Builds A Teenagers Attempt of a Build Thread (1 Viewer)

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Time to update the thread as I am now supercharged! I was super fortunate to be able to find a used supercharger very cheap and between sourcing it and rebuilding it I was in it for about $800. Super duper lucky and it was a lot of brain damage but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I sent the supercharger out to get freshened up by Jon Bond perfomance out of Iowa. They did a full internal rebuild and ceramic coated the rotors. They said all and all the blower looked fine that it just needed a good freshening up. I also requested they install a 3.0 pulley. My thought was it does seem it is a little of a grey area if you can get away running a 3.0 pulley without meth or a intercooler so I figured while the weather is cold it would be good to be able to see how it deals in the cold and as it starts to warm up. I am really happy with the outcome there turn around time was a little slow (6 weeks) but they seem very through and it was good supporting a smaller business. Every time I called they answered and I talked to the same person every time I called which I thought was cool.

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While the supercharger was getting rebuilt I decided to insulate the whole interior, replace the weatherstripping on my flares, and put some 1.5 inch wheel spacers on, replaced the windshield, installed a dorkle, and got rear tailgate storage. After putting some miles on the truck since doing this I can say the interior definitely feels more solid and it acoustically sounds better. The doors close like a vault now and it doesnt sound like a tin can. The issue with it is though that most my wind noise already was not from the carpet/door region but from my terrible weather stripping. This is now just more prominent and definitely has moved up on the list.

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After stalling and doing all of that stuff, the supercharger came back and it was ready to get thrown on. The two pulleys that are needed for the supercharger belt you are still able to buy new off amazon so I did that and repainted all the brackets and stuff that had to be reused and got new hardware for just about everywhere. After doing all of that it was time to install. Install went pretty smooth @LC4LIFE and @ExpoMax were life savers with there knowledge helping me getting this on correctly. It took us probably 6 hours start to finish between the 3 of us and it all went pretty smooth. The two issues/things I am concerned about includes the spacing from the fan to the smooth belt pulley behind it as I ended putting washers to space out the fan to clear it in the first place and I believe I need to space it a little father which would require bigger studs in my modified blue hub fan clutch. I have put about 6 hours on it so far and it seems to be fine, but it is a little to close for comfort so someday I will space that correctly. My other concern is the belt is not coming off the smooth idler pulley 100% on. There is very small amount probably 1/16th of the belt that is just hanging off the pulley on the inside. It is already starting to show where it is wearing on the belt and I am not quite sure how to correct this yet as the bracket and pulley are where they are supposed to be and they are tight. Any ideas would be appreciated.

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Right after getting the truck running I changed the oil and now its time to go back up to Gunnison to go to school from where I live in Colorado Springs. Besides some drives around town with it I really didn’t get a good highway day with it until two days ago bringing it up to Gunnision. All I can say is wow. It is a totally different animal. It feels light on its feet for the first time in forever. I always feel that you feel every pound of the cruiser going up the hills and feel it in the bottom of your foot. It just feels like a big heavy brick. I can now say that is 100% gone living at 7000 feet and going over Monarch Pass it feels very similar to my dads 2001 tundra with the 4.7. Not fast by any means but faster then you would think. I was able to top out going over Monarch Pass 15 over the speed limit, before I was hanging around 5-10mph under the speed limit and wingin it out in second gear. I only shifted into 2nd two times coming out of the tight hairpin corners and I didn‘t have to rev the crap out of it for it to shift into 3rd. Cooling wise it was a super cold day when we went up probably 20-30 degrees and it lived at 186 the WHOLE time besides the last mile of going up Monarch pass it got into the low 190s. Pretty optimistic with how it is doing right now.



