Builds ROTW, Land Schmoozer (1 Viewer)

It's tough to follow Romer and that awesome rig of his, but I'll give it a try...

The truck below is a locked 1996 FZJ80 with 139,000 miles purchased in the Kansas City area 3 weeks ago. This was after a great talk with Romer and his sage advice about getting down to one truck. I'm working on that.... This truck has no surface rust on the underside but some minor hail damage (if you look closely) on the top side. Wanted the OBC-II plug to make diagnostics easier. It was a haul the family to and from the Lake of the Ozarks rig and has never been off-road. The white/tan color combo is my prefered color scheme. Seems to be well maintained and mechanically sound. So this was just what I was looking for in a "expedition" rig.

Removed the "ace of spades" chrome rims and street tires. Installed Toyota rims and 285/74/16 Bridgestone Revo's. The "spade" rims may just show up at the next White Trash of Elwood garage sale/raffle...

Removed the Eclipse LCD screen sound system, VCR, and 8 CD changer and replaced it with a nice Kenwood CD head and mounted the Cobra CB below it. Removed the stock bumper and replaced it with an ARB winch bumper. Have yet to install the 9500# T-Max winch. The bumper is sporting the Nakman/Romer flip down CB antenna mount.

Haven't installed the 2.5 OME medium lift yet. Work is getting in the way of the truck buildup project... maybe over T-giving the rest of the stuff will get installed. May go with the heavy springs up front, or 1.5" metal spacer if any are to be found.

Have moved the spare into the back for now, thinking either Slee's spare tire bracket or a Kaymar rear bumper with the tire carrier. Need a 2" receiver and the Kaymar looks good. We have a M101CDN trailer coming from Koffer, to round out the "expedition" rig... then an ARB frig, dual battries, sliders... Romer was right... all your money...

Plan to start changing all the fluids and will probably go with Rotella 5/40, Valvoline 75/90 in the diffs, and Valvoline High Mileage ATF. The brakes and rotors are good, but need to check the "Pesky".

Have also added Husky Liners. As you can see in one of below photos, I started removing the faux wood trim inside. It's peeling where the sun has hit it, plus I like that look better.

Enjoy the photos, and please share any thoughts or suggetions you might have... I'm trying to do this one right the first time . And again Romer, thanks for the good advice!!!

I loved my Revos also. Im assuming from your ARB you plan on picking up a winch in the future?

and the running boards are coming off and going on the wife's '95!

more photos

9500# t-max winch w/rope not cable is sitting on my workbench waiting patiently to be installed...

casey

It's not hard for you to follow Romer, yours is the right color.

Casey,
I suggested that because you were spending money on 3 trucks. My suggestion was if you sold one truck, you could take that money and apply it to the best of the 3 and turn it into something you really want. That's why I parted with my 40, so I could have one truck that was setup the way I wanted.

If your going to load it up with toys right away, size your lift accordingly.

Nice truck and thanks for contributing!

Nice clean rig. It seems good in theory to have so many Cruisers but I could see that being a hindrance as well.

One good one...

It is a hindrance... that's why Romer's suggestion is a very wise one, and that's where I'm headed. Have sold one already with another pending. After returning from FlatNasty, and seeing his truck, wanted to find a southern rust free rig. That gives me a better foundation to start with. Romer, truely, thanks for the sound advice, didn't mean to imply otherwise.

casey

Congrats on the new rig. White with tan is my preferred color choice also. I've had a red unlocked with cloth seats 94 since...94 and, though I love my baby, I have grown very tired of the color, and want lockers.

Enjoy the build-up.

Off to a great start

Love white

Is it locked?

If not, do you have plans on converting?

I do agree with the Romer theory of narrowing one's focus to one rig and making it like you want it. I've seen others who owned a 40 and an 80, only to eventually go the same way.

I'm looking to add a 100 for my wife's DD as soon as I get my 80 engine overhaul finished.

yes it is locked. Let me know where you get the fairy dust to change an Explorer into a 100... i'll throw some on my daughter's Jeep!

Let's see the ace of spades rims!!

It's called a check book...

Land Schmoozer said:

yes it is locked. Let me know where you get the fairy dust to change an Explorer into a 100... i'll throw some on my daughter's Jeep!

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Funny how a vehicle being paid for makes it tollerable to drive......

And last week I even got the CD changer to work. Maybe I'll be able to hold off on spending that 20k another few months. Father-in-law is also making it difficult by offering me his used Lexus LS400, like really cheap...

Awesome looking 80. White by far is my favorite color. Definetly get that lift on and post up some pics.

Land Schmoozer said:

... please share any thoughts or suggetions you might have... I'm trying to do this one right the first time

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Casey,

If I was going to give 1 single suggestion, that would be to take care of the "future" electrical NOW. You know you're going dual batteries soon and the fridge and all the other "do it right" electrical goodies, so get that wiring done first and do it right.

-B-

good idea... we always think about the "cool" stuff first.. bumpers/lift/sliders...

thank you!

nice truck

mines in white too,looks good except when you gota clean them just out of intrest what would you pay for a good 80` in the usa,and go for the lift just did mine and WHAT an improvement!!

this one was $8500.