What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend? (38 Viewers)

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oof, I'm on Duratracs and have done many rocks etc without issue. Now I'm worried. I do only air down to 18psi on those tires though.
It may have been a bad lot but, I have heard of too many stories after that. The funny part is, this happened on a hunting trip and he/we were not trying to do anything but go to and from camp. Ever since then he has become paranoid and literally carries two additional spares on trips now. Where we were, it took almost a full day to get to town and back to get tires. He ran to town twice.

It may be that the rocks were particularly sharp (it is Arizona) but there are sharp rocks everywhere. Only one of the slices occured when wet (the last one) so that was only part of the problem. All I can say is that our family members have run several manufactures tires and different configurations and the only tire that we had seen that approached this issue was the Original BFG TA back in the 70s where my dad had two sidewall failures on his Blazer. He switched to the Summit Wide Climbers. Not sure who the manufacturer was but, would not be surprised to find out it was Toyo as the tire was tough as nails. Our buddy ran those tires on his 40 and he absolutely punished his rig and never had a failure.
 
The front shocks from my 850j/863 lift were done so I figured it was time to replace front and rear. I decided to get a set from @crikeymike at exit off-road because of his customer service answering all my questions quickly and directly.
I got Dobinson GS45-912 for the front and GS59-682 for the rear. The new shocks fixed some clunks and makes the steering feel much tighter. So far they seem like a perfect replacement for the L shocks.
 
The front shocks from my 850j/863 lift were done so I figured it was time to replace front and rear. I decided to get a set from @crikeymike at exit off-road because of his customer service answering all my questions quickly and directly.
I got Dobinson GS45-912 for the front and GS59-682 for the rear. The new shocks fixed some clunks and makes the steering feel much tighter. So far they seem like a perfect replacement for the L shocks.
That's great to hear!!
 
The front shocks from my 850j/863 lift were done so I figured it was time to replace front and rear. I decided to get a set from @crikeymike at exit off-road because of his customer service answering all my questions quickly and directly.
I got Dobinson GS45-912 for the front and GS59-682 for the rear. The new shocks fixed some clunks and makes the steering feel much tighter. So far they seem like a perfect replacement for the L shocks.
X2👍
 
If you are looking for a long wearing, tough, durable mud tire that won't let you down, I don't think there is one out there that will top the Toyo. I ran them before switching to my Pro Comps. The sidewalls are so tough, you really need to air down (10 psi) to get them to flex well. I liked them but want something that is a little more forgiving. Stiff sidewalls = Stiffer ride. I am old, I want my comfort! I am happy with the Pro Comps but will change next time just to try something different.

I would stay far away from the Duratracs unless you stick to forest service roads. SOFT sidewalls. My brother sliced 3 of them, within 4 days of each other! I have heard many other similar stories. Good tire if you don't truly explore the outback.
I’ve done plenty of gnarly stuff with my duratracs. No problems so far.
 
If you are looking for a long wearing, tough, durable mud tire that won't let you down, I don't think there is one out there that will top the Toyo. I ran them before switching to my Pro Comps. The sidewalls are so tough, you really need to air down (10 psi) to get them to flex well. I liked them but want something that is a little more forgiving. Stiff sidewalls = Stiffer ride. I am old, I want my comfort! I am happy with the Pro Comps but will change next time just to try something different.

I would stay far away from the Duratracs unless you stick to forest service roads. SOFT sidewalls. My brother sliced 3 of them, within 4 days of each other! I have heard many other similar stories. Good tire if you don't truly explore the outback.
There are plenty of videos on YouTube (from real tire people) that pretty much tell you how mud tires rate against one another. The Toyos are rated very high because they have incredibly thick sidewalls and don't "cup" as easily as most other mud tires. A Toyo tire weighs more than most other mud tires in the same size because of the thick sides (that means worse gas mileage and more stress on your birfs). Those stiff sidewalls may result in a street ride some people won't appreciate although I don't mind at all. Mine hasn't been a daily driver for about 10 years. I pretty much use it to hunt or off-road. I typically hunt alone and do so in really remote places (not someplace you want to walk out of) and I run Toyos because I don't want to walk a long way. I cut the sidewalls of both all-terrain tires on the passenger side of my 80 back in 97 (on a cedar stump while driving out in the dark) and walked all night to get help (24 miles). Subsequently, I tried a number of different tires with single tire failure (sidewall cuts) before landing on Toyos. Unless something new comes out that is tougher I'll stick with the Toyos. There is no "right" answer on tires. I am hard on my tires. When I want to get somewhere, I do what I need to do to get there and get back. People should buy tires that best fit their style of wheeling / driving and the Toyo MTs best fit mine.
 
The front shocks from my 850j/863 lift were done so I figured it was time to replace front and rear. I decided to get a set from @crikeymike at exit off-road because of his customer service answering all my questions quickly and directly.
I got Dobinson GS45-912 for the front and GS59-682 for the rear. The new shocks fixed some clunks and makes the steering feel much tighter. So far they seem like a perfect replacement for the L shocks.
I've got the same shocks sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. Thanks for the review, I hope they work out as well for me :)
 
A Toyo tire weighs more than most other mud tires

Nitto trail grappler MT 315/75/16 weighs 83lbs

Toyo MT 315/75/16 weighs 81lbs.

But Toyo and Nitto's are made in the same factory.... I bet these two tires share the same carcass.
 
I towed with my 80 for the first time today.

I used a tilt style car trailer and had to haul some custom large skids for equipment to a shop. (not just the ones shown on the trailer now).

I have towed a LOT of stuff in my past, just not with my 80. Most of it with a 69 Chevy K10.