My only complaint right now is the fact that I think the exhaust is chocking the supercharger out at the higher rpms. My exhaust is stock besides a different muffler and it feels like a huge constraint. From 3,000 to 4,000 rpms it makes that crazy air whooshing sound and doesn’t pull as hard as I would have expected. 2,000-3,000 rpms is where it really feels good right now which is awesome for highway driving. Also, towards the top of monarch the Cats were getting so hot all the water on the ground that was hitting the cats was turning immediately into steam. My goal is to change to a full 3 inch exhaust with a single high flow cat. I think this will help a ton and I think that will be my next big upgrade I think it needs it pretty bad and if the Cats are getting that hot with low air temp and engine temp I really want to get it dialed in before summer. I also want to add an exhaust gas temp gauge just to keep an eye on. If anyone has any advice on exhaust stuff let me know because I know there is a lot of crap on the market right now. I am thinking about getting the CX Racing header and getting it retubed to accommodate the supercharger. If anyone has a better idea let me know. Overall I think if anyone get there hands on a supercharger do it! Definitely makes these trucks feel like a modern car and makes the driving experience in the mountains way more enjoyable the motor feels much happier

Also if anyone is curious I got 13.1 mpg from Colorado Springs to Gunnision which I’m happy with. Probably use to squeeze 1/2 mpg better without it but I think that’s a pretty small price to pay

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ACC garage makes a set of headers that might work better and be of higher quality than CX Racing headers.


These are American Racing headers made for the 105 series with the 1FZ that require unspecified modifications to work...


if anyone is to properly torture test them it’s going to be you.

You definitely are a lucky cruiser owner but I think you’ve earned it wheeling that thing like you do. How the heck did you get your hands on a Hudd Expo rear bumper!? Love those things!

Edited to add... that smooth pulley that isn’t spaced correctly... turn it around, it’ll probably space correctly then. There’s another thread concerning supercharger pulleys that covers it.
 
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ACC garage makes a set of headers that might work better and be of higher quality than CX Racing headers.


These are American Racing headers made for the 105 series with the 1FZ that require unspecified modifications to work...


if anyone is to properly torture test them it’s going to be you.

You definitely are a lucky cruiser owner but I think you’ve earned it wheeling that thing like you do. How the heck did you get your hands on a Hudd Expo rear bumper!? Love those things!

Edited to add... that smooth pulley that isn’t spaced correctly... turn it around, it’ll probably space correctly then. There’s another thread concerning supercharger pulleys that covers it.


Thank you! I really appreciate it. I will probably reach out to the ACC guys last I checked I think they were out of stock but there exhaust does look pretty sexy. I will post back what I find out.

And thank you very much I am a lucky guy I love my cruiser and has been well used and loved in the time I have owned it. In the past 5 years of me owning it I am coming up on putting 100,000 miles on it. My bank account doesn't love her but I sure do haha.

Max and I go way back we use to be apart of the same mountain biking club in the area when we were super young then came back and found each other on the form here probably 3 years ago and now are best friends haha. I have been fortunate enough to get help from him and his dad on the cruiser too which has been a good thing and a bad thing because looking at there stuff and how they do stuff has really made me realize how not well I have executed some stuff on my truck when I was 15-16 :bang:. But they have been awesome and that's how I was lucky enough to get one of there bumpers I love it.

Thank you!
 
Any new updates and plans for the supercharger? I just installed mine the other week and hungry for thoughts and ideas of others.
 
Any new updates and plans for the supercharger? I just installed mine the other week and hungry for thoughts and ideas of others.
Congrats!

No new plans currently I am just waiting for the weather to get warm before I start messing with it anymore. I really love how the supercharger is so turn key and non finicky I honestly put it on 3 months ago and besides me putting a pulley on the wrong way and correcting that, I have not really even thought twice about it it just works. I can go up I70 loaded down holding the speed limit without winging it out and and the gas mileage has been similar and coolant temps have stayed the same.

