Discount Tire Direct had them for under $400 the other day and I should of jumped on it, now they are back to $415 a piece.
Thank you for the information on the tires.
Builds A Teenagers Attempt of a Build Thread
- Thread starter Andrew Bluemel
- Start date
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Discount Tire Direct had them for under $400 the other day and I should of jumped on it, now they are back to $415 a piece.
Thank you for the information on the tires.
- Thread starter
- #102
Man I suck up updating on here. The Canada trip happened! 20 days, 5,100 miles, and way too much money spent on gas. On the way out of town @ExpoMax and I travelled from Colorado Springs to Jackson Wyoming, Whitefish Montana, Glacier National Park, Waterton National Park, Banff, Jasper National Park, Kamloop BC, and finally to Whistler BC (where we spent most of our time for the Crankworx mountain bike festival ). On the way back we were crunched on time and made it from Whistler back to Colorado Springs in just over 30 hours, driving almost non stop.
This trip was incredible in so many ways. It was such a refreshing trip to go wherever we wanted to go and make our own agenda. I lived in the back of my truck with my new interior build out, while Max slept in his sweet Dobinson awning with the room attachment. Overall over the 20 days we were on this trip, we got a hotel only one time in Whistler.
The Cruiser was loaded up. For starters, we each had our own mountain bikes, skis, paddle boards. Then of course we both had our camping gear and clothes. Then my interior build had 5 gallons of on board water, along with the 5 gallon front runner jerry can filled up at all times. Before we crossed into Canada where we knew gas was going to be expensive, and few and far between, we had two 5 gallon jerry cans filled up.
Initially, when we left, I was the genius that thought it would be a bright idea to have two skyboxes loaded on top of the cruiser, so that the interior was always clean and clutter free. We quickly learned on our trip up to Jackson, two skyboxes with all of our stuff killed our gas mileage, and made it handle weird. So, as soon as we figured this out, one of the skyboxes got listed on Facebook Marketplace and sold in Whitefish Montana, (actually for a profit so yay more gas money!).
Besides that stupid idea, the Cruiser ran like a champ. It took us everywhere we wanted to go with no drama. Literally nothing on it went wrong. We could have closed the hood in Colorado Springs and not popped it until we got back (although we did because I am anal). But it burned no oil, no hiccups, no nothing. On the whole trip the water temp never got over 195, she just chilled the whole way. Truck now has 288,000, and still seemingly a happy camper. My only takeaways from the trip is that I should have replaced the window seals before we left because they are shot and the wind noise drove me crazy. And of course, it being a cruiser, loaded up we got such crap mileage. We knew before we left it was going to be bad, but overall we averaged right around 10. Hurts the wallets no matter how you put it, especially when Max’s van and my other car get 2x to 3x the mileage we were getting. But it‘s a cruiser, part of the experience right?!
Overall such a fun trip and great experience. Great trip to clear the head, and see some beautiful country, ski some awesome glaciers, bike some epic trails, and meet some great people. And now for the photo dump. Cheers!
This trip was incredible in so many ways. It was such a refreshing trip to go wherever we wanted to go and make our own agenda. I lived in the back of my truck with my new interior build out, while Max slept in his sweet Dobinson awning with the room attachment. Overall over the 20 days we were on this trip, we got a hotel only one time in Whistler.
The Cruiser was loaded up. For starters, we each had our own mountain bikes, skis, paddle boards. Then of course we both had our camping gear and clothes. Then my interior build had 5 gallons of on board water, along with the 5 gallon front runner jerry can filled up at all times. Before we crossed into Canada where we knew gas was going to be expensive, and few and far between, we had two 5 gallon jerry cans filled up.
Initially, when we left, I was the genius that thought it would be a bright idea to have two skyboxes loaded on top of the cruiser, so that the interior was always clean and clutter free. We quickly learned on our trip up to Jackson, two skyboxes with all of our stuff killed our gas mileage, and made it handle weird. So, as soon as we figured this out, one of the skyboxes got listed on Facebook Marketplace and sold in Whitefish Montana, (actually for a profit so yay more gas money!).
