damn i hate my screen name but there is no changing it now
My turn for rig of the week... or rig of the few days as i am late late late... Sorry about that! Here is the truck as it currently sits:
So, into the history. I got into cruisers about 4 years ago with the purchase of an 89 FJ62... my white whale so to speak. I bought it from a teacher, threw some 31's on it and hit the road.
Here she is:
It was great wheeling for my first truck and lots of fun. As with most neglected cars, it was a mess. It failed me 2x and had to go. Once on my way to the Yankee Toys fall gathering, it overheated and had to be towed home and then again while packed full with the finance and the dog for a long weekend in Acadia National Park. After the tranny overheated, we had to call the tow truck to get us back to Boston... the tow truck driver reached in to put the car in neutral and our fearless guard dog took a chunk out of his tricep. She looks like a real killer eh:
Ugh anyway on the dog bite. That was it for that truck, it had to go.
Then the hunt was on for a solid, well maintained FJ62. I loved them. After nagging a fellow member of Yankee Toys he finally agreed to sell me his truck. Great guy, KLF on this board I think, sold me his 89 FJ62... 4.88s, locked F&R, ARB bumpers, OME suspension, the whole 9 yards. I added a few things to it and had my perfect cruiser...
or so i thought... My girl and I loved the truck so much we drove it everywhere! The problem was us, I guess we are a bit soft and we would be super fatigued all the time after really long treks... 6+ hours in the car... so, the hunt was on for an 80...
That brings me to wear I am today... with yet another Yankee Toys member's truck! I bought 82Cruiser's 1997 FZJ80. This is what it looked like the day I brought it home:
Truck specs that day...
What have I added since then?
What I am still going to do come hell or high water?
Here is a recent pic... more to come of course!
The rims with the dog bowls... these sit slightly wider than stock so these are reserved for the ATs. The MTs sit on the stock rims:
Here are the MT's on the coated stock rims:
Here is the thread where I talked about them... https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=117640
The Slee suspension install went well with so much help from LandTank that I can't ever repay him in beers. That reminds me LT... are we meeting at Redbones? It will be the first of many "my treat"s to come... Back to the install... The springs went in well. The cutting to fit the castor plates is scary, once you do it there is no going back! I had the OME bushings in from the OME lift so we had those pressed out and the Slee blue ones (NO cator correction in them) pushed in. Then we got the control arms in which was a struggle but it all lined up ok. Like an idiot I pressed in some things wrong but with LT's help we got it straightened out. The bottom line is take your time and have someone review your work. Anyway, here are pics of the castor plates welded in place and spray painted. Again, if you do this be careful, there is no going back!
Drivers side:
Passenger side:
http://retep.tv/images/pass.jpg
Still on the Slee install. It was late and we were tired to getting the panhards straight was a mild PITA. not impossible just not terribly easy. lots of measureing, adjusting, measuring and adjusting and so on. Here is a pic of the rear, nothing eventful. They did not come painted so I slapped some on there... it just flakes off. They do come with a rust proofing so if I had to again, I would not paint them.
I had this thread going about the slee install... nothing big: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=149864
The rear cargo tray. Overpriced but boy do I love it! It also provides a great platform for the dog. It fit well with the roll cage as well. Yes, I know it is relativelty inneffective. Here is the thread about the roll cage: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=119274
Here is a pic of the drawer and dog:
There is a lot of stuff in the drawer... when we went to Acadia we had all the camping grear in there with the dog in the back and it was good to go. It is also super easy to access stuff. There is a divider in the drawer which is handy.
Overall impressions are that we LOVE the truck so far! With the big tires it is a bit labored up the hills here in the Northeast. The 4.88s are a must. It is comfortable as hell on long trips. It is slightly smaller than the FJ62 so that took some getting used to but it sure is welcomed on the trail... anyway...
My only issue is that I see the work you guys do on here and it is AMAZING! The work I do is pretty sloppy. I do have an excuse, this is the first time I have worked on my own vehicle so everything I am doing, I am doing for the first time. Also, I dont have a driveway or garage and have to do all my work in the street which makes it tough.
What could I have done better? Installed the wiring harness for the headlights and driving lights better.... its a total rats nest in there. Put the AC dryer skid plate on the right way... I tried to install it with the tabs to the inside but it the dryer so I had to install it on the outside but now one tab is out there and really cant be utilized... you will see when I post pics. I guess that is all the bad stuff and its not that bad. I can tidy it up and as I do more I learn more and I get better.
I know there is a lot of talk about tires on here... This is why I LOVE my 315 Toyo MTs... After crawling the truck through some axle deep mud and creating these ruts:
This is what the tire looked like... notice the clean tread!
love those damn tires... the only other tire i would consider, which i have also owned, and would drive 200 miles on to get to a wheeling spot is the Interco Truxus MT... IMHO
My turn for rig of the week... or rig of the few days as i am late late late... Sorry about that! Here is the truck as it currently sits:
So, into the history. I got into cruisers about 4 years ago with the purchase of an 89 FJ62... my white whale so to speak. I bought it from a teacher, threw some 31's on it and hit the road.