BUT when the weather does get warm and I am not in school I am going to get a new custom 3 inch exhaust done as I still haven’t done that. However apparently as of January 1st 2021 Colorado is now a CARB state so I guess I can’t get it done here I am going to have to go to Utah or Wyoming and find reputable shop to do it. I am really excited to get that done though I think it will really open it up even more

Other then that I am currently at 3.0 pulley and am satisfied with the power but a 2.8 sounds sorta fun. I don‘t want to push the envelope to far though with 275k and no intentions of wanting to rebuild it anytime soon I want it to be low stress. I think if I went to a 2.8 I would do meth injection but I am not sure if I want to mess with it. I do really think though that the supercharger reduces stress on the motor though especially where I am driving it as 2nd gear a 4,000 rpms up the passes isn’t really a thing anymore.

Overall the supercharger has made me not cringe driving it in the mountains and now it makes me want to focus my attention more on making it a really a clean build my paint is crap and I want to repaint it and fix my window seals and re do my drawer system and dare I say add more lift and bigger tires but I’m not sure.

What are your plans for it?
 
Besides the supercharger news I did put some new door cards in from a LX450 that cleaned up the interior quite a bit my door cards were really ratty. Also added kicker tweeters in the dash (huge difference in vocals), new LED dome lights, OEM leather wrapped shifter and that’s about it for now. Also put back on a factory roof rack and a skybox which I know sounds so dumb on the factory rack but I had one laying around and found a sky box for $150 and I was tired of putting my snowy skis and muddy ski boots in the cruiser. Plus I think it looks kinda cool haha

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Congrats!

No new plans currently I am just waiting for the weather to get warm before I start messing with it anymore. I really love how the supercharger is so turn key and non finicky I honestly put it on 3 months ago and besides me putting a pulley on the wrong way and correcting that, I have not really even thought twice about it it just works. I can go up I70 loaded down holding the speed limit without winging it out and and the gas mileage has been similar and coolant temps have stayed the same.

BUT when the weather does get warm and I am not in school I am going to get a new custom 3 inch exhaust done as I still haven’t done that. However apparently as of January 1st 2021 Colorado is now a CARB state so I guess I can’t get it done here I am going to have to go to Utah or Wyoming and find reputable shop to do it. I am really excited to get that done though I think it will really open it up even more

Other then that I am currently at 3.0 pulley and am satisfied with the power but a 2.8 sounds sorta fun. I don‘t want to push the envelope to far though with 275k and no intentions of wanting to rebuild it anytime soon I want it to be low stress. I think if I went to a 2.8 I would do meth injection but I am not sure if I want to mess with it. I do really think though that the supercharger reduces stress on the motor though especially where I am driving it as 2nd gear a 4,000 rpms up the passes isn’t really a thing anymore.

Overall the supercharger has made me not cringe driving it in the mountains and now it makes me want to focus my attention more on making it a really a clean build my paint is crap and I want to repaint it and fix my window seals and re do my drawer system and dare I say add more lift and bigger tires but I’m not sure.

What are your plans for it?
Good deal. I'm also pleased with the SC. Thought about the 2.8 pulley, but don't want to have to rely on meth/intercooler.

Since install, temps been good. Added an aux fan from @LandCruiserPhil and hood risers from @Outsane (really liking the look now that I have it).

The other day I was bored and re-routed the PCV hose for to keep oil blow back out of the upper intake plenum (I've been calling it a plymouth forever).

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Don't think I've done anything else. . But I've only installed the SC a few weeks ago.
 
Finally! As the cruiser has been getting heavier it has become more of a priority to change up the coils I am running. The guys over HuddExpo hooked me up getting me on the order for the new tapered coils Dobinson just came out with. I was really excited when I found out the coils are available in both teal and black as on my truck I don’t think the blue ever fit it right.

It was interesting upon comparing the new coils to the old flexi coils as the rear tapereds were less in free standing height then the old flexis but on the front they were longer then the flexis. Was sorta concerned upon installing how it was all going to come together I did the rear first and gained about an inch of lift compared to the old flexis. When installing the front I reused my 30mm spacer as I am heavy in the front with a bumper and winch and really don’t have a lot going on in the rear right now. And I am glad I used it, it came out just about perfect maybe with the front being a 1/2 inch taller then the rear.