Besides that stupid idea, the Cruiser ran like a champ. It took us everywhere we wanted to go with no drama. Literally nothing on it went wrong. We could have closed the hood in Colorado Springs and not popped it until we got back (although we did because I am anal). But it burned no oil, no hiccups, no nothing. On the whole trip the water temp never got over 195, she just chilled the whole way. Truck now has 288,000, and still seemingly a happy camper. My only takeaways from the trip is that I should have replaced the window seals before we left because they are shot and the wind noise drove me crazy. And of course, it being a cruiser, loaded up we got such crap mileage. We knew before we left it was going to be bad, but overall we averaged right around 10. Hurts the wallets no matter how you put it, especially when Max’s van and my other car get 2x to 3x the mileage we were getting. But it‘s a cruiser, part of the experience right?!
Overall such a fun trip and great experience. Great trip to clear the head, and see some beautiful country, ski some awesome glaciers, bike some epic trails, and meet some great people. And now for the photo dump. Cheers!
- Thread starter
- #103
- Thread starter
- #104
I guess thats enough spam for now. Cheers!
With reference to the squatted stance of you rig; the springs you run are the Dobinson 3.5” VT I believe?
I have always enjoyed watching your build & adventures, thanks for sharing.
- Thread starter
- #107
Correct 3.5” VTs. No spacers. She was squatting for sure. Driving characteristics remained really solid though. Could not imagine doing this trip on the old Flexis I had. I can take a picture of it tomorrow, unloaded it has more lift than I had with the flexis. And the flexis didn‘t get to see the swingout bumper, dual batteries, or 10,000lb warn winch.
- Thread starter
- #108
I appreciate that thank you!
- Thread starter
- #109
Well it is time for another life ramble and cruiser update.
In two weeks, I will be moving up to Aspen to be a ski instructor, and will be finding another side job for the winter once I get up there. My goal, is to figure out how to make decent money and survive in the Aspen Valley long term, but we will see if that happens. Even though the Aspen Valley is stupid expensive, with the ski instructor job, I am able to get employee housing for less than what it would cost to get a place in Colorado Springs or Denver. Also, these past few months I have been pursing my real estate license and have aspirations to pursue that in the future, so this is a good buffer winter to enjoy life, while I am finishing that up and dive all the way into that career path.
So you may wonder how this all ties into the cruiser. Well, since getting back from Canada, the cruiser earned some love in my book. Before the Canada trip I was 50/50 on if I was going to come back from the trip and want to sell it, or solidify this may very well be my forever truck. It ran so good on the whole Canada trip (even though we drove it at the worst time ever with gas prices), I finally pulled the trigger on doing something I have wanted to do since the day I bought it over 8 years ago. New paint!!
The paint on my truck has always been AWFUL. Despite maybe photographing decently, anyone who has ever seen my truck in person knows it was a 10 foot truck at best. The previous owner had it sit at under a tree for a few years and it seems that every ounce of sap that a tree had and every bird that possibly could ever fly over it decided to relieve itself on my truck. There was bird crap and sap that pretty much ate all the way through the paint. Also, with 8 years of my ownership having the hardcore wheeling bug, I did a very nice job at adding some nice scratches to it.
So when I got back from Canada, I listed my Yokohamas and wheels for sale and at the same time, bought Last Line of Defenses wheels and K02s that he was selling for stupid cheap. Between the swap I made a decent chunk of money and decided to pull the trigger on repainting. I found a MAACO in Commerence City (Denver) that had two excellent reviews from FJ60 owners. I went up there, talked to the estimator for about 45 minutes walking around my truck, and felt confident enough to pull the trigger. I pulled everything I could off the truck so they could focus on the paint and prep work. They repainted my truck the factory Toyota color, painting and installed the flares with OEM Toyota Gaskets, and did a lot of prep work to make sure the bird etching and tree sap would not be gone. They did a really good job prepping and although not OEM quality, I would say they gave it a 8.5 out of 10 paint job. Perfect for my truck. If anyone needs to get their truck repainted I would highly highly recommend this MAACO.
I then ordered all new exterior accessories. New grill, emblems, depo headlights, turn signals, depo rear taillights, belt molding, window weather stripping, window side shields, timberin bump stops (I never extended my bump stops how embarrassing is that?), some amazon lights to go on my trail gear bumper, new wipers, and new mirrors. This added up to almost the same cost as the paint job. But, after selling all of my stuff that was on the truck, I was in the whole truck makeover around $3500.
Not bad for what I think now looks like a new truck. I also replaced my wiring harness before it went into paint as I was having a intermediate power loss that I thought I traced back to a melted wire by the EGR system, but actually turned out to be a bad IAC
. But honestly, my wiring harness was so brittle, it was a box I was really happy to have checked off.
As I have eluded to in the past, I have bought and sold cars, and based off of the success of that, allocates how much money I have to blow on the cruiser. Money from work stays in a separate account. I have been pretty successful these last few years with some of the cars I have flipped, which has allowed me to build my cruiser into what it is today. Since I am moving to Aspen in two weeks, I had to sell my second car that I have been driving while the Cruiser has been under the knife. I have had a E46 BMW ZHP and it has to be quite possibly my favorite car I have ever owned besides the Cruiser. At this point I have bought and sold 35 cars, and this E46 really hurts getting rid of much more than any of the other ones. The E46 is so much like the cruiser. Maintain it and it will take care of you. Such a special car and it has honestly been the most solid car I have ever owned. I will own another one someday.
But I am not going to be able to take two cars to Aspen, and the BMW is worthless in the snow, so it is time for the cruiser to step up to the plate again. I am looking forward to driving the cruiser again everyday, and hope it gets me through the winter with minimal issues. If anyone is in the Aspen Valley and sees it driving around please say hello haha.
Sorry for the ramble, but I have really enjoyed seeing this thread grow since I was 14, and I plan on to keep doing it for the life of my ownership with the cruiser.
Cheers all!
Drop off day
Last picture of it with the BMW
Putting her back together (bummer that tailgate has always had that crease in it but at least the swingout blocks it)
Winter ready
In two weeks, I will be moving up to Aspen to be a ski instructor, and will be finding another side job for the winter once I get up there. My goal, is to figure out how to make decent money and survive in the Aspen Valley long term, but we will see if that happens. Even though the Aspen Valley is stupid expensive, with the ski instructor job, I am able to get employee housing for less than what it would cost to get a place in Colorado Springs or Denver. Also, these past few months I have been pursing my real estate license and have aspirations to pursue that in the future, so this is a good buffer winter to enjoy life, while I am finishing that up and dive all the way into that career path.
So you may wonder how this all ties into the cruiser. Well, since getting back from Canada, the cruiser earned some love in my book. Before the Canada trip I was 50/50 on if I was going to come back from the trip and want to sell it, or solidify this may very well be my forever truck. It ran so good on the whole Canada trip (even though we drove it at the worst time ever with gas prices), I finally pulled the trigger on doing something I have wanted to do since the day I bought it over 8 years ago. New paint!!
The paint on my truck has always been AWFUL. Despite maybe photographing decently, anyone who has ever seen my truck in person knows it was a 10 foot truck at best. The previous owner had it sit at under a tree for a few years and it seems that every ounce of sap that a tree had and every bird that possibly could ever fly over it decided to relieve itself on my truck. There was bird crap and sap that pretty much ate all the way through the paint. Also, with 8 years of my ownership having the hardcore wheeling bug, I did a very nice job at adding some nice scratches to it.
So when I got back from Canada, I listed my Yokohamas and wheels for sale and at the same time, bought Last Line of Defenses wheels and K02s that he was selling for stupid cheap. Between the swap I made a decent chunk of money and decided to pull the trigger on repainting. I found a MAACO in Commerence City (Denver) that had two excellent reviews from FJ60 owners. I went up there, talked to the estimator for about 45 minutes walking around my truck, and felt confident enough to pull the trigger. I pulled everything I could off the truck so they could focus on the paint and prep work. They repainted my truck the factory Toyota color, painting and installed the flares with OEM Toyota Gaskets, and did a lot of prep work to make sure the bird etching and tree sap would not be gone. They did a really good job prepping and although not OEM quality, I would say they gave it a 8.5 out of 10 paint job. Perfect for my truck. If anyone needs to get their truck repainted I would highly highly recommend this MAACO.
