[boots4]

I think the AC/heater system was the only system I hadn't tinkered with or been into. Looks like I've hit them all now.

[Falco80]

I hang out for your weekly updates! I love reading about everything your doing to this beast, keep it up!

[boots4]

We had our club Christmas tree run and after that I did a little exploring. Didn't find much but I did find this little section that was fun. Only thing that happened was my driver side front bump stop lost a bolt during the day so it was dangling but still held on by the other bolt.











Clear, sunny day. This is Mt Hood in Oregon. Not much snow on it yet.





I put a little video together of that section.

YouTube - Offroad in Estacada OR 12-08

It's amazing what kids will sleep through. They were asleep during that video footage.

[Tapage]

too easy for this Cruiser !!!

[boots4]

Things ordered and done this week.

Ordered some more dash lights to replace the ones that have burned out. I thought I had the wiring fixed but have lost gauge lighting completely so I won't put those in until I get that figured out. I checked fuses and am wondering if it is something a level deeper.

I also ordered a hydroboost reseal kit from piratejack.net since my unit from the junkyard is also leaking. I've bungy strapped some rags under it to keep it from making too much a mess until the kit shows up and I can replace the rubber.

I found that the bolt I thought I lost on my driverside front bumpstop actually was sheared and the body is still in the threaded hole in the frame. I'll need to finess that out of there and will step up in strength on those bolts. I remember hitting a pothole or speed bump pretty good last week so that must have done it.

I did a more thorough alignment this week and tacked the jam nuts to the tierod this time. I re-read the trailgear hydroassist page and while I had the TREs angled the right way I missed the part about tacking the jam nuts so it wouldn't loosen up.

I noticed this when I was down there. These are the front springs.



I originally used some washers to take up the gap since I made the hangers just a little too wide. I don't think they stopped the inner sleeve from moving and the spring bushings started to slide out.



My second 9/16" drill bit is shot and I didn't feel like buying another one so I found the old shackles that went with the ranger mains and cut them up for spacers.



I did my measuring and after double checking welded them on. I'm going to test this out but have it in the back of my mind that I'm just going to narrow the hanger and box in the front for strength.



I cut and bent some pieces to make some bumpstops for the steering. I decided to put them on to reduce the chance of damage to the internal/external parts when the knuckle turns. Plus the tires were rubbing the leaf springs on full lock so this will keep them separate.



I also picked up some gaskets for the intake plate and elbow. I did get those installed resealing all the bolts as I put it back together. I picked up the gaskets from the cummins parts place locally and when the guys behind the counter found out it was the FJ60 in the parking lot that had the swap in it we made a little field trip to the parking lot to pop the hood. It was nice having the cummins guys also appreciate my work. I was also suprised to find the gaskets to be cheaper than I thought.



From what could see (remember the gauge lights aren't working and I go to/from work in the dark due to wintertime) the boost gauge was not fluttering like it used to and I think I've passed the 20psi wall I've been fighting with. Looks like I'm getting closer and might be adding some more diesel to the mix soon. I've got one more break before our trip down to California for Christmas time (we'll be taking Dora) so I'll focus on maintenance items and hopefully get the hydroboost resealed and the dash lights working. It sounds like we will be getting some snow in the city this weekend so I might not have to go far to play a little. I just might sipe my tires if it gets squirrly.

[brokenparts]

I'm going to have to lure you over for the hydroboost stuff... I just picked up a pretty nice hydroboost setup in great condition from a 2003 chevy 1 ton. Keep up the good work man!

[boots4]

Originally Posted by brokenparts

I'm going to have to lure you over for the hydroboost stuff... I just picked up a pretty nice hydroboost setup in great condition from a 2003 chevy 1 ton. Keep up the good work man!

No luring necessary, I still owe you for that front shaft! Holidays might be a little tricky but just say when.

[brokenparts]

Yep... pretty busy for me too. I still have a lot more on my plate before even START to think about the brakes too.

