40th Family Wheeler

[Pascoscout]

Decided it was time to tackle the rust that was growing on my rear hatch. Only visible part was on the right corner, but when I got the glass out the majority of the seam had bubbles and rust in between the pieces.

Started on the worst part. No turning back now!!!

Replacement panel cut, bent and fit. Used a high zinc weld through primer between the parts to try to reduce future corrosion.

Welded and ground. Little bit of bondo and it will look like it never happened.

Middle portion ready for bondo. Just a few small strips to go and will be ready for finish work.

 

[Pascoscout]

Paint finally came. Supply delays suck...

It's not perfect but ok for a rattle can job. Will work until I can get all the other things I want done to the body finished and respray the whole car. Just need to get it over to the glass shop to get the window back in and I'll be in business.

 

[Pascoscout]

Did some restoration on my factory wheels. Sanded off the clear coating and painted areas. Repainted the inner parts with duplicolor graphite wheel paint. Sanded the bare aluminum with 1000 grit and then polished and waxed. I think they came out really good.

Also got new shoes, went up to 35's.


Before:

After:

With the new Mickey Thompson Baja Legend EXP tires

 

[Kabanstva]

Did some restoration on my factory wheels. Sanded off the clear coating and painted areas. Repainted the inner parts with duplicolor graphite wheel paint. Sanded the bare aluminum with 1000 grit and then polished and waxed. I think they came out really good.

Also got new shoes, went up to 35's.


Before:
View attachment 3060315

After:
View attachment 3060316


With the new Mickey Thompson Baja Legend EXP tires
View attachment 3060317

wheels came out great. so you didn't clearcoat over the machined (sanded) faces once all the sanding and polishing was done?

 

[Pascoscout]

wheels came out great. so you didn't clearcoat over the machined (sanded) faces once all the sanding and polishing was done?

No clear coat, just used a wheel polish with sealer. They will take more maintenance to keep looking good but I will be able to more easily repair scratches and dings.

 

[Kabanstva]

No clear coat, just used a wheel polish with sealer. They will take more maintenance to keep looking good but I will be able to more easily repair scratches and dings.

Yup I got you. Plenty of bare aluminum wheels out there. They will oxidize over time but like you said just run some metal polish on them once or twice a year and you’re good. Don’t have to worry about the inevitable clear coat failure now.

 

[Pascoscout]

Replaced the 3" Icon Springs with some Dobinsons 2.5" heavy springs in the rear. Even though the Dobinsons are technically "shorter" they actually resulted in about 1.25" more lift and support the weight if the stuff I have in the cruiser much better.

 

[Pascoscout]

Been working on a new addition to the cruiser. Put it in the gear section since it's more universal than 80 specific.

Aluminum Drop Fridge Slide

Working on building my own drop down fridge slide. Going with aluminum to keep the weight down. Made the mount and the arms so far. Waiting on the drawer slides to show up and need some more material for the fridge cradle. Designing it around my 63 quart ARB Classic Fridge. Here's what I have...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Pascoscout]

Got a wild hair and decided to relocate the front differential breather up high.

 

[inkpot]

Got a wild hair and decided to relocate the front differential breather up high.
View attachment 3167011

That is still a 1 way valve of sorts. We just run the hose over the brake booster and terminate it with an old style VW fuel filter. Breathes both ways equally.

 

[Pascoscout]

Inspected my rig last week to check on all the bushings etc after my Moab trip. Found that the rear lower control arm bushing were totally shot. I could wiggle the arms with my hand. Also found that the driver side arm was bent, about 1/8” out of true on a straight edge.

After pricing new arms and bushings I decided to upgrade and get the metal tech arms. Installed today.

Also started on upgrades to my rear sway bar. I had metal tech drop brackets which were rubbing the hose for the remote reservoir shocks. I also broke the links and bent the sway bar on Top of the World. Decided to go back to stock brackets and add HD extended links from @landtank. Also reinforced the brackets with 1/8” plate on each side. Got one side done. Still need to order a new sway bar and new lower brackets which also got destroyed.