Well, I only had about 1000 LB on the trailer and the trailer is about 2200 LB and it pulls like a dream.

I had to unplug the lights (and brakes) because the wiring on my truck did not match the owner's vehicle so when I had my turn signals on, the brakes would cycle with the turn signal. That's not a big deal to me because I have never towed a trailer of any sort that had brakes. Everything I have towed on the farm was wagons or farm trailers that were never designed with brakes, yet weighed 20,000 LB each when loaded.

I have a 2.5" OME lift with heavies (850 / 863) and I also have airbags in the rear. I put 26 LB in the air bags and 45 PSI in the rear tires. (My new Duratracs.....My last set I got 97,777 miles on them...)

However, the 80 struggled on what I would consider small hills. I drove the entire time with the OD off. I drove about 55-65 MPH for the 2 hour trip. I burned a solid half tank of gas.

Running 60 MPH I had a couple hills that it had to downshift to second gear to maintain 55 MPH and hold it for 1/2 mile. Near the top of the hill, I noticed it got hot inside the cab. The AC shut off at 221°F coolant temp and it reset the AC at 215°F.

Most of the time it was running between 210°F and 215°F. It was a 95°F ambient day. This is the hottest I've ever seen my truck run. I know I'm due for some cooling system maintenance, so I will move it up on my list.

It will be interesting to see if the temps are lower on the way back with less load on the trailer and mostly less wind resistance. It will still be 95°F+ tomorrow anyway.

Yes, my "Sunroof Bandaid" works very well to keep rain out of my cab. It is a giant magnetic sheet, 55"L x 24"W and it stays on at 90 MPH.

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Well, my trip back home with the trailer, as you see it, was a bit better. I was able to drive with the OD on most of the time. It still downshifted occasionally, however, I still had (3) times when my AC kicked off and the engine reached 221°F.

So, I got up this morning and took a look at the fan clutch, and, sure enough......the seal on it is leaking and it is easy to spin by hand. At least now I know the root cause.

I'm about ready to do my 100,000 mile cooling system tune-up, so this will now include a new fan shroud and a new fan clutch. The one that is on there is original with 316,500 miles on it.

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Close to the end of our 2 week UT to AZ trip. Currently in Sedona originally planning to do some hikes but it's just so damn hot so most time spent in the airbnb pool.

But the 80 keeps going, sure a bit slow and a bit hot sometimes, but we're getting there. Here's where the 80 took us
- Canyonlands Needles
- Beef Basin, Moon House Ruins
- Valley of the Gods
- Alstrom Pt
- White Pocket in Vermillion Cliffs
- Grand Canyon North, and East

still need to drive back and hit a few spots in CO to cool down

A trip isn't an adventurer without a few snags along the road
- removed my wheel spacer and the slee 2" bumpstop after realizing i got about 3" left of rear downtravel. No bueno when hitting any minor dips on the road.
- do i really need offroad lights and front plates? ha, took both out and woah, my coolant and air temp is back to normal.
with that said, once truck is heat soaked and the coolant purged into the reservoir, the cooling system would struggle to stay below 200 on all the uphills. The trick is to keep the. truck running while filling up gas.
- i just swapped out my charcoal can, but holy pressure build up after a 100deg run on Schneby Hill.
- first time wheeling over 100F, slow crawl on Broken Arrow Trail and the temp got close to 220F on the slowest crawl. Had to keep the rpms up to manage the temp down. I did turn off the AC a few times but wife/kids disapproved. It was around 108F, but hey all the pink jeeps are running open!
- missed out finding a campspot by Grand Canyon on the east side. Got too late, and damn that House Rock rd rattled us. We turned around and ended up in Cliff Dwellers Lodge, best decision ever.

Some 80 related highlights from the trip:





Valley of the Gods

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had to take the kids here and cool off. camped away from the crowd up by the sand hills

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Alstrom Point, it was nice and cool here View attachment 2705149

no 80, but White Pocket is way cool not to share.

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sweet and short, Broken Arrow at 108F
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Your LX is gorgeous my man. Got a build thread?
 
Your LX is gorgeous my man. Got a build thread?
Thank you. No, it’s mainly a well preserved survivor. California truck moved to Texas ~10 yrs ago with 2nd owner who works for Toyota. He added OME 2.5 heavies and 35’s plus Slee front and rear armor and a few other accessories. It was compulsively cared for and garage kept mostly (which I knew) when I bought it last summer with 141,XXX on the odo. After Colorado wheeling last summer plus a couple other events, I now have 151,XXX on it. It’s had some additional baselining plus I’ve regeared to Nitro 4.88’s and added WNOR sliders, new sound system with sub, GMRS high output radio and Toyo OC MT 35’s. A few other small things to do and check before it leaves for Solid Axle Summit 5 at end of July. It’s not a DD or a cream puff; she does get wheeled. Like fly fishing, she will always be an ongoing lifelong pursuit but never really “perfected”. Thanks for the inquiry and safe travels…

Oh, you meant that other LX…. 😊
 
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Does it seem like a lot of people have the same problems are the same time? A week or so ago my HG went out, and a few others.
 
Does it seem like a lot of people have the same problems are the same time? A week or so ago my HG went out, and a few others.

When the heat wave gets so bad that the methican Americans start putting stolen copper back into AC units, than you know some 80 series head gaskets are also going to be failing.

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Went to mount @4x4labs bumper and the holes are not lining up on driver side? The wing is hitting my flares not allowing me to line up the holes? I guess I will have to step bit the holes out? And find a insert don’t want that thing moving around! Any advice?

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