[boots4]

I found out why my dash lights weren't working and it only took a cop to pull me over last night and tell me my tail lights weren't working. I hadn't realized the dash lights and tail lights were connected, although it makes sense when I think about it now, so I didn't check the tail light fuse the other night. I waited until he came back to my door to ask if he could shine his light on the fuse block so I could check that fuse, I didn't want to get out without him knowing why. Once I got it pulled out and replaced the tail lights and dash lights were working again. He let me go and said I needed to fix the brake lense that was broken so no white light could be seen. He said just getting a red bulb would do the trick but I taped it when I got home so no white light was showing. On this occasion I was glad he pulled me over because I didn't know my tail lights weren't working and it was a simple fix.

[boots4]

Well, I proved my devotion to Dora this week because it was bitterly cold outside with plenty of piercing wind. I dug out that jumpsuit I used last winter and started prepping for next week's trip down to California for Christmas.

We had our club Christmas party and I we ventured out on snowy/icy covered roads. I wanted to see how Dora would do and I was suprised to find it pretty scary to drive. It turned out being toed in too much and was causing it to dart side to side as I lost and regained traction. Having the locker in front only accentuated the problem and I resolved to get that straightened out before the trip. I'm starting to wonder if I've got any bent parts. With the help of another friend we got it dialed back in and it tracks better down the road. It still has some sway and I attribute that to the position of the front shocks, fat tires, and no sway bar. I think I'll work on getting the sway bar put back in due to my pickiness with it's handling on the road.

My LED bulbs came in and I figured out the wiring. Now all the LEDS (including the additional gauges) dim with the factory dimmer. I also saw this little cigarrette lighter flashlight when I ordered my bulbs and thought that was a good idea so I added it to the order. I don't smoke so that outlet can go to some use now.



I pushed it in all the way at first and had a hard time getting it back out since the outlet is recessed. My wife got it out and now I push it in just far enough for the light to come in. It glows red when it's charging and isn't an issue at night when driving.



I rotated the tires and checked the spacers with again nothing loose. While I had the tires off I siped the center lugs with my grooving iron.



I've siped both of these tires. I then turned the blade over and have grooved the right side tire in this pic. I just grooved the center lugs with angle and horizontal lines. It looks like what they should have come like from the factory.



Once I got that done I worked on the signal line from my intake manifold to the AFC diaphram (fuel compensator when it sees more boost). I think the fittings were bottoming out and not putting enough force on the rubber washers to make a seal so I got some parts to space the fitting out and give me more clamping force on the sealing washers.



I tried a couple different things and decided on stretching a rubber o-ring to go behind the sealing washers.



Hooked it back up and took it for a test drive. No difference and continued gauge flutter so I went back to the drawing board. I took it off and this section alone has 8 possible leak points.



I found myself at the local hardware store with a new plan to replace that section. I came home with some more parts to try out.



I could not find a hose barb with the same threads as the fitting to the left of the copper tubing so I decided on using it to make a hose connection. I already had the hose (nice silicon inner and rubber outer re-enforced hose) and got parts to hook it up. I plugged the original hole in the intake plate and opened up a hole on the side. I put the special fitting back in the AFC housing.



Then I hooked up my hose. I double clamped the part that slid over the copper tube since it didn't have any barbs. The hose fit tightly on the copper tubbing to begin with.



It was about lunch time yesterday on my last day off and I decided to take the plunge and make an intake horn. This was significant because I was planning on using the metal tube I made to connect it to the current intake so I'd not be able to easily go back. I traced and cut/drilled a base plate earlier along with picking up another section of straight 2 1/2" exhaust so I had some parts ready. Here is some mock up of positioning to make sure I had access to what I needed along with not hitting the hood. I'm making a new intake because the current one necks down and rubs the hood. I decided on 2 1/2" because the rest of the system is that size, I have parts to work with, and it is bigger than the neck down on the current intake horn. I suppose I could go with 3" and maybe that will be worth while down the road.







Once I got it where I wanted I welded it up and did a quick visual check for holes. I was running out of time and kept having set-backs so I'll have to go back through and finish it off but for now I slapped it together.





Visually I like how it lays in the the engine bay. I'll have some holes to patch since boost is still fluttering. I've detuned the pump just a little to gain some economy for the trip and even with that boost builds quicker so I think the new intake is going to work out well. I'll update once I get that cleaned up.

To finish off preparation I checked/topped off all fluids and it looks like all I need to do is fill it up and hit the road.

[esh]

Glad you got your tracking worked out a little better. Should still have a good alignment shop dial it in IMO.

