Builds Atnolan94 Land Crooser Build Thread

[atnolan94]

On Saturday I took my ARB off to finish welding up the end plates. Overall it looks good. Definitely some finish work to do, and I will likely need to use a little body filler to smooth a couple spots but nothing major.

I went to do a test fit and accidentally stripped one of the nuts that's welded inside the frame. It is where the factory tow points thread into the frame. Without it I couldn't get the bumper to mount up without a ton of play, so looks like I will have my stocker on for a bit until I get that sorted and finish the bumper completely.

To fix the stripped nut I got a helicoil kit so I can drill it out and rethread it to an M14 so all of the bolts match. I ordered 4 new M14 bolts, flat washers, and lock washers for the bumper mounts. And since it will all be apart, I went ahead and ordered some recovery points from Trail Tailor, so my front bumper and recovery points should be good to go!

Outside of all this, I replaced the burnt out bulb in the console gear selector and I also replaced my faded seat heater switches. They were cheap and make my console look much nicer.

 

[bucfl]

Great progress!! And i also like those GX's for the wife...i think they would be fun to drive around.

 

[atnolan94]

Great progress!! And i also like those GX's for the wife...i think they would be fun to drive around.

The one we test drove was also the VVTI and it was definitely a bit snappier and quicker than my 2000 4.7!

 

[atnolan94]

So I made my first trip to the deer lease since I got the cruiser. It did great, though nothing too technical, it did fine. I’m excited to get into some more technical terrain and see what this thing can do! My front end was really sloppy, so I think I need to get my tie rods installed, yet another part just sitting in the box.

Before I left I installed my 1” rear coil spacers and I’m very glad I did, once we loaded up out hunting gear, loaded 65 qt cooler, and two guys, the rear end definitely started to sag. Install took 45 mins. Just know you’ll need to loosen the breather and brake lines where they bolt into the frame crossmember. Just some 12mm bolts and the retainers come right out. Then pull your rear shock lowers off their mounts and undo both sides of your sway bar. CHOCK YOU FROMT WHEELS REALLY WELL! You have to stick the rear end way up to do this and the car will want to roll forward as you set it on the jack stands and such. Overall just not a hard job.

The height difference is way more noticeable than I expected. Almost wish I went to 295s...

 

[lazarus18]

So I made my first trip to the deer lease since I got the cruiser. It did great, though nothing too technical, it did fine. I’m excited to get into some more technical terrain and see what this thing can do! My front end was really sloppy, so I think I need to get my tie rods installed, yet another part just sitting in the box.

Before I left I installed my 1” rear coil spacers and I’m very glad I did, once we loaded up out hunting gear, loaded 65 qt cooler, and two guys, the rear end definitely started to sag. Install took 45 mins. Just know you’ll need to loosen the breather and brake lines where they bolt into the frame crossmember. Just some 12mm bolts and the retainers come right out. Then pull your rear shock lowers off their mounts and undo both sides of your sway bar. CHOCK YOU FROMT WHEELS REALLY WELL! You have to stick the rear end way up to do this and the car will want to roll forward as you set it on the jack stands and such. Overall just not a hard job.

The height difference is way more noticeable than I expected. Almost wish I went to 295s...

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looks sick! I installed my rear 865s the other day and it looks basiclly the same height wise as yours. Im running the 16s with 285/75/16 and im sitting at 20.5 all the way around the car. I will say though that I totally didnt check for the breather lines or any of it lol I totally forgot to check... I got both sides done in about an hour but I hope nothing was damaged as far as lines go.... Havent noticed anything wrong yet.

 

[atnolan94]

The breather is an open vent if you follow the line up to the retainer on the frame, so that’s not the end of the world. But could accidentally let water in if it’s damaged. Check for brake fluid leaks around those lines and as long as they look dry you should be ok. Those lines are pretty durable.

I was actually able to do my passenger side easily without removing them but there was no way on the drivers side I had to pull those retainers off.

 

[lazarus18]

Where is your lease at? We are in Rochelle, Tx

 

[atnolan94]

Where is your lease at? We are in Rochelle, Tx

We are between Hico and Hamilton. Got around 2,500ac all high fence deer hunting. Also have some exotics like black buck and white buck. It’s a great spot...even a couple good ponds for duck hunters like myself.

 

[lazarus18]

We are between Hico and Hamilton. Got around 1,000ac all high fence deer hunting. Also have some exotics like black buck and white buck. It’s a great spot...even a couple good ponds for duck hunters like myself.

Wow. That is awesome..... We are on roughly 2500ac non high fence but we do manage and feed quite a bit of protein with a few good sizd ponds as well. When you get a trophy buck send me a pic would love to see what yall got growin there.

 

[atnolan94]

Wow. That is awesome..... We are on roughly 2500ac non high fence but we do manage and feed quite a bit of protein with a few good sizd ponds as well. When you get a trophy buck send me a pic would love to see what yall got growin there.

I will! We got a 130 on the last day of the season this year so nothing crazy. But we consistently shoot 150+. Our breeder is something crazy like 220+ and our deer keep getting better every year.

