Builds 1990 LJ78 in Montana (1 Viewer)

[AirheadNut]

A couple of weekends ago my brother, a couple of friends and I took a trip to find some ghost towns in the Helena, MT area. Had the Prado all loaded down, but it did much better than I thought it would. Cruised at 90-100km/h, and ran 650-800F EGT's and 200-208F water temps. Got 17-18mpg US.

We found this little mining town way up in the mountains; had no idea it was there. I still don't know what the mine's name is.

There was even a LandCruiser in the bottom of the winch building!

 

[AirheadNut]

We encountered deep water...

...deep snow...

...and deep ice!

This was in the Boulder Tunnel outside of the town of Wickes, MT. The railroad tunnel was built in 1893, and is 6145 feet long. Getting over this ice was probably the most technical driving I have done. It required a lot of gravel and both of our sand ladders. We drove about 6100 feet through the tunnel only to encounter this at the very end:

This lump of ice was about 3 feet tall and way too narrow to drive over, so I ended up reversing all of the way out. The odometer even went back a kilometer!

 

[AirheadNut]

Here is the tunnel entrance.

The last stop was the ghost town of Comet, MT. My brother had visited here 3 years earlier, and it was evident from his pictures that the buildings were in much worse condition. It won't be long before all of these ghost towns are just piles of old lumber.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Wow .... Avatar material.

 

[Jim from Idaho]

It's been a good spring for Lurch too. Here, Lurch got us into the E fork of the Pashimori on the east side of the Lost River Range of Idaho. Three interesting creek crossings to get to the trailhead.

The Granola Chronicles : Mount Church

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Incredible photos and adventure! Thanks for sharing!

 

[AirheadNut]

It was a pretty great trip. The heavy load ended up doing in both rear shocks (they were on their way out to begin with) so I am looking at replacing them with the OME 60090 Nitrochargers. Will probably do the fronts as well; all the shocks are still original as far as I can tell. Any recommendations for where to get them in the US?

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

Cruiser Outfitters can probably help you out.

 

[boozewz]

Awesome pics!

 

[VI Cruzer]

those are some cool pictures, must have been a great adventure! Glad to see the truck did so well!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Cruiser Outfitters can probably help you out.

Absolutely, we've done a fair bit of suspension on the LJ platforms including suspensions on the LJ78's.

 

[ChuckB]

Looks like a very cool trip!

 

[AirheadNut]

Thanks everybody! It was a blast. I am already wanting to go back late in the year when all of the ice in the tunnel is gone so I can drive all of the way through. There are also over a dozen old mines in the area I would like to see.

Ordered four new OME Nitrocharger shocks from @cruiseroutfit, I am looking forward to see what kind of difference they make.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks everybody! It was a blast. I am already wanting to go back late in the year when all of the ice in the tunnel is gone so I can drive all of the way through. There are also over a dozen old mines in the area I would like to see.

Ordered four new OME Nitrocharger shocks from @cruiseroutfit, I am looking forward to see what kind of difference they make.

They are nice tough shocks. I've been hammering hard on mine for four years now and they are standing up very well. Have you considered upgrading springs too?

 

[AirheadNut]

They are nice tough shocks. I've been hammering hard on mine for four years now and they are standing up very well. Have you considered upgrading springs too?

I considered it, but to be honest I have only owned one vehicle for more than a year, and I started to get the itch for something new again, so I am trying not to break the bank on the Prado. I purchased what will probably be its replacement last weekend.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Gnarly! I've always wondered what those were like. Similar to the Prado in some ways. I'll be interested to hear your comparison. Sorry to see you leave the cruiser world so fast though.

 

[AirheadNut]

First impressions are mixed. The G-wagen is MUCH better off road (partly due to its mods) but also because it has better articulation, and hydraulic lockers as standard. On road the big tires howl, and make the steering light and twitchy. There are fewer creature comforts: no A/C, no suspension seats, not as well insulated. However, I have never seen a 4x4 that was built anywhere near as sturdy. I have yet to measure it, but the frame rails are about as big as the ones on my dads Dodge Cummins, but they are fully boxed instead of C-channel. The cross members are heavy gauge 2.5-3 inch pipe. The thing is built like a tank. Even though it is a SWB it weighs more than my Prado. I am liking the power, too.

Gnarly! I've always wondered what those were like. Similar to the Prado in some ways. I'll be interested to hear your comparison. Sorry to see you leave the cruiser world so fast though.

I may have left the Cruiser world, but I'm just on vacation. The Prado definitely won't be my last.

 

[AirheadNut]

Today I finally got a PCV catch can installed. I have had the PCV hose routed into a hole in the frame, but it has made a mess. I used a Mann-Hummel ProVent 200. It turned out to be more complicated than I thought it would because the inlet and outlet on the ProVent were bigger than on the valve cover, so I had to use brass Pex reducers. It took eleven hose clamps!

 

[AirheadNut]

After driving the G-wagen for the past week, I drove the Prado to town today and it felt like a limousine! Long, low, quiet and comfortable (relatively speaking)

 

[AirheadNut]

A box arrived last week! Fun stuff.

But it did mean a lot of this:

I got the rears done between rainstorms on the weekend.