Have a safe trip!

[boots4]

The trip down to California went fine. We basically wheeled out of Portland down passed Salem with lots of snow everywhere. Passed Salem the roads were clear and we could speed up so I unlocked the hubs and fed it the fuel. The highways were drivable with the cruiser performing great on packed snow but dicey on ice. There were no failures or problems during the whole trip down, around, and back aside from Dora's personality. We did go to the snow while in Cali with family and when chains/traction tires were required at a check point on our way to our destination the inspector gave me a thumbs up and I didn't even have to stop.

On the trip we averaged 70-80mph and actually made decent time considering we had to stop numerous times for my daughter to go pee. Kids do have smaller bladders. We usually stay the night in Medford with family but this time decided to do the trip in one day and the kids held up pretty good.

I did my calculations and adjustments and averaged 17.2 MPG this trip. I was going fast so I'm sure that accounts for some of the less than desired numbers but it's nice to go 70 mph up the passes. This also includes serveral 0-60 starts pushing it out on the country roads. I did get it up to 85mph on a back country road this trip and it was stable and actually smoother at that speed than at 65mph. Not sure I'd go faster than that since these are mud tires. I'm still playing around with tuning so I still have hopes for better numbers in the future. I keep changing things so that will change the tuning which is why I'm still playing with it.

Things I want to work on after the trip:

Re-setup the front shocks. I'm pretty sure better positioning will induce better handling and I may not want a swaybar afterwards.

I did burn 2-3 quarts of oil this trip ~1500 miles (maybe that's normal but seems excessive to me) so I should probably do a compression check to see where I'm at.

Finish off my intake elbow

Troubleshoot my reduction in coolant. No coolant in oil and no oil in coolant, coolant hoses not pressurized once turned off, and no exhaust signs of head gasket failure but another good reason to to a compression check. Temperature was good the whole trip so I might have just had some air pockets working their way out from the heater core swap a couple weeks ago. It does look like I need to retighten the lower radiator hose so maybe that's part of it too.

Get some tube, beg Brokenparts for some tube bender play time and finally get some protection for this thing.

I'm planning on attending the Rubiton this year so I'd like to have a few more projects crossed off my list before then, install another locker, and if I'm really on it get the AC hooked up. Just hope I still have a job for me to pay for all this, the economy is hurting everyone.

[Tapage]

Nice ..

just a note .. I never get oil comsumtion on my turbo diesel cruisers .. I thought I never take a long trip as 1500 miles together ..

[boots4]

It's interesting because I don't get any additional smoke from the tail pipe so maybe I'm getting blowby and evaporating/pushing some out the crank case breather. I does seem to be juicey down there and the main seals aren't leaking. No dripping on the parking spot either.

[brokenparts]

sorry to hear about your oil problem but its good to hear that the trip went pretty well. Let me know when you want to use the bender. I've got a few things I need to bend up too.

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by boots4

It's interesting because I don't get any additional smoke from the tail pipe so maybe I'm getting blowby and evaporating/pushing some out the crank case breather. I does seem to be juicey down there and the main seals aren't leaking. No dripping on the parking spot either.

Which oil are you using .. ?

I have plenty of friends that hate the Castrol oil for this reason .. seems to be too thin for their engines ..

[boots4]

Originally Posted by Tapage

Which oil are you using .. ?

I have plenty of friends that hate the Castrol oil for this reason .. seems to be too thin for their engines ..

I'm using Delo 15W-40 CI-4.

[Kief]

You could set up a "resevoir" to allow the blow-by to cool and the oil to condense.. Maybe one of those snazzy stainless water bottles with an extended hose down the hole and keep it vertical. My little bro' has something similar on his WRX to trap some of that oil that gets blown past the rings. At least you might get a rough idea of what it going on.

[boots4]

I think the 6bt (5.9) had something like that. Maybe it's not what I was thinking but I'll look into it and see what's around.

Kief, any pics/links of your brother's setup?

[CruisinGA]

Search on the 80 series forum for "PCV blowby" or something similar.

The 1FZFE is bad about losing oil through the PCV and fouling up things in the throttle body, so a lot of those guys have installed colescing filters and other types of traps to remove it.

