of armor/weight to carry.. I am actually running the light springs in the front OME851's and the Medium springs in the rear OME860's.. I don't have a winch in the front, so there was no problem untill I installed the sliders! Yes the sliders, finally brought down the front suspension a little. The rear was also brought down a tad with the install of the rear Hanna Bumper. So I decided to buy a couple of trim packers, 10mm in all four corners. Once I installed the trim packers, I noticed that it really didn't do much. So instead of buying new springs, I called up Man-a-Fre and placed an order for their 25mm trim packers that is the equivalent of a 1"(they were a bit pricey !! ). They are also austrilian made and seem to be made from the same material as the OME trim packers. That lifted the cruiser noticably! .. So that is my current set up, maybe some day I will buy the heavies like I should have done from the beginning .. the good thing about my light springs up front, is that I am able to retain nice, smooth, springs when daily driving.

Any issue with using two trim packers? I know OME reccomends only using one packer per spring. I didn't realize Man-a-fre had those. I have the stock height OME springs with the 10mm packers. Doing what you did would give me the little extra I would like without the expense or need of new springs.

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by DRTDuck

Any issue with using two trim packers? I know OME reccomends only using one packer per spring. I didn't realize Man-a-fre had those. I have the stock height OME springs with the 10mm packers. Doing what you did would give me the little extra I would like without the expense or need of new springs.

DRTduck, I have not had any issues whatsoever with the trim packers. OME does not recommend more than 20mm of trim packers, that's 2 10mm trim packers. I wheeled the heck out of cruiser and flexed the suspension, yet those trim packers sat in there without budging!

[Snook]

Hey Cc93cruiser,

Your truck looks good and performed well at Hollister Hills, actually I don't think it need addtional upgrade.

The NEXT upgrade would be a mud boot for you?

Cheers,

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by Snook

Hey Cc93cruiser,

Your truck looks good and performed well at Hollister Hills, actually I don't think it need addtional upgrade.

The NEXT upgrade would be a mud boot for you?

Cheers,

ha ha, really funny Jay ... Hey when we wheelin again? Hopefully soon! Hey were is the hollister video, I got my 5 bucks !

[YngTLCOwner]

Robert,
James, Deborah, and I will be up in Nor Cal this weekend. We are planning on doing Hollister on Sat. Let me know if you and your dad and Navid could make it. We would love to have others come out too.

Sorry didn't mean to hijack this thread.

What is the next mod you plan on doing on the truck?

STeve

[cc93cruiser]

Originally Posted by YngTLCOwner

Robert,
James, Deborah, and I will be up in Nor Cal this weekend. We are planning on doing Hollister on Sat. Let me know if you and your dad and Navid could make it. We would love to have others come out too.

Sorry didn't mean to hijack this thread.

What is the next mod you plan on doing on the truck?

STeve

What's up Steve! Cool you guys are coming to Hollister huh? I hope I can be able to make it dude? I am pretty sure my girl works that day and I might have to sit home and baby sit the little bugger ...Well, hopefully she can get the day off .. I will let you know Steve, thanks. I think my next mod on my cruiser is probably some on-board air Outback Air.. and some more IPF's on my roof rack! ..