The new tapered design that is more of a two zone construction instead of the “old” 3 zone coil I was interested to see what it would do the new tapereds look sorta like a heavy duty flexi coil design now. But man I have never done something that has changed the truck so much. The truck now feels like when I hit a bump only that tire hits a bump and the whole truck doesn’t jello behind it like it use to. I think for the flexis I was too heavy for there intended use and the whole truck would shutter over typical road bumps. My dad and I were joking saying my truck on the fleixis either felt like a leaf sprung truck or a complete slush box depending on speed. These new tapereds make it feel like a 21st century coil sprung truck. Rides nice and tight around town and somehow it seems way smoother and well balanced on the highway which is so crazy with the additional lift I got. We also took it through some whoops and got some minor air and it feels so much more controlled it really has smoothed out the rebound and its not jarring In any way.






Rears compared to Flexis
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Fronts compared to flexis.
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Finally looks light on its feet again I think its time for part timing and 38s
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Finally! As the cruiser has been getting heavier it has become more of a priority to change up the coils I am running. The guys over HuddExpo hooked me up getting me on the order for the new tapered coils Dobinson just came out with. I was really excited when I found out the coils are available in both teal and black as on my truck I don’t think the blue ever fit it right.

It was interesting upon comparing the new coils to the old flexi coils as the rear tapereds were less in free standing height then the old flexis but on the front they were longer then the flexis. Was sorta concerned upon installing how it was all going to come together I did the rear first and gained about an inch of lift compared to the old flexis. When installing the front I reused my 30mm spacer as I am heavy in the front with a bumper and winch and really don’t have a lot going on in the rear right now. And I am glad I used it, it came out just about perfect maybe with the front being a 1/2 inch taller then the rear.

The new tapered design that is more of a two zone construction instead of the “old” 3 zone coil I was interested to see what it would do the new tapereds look sorta like a heavy duty flexi coil design now. But man I have never done something that has changed the truck so much. The truck now feels like when I hit a bump only that tire hits a bump and the whole truck doesn’t jello behind it like it use to. I think for the flexis I was too heavy for there intended use and the whole truck would shutter over typical road bumps. My dad and I were joking saying my truck on the fleixis either felt like a leaf sprung truck or a complete slush box depending on speed. These new tapereds make it feel like a 21st century coil sprung truck. Rides nice and tight around town and somehow it seems way smoother and well balanced on the highway which is so crazy with the additional lift I got. We also took it through some whoops and got some minor air and it feels so much more controlled it really has smoothed out the rebound and its not jarring In any way.






Rears compared to Flexis
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Fronts compared to flexis.
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Finally looks light on its feet again I think its time for part timing and 38s View attachment 2687127

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Slee 4” heavies with progressive rears for the load carrying. I’ve run the dobinson 3” tapered in the rear over a year now. Great springs but my Slee progressives are going back in the rear as soon as I have time.
 
Slee 4” heavies with progressive rears for the load carrying. I’ve run the dobinson 3” tapered in the rear over a year now. Great springs but my Slee progressives are going back in the rear as soon as I have time.

Why are you going back did the tapereds not deal well when loaded down?
 
Why are you going back did the tapereds not deal well when loaded down?
With 3” tapered and 30 mm spacer the rear sits about 3/4” lower than Slee 4” with no spacer to begin with. Then I load it and the dobinson’s squat more. I tried the tapered coils because I was looking for a more level stance unloaded, which I got.

The slee coils measure 22mm thick as opposed to the dobinson’s at 20mm and a middle rate of, iirc, 270 lbs/in. Slee does not advertise rates but some who does know told me they are well over 300lbs/in. The slee is wrapped tightly and is progressive with two very close turns at the top so they don’t ride harshly unloaded.