[Kief]

Originally Posted by boots4

I think the 6bt (5.9) had something like that. Maybe it's not what I was thinking but I'll look into it and see what's around.

Kief, any pics/links of your brother's setup?

MySpace.com - Kory with a k - 27 - Male - tacoma, Washington - www.myspace.com/04stiguy

You might try to see if he'll send you one via his 'space link.. I'm scared of that place.. I can email him if you want..

[CreeperSleeper]

We don't care about your oil consumption, we want to see your snow wheeling pics!

[boots4]

You've seen all I've got but I'll get those tomorrow when I update my weekly work. I've been out sniffing grinder dust again.

[brokenparts]

Originally Posted by boots4

You've seen all I've got but I'll get those tomorrow when I update my weekly work. I've been out sniffing grinder dust again.

MMMMMM, I love pickin black crap outta my nose... and hacking black lung butter for a week!

[boots4]

I came back from my trip with a few things I wanted to work on but I had the chance to go snow wheeling this week so I jumped on that before I took Dora down for a week or two.

It was just two rigs and we headed out to Sunset Hills area in Camas WA. The MiniMonster is running on 46x20 (that's width) Mickey T's!



He runs tons so I basically hugged his trail but didn't pack the snow any more than he did. My 38s sure don't look that big anymore.



I started out at 15psi and after the Mini kept seeing me spinning we stopped and we dropped it to 5psi and that made a big difference on traction. I've never aired down that low on these tires and rims but I didn't have any problems.



There were a couple toyota's on the mountain but we were the only ones moving. This 4runner didn't make it as far, he did have chains on too.





Dora did alright in the snow. I didn't really break any trail but that was fine by me. I got some more seat time and some good pointers from someone who's done this quite a few times. The heater works well .




Here's a video of that MiniMonster. I think I'll redo my other videos since I found a better setting for quality compression.


Snow Wheeling 1-2009



I got home later that afternoon and prepped for what I wanted to do the next day. Dora will be down for a week or two while I do a little rework.

The Plan:

Reposition front shocks
Relocate Ram assist and make new Tierod mount
Check front locker clearance

The way the shocks were set up helped induce sway. At the time I didn't want to cut into the fender well but I'm passed that now and want better control. I never felt it was unsafe but I'm trying to reduce some of the operator requirment of the rig to be a better driver.

I took my time and sat down at the wheel well and just staired at it for a while to figure out a plan of attack. I decided on cuting the well for the shock body, repositioning the hoop, and reposition the axle mount. Out came the grinder and cut off disks for a couple of hours of sparks. Clearances are tight and while I wanted more inward angle I'll have to settle with what I could get unless I want to move the steering system. Here is the mock up of the driver side. This was more complicated and the steering joint behind the shock body was the limiting factor to inward tilt/angle.

Rear tilt is about 10 degrees. This side is dirty due to the hydrobooster leaking, keeps the frame from rusting.



Inward tilt is around 13 degrees. I'm still finishing up welding so I'll throw the angle finder on it to get final numbers once I'm done.



After I got things tacked together and looked at clearances with the steering I pulled the hoop back off and welded up the tabs, threw on some paint, and started welding it back on. I'll need to get to the back part of the hoop from inside the engine bay and I left that for next week. I'll clean up the welds and be done with that side. I'll then transfer those angles to the passenger side.



Reduced the height, moved it outward and moved it back to get the clearance up above I was looking for.



Started passenger side mock up.



I found coolant on the ground and it looks like I have a clamp that either loosened up or can't be tightened anymore so I may end up replacing it. Luckily all it looks like is a simple leak. It must have been leaking while I was driving and there was some pressure built up in the system.

[Tapage]

nice vid .. keep 'em comming .. !

those Claws are mounted in reverse .. ? ( rotating direction )

[boots4]

Yup, that way the tread will pack the snow in front of it instead of digging in. Whenever he would reverse under power he would sink just a little.

[pjohnson]

Hey, that looks like Desmond!

He's one of the best wheelers I know, you can learn a lot from him.

Phil

[boots4]

That's him. He also had some good ideas on equipement that I've been considering.

[brokenparts]

Originally Posted by boots4

That's him. He also had some good ideas on equipement that I've been considering.

do tell! do tell!