Another getting ready for Moab thread

[Max.Powerzz]

Well, after having this affliction for about 10 years, I'm finally attending my first Cruise Moab. Most of this work was done over the last month. We recently moved to Utah and I can't be in this great wheeling state without a properly outfitted cruiser. I work in the arts so I'm not exactly loaded, so I took on a part-time position as adjunct faculty teaching a university graduate seminar on contemporary art. They thought I took on the extra course because I love art, but really it's because I needed to feed the cruiser affliction. This semester paid for the lift, locker, and tuning up the cruiser. Next fall semester will come a SROR rear bumper and arb front with a winch. Here is a before pic as we were moving from DC to Utah last year. We really loaded the cruiser up (this was stuff we didn't trust with the movers) and it did great.

More images to come tonight of the OME install, locker, and tune-up.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Good Story!

Can't wait to go to my second CM! Leaving wednesday at noon. Can't wait to see what youve done to her. I also have a SROR bumper planned. Jim's a good guy. See yah at Slickrock Campground!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Yeah man, definitely the tale of a true addict.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

It will be exciting to finally put a face to mudders at slickrock campground, I'm really looking forward to CM. Here is another before shot in Uwharrie national park in NC with my brother in law. Totally stock except 31's. Man, one winter in UT has definitely brought the rust on, it doesn't look like this anymore.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

And now on to the install of the OME. This was WAY tougher than I thought. Nearly all of the difficulty came in trying to remove the old rusted suspension. I bought my first cruiser while I was an under-grad and newly married, a 1973 fj55. My wife also loved the cruisers and encouraged the habit. I spent evenings after class learning bodywork on it, then we had it painted black. It was a great cruiser and we had a lot of fun, except for the time it caught fire on our way back from Moab in 2001. I'll have to dig up some pictures. After that my wife swore off old cars for a while (think stranded in the desert for several hours, looking back she was pretty patient), so it took me a couple of years to persuade her we needed another one. We had to sell the 55 when we moved to DC because our high-rise didn't have enough parking (yep, it still ran even after catching fire...just not well. I think it's been parted out now). In about 2003 I found our current fj62 online. The family had owned it since it was one year old and taken great care of it, they even got teary-eyed when they sold it to us and made us promise to take great care of it. The drivetrain was in great shape, but it had rust. I was still a newb to the world of cars (I still am, that's what comes of working in museums) and figured it would be better to have a dependable drivetrain than a solid rig. Lance at IPOR said at the time I had the strongest running 3fe he had heard, but he just smiled and cringed when I asked him about the rust. I thought I could fix the rust and have a good cruiser. Well, after many attempts the rust is still there and now worse due to salted roads in Utah, but that's another story. The wifey insisted on auto transmission and power steering, while I insisted on classic cruiser styling. So the 62 was the perfect compromise for us. It was a NYC cruiser so we bought one-way tickets to the big apple and drove the cruiser home to DC. This wasn't too long after 9/11, so the toughest part of the trip was convincing the airline security we weren't terrorists and if we were we would probably be smart enough now not to buy one-way tickets from DC to NY. We joined the Capital Land Cruiser Club (CLCC), a great group of cruiser heads, but always longed for the mountains in the west. After finally moving out here last year we made the commitment to outfit the cruiser and use it as our family get away wagon.

Anyway, after that long-winded intro, on to the OME install. First are the new springs. The great thing about being in Utah are all the offroad fans and cruiserheads, it's like being in 4x4 nirvana. After being back east for 7 years it was a rare thing to see a lifted rig, let alone a cruiser. I've got 3 herniated discs in my back so my friends Ty, Christian, and Devon really came through to help me install the lift (I say help but I was just moral support, they did all the work ). Christian has a shop and is a big cruiserhead, he's currently got a 40 and a huge 80, and probably another dozen cruisers between his brothers and cousins.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

I soaked everything in PB blaster for two weeks straight before the install, so the bolts came off pretty well (all but one...). But the bushings were toast. After pounding and chiseling to no avail Christian broke out the torch and burned the old stuff out.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

When removing the rear shocks we broke a bolt. We tried welding another bolt on and unscrewing it but it didn't want to budge, so we just welded a new bolt to the remaining portion, threaded it, and called it good.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

I never could have put this one without my friends, it was a big job. Between the 4 of us (okay, really 3.2, I didn't count for much) it took about 6 hours total. Not too bad considering. And now onto the poser shots. I wish I would have taken more, I had a meeting I had to run to and not enough space to get a good full-side shot, but you've seen enough OME before and afters to get the idea. Here she is newly lifted on the old 31s.