On the trail loaded I start off lower in the rear now and the Dobinson coils allow noticeably deeper compression when I drop off a ledge or rock and that causes more of those bumper/rock collisions not to mention the energy released from a more deeply compressed spring. In other words, the rear end feels a bit less stable and wallowy loaded and wheeling. It’s not terrible, but knowing what I know it’s hard to deny.

My rear bumper alone weighs around 225 then add three cans, a 37, high lift Jack and a bag of trash and it gets heavy far aft of the axle. If you don’t have a heavy rear bumper with extra weight hanging from it then maybe you won’t appreciate the Slee’s.
 
Good report.
That is very tall lift, at least 5".
What are the center of hub to bottom of flare measurements?
 
Soooo if you got 5 minutes I got a story!

So I had a bit of an unexpected adventure. I got up yesterday and had the urge to go camping for a night and go for a bike ride and just enjoy being outside and not having any distractions. So 30 minutes later I was on the road I just threw my bike on the back and grabbed my camping bin and hit the road. I decided to camp up on Pearl Pass just outside of Crested Butte. I set up camp pretty close to the bottom of the trail then road my bike to the summit. Really good workout and was honestly more pushing then riding towards the top Peal Pass starts pretty easy but gets pretty gnarly towards the top.

Anyways so I get to the top and I head back on down and I find this camp spot probably a mile from the summit that is just awesome. Just around tree line so you can see all the surrounding peaks but it was still protected from the wind and I really decided this was the camping spot I had to be at tonight. So I road on down and hoped in the cruiser and started the treck on up. Like I said the first 3ish miles are really pretty easy but then it starts climbing and its pretty loose in some spots. But no biggie the cruiser does it with ease. So i get up to this camp spot and set up the tent and grill myself a burger and reading a book and life is good. But then I decide around sunset I want to drive as far as I can up to the “top” (still a little snowed it) and get a poser shot and just enjoy the sunset as high up as I can.


So I close up the tent and put all of my crap away and start heading up the hill. I no less then get around two corners from where I was camping and all of sudden I hear the pshhhh boom. Sidewall on the driver rear tire blows out. All the air is out of it within probably a minute it was a pretty big gash.

At this point I’m sorta freaking out I don’t run with a spare, nobody really knows where I am because I don’t really know where I was going to end up and here I am around sunset at just under 13,000 feet. Great.

I am so so lucky that a few days ago I had a impulsive day on amazon and ordered some stuff that just seemed liked it would be fun to get. So I ordered a new cook set, silverware set, sleeping bag, AND the ARB tire repair kit. I no joke got this kit two days ago and threw it in the truck still in the unopened box I really did not think today was the day I was going to be getting myself into a hairy situation. But I guess you always need stuff when you don’t expect it. So I unbox this thing for the very first time and follow the simple ARB 6 step instructions and put 8 plugs into the sidewall of this tire and I was shocked this tire aired up with no leaks and made it all the way back down the pass and the 30 minutes on the highway back to my house.

I don’t want to dis on the tires too much they are Cooper AT3 XLT and I have about 50,000 miles on them. I have honestly loved them they have been awesome on the trail and in the snow and really awesome on the road. So I don‘t want to complain about them to much. But also, this should not have happened in this spot in my opinion I think the rear tire just slipped off a rock and got stabbed I have really pushed these tires before and this was not one of those situations where I think there was extreme stress on it I couldn’t really even pin point what rock gashed it.

I have never run a spare because I like my rear bumper and when I am actually going out on a wheeling day I am always with someone who runs a spare. Welp I guess that makes sense in theory but not in practice.

Soooo I am in the market for some new tires I think I am going to make a jump to a mud terrain as I am planning on going to Alaska next year and I am sure I will run into some mud but if that wasn’t on the radar I would 100% run these tires again. Any recommendations? Currently between the Yokohama Geo and Cooper STT Pro I think. But let me know what y’all think.

