[Dusty]

I love my truck. Had this 96 lx450 3 years this month. We bought her at the start of my residency and I'll be graduating in 2 weeks. Building to this cruiser has been therapy for me over the past few years.
I am a little embarrassed that she doesn’t enjoy the most important modifications a machine like this needs- namely big tires and a lift. But I knew that I wouldn’t have time to wheel her or fix wheeling damage during these past three years and also knew she would be the major road trip machine for our family; so the big tires have had to wait. All this will change real soon with graduation as I will have more time and money. In fact I purchased a tig welder 2 days ago.
With me recent turbo build I mistakenly erased all my prior build pics from this forum because the forum kept telling me I had used up all my pic posting space. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong so in my haste I erased all my prior pics. It turns out my star had expired and all I needed to do was pay for a new star-so stupid. Since erasing all the pics several people have asked me if I could send the pics. I will post all of my build pics here. I also have some other stuff I Have done that I will post
My tinkering to date includes:
Sliders
Front bumper
Rear bumper
Do-it –yourself for a budget Turbo
Preluber (removed it with the turbo build)
Oil cooler
High flow fuel pump
Cut and turn CAT mod
Cargo carrier

The stuff I’m working on soon:
I need a winch
Need some sort of tire carrier on my bumper. I have a bearing hinge but I cant help thinking more and more about the fold down stinger carriers on the jeeps-they are just so solid and its easy to remove the carrier when you don’t need it.
Suspension-I havn’t decided between a 3 link and an extended/relocated radius arm lift but I think about it daily. I want to be able to run 37’s well. A four link seems tricky. Will start this in August
Start with my recent stuff:

I put in this walbro 255 fuel pump to add to my turbo set up. you will notice I used a piece of silicone hose. this was stupid as it "popped" the day after the install and I had to replace it with a real hose. PITA. I should have known better. The first pic is of me riding a mini horse my mom rented for my little girls.

[Dusty]

here is the cat I recently cut and turned. This is an easy mod if you have a wire welder. If you can do it with a stick you are even cooler. I hung a different hanger

Note that I only have one cat as I removed the other one with the turbo build

[Dusty]

slider pics. Bolt on sliders were a more difficult build for me than bumpers.

[Dusty]

I used 2x2x3/16 for outriggers. I believe it was 5/16 for frame plates. the round tube is 1.5" sc40. I did 4 bolts per plate and it is strong but u bolts would be as strong and would be easier to assemble (see sleeoffroad.com)

[Dusty]

They are wide to punish careless ricers in the parking lot

[Dusty]

home made mud flaps too. my real outrigger goes all the way to the end
note pre cat turn

[Dusty]

preluber before i removed it.
see the auxilary temp guage sender (before the cool oe gauge mod came out)

[Dusty]

front bumper

[Dusty]

make sure your welder has a good duty cycle if you run long beads like this. I roasted my dads snap-on mig/tig on this bumper

[Dusty]

3/16" mild steel

[Dusty]

notice that i have tossed that front facia piece that holds the blinkers. now the blinkers are in the corners. If you want to run all your intercooler ducting below the pass headlight you will find it much easier to do if you lose the facia. note also you can lift the ac dryer a good 1.5" in its holder-i did for this bumper

[Dusty]

better aproach angle. the 2 holes in front are for a receiver hitch. someday i will make a quickly removable winch shelf that slides into the holes so that i don't have to carry the winch around town

[Dusty]

If you can build this without a plasma cutter you are dedicated. If you do it with a hack saw you will be buffer than TYLER.

[Dusty]

the PHH blows (punn intended) so cut it's clamp off with a dremel and use one long piece of cheap heater hose. I did this and am going strong 5000 miles later. Nect time I change it will take 15min

[Dusty]

the cargo carrier is so helpfull in carrying my girl's stuff on long trips (plus extra water, tools, tire chains, dog food, oem service book, etc etc. keep the heavy stuff out of the cockpit in case of crash. the carrier has been modified to fit my new bumper

[Dusty]

im digging out other pics of the rear bumper. will post soon

the corner protectors are removable

[Dusty]

my new gauge cluster. got it for $20 on ebay and trimed it with the dremel-need to cover the top part better so the bolt isn't showing. it houses my digital water temp, my boost, and my egt. the a/f ratio is down by my l knee.

I recently watched turbocruisers catch can instal and I even baught a cheap one on ebay. instead I baught these 2 oil/air seperators from harbor freight for $5 each-so i have the oil issue covered (hopefully) at both sides

[Dusty]

if you want pics of turbo build please see the turbo build thread. Ill find more pics of rear bumper-on my other computer

[Romer]

Nice thread and great work on all your home built mods. I am a little worried about the little horses back though!

[fzj80kidpen]

Nice builds.
I like seeing people fab their own mods.
I did the ubolt thing with my sliders and wish I had just done the backing plate like you did. Look forward to seeing more on the bumpers and turbo

[jditom]

Nice work dude!
Your front bumper look like it could t-bone a hummer in half.
Sweet

[davegonz]

Dusty,
I have followed all of your custom fab projects and they rock. Keep fabbing man..

So what's your specialty going to be once your residency is done?

[Biff]

Very cool truck, love how all the mods come together. Where did you get the cargo carrier?

[wileetoyote]

Nice mods Dusty. Its nice to see how everyone personalizes their vehicles to suit their needs and wants. I have to say that that is one big cargo carrier though...I've seen the little expanded metal units that slide into the hitch which usually carries an ice chest and such but looks like yours could fit a Shetland Pony!

I agree, welding is great therapy (especially if you don't do it for a living). It looks like your having waaay too much fun with your welder(s) As soon as it cools down here in AZ, I'll be having my own theraputic sessions fab'ing up a rear tire carrier.

Looking forward to seeing your future mods.

WET

[LandCrusher'70]

Simply awesome. I admire your ability to "just do it". You get an idea and go with it. Awesome.

[reffug]

Very well done and documented sir.

Always cool to have another turbo in the stable.
(even if it does wear pink panties.)

Thanks as always for contributing.

[Cattledog]

I really liked your rear cargo carrier, so I copied it. I see three benifits with the carrier. One the center of gravity in the truck stays low. Two, no real impact on mileage. Three easier access to the cargo. Thanks for the idea.

[gnx7]

Nnice buildup! I like the turbo buildup and also the rear stuff carrier!

[lt403]

thanks for the info

[Dusty]

sorry not to respond for so long guys. the morning after I posted this my little 2 year old started seizing from a stomach virus that spread rapidly overnight to her brain. we just got out of the hospital today and my little girl will need a couple weeks to get her ballance back. Easily the worst experience of our lives-real hairy for a couple days there. I have nothing but praise to give to the pediatric ICU (picu) at Memorial hospital in Colorado Springs. Its a good thing we are insured because if not we would now be bankrupt. Ill hopefully get to those pics within a couple days.

Answer a couple questions
I officially finish my residence in 3 days. Specializing in family practice. we will be moving to Hanford Ca in 3 weeks (by fresno)

The cargo carrier is available at walmart for $98. We have used it tons and it is durrable. the cargo carrier base is made from a couple pieces of 3/16 x 4" angle iron that I bolted to the verticle hitch reviever supports with a couple bolts on each piece. you can build one in a couple hours.