Builds 2001 LX470 build LEGUSY
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- #363
Some time around a year ago, there was a slight clunking noise audible from the rear suspension over hard uneven terrain. It was coming from the right rear Metal Tech LCA rear bushing which had developed a bit of lateral movement. With a few pumps of grease, the noise was gone again, and I ordered a spare set of bushings to have on hand. Well, the noise eventually returned and did not go away with a few more pumps of grease, so I swapped the bushings out and they were solid tight again. I also greased and inspected the front joints of the LCAs and they appeared to be in great condition. There was very little wear to the old bushings, so maybe they will be good for another 3 years or more.
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- #364
I had noticed a decreased range of operation from my Keyless entry remote. When replacing the battery, I noticed that the key housing might be starting to crack. So I decided to upgrade to the YotaMD key housing that @suprarx7nut sells.
I had some ideas about how to modify the housing to make mine a bit unique. I had seen the custom designs that Andy had been printing in some of the housings, so I approached him about making one for me. He was very helpful in accommodating my request and helping me modify my original logo into something that would work for this project.
I have been doing some various projects with glow in the dark compound mixed in a clear epoxy. It seemed to be handy for use on phone cases and such, adding a cool feature and making them easier to locate in the dark. After some extended use and destructive testing, I was able to find some better ways to work with the materials and realize more useful applications. Enter the glow in the dark key and who knows what other 100 series accessories might be next.
Since this is my build thread, I thought I'd go a little bit more in depth here with how it turned out.
I started with the custom YotaMD housing and masked the gear logo to keep the epoxy from spreading outside the relief area.
I used a clear epoxy at a cool temp (this seems to set up slower and be easier to work with). I cut the 2 syringe parts separate so that I could evenly add the product independently (the joined plungers don't seem to combine the products evenly). I combined the epoxy and
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Glow-Po...ue+Glow+In+The+Dark+Powder+(1+Ounce/30+Grams)
Strontium aluminate blue glow in the dark powder in a measured mixing cup. I then transferred this to a household syringe modified with a larger hole for expelling the product ( the syringe and mixing cup are common to children's medications if that makes them easier to source).
I then applied the epoxy mixture to the housing and used a shish kabob stick to roll the material evenly. I then removed the masking tape and used the sharp end of the stick to pop any air bubbles and push the material in to any small areas that had not been filled. The next tricky part was to leave well enough alone and stop messing with it while it sets up.
Then a couple hours later, oHH ahh cool blue awesome YotaMD housing key. Scrape off any excess.
I had some ideas about how to modify the housing to make mine a bit unique. I had seen the custom designs that Andy had been printing in some of the housings, so I approached him about making one for me. He was very helpful in accommodating my request and helping me modify my original logo into something that would work for this project.
I have been doing some various projects with glow in the dark compound mixed in a clear epoxy. It seemed to be handy for use on phone cases and such, adding a cool feature and making them easier to locate in the dark. After some extended use and destructive testing, I was able to find some better ways to work with the materials and realize more useful applications. Enter the glow in the dark key and who knows what other 100 series accessories might be next.
Since this is my build thread, I thought I'd go a little bit more in depth here with how it turned out.
I started with the custom YotaMD housing and masked the gear logo to keep the epoxy from spreading outside the relief area.
I used a clear epoxy at a cool temp (this seems to set up slower and be easier to work with). I cut the 2 syringe parts separate so that I could evenly add the product independently (the joined plungers don't seem to combine the products evenly). I combined the epoxy and
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Glow-Po...ue+Glow+In+The+Dark+Powder+(1+Ounce/30+Grams)
Strontium aluminate blue glow in the dark powder in a measured mixing cup. I then transferred this to a household syringe modified with a larger hole for expelling the product ( the syringe and mixing cup are common to children's medications if that makes them easier to source).
I then applied the epoxy mixture to the housing and used a shish kabob stick to roll the material evenly. I then removed the masking tape and used the sharp end of the stick to pop any air bubbles and push the material in to any small areas that had not been filled. The next tricky part was to leave well enough alone and stop messing with it while it sets up.
Then a couple hours later, oHH ahh cool blue awesome YotaMD housing key. Scrape off any excess.
That makes a pretty nifty key! 
I don't know how hard it is to work with the epoxy like that, maybe it works just fine...but maybe something like this would make things a little easier? (my wife uses it for crafty-type stuff sometimes) Diamond Glaze
I don't know how hard it is to work with the epoxy like that, maybe it works just fine...but maybe something like this would make things a little easier? (my wife uses it for crafty-type stuff sometimes) Diamond Glaze
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- #366
That makes a pretty nifty key!