Well I got a few more parts in the box. I got my helicoil kit and drill bit to fix that nut. I got all new hardware in...all M14 Grade 10.9 with washers and lock washers, and finally I also got my trail tailor Tow/Recovery points in. These things are probably 2x as thick as the stock points, and between these and my new hardware I have no concerns about my front recovery setup!

Work has been nuts and I was in LA last weekend, but I should have a couple of good work days this weekend to catch up on a lot of things I need to get done. After putting up with with my sloppy front end at the lease and all the highway driving to get there, I'm going to put priority on my steering components and might try to knock out my steering rack bushings. I originally just purchased inner tie rods, but since i will have it all apart, I decided to buy Inners, Outers, and boots & clamps. I know my inner tie rods are shot, so it will be great to see what kind of difference it will make replacing these old, worn out parts. Ideally, if I have time, I will also try to re-index my torsion bars so when I get the car aligned, it will have all parts replaced and be sitting around the height I intend to keep it at for the immediate future.

 

[atnolan94]

WOW! I have been MIA for a while here. Life is busy as usual. My parents are selling their house and I am spending alot of my free time replacing broken light fixtures (dead ballasts in their garage ended up being a PIA), fixing an iron gate that divides the back and side yards (lots of welding, cutting and spark-producing stuff w/ power tools which is fun), and all sort of little stuff in between.

I did, however finally get a chance to work on my bumper again. As a refresher, I had to go back to stock the past few weeks because on of the nuts inside the frame rail was damaged and I had to do some thread repair. I ended up buying an m14x1.5 Helicoil kit and it turned out great. It seems like smaller helicoils are easier to work with but this got the job done nonetheless.

The other issue I had to compete with was I did not have the "packers" that sit between the frame and the winch bracket for the ARB. The newer style ARB's sit flush on the bottom of the frame rail. However, mine is the older style which requires this packer. In perusing @reevesci website, it occurred to me that his "tow hook spacer" would fulfill the same role. They turned out to be just a tad too thin (I think they are 1/2" and I think I needed about 3/4". However, I had some big fat washers, literally almost 1/4" thick, laying around that filled the rest of the void beautifully. with all this, all I had to do was run the bolts thru my Trail Tailor tow points, thru the winch frame, thru the washer, and thru the tow point spacer, and thread in my brand new m14x1.5x100MM bolts. I could've probably used 70-80MM bolts, but there is plenty of room in that frame rail for the excess. Overall I have zero concerns about using my tow points for recovery.

As for the bumper itself, I have gotten the main structure finished on the drivers side that had been cut off by the PO. My welds had some air pockets in them and the grinder left some scoring, as expected. My plan is to eventually clean up all the edges, smooth the welds as best as I can, and clean up all the cavities and scoring with body filler. For now I hit most of it with some rattle can semi gloss black just to prevent the surface rust and hide the imperfections. When I pull it next to finish the drivers side end, I will do a nice even rattle can job over the whole thing. I have painted steel bumpers in the past with rattle can enamel and had great luck....and obviously I'm not trying to impress anyone with this thing. Don't judge my gap on the passenger side, I got very tired of wiggling the bumper around myself and just said screw it for the day

I REALLY need to re-index my passenger T bar now. I have plenty left in my drivers side. I need to go up about an inch. It's about time to be considering an actual suspension system, as my sliders ship next week and I am going to have some serious weight on the vehicle. I plan to eventually have a rear bumper with a double swing out and before that point I really need an aftermarket suspension setup.

If this post was too long to read, just take this with you. Jason @ trail tailor makes some really really cool products that no one has even thought of. The quality is awesome and I couldn't be happier, even with something as small as a tow point. I consider it to be $100 very well spent!

 

[atnolan94]

FedEx should be dropping off my sliders tomorrow! Very excited for that.

As noted, replacing my tie rod ends did tighten up my steering a bit, but I still have this terrible terrible dead spot in my steering that allows at least an inch of play in the wheel. Its not play in the rack or rack bushings or anything, it is literally a dead spot in the steering whether the car is on or off. Obviously some wheel play isn't unusual with the car off but this is exceptionally bad. When you roll the wheel left and right you can hear and feel a knock on both sides. When off-road of harder hits on-road, I can feel the knock in the wheel.

I did a ton of research on here and found that the steering columns on these 100s can actually wear out. They are collapsible so they have splines in them like a driveshaft. However, those splines are coated in some plastic that can wear off. It has also been discussed that if the car has hit a really big pothole or been in a collision it can cause this (my truck has been wrecked so this is a possibility). When the plastic wears off the metal splines have a small amount of play and will result in play in the wheel.

When I reach under the dash and hold the rag joint at the intermediate shaft I can physically rock my wheel back and forth, meaning the steering column has play. Ordered a new column that should be here by the weekend to install. I'll report back once I install it. Here is the thread that was tremendously helpful. Steering Shaft

I am replacing P/N 45210-60091 for the MANUAL TILT wheel and it is literally the entire upper steering assembly

 

[atnolan94]

Just got the text from my wife that my sliders were delivered! So excited.

 

[atnolan94]

Haven't had too much to do on the cruiser which I think is a really good thