Builds 1996 Land Cruiser Build - "Kronk"

[Atomic City]

Did a little work on Kronk today. I replaced the hood shocks, as my old ones were not holding the hood up very well this past winter. I also adjusted and lubed the hood latch mechanism. It was getting to where I had to slam the hood pretty good to get it to latch. Now I can just gently push it closed.

I also raised the front up again to investigate this steering wobble while braking/turning. Tire pressures are both at 36 psi, which is where I like to run. 3-9 cranking on the tires gives a little play, but nothing that I wouldn't expect - just runs up to the locked steering wheel. It is minimal, IMO. 6-12 o'clock cranking on the tires feels like the wheel bearings are fine. I may still open up the front axles to look further, but I'm wondering if it is the tires themselves. They are TrXus mud terrains. When I just roll them on the flat concrete, they wobble back and forth a fair bit. It is hard to tell with the mud lugs, but I'm wondering if I have some irregular "cupping" type wear that is causing the issue. I was really hoping to find an easy smoking gun, but no such luck.

This past winter, I also noticed some slight brake hiss when cold and idling in the morning. I investigated that more today as well, and confirmed that there is a spot in the brake pedal travel where I can hear hissing from the booster. So, time for a new booster.

 

[Atomic City]

I got the new booster in. That was a pain. But, it's in. The Engineers didn't leave enough room for easy removal. Required some brute force a few choice words of lubrication.

I also noticed my rag joint was pretty shot, as well as the firewall boot for the steering shaft, so those are on order.

After doing more research, I am leaning towards my tires causing the wobble problem. It sounds like these TrXus are sometimes hard to keep balanced, and I may have been running too low of a pressure for around town driving. I kicked up the pressure and took it for a test drive. Seemed to be a bit better on braking, but I could feel a wobble at times at highway speeds (just going straight down the road).

 

[Atomic City]

Firewall boot and rag joint replaced....

 

[Atomic City]

Not too much to report on the technical side. Still dealing with the tire balance issue.

This past weekend I went out with a few friends exploring Northern New Mexico. They are all professional photographers, and one is actually trying to start up a side business for New Mexico-inspired products. It was strange having cameras pointed everywhere all of the time, but they got some good shots. Here are a couple, and I imagine there will be plenty more.

Photos courtesy:
David Woodfin | Friction Ridge NM