I don't know how hard it is to work with the epoxy like that, maybe it works just fine...but maybe something like this would make things a little easier? (my wife uses it for crafty-type stuff sometimes) Diamond Glaze
Thanks for the input and recommendation. Maybe I can give that stuff a try sometime.
I am very pleased with how this epoxy turned out, though it can be tricky to work with. I was able to salvage the slug from the syringe and even drill it out to fit another key chain. Its hard yet still a bit flexible. The glow is surprisingly visible even in the daylight. With a minute of exposure to direct sunlight it can be seen indoors and dims noticeably after another minute or so..
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- #367
I took the kids out to do a bit more exploring and visit a friend living off the grid. It was nice to get out and see a bunch of the reservoirs as the ice is breaking up. We wandered through the Strawberry Pinnacles.
I've been playing around with some different phone apps to accentuate these photos. We drove through some interesting canyons near the rivers between Strawberry and Starvation reservoirs coming across this weathered marker of a historic expedition through the area.
We took a round about trip back through Provo canyon past Deer Creek reservoir to wrap up this leisure drive. I might just have to do another trip to tour some more reservoirs for another scenic drive.
I've been playing around with some different phone apps to accentuate these photos. We drove through some interesting canyons near the rivers between Strawberry and Starvation reservoirs coming across this weathered marker of a historic expedition through the area.
We took a round about trip back through Provo canyon past Deer Creek reservoir to wrap up this leisure drive. I might just have to do another trip to tour some more reservoirs for another scenic drive.
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- #368
I noticed that the gussets for my rear bumper carrier tray were starting to bend, and flex under load. I noticed that once these were tweaked, they were compromised too much just to straighten. So I decided to add some reinforcements.
Here is the carrier before with the bent gussets.
First, I straightened the gussets and cut some thicker material out for some new pieces. This is a newer guide for my plasma and its not been cutting quite as clean (I think that I need to adjust the height) but it got the job done with some pretty straight cuts.
Here is the carrier before with the bent gussets.
First, I straightened the gussets and cut some thicker material out for some new pieces. This is a newer guide for my plasma and its not been cutting quite as clean (I think that I need to adjust the height) but it got the job done with some pretty straight cuts.
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- #369
Then I dimpled the new pieces for good form.
Got them tacked in place.
Then built the gussets. These should help support the braces and keep them from bending while adding some secure tie down points. I welded some 1" DOM to the center of these.
Got them tacked in place.
Then built the gussets. These should help support the braces and keep them from bending while adding some secure tie down points. I welded some 1" DOM to the center of these.
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- #371
I've got a fair amount of catching up to do on this build thread. Even so, this rig has still been sitting a bit while we've been getting out in other vehicles. It was on one of those trips, that the tablet I use for my navigation got crushed. So I upgraded to a better unit that has been working even better than the previous version. As with many of the vehicle accessories, I find the motivation to include it in this thread. I wanted something simple that would run all the Android Navigation apps and provide some entertainment on occasion. I went with a Lenovo Tab 4 that I found for a decent deal on Amazon. It has a good GPS unit that's been acquiring quick signals and accurately and reliably recording data. It accepts a 128G micro SD card formatted for internal storage, so I can store lots of maps and such. It's still a 10" unit so it fits about the same as my other tablet in the same Ram mount.
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- #372
I upgraded my dual battery solenoid to the Blue Sea ML-7700. I like the magnetic latching design that is Bi-stable with much less to no current draw. The T-max solenoid that I had been using was using .55 A during operation when the batteries were linked. That draw resulted in less efficient solar charging and some minor overall performance issues. I fit the new solenoid in the same place that the previous one had been mounted. It was a tight fit, but all of the clearances work great and I don't have a better place to put it.
I drilled holes and touched up the paint before installing nut inserts. The provided switch took up more space than I wanted to accomodate, so I removed the bezel to fit it in a similar location as the previous switch.
I drilled holes and touched up the paint before installing nut inserts. The provided switch took up more space than I wanted to accomodate, so I removed the bezel to fit it in a similar location as the previous switch.
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- #373
I lead a small group from the local club Wasatch Cruisers on a trail ride through some canyons around Bear Lake Idaho. We traveled a cool system of trails that opened up really early in the season this year with the low snow pack from last winter. The majority of the trails were already dry and dusty, though there were some areas with mud, snow, and a few downed trees across the trail. We explored some interesting low lying areas called sinks, the site of an old plane crash, some ice caves and connected trails across several different canyons.