The last shot is next to Christian's cruisers. He's got a well-used 40 and a monster 80 on 35s.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

The 62 looks awesome!!! I gotta tell you though, that's not bad rust yet. It gets much worse, let me tell you. If that was winter 1 then expect your body to disintegrate after winter two, like mine has

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Next came the locker install. I wish I would have taken more pics. It wasn't too bad, we put in a lock-right and the worst part was the second c-clip. We used black permatex for the gasket and put in a heavy weight oil. The first few times I drove it it clicked, but I haven't heard it since! I do get the occassional tire chirp, but nothing too bad. We'll see how it does in the snow. You can also see the new muffler in this shot, it's tucked up nice and tight. The previous muffler was more swiss cheese than muffle. It also now exits behind the driver's rear tire instead of the back, hopefully I won't squish it coming off of the fins in Moab. And yes, that's a bad bondo job in the wheel well, I had an enterprising guy follow me home one day and offer to do body work in our parking lot. He had all of the tools in his trunk and said he would replace the rust with metal. I left him for a little bit to work on it (bad mistake), came back and he was actually using tinfoil (no I'm not making that up) as his "metal replacement" under the bondo. I was pretty mad but it was already on there. Another project for later this summer.

I bought the locker from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. He just lives about half an hour from me so I was able to stop by his house and pick it up. He's a really cool guy and his customer service was just as great as numerous others have stated. His garage is packed with OME parts and other goodies, not to mention the amazing rigs and trailer he has.

Also notice the new tires, 33x10.50 BFG all terrains. I wanted to get muds but realistically this will spend most of its life on the road so I needed a decent street tire too. I've got to get some profile shots of the now-lifted cruiser on its new rubber.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

The 62 looks awesome!!! I gotta tell you though, that's not bad rust yet. It gets much worse, let me tell you. If that was winter 1 then expect your body to disintegrate after winter two, like mine has

Thanks, it's definitely coming along. She's originally from your neck of the woods, so you know about rust. Sadly it's worse than it looks, the rear frame around the spare is more rust than metal. It peels apart like baklava!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thanks, it's definitely coming along. She's originally from your neck of the woods, so you know about rust. Sadly it's worse than it looks, the rear frame around the spare is more rust than metal.

I hear you! Rust is the enemy and most of the cruisers from the northeast need a new frame at some point. A year ago, I ripped the DS rear spring hanger right off the frame due to rot, so I feel your pain.

Still, awesome truck!

 

[Max.Powerzz]

We went through and did a lot of PM, oil change, fuel filter, oil in diffs. I had trouble not too long ago with serious brake fade when coming down a mountain pass, it was pretty scary. The brakes are in good shape and I never could figure out what was wrong with them, so we drained all the brake fluid and put new stuff in. Changed the power steering fluid and also drained the transmission. I couldn't source a new gasket in time so we used permatex and it seems to be working, no drips so far. We were really careful not to get any on the interior of the tranny and placed it so most of the excess squeezed to the exterior. All new hoses and belts, minus the timing belt (knock on wood). We didn't dig in that far but that will be on the list later this summer, along with the oil galley plug.

When I got the new tires I was going to use an old one as a spare and the shop said legally they could not mount it, it was 16 years old. So I found a used bfg in pretty good shape with about 75% of the tread left. After reading Randy88's thread I figured better safe than sorry. We were pretty lucky to make it over 2,000 miles on those tires from DC to UT! I even had the cruiser tuned up before we left and asked the shop to check the tires and they said they were in great shape, little did I know. Here's a shot of the new spare under the rig. The kid at discount tires couldn't figure out how to mount the spare underneath and had to get his manager to help . Glad he didn't mount anything else on the cruiser.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

I need to take a pic but I also lifted the LSPV by 2.5 inches by using a metal light switch box ala RockDoc. The brakes were really mushy after the lift and took longer to stop. After lifting the LSPV they're better but still not great, maybe it's the larger tires?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Did you adjust the little star nuts in the back?

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Did you adjust the little star nuts in the back?

You know I don't believe we did, we just lifted it the 2.5 inches.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

I hear you! Rust is the enemy and most of the cruisers from the northeast need a new FRAME at some point. A year ago, I ripped the DS rear spring hanger right off the frame due to rot, so I feel your pain.

Still, awesome truck!

Please don't say the "f" word! Thinking of that frame keeps me up at nights. Did you replace yours?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Put the rear up on jackstands, block the front tires, put it in nuetral and click those star/wheel nuts (they only click one way w/o depressing the lock arm) to tighten...but do it slowly (small intervals) and spin the rear tire to listen if the shoes are making contact with the drum surface. They prob. are out of round a bit so you will hear just a tiny scrape. If you go further than that you will have to back them off a bit. Try to do the same amount of resistence on both sides. That may fix you up.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Please don't say the "f" word! Thinking of that frame keeps me up at nights. Did you replace yours?

Not yet. I had my damage welded but I know a replacement will have to happen at some point. Damn I hate salt.

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Put the rear up on jackstands, block the front tires, put it in nuetral and click those star/wheel nuts (they only click one way w/o depressing the lock arm) to tighten...but do it slowly (small intervals) and spin the rear tire to listen if the shoes are making contact with the drum surface. They prob. are out of round a bit so you will hear just a tiny scrape. If you go further than that you will have to back them off a bit. Try to do the same amount of resistence on both sides. That may fix you up.

Cool, thanks for the tip. That will be on the checklist today, along with an alignment. I wanted to drive it around a bit and break in the springs before getting everything aligned. Sadly all of the breaking in has been done on pavement, but that will change in two days .