I then ordered all new exterior accessories. New grill, emblems, depo headlights, turn signals, depo rear taillights, belt molding, window weather stripping, window side shields, timberin bump stops (I never extended my bump stops how embarrassing is that?), some amazon lights to go on my trail gear bumper, new wipers, and new mirrors. This added up to almost the same cost as the paint job. But, after selling all of my stuff that was on the truck, I was in the whole truck makeover around $3500.
Not bad for what I think now looks like a new truck. I also replaced my wiring harness before it went into paint as I was having a intermediate power loss that I thought I traced back to a melted wire by the EGR system, but actually turned out to be a bad IAC
. But honestly, my wiring harness was so brittle, it was a box I was really happy to have checked off.As I have eluded to in the past, I have bought and sold cars, and based off of the success of that, allocates how much money I have to blow on the cruiser. Money from work stays in a separate account. I have been pretty successful these last few years with some of the cars I have flipped, which has allowed me to build my cruiser into what it is today. Since I am moving to Aspen in two weeks, I had to sell my second car that I have been driving while the Cruiser has been under the knife. I have had a E46 BMW ZHP and it has to be quite possibly my favorite car I have ever owned besides the Cruiser. At this point I have bought and sold 35 cars, and this E46 really hurts getting rid of much more than any of the other ones. The E46 is so much like the cruiser. Maintain it and it will take care of you. Such a special car and it has honestly been the most solid car I have ever owned. I will own another one someday.
But I am not going to be able to take two cars to Aspen, and the BMW is worthless in the snow, so it is time for the cruiser to step up to the plate again. I am looking forward to driving the cruiser again everyday, and hope it gets me through the winter with minimal issues. If anyone is in the Aspen Valley and sees it driving around please say hello haha.
Sorry for the ramble, but I have really enjoyed seeing this thread grow since I was 14, and I plan on to keep doing it for the life of my ownership with the cruiser.
Cheers all!
Drop off day
Last picture of it with the BMW
Putting her back together (bummer that tailgate has always had that crease in it but at least the swingout blocks it)
Winter ready
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #110
It's been roughly a year since I last posted, so I guess its time for a annual update/ramble!
Cruiser has been the daily driver since I moved out of my folks home last November. When I pulled out of the driveway it had 288,500 miles on the clock it now has just under 304,000 miles. 16,500 miles in a year! Times like these I am glad I don't track gas money.
Cruiser has been an absolute trooper these last 12 months. For the first time during my ownership, I understand how some of these trucks become so neglected with maintance. They just work. This last year I have not had access to a garage and therefore have not been "tinkering" on it as I use to do all the time. I was so fortunate to have access to a heated garage living at home that made projects fun and easy to do. Those days have been non existant since moving and having to do the street parking life.
Looking back at my maintance log this last year, besides oil changes, greasing the driveline, adding a OEM throttle cable, a couple catalytic converters (want to pull off), and few tire rotations I really havent touched the truck much at all.
The truck has been doing the whole spread of trips this last year. Short around town drives, a quick roadtrip to Oregon, wheeling in Moab and Colorado, and now getting back into snow wheeling.
Also, probably one of the coolest things that has happened this last year I give all credit to the cruiser. I was up on top of Aspen Mountain with some friends, cooking some burgers and watching the sunset. As we were up there another group of people came up to watch the sunset and it became a big old party on the top of the mountain. A guy in a new 4Runner drives by and compliments the cruiser and we get to talking and hit it off. After some talking, he expresses that he is a real estate agent. This past winter I also got my real estate license and was looking for someone to work under. Fast foward to now, I have now been working under this guy for a few months and happy to say it is my new full time gig that I love. I give all credit to the cruiser lol.