Here is a video I made from the trip.
We stayed at some private family property in the area that was blocked by a fallen tree when we visited it last year. Fortunately I had my chain saw with me then, so I wanted to have it with me this time around as well. I didn't know if we would come across any sizeable fallen trees crossing the trails this early in the season. With the recent addition of more support and tie down attachments, the chainsaw mounted perfectly in the carrier on my 4x4 labs rear bumper. The fallen trees that we did encounter were small enough that we chopped them and cut them with hand saws easily enough, so we didn't actually need to use the chainsaw. Still the same, it is nice to know that I can carry it easily enough on the trail for future use on trail rides or service projects etc...
Here is a video I made from the trip.
We stayed at some private family property in the area that was blocked by a fallen tree when we visited it last year. Fortunately I had my chain saw with me then, so I wanted to have it with me this time around as well. I didn't know if we would come across any sizeable fallen trees crossing the trails this early in the season. With the recent addition of more support and tie down attachments, the chainsaw mounted perfectly in the carrier on my 4x4 labs rear bumper. The fallen trees that we did encounter were small enough that we chopped them and cut them with hand saws easily enough, so we didn't actually need to use the chainsaw. Still the same, it is nice to know that I can carry it easily enough on the trail for future use on trail rides or service projects etc...
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- #374
I recently made a quick trip up the Forest Lake trail in American Fork Canyon with another friend from the local club. Its one of my favorite nearby trails that I've been visiting for years. Its serious enough to put the 4WD and traction aids to work while giving the suspension a good flexercise. Its still mellow enough to be a calm afternoon drive in the canyon, if I can avoid the crowds and pay attention to the rocks ready to trip me up.
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- #376
While I was up there on the trail, I tried out another solution for adding a traction surface to my sliders. The had some grip tape that was wearing out and peeling off. It was grippy, but a bit abrasive at times. I had neglected them for some time cause I didnt want to bother removing them to go without or to install something else.
Then I blew a sidewall on my mountain bike tire and thought I might try using that as a traction surface that I could wrap around the sliders. I cut a piece of the tire up easy enough and attached it with some zip tyes by the drivers door to try it out for a bit.
It seemed to work well for the grip that I like to reach the roof and wasn't an issue getting in and out of the truck, or being scratched by it like the grip tape sometimes had. I'm sure that mud will still stick to it so it might be a bit harder to clean and if I drag a slider along a rock it could break a zip tie. I figure that's easy enough to fix, and I could always remove them if they become trouble. It was cheap, easy and I'll run with it for now.
Then I blew a sidewall on my mountain bike tire and thought I might try using that as a traction surface that I could wrap around the sliders. I cut a piece of the tire up easy enough and attached it with some zip tyes by the drivers door to try it out for a bit.
It seemed to work well for the grip that I like to reach the roof and wasn't an issue getting in and out of the truck, or being scratched by it like the grip tape sometimes had. I'm sure that mud will still stick to it so it might be a bit harder to clean and if I drag a slider along a rock it could break a zip tie. I figure that's easy enough to fix, and I could always remove them if they become trouble. It was cheap, easy and I'll run with it for now.
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- #377
The under carriage of Legusy has been taking a beating for some time now. The stock skids are badly bent, damaged, cracked and falling apart. Its been common occurrence to pull the skid down off the transfer and even the cross member has been dented in places. I made it this far with the stock skids because I was patiently waiting for a better option before diving into the process of making my own. I wasn't completely satisfied with the other options on the market before. I mentioned the idea of skid plate development to @benc at HIH7. He indicated that it was one of his priorities. When I saw the Dissent 1st production run for a 3 piece aluminum skid plate, I signed up and put my money down. Now the plates have arrived, and are installed, and I can comment on the process. Thanks to Ben for putting this product together and the other customers that supported this products development. Also, thanks to those that are patiently waiting a bit longer to receive their products so that some of us can get ours first. I was getting really concerned about the condition of my stock skids and with several upcoming trips, I felt like it was a bit too risky to wait much longer before upgrading these. Hopefully my experience here will be a helpful contribution to those that follow, since install instructions were not available at this time.
I was concerned about some damage to the cross member that fortunately, did not interfere with the install.
I was reminded that I needed better protection, when I got hung up on some rock in the wrong line of a recent trail run.
First, I removed the stock skids. All in all, these OE skid plates held up for some time and took a ton of abuse.
I was concerned about some damage to the cross member that fortunately, did not interfere with the install.
I was reminded that I needed better protection, when I got hung up on some rock in the wrong line of a recent trail run.
