Decided to bring my 80 into the 21st century by installing some retrofitted Depos I've been working on for the past few weeks...
What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend? (78 Viewers)
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Rebuilt front axle too, tis the season.
I might take that cup holder off your hands. I'll PM you.
My weekend was filled with frustration, failure, and finally redemption. It was time to rotate my tires, so I set aside some time to paint my wheels while I was at it. My factory wheels were oxidized and pitted so bad my wife said it looked like barnacles. So I worked them over with a scotch bright pad, then laid down 4 coats on each. It was dark out by the time I was spraying, and the wind was blowing up every speck of dust in town. I tarped off the section of the porch as a "booth" but the contamination is pretty bad. But that's not the worst of it; I managed to get runs and bald spots. It's pretty bad, but still better than before. I set them aside for a couple of days to cure.
Next up was my LSPV. It's set a bit above half way on the frame side bracket and I have a J-lift with no weight in the back. I undid the two nuts on the valve and set about lowering it. It wouldn't budge. I mangled the bracket slightly and bent my pry bar trying to get it to slide down to no avail. I'm starting to like Phil's solution.
Lastly I painted my running lights yellow. They've got a razor thin cutoff top and bottom, and are slightly dimmer than my high beams, so they were always kind of useless. In fact they weren't even wired up when I got the truck last summer. So, I figured I'd try to tint them yellow and use them as fogs. The paint went surprisingly well, considering my recent failure. After allowing them to cure for a day I wired them back up, but one was dead. I was probing around to find a fault and made a bone headed move and shorted out the other lamp. Now they're both dead, and I'm back to having non-functioning lights up front. The yellow looks dead sexy though.
Anyhow, after going five whole days without driving I'd had enough fun. I packed up the kiddo this morning and we set off for the high country. I drove all my favorite easy trails in Lockwood Valley and ran the river bed in Quatal Canyon. My daughter had a fantastic time, I've never seen her so excited when we got home. I don't care if I messed up my wheel paint even further. I got into a narrow section and pin-striped my side again, who cares about cheap wheel paint.
I got this truck to take my daughter to the mountains, not fuss over cosmetics. I learned a valuable lesson; don't waste energy on stupid cosmetic projects when I should be making it better at its designated purpose.
Anyhow, here are some pics from today.
Ridin' in the Daddy Twuck.
I've been researching part time conversions. I have a whine in the front diff and have already been in it twice and made it better but it's still there. I'm not ready to regear it or add lockers so I figure a part time kit is the way to go for now. Anyone have any tips or must read threads? I have been searching..
Ridin' in the Daddy Twuck.
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Looking good buddy, lets hit some dirt soon!!
Damn that things tight
I like part time personally, but prior to an 80 everything I drove was part time so I'm kinda partial to it. Main reason I went with it is drive line noise that the double cardan shaft didn't fix. Less wear on the front end is also a plus.
Yeah, I hadn't thought about it before but I'm just so sick of listening to the front diff whine. After being in it I'm confident it's ok to use, it's just the ring and pinion have a weird wear pattern and whine. I'm thinking it was set up incorrectly and just wore in that way and now it's too far gone to correct it. I have a lot of Lucas in it now to quiet it down.
Part time kit is just the most cost effective way to "fix" it. Plus I really don't care about the AWD.. If I really need it I'm normally locking the CDL anyway. The rest of the time I'm just commuting or whatever so 2WD is fine, I can go ahead and delete the ABS and it'll feel like my 4Runner other than the lack of an Aussie Locker clacking around in the rear (and a ton more comfort haha). I'll probably hold on to the old parts so I can go back if I want (though I can't imagine why).
I think the plan now is to order the spool from Lokka and some Aisin hubs from Cruiser Outfitters (unless someone has a used set laying around.. I'm not fancy but I do like Aisin hubs). I already have the CDL switch and 7 pin mod. I've read some today on it and shouldn't be too bad to install, even with modding the birfs.
plaidwagon
Supporting Vendor
Hauled the ditch banger back to storage, looks like winter is over in Minnesota.
MoJ
Moderator
You just jinxed yourself into another 18” of snow
Got my Tom Wood's front double cardan driveshaft today. Looks like it'll hold up to driving to the mall and back just fine 
About 190 lbs, but then I reinforced mine as it was not designed to be a roof replacement top like the Alu-Cab Icarus or Hercules.
I added about 20lbs or so to that but also removed the whole center floor from it.. so not sure what my creation tips the scales at..
I would expect about the dead even, maybe a touch lighter.
I added about 20lbs or so to that but also removed the whole center floor from it.. so not sure what my creation tips the scales at..
I would expect about the dead even, maybe a touch lighter.