Still garageless but I acknowledge that I need to give some love to the cruiser this winter. The list goes as follows.
Boring stuff
Power steering lines
New rear panhard (Jonny Joint is toast on the current one)
Body mounts (I have always had a little of the classic cruiser lean. After looking at the body mounts more I think this is the culprit)
Diff/T-case fluid change
Fun Stuff!
Ceramic Coat or PPF: Anyone have any experience with this? After repainting the cruiser last year, all I have done was throw some wax on and call it good. The enviorment is so harsh up here on paint, I have had tree sap get on the hood I can't buff out and want to have a professional address and want something on it that helps keep it cleaner
Exhaust: My exhaust is in shambles, want to go to a 3inch with no cats
Recovered Steering wheel: Already ordered! I got a refurbished one off Amazon for around $250. Currently waiting for it to arrive
Insulate roof: Sunroof sometimes rattles depending on temp, already have a new one to go in. Also with the floor/doors already having KilaMat this is the last place I think I can cut out noise.
Scheelmann Seats: I am 23 and swear I have pretty extreme back pain that I soley atribute to over 100,000 miles sitting in these collapsed cloth seats. Whenever I fall into some unexpected money I will order these
Love this truck. Just because I was curious, a couple months back I checked for blowby. Blowed (no pun intended) me away that there is still basically none. I attached the clip below. Hopeful she stays happy and keeps running strong!
Now time for the photo dump.
Cheers
Cruiser has been the daily driver since I moved out of my folks home last November. When I pulled out of the driveway it had 288,500 miles on the clock it now has just under 304,000 miles. 16,500 miles in a year! Times like these I am glad I don't track gas money.
Cruiser has been an absolute trooper these last 12 months. For the first time during my ownership, I understand how some of these trucks become so neglected with maintance. They just work. This last year I have not had access to a garage and therefore have not been "tinkering" on it as I use to do all the time. I was so fortunate to have access to a heated garage living at home that made projects fun and easy to do. Those days have been non existant since moving and having to do the street parking life.
Looking back at my maintance log this last year, besides oil changes, greasing the driveline, adding a OEM throttle cable, a couple catalytic converters (want to pull off), and few tire rotations I really havent touched the truck much at all.
The truck has been doing the whole spread of trips this last year. Short around town drives, a quick roadtrip to Oregon, wheeling in Moab and Colorado, and now getting back into snow wheeling.
Also, probably one of the coolest things that has happened this last year I give all credit to the cruiser. I was up on top of Aspen Mountain with some friends, cooking some burgers and watching the sunset. As we were up there another group of people came up to watch the sunset and it became a big old party on the top of the mountain. A guy in a new 4Runner drives by and compliments the cruiser and we get to talking and hit it off. After some talking, he expresses that he is a real estate agent. This past winter I also got my real estate license and was looking for someone to work under. Fast foward to now, I have now been working under this guy for a few months and happy to say it is my new full time gig that I love. I give all credit to the cruiser lol.
Still garageless but I acknowledge that I need to give some love to the cruiser this winter. The list goes as follows.
Boring stuff
Power steering lines
New rear panhard (Jonny Joint is toast on the current one)
Body mounts (I have always had a little of the classic cruiser lean. After looking at the body mounts more I think this is the culprit)
Diff/T-case fluid change
Fun Stuff!
Ceramic Coat or PPF: Anyone have any experience with this? After repainting the cruiser last year, all I have done was throw some wax on and call it good. The enviorment is so harsh up here on paint, I have had tree sap get on the hood I can't buff out and want to have a professional address and want something on it that helps keep it cleaner
Exhaust: My exhaust is in shambles, want to go to a 3inch with no cats
Recovered Steering wheel: Already ordered! I got a refurbished one off Amazon for around $250. Currently waiting for it to arrive
Insulate roof: Sunroof sometimes rattles depending on temp, already have a new one to go in. Also with the floor/doors already having KilaMat this is the last place I think I can cut out noise.