 

[Pascoscout]

New white line sway bar showed up so I got that installed along with my modified brackets and landtank hd links. Rides a lot better now.

 

[Pascoscout]

Pics are a little late but we hit Moab again in October. Cruiser did awesome on the new 35's. Amazing what a difference 2 inch increase makes. Cruiser took more of a beating this time around. Busted a sway bar link on Top of the World. Tried a field repair which failed and eventually resulted in the rear sway bar coming off and having to be completely removed. Day 3 I tried Hells Gate and failed. Poor line choice and no one wanting to spot me (in my video I can hear them saying my line was wrong but no one bothered to key the radio and say something) resulted in a flop over. Lucky for me my armor took the brunt of it and only got a few dents in the front fender. Flipped back on all 4 and wheeled out though and still crushed Poison spider the next day. Also, as posted above, I found that all of the rear control arm bushings failed on this trip so those had to be replaced too. And my damn front locker stopped working after day 1... again. Time for a new one.

 

[Pascoscout]

Factory horns were sounding a little tired so upgraded to a new set of Hella horns. Much louder.

 

[Pascoscout]

Wow, its been a while.

So this summer I went to PNW4WD Trail Jam in Naches. I found out my rig tips the scales at about 6100lbs (the scale was reading 150 lbs light on the driver front, so they told me). Had a great time but bent my drag link on a log (it actually got worse than the photo, to the point the wheels wouldn't turn). Fixed it with my trusty hi-lift jack handle and wheeled the rest of the week. It was my drag link for about 3 months until..

 

[Pascoscout]

So after the bent drag link I decided it was time to make some upgrades and repairs. At the end of that trip my brakes randomly stopped working too. I am pretty sure it was a failed master cylinder, but the whole brake system is 27 years old with 298,000 miles. Time from new everything (Master cylinder, booster, soft lines, calipers). Went with all OEM parts and added EBC green stuff pads. Stops amazing now. While doing that I found my rear axle seals had failed and made a huge greasy mess of the rear brake system. So the hubs came off and got resealed. No pictures of all that.

I also wanted to repair my drag link and at the same time I figured a rebuild of the steering box would be a good idea. If I am doing that the may as well get the 105 sector shaft upgrade, right? Well as luck would have it the exchange rate from Japan is at an all time low, so a brand new steering box, with the 105 sector shaft, was only $100 more than the rebuild I was quoted. Ordered up the box, new pitman arm and hardware from Impex Japan. 60 days later its on my door step
I've also had a frame brace from DVS on the shelf for a long time so I took the opportunity to weld that in. No cracks that I could see, but I did have a little rust bubbling on the outside of the frame. Cleaned up, high zinc primer, paint and the new box is in.

 

[Pascoscout]

And last but not least. New 7075 drag link, hardware and 555 tie rod ends from DVS. Lookin good now and the difference in steering response is unbelievable.

@Feldrian complained about my steering stabilizer, but he won't buy me a new one, so this one stays for a while more. It does have a dent in it, so maybe it will spontaneously explode soon

 

[Pascoscout]

For anyone who has one of those useless cubby inserts with the 1/4-20 mounting studs and a Midland GMRS here s a quick easy way to make a mount for your mic. The mic clip that came with the radio, fender washer, 1/4-20 carriage bolt, and two nuts is all you need. I used stainless cause that's what I had in my "I'll use it someday bins". Ground the washer to fit around the screws in the clip and drilled a hole through the back. The rest is self explanatory.

 

[Pascoscout]

Made myself a drop block for the parking brake cable. It has just been hanging since I put my lift on, decided it was time to fix that. Tried to be fancy and recess the bolt... then I remembered that the bracket still goes over that

Anyway, the aluminum hex worked out well and gives a spot for that tab to rest to keep the bracket from moving.

 

[Pascoscout]

More Moab adventures a couple weeks ago. Did some of the regular trails and decided to take on Moab Rim and Cliff Hanger this time. Both very challenging. No flops and no breakage this time though. But watching the videos after there were some close calls.

After many years my truck has a name. She's the Naughty Nanny... cause she's a fat bottom girl. Drags that bumper over damn near everything