Any if anyone is wondering if the ARB tire plug kit works, it works and it works well! Totally recommend I will never leave home without it from here on out.




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Soooo if you got 5 minutes I got a story!

So I had a bit of an unexpected adventure. I got up yesterday and had the urge to go camping for a night and go for a bike ride and just enjoy being outside and not having any distractions. So 30 minutes later I was on the road I just threw my bike on the back and grabbed my camping bin and hit the road. I decided to camp up on Pearl Pass just outside of Crested Butte. I set up camp pretty close to the bottom of the trail then road my bike to the summit. Really good workout and was honestly more pushing then riding towards the top Peal Pass starts pretty easy but gets pretty gnarly towards the top.

Anyways so I get to the top and I head back on down and I find this camp spot probably a mile from the summit that is just awesome. Just around tree line so you can see all the surrounding peaks but it was still protected from the wind and I really decided this was the camping spot I had to be at tonight. So I road on down and hoped in the cruiser and started the treck on up. Like I said the first 3ish miles are really pretty easy but then it starts climbing and its pretty loose in some spots. But no biggie the cruiser does it with ease. So i get up to this camp spot and set up the tent and grill myself a burger and reading a book and life is good. But then I decide around sunset I want to drive as far as I can up to the “top” (still a little snowed it) and get a poser shot and just enjoy the sunset as high up as I can.


So I close up the tent and put all of my crap away and start heading up the hill. I no less then get around two corners from where I was camping and all of sudden I hear the pshhhh boom. Sidewall on the driver rear tire blows out. All the air is out of it within probably a minute it was a pretty big gash.

At this point I’m sorta freaking out I don’t run with a spare, nobody really knows where I am because I don’t really know where I was going to end up and here I am around sunset at just under 13,000 feet. Great.

I am so so lucky that a few days ago I had a impulsive day on amazon and ordered some stuff that just seemed liked it would be fun to get. So I ordered a new cook set, silverware set, sleeping bag, AND the ARB tire repair kit. I no joke got this kit two days ago and threw it in the truck still in the unopened box I really did not think today was the day I was going to be getting myself into a hairy situation. But I guess you always need stuff when you don’t expect it. So I unbox this thing for the very first time and follow the simple ARB 6 step instructions and put 8 plugs into the sidewall of this tire and I was shocked this tire aired up with no leaks and made it all the way back down the pass and the 30 minutes on the highway back to my house.

I don’t want to dis on the tires too much they are Cooper AT3 XLT and I have about 50,000 miles on them. I have honestly loved them they have been awesome on the trail and in the snow and really awesome on the road. So I don‘t want to complain about them to much. But also, this should not have happened in this spot in my opinion I think the rear tire just slipped off a rock and got stabbed I have really pushed these tires before and this was not one of those situations where I think there was extreme stress on it I couldn’t really even pin point what rock gashed it.

I have never run a spare because I like my rear bumper and when I am actually going out on a wheeling day I am always with someone who runs a spare. Welp I guess that makes sense in theory but not in practice.

Soooo I am in the market for some new tires I think I am going to make a jump to a mud terrain as I am planning on going to Alaska next year and I am sure I will run into some mud but if that wasn’t on the radar I would 100% run these tires again. Any recommendations? Currently between the Yokohama Geo and Cooper STT Pro I think. But let me know what y’all think.

Any if anyone is wondering if the ARB tire plug kit works, it works and it works well! Totally recommend I will never leave home without it from here on out.
Nice job, that's a hell of a patch. I know exactly the camp spot your talking about. I know the rock field that got you too, got hit in a blizzard in August up there once and had to ride up it on the YZ, nothing nasty but a long section of sharp small boulders that seem to go on forever. I hear nothing but good things on the Geo's. Cant speak from experience but were a close second for me.
 
And I assume that after patching that tire you got on the highway and did not drive at a slow speed, right?
 

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