Scheelmann Seats: I am 23 and swear I have pretty extreme back pain that I soley atribute to over 100,000 miles sitting in these collapsed cloth seats. Whenever I fall into some unexpected money I will order these
Love this truck. Just because I was curious, a couple months back I checked for blowby. Blowed (no pun intended) me away that there is still basically none. I attached the clip below. Hopeful she stays happy and keeps running strong!
Now time for the photo dump.
Cheers
- Thread starter
- #111
Video that the Apple Photos app made that is mostly about the trip to Oregon in it.
and blow by test
and blow by test
- Thread starter
- #112
Andddd I also realized I don't have any interior pics of the truck in this thread. Here are a few. Cannot WAIT to get the new steering wheel.
SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
Good stuff I like your taste in cars
A couple questions: your dash mat looks like a good contoured fit, what brand is it? Where did you get the leather to recover the gear shifter?
- Thread starter
- #115
Dash mat is HuddExpo. Here is the link. Dash Mat - Carpet - 1995-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ80 - https://huddexpo.com/dash-mat-carpet-1995-1997-toyota-land-cruiser-fzj80/
I really like it. Also really like there floormats as well. Same kind of material as the dash mat. I had weather techs before and they never fit very well.
And the shifter I bought a new one off Ebay a few years back. I want to say it was around $150
Cheers!
SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
I know that @Outsane had them listed on his site for a while
Solvefunction
You could probably just take it to any upholstery shop and have them make you a replacement for ~100 or less.
A couple of comments, as far as the tree sap, Isopropyl Alcohol or even WD-40 will remove the tree sap, with out damaging your paint or needing a professional. Just need some "elbow grease" and patience and it will buff right out. And on Scheelmann seats, I replaced my driver's seat with a new Scheelmann Vario F. Be prepared to dish out at least $2k per seat. That's why I only replaced the driver's seat. Definitely get the arm rest option and seat heaters are a good bet in climates like ours. IMHO, the Scheelmann are worth it, especially the older I get.....
Edit: Looking at your interior pics, you may want to not get the armrest option, especially with the passenger side. I personally like an arm rest I can fold out of the way if needed.
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- Thread starter
- #120
About time I do another update!
Cruiser is alive and well. It finally had a nice two month break from DD duty so I finally had the time to take care of some neglected things.
But first, the replacement vehicle sorta has a cool story. I bought a 88 Jeep Wrangler 5 speed with 32,000 original miles. I found it local in Aspen pretty much abandonded in a garage. The grandpa passed away about 10 years ago, and the kids did not want to learn how to drive stick. Crazy to me. But I am glad I had the opportunity to buy it for a good price non running. I got the thing running (it had 4.2 AMC which shares a lot of similarites to the 2F and is a great motor) and drove the wheels off it. Also, worth mentioning this thing was cherry. Everything worked, no scratches or dents. I am not a Jeep guy but this thing was awesome. Upon finishing the cruiser, I sold it to a local guy who I see driving it on a weekly basis. I am glad it gets to live on in the Aspen Valley where it was bought new in 1988.
My cruiser has always been a little darty on the road and has had loose steering. 110,000 miles with 37s and I guess it is fair to be expected. It hasnt been a big issue for me because I drive it everyday, but when I broke my wrist in the ski area parking lot and I had my friend drive me to the hospital in it and saw how much of a handful it was for her, I realized it is probably time to tighten it up.
So I ordered the following:
Delta 5L Arms
Iron Man Rear Panhard
Red Head Steering Box
Delta Arms
I had the Landtank brackets put on around 5 years ago. I never felt like they gave me enough castor. I wish I had castor numbers but I do not. Upon putting on the Delta 5Ls, there was an noticable improvement. However I will say it wasnt night and day. I would still recommend the Lanktank brackets for someone trying to retain Toyota OEM bushings and increase castor on a smaller budget with a little less than a 4 inch lift.
BUT, the Delta arms are awesome. They really are a one stop solution that I wish I did from the beginning. Get the correct castor, keep Toyota bushings, and push the axle forward. It isn’t ever fun to spend the money on control arms , but if you plan on keeping your truck forever, I do not think many people would regret it.