Here she is:
It was great wheeling for my first truck and lots of fun. As with most neglected cars, it was a mess. It failed me 2x and had to go. Once on my way to the Yankee Toys fall gathering, it overheated and had to be towed home and then again while packed full with the finance and the dog for a long weekend in Acadia National Park. After the tranny overheated, we had to call the tow truck to get us back to Boston... the tow truck driver reached in to put the car in neutral and our fearless guard dog took a chunk out of his tricep. She looks like a real killer eh:
Ugh anyway on the dog bite. That was it for that truck, it had to go.
Then the hunt was on for a solid, well maintained FJ62. I loved them. After nagging a fellow member of Yankee Toys he finally agreed to sell me his truck. Great guy, KLF on this board I think, sold me his 89 FJ62... 4.88s, locked F&R, ARB bumpers, OME suspension, the whole 9 yards. I added a few things to it and had my perfect cruiser...
or so i thought... My girl and I loved the truck so much we drove it everywhere! The problem was us, I guess we are a bit soft and we would be super fatigued all the time after really long treks... 6+ hours in the car... so, the hunt was on for an 80...
That brings me to wear I am today... with yet another Yankee Toys member's truck! I bought 82Cruiser's 1997 FZJ80. This is what it looked like the day I brought it home:
Truck specs that day...
- 97k miles
- Factory lockers F&R
- OME heavy suspension
- Slee sway bar kits F&R
- 35" Toyo Mud Terrains (brand spankin new)
- Custom wheels, FJ40 style with the dog bowl cap, widened & powdercoated grey
- Stock rims powdercoated grey
- Internal rear roll bar and dog cage
- Slee headlight harness
- Custom rear bumper
- ARB front bumper
- Aftermarket stereo stuff
- custom sliders (which have since saved my ass)
- Drilled and slotted rotors
What have I added since then?
- Lightforce 240 lights
- Interior hella map light
- Dynamat across the entire floor of the truck including the rear
- 35 Nitto Terra grapplers so now I have a smoother tire for ling trips
- Iron Pig offroad rear bumper
- Slee 4" springs
- Slee sastor plates
- Slee adjustable panhards
- Hellroaring dual battery system w/ optima yellow and red top (still not hooked up)
- Aussie outback rear drawer (just the single)
- HIR high and low beams
- Slee AC dryer skid plate (installed wrong)
- IPOR tranny skid plate
- DC front drive shaft
What I am still going to do come hell or high water?
- Fix my front locker, it wont engage
- get Precision 4.88s installed
Here is a recent pic... more to come of course!
The rims with the dog bowls... these sit slightly wider than stock so these are reserved for the ATs. The MTs sit on the stock rims:
Here are the MT's on the coated stock rims:
Here is the thread where I talked about them... https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=117640
The Slee suspension install went well with so much help from LandTank that I can't ever repay him in beers. That reminds me LT... are we meeting at Redbones? It will be the first of many "my treat"s to come... Back to the install... The springs went in well. The cutting to fit the castor plates is scary, once you do it there is no going back! I had the OME bushings in from the OME lift so we had those pressed out and the Slee blue ones (NO cator correction in them) pushed in. Then we got the control arms in which was a struggle but it all lined up ok. Like an idiot I pressed in some things wrong but with LT's help we got it straightened out. The bottom line is take your time and have someone review your work. Anyway, here are pics of the castor plates welded in place and spray painted. Again, if you do this be careful, there is no going back!
Drivers side:
Passenger side:
http://retep.tv/images/pass.jpg
Still on the Slee install. It was late and we were tired to getting the panhards straight was a mild PITA. not impossible just not terribly easy. lots of measureing, adjusting, measuring and adjusting and so on. Here is a pic of the rear, nothing eventful. They did not come painted so I slapped some on there... it just flakes off. They do come with a rust proofing so if I had to again, I would not paint them.
I had this thread going about the slee install... nothing big: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=149864
The rear cargo tray. Overpriced but boy do I love it! It also provides a great platform for the dog. It fit well with the roll cage as well. Yes, I know it is relativelty inneffective. Here is the thread about the roll cage: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=119274
Here is a pic of the drawer and dog:
There is a lot of stuff in the drawer... when we went to Acadia we had all the camping grear in there with the dog in the back and it was good to go. It is also super easy to access stuff. There is a divider in the drawer which is handy.
Overall impressions are that we LOVE the truck so far! With the big tires it is a bit labored up the hills here in the Northeast. The 4.88s are a must. It is comfortable as hell on long trips. It is slightly smaller than the FJ62 so that took some getting used to but it sure is welcomed on the trail... anyway...
My only issue is that I see the work you guys do on here and it is AMAZING! The work I do is pretty sloppy. I do have an excuse, this is the first time I have worked on my own vehicle so everything I am doing, I am doing for the first time. Also, I dont have a driveway or garage and have to do all my work in the street which makes it tough.
What could I have done better? Installed the wiring harness for the headlights and driving lights better.... its a total rats nest in there. Put the AC dryer skid plate on the right way... I tried to install it with the tabs to the inside but it the dryer so I had to install it on the outside but now one tab is out there and really cant be utilized... you will see when I post pics. I guess that is all the bad stuff and its not that bad. I can tidy it up and as I do more I learn more and I get better.
I know there is a lot of talk about tires on here... This is why I LOVE my 315 Toyo MTs... After crawling the truck through some axle deep mud and creating these ruts:
This is what the tire looked like... notice the clean tread!
love those damn tires... the only other tire i would consider, which i have also owned, and would drive 200 miles on to get to a wheeling spot is the Interco Truxus MT... IMHO
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