First, I removed the stock skids. All in all, these OE skid plates held up for some time and took a ton of abuse.
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- #378
After the removal, I did a quick overall inspection and noted that I had a couple slight leaks. I picked up the parts to address them at a later time. I then thoroughly washed the under body area covered by the old skid plate.
The new skids arrived strapped and screwed to some cardboard and wood frame packaging. The spacers for use on kits without a diff drop were kicking around loose in the UPS truck, and several of the screws were bent and loose. Of course, that didn't phase the plates.
I removed the parts and set them out on the floor as they would be assembled. I set out the contents of the hardware kit:
IIRC, no pic.
4- square aluminum plates with threaded inserts and corresponding threaded bolts.
7- 8mmx1.25 threaded bolts with corresponding flush mount counter sink aluminum washers.
8- 8x1.25 bolts 13mm head
12- washers
Then I set the rear plate aside and drove my truck in over the plates to aid in placement.
I realized that the rear mounting holes did not have threads and figured that the only female threaded hardware plates would go there. Sure enough the rear holes needed to be drilled out, but a step bit didn't work for me, cause the bit would hit the frame inside the hole. I resorted to and 11/16 drill bit to make the holes big enough to fit the plates in. it was still a tight fit, so I clearanced one side of the 2 rear square plates just a bit.
I ran an 8x1.25 tap through the 5 threaded holes on the main cross member, and the 2 holes on the diff drop cross member. These are the 7 holes for the 5mm allen flat head bolts. I found a floor dolly kicking around that was a perfect fit for installing these plates. I used a 2x and a 4x to position them around.
I added anti seize to all of the bolts. After getting the rear 4 bolts started, I hung the middle plate on the forward hook and supported it with the dolly. then I started the bolts and washers in the main cross member.
The new skids arrived strapped and screwed to some cardboard and wood frame packaging. The spacers for use on kits without a diff drop were kicking around loose in the UPS truck, and several of the screws were bent and loose. Of course, that didn't phase the plates.
I removed the parts and set them out on the floor as they would be assembled. I set out the contents of the hardware kit:
IIRC, no pic.
4- square aluminum plates with threaded inserts and corresponding threaded bolts.
7- 8mmx1.25 threaded bolts with corresponding flush mount counter sink aluminum washers.
8- 8x1.25 bolts 13mm head
12- washers
Then I set the rear plate aside and drove my truck in over the plates to aid in placement.
I realized that the rear mounting holes did not have threads and figured that the only female threaded hardware plates would go there. Sure enough the rear holes needed to be drilled out, but a step bit didn't work for me, cause the bit would hit the frame inside the hole. I resorted to and 11/16 drill bit to make the holes big enough to fit the plates in. it was still a tight fit, so I clearanced one side of the 2 rear square plates just a bit.
I ran an 8x1.25 tap through the 5 threaded holes on the main cross member, and the 2 holes on the diff drop cross member. These are the 7 holes for the 5mm allen flat head bolts. I found a floor dolly kicking around that was a perfect fit for installing these plates. I used a 2x and a 4x to position them around.
I added anti seize to all of the bolts. After getting the rear 4 bolts started, I hung the middle plate on the forward hook and supported it with the dolly. then I started the bolts and washers in the main cross member.
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- #379
Next up, I positioned the front plate in place on the front 3 bolts already partially threaded on. Then I slid the dolly under to support it while I got the remaining bolts started. I preferred washers with a larger OD to cover more of the slotted holes, so I added some larger washers.
The bolts were then tightened. While tightening the rear hardware, 2 of the inserts pulled out of the square aluminum plates, (the left rear and the right front). I didn't feel like I was tightening them too much, but they didn't seem to be held in by much more than a crimp either. I felt the threaded insert start to pull through and found this.
The bolts were then tightened. While tightening the rear hardware, 2 of the inserts pulled out of the square aluminum plates, (the left rear and the right front). I didn't feel like I was tightening them too much, but they didn't seem to be held in by much more than a crimp either. I felt the threaded insert start to pull through and found this.
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- #380
I thought a bit about a better option for a threaded insert, and realized that the nut inserts I had wouldn't fit well in the oversize holes. So rather than complicate things, I just made new plates with steel, drilled a 1/2" hole to accommodate the threaded insert, and welded the insert to the plate. Not the prettiest welds, but it will hold now. I set aside some more plate in case I need to do the other 2 in the future.
Then I test drove it with no issues. I'll report here on the long term testing. For now, some finished pictures.
Then I test drove it with no issues. I'll report here on the long term testing. For now, some finished pictures.