Rear Panhard
I had an adjustable panhard that was a very nice hand me down from @Nay, but the bushings were shot and the adjustment portion was totally siezed. It was due for replacement about 3 years ago. The new rear panhard made a suprising amount of difference. That was my missing piece that upon replacement finally made my truck feel totally tight when loaded into a corner.
Red Head
The biggest takeaway from these 3 upgrades, if I could do just one of the three things i ordered, I would 110% get the RedHead Steering Box. It makes a WORLD of difference. It is so much tighter and no longers finds grooves in the road and gets pulled around without me knowing. I am sure rebuilding the original box would have had similar success. But my truck is the daily driver and this was the perfect solution. While we were at it, we did the Delta steering box reenforcement kit and replaced the power steering cooler and lines which was a welcome upgrade.
And of course, this could never have been done without @ExpoMax. Although he hasn’t owned a 80 in a few years, he is still a wizard on them.
88 Wrangler
Arms Installed
Prep for new box
Rear Panhard
Front end pushed 1 inch forward
Cruiser is alive and well. It finally had a nice two month break from DD duty so I finally had the time to take care of some neglected things.
But first, the replacement vehicle sorta has a cool story. I bought a 88 Jeep Wrangler 5 speed with 32,000 original miles. I found it local in Aspen pretty much abandonded in a garage. The grandpa passed away about 10 years ago, and the kids did not want to learn how to drive stick. Crazy to me. But I am glad I had the opportunity to buy it for a good price non running. I got the thing running (it had 4.2 AMC which shares a lot of similarites to the 2F and is a great motor) and drove the wheels off it. Also, worth mentioning this thing was cherry. Everything worked, no scratches or dents. I am not a Jeep guy but this thing was awesome. Upon finishing the cruiser, I sold it to a local guy who I see driving it on a weekly basis. I am glad it gets to live on in the Aspen Valley where it was bought new in 1988.
My cruiser has always been a little darty on the road and has had loose steering. 110,000 miles with 37s and I guess it is fair to be expected. It hasnt been a big issue for me because I drive it everyday, but when I broke my wrist in the ski area parking lot and I had my friend drive me to the hospital in it and saw how much of a handful it was for her, I realized it is probably time to tighten it up.
So I ordered the following:
Delta 5L Arms
Iron Man Rear Panhard
Red Head Steering Box
Delta Arms
I had the Landtank brackets put on around 5 years ago. I never felt like they gave me enough castor. I wish I had castor numbers but I do not. Upon putting on the Delta 5Ls, there was an noticable improvement. However I will say it wasnt night and day. I would still recommend the Lanktank brackets for someone trying to retain Toyota OEM bushings and increase castor on a smaller budget with a little less than a 4 inch lift.
BUT, the Delta arms are awesome. They really are a one stop solution that I wish I did from the beginning. Get the correct castor, keep Toyota bushings, and push the axle forward. It isn’t ever fun to spend the money on control arms , but if you plan on keeping your truck forever, I do not think many people would regret it.
Rear Panhard
I had an adjustable panhard that was a very nice hand me down from @Nay, but the bushings were shot and the adjustment portion was totally siezed. It was due for replacement about 3 years ago. The new rear panhard made a suprising amount of difference. That was my missing piece that upon replacement finally made my truck feel totally tight when loaded into a corner.
Red Head
The biggest takeaway from these 3 upgrades, if I could do just one of the three things i ordered, I would 110% get the RedHead Steering Box. It makes a WORLD of difference. It is so much tighter and no longers finds grooves in the road and gets pulled around without me knowing. I am sure rebuilding the original box would have had similar success. But my truck is the daily driver and this was the perfect solution. While we were at it, we did the Delta steering box reenforcement kit and replaced the power steering cooler and lines which was a welcome upgrade.
And of course, this could never have been done without @ExpoMax. Although he hasn’t owned a 80 in a few years, he is still a wizard on them.
88 Wrangler
Arms Installed
Prep for new box
Rear Panhard
Front end pushed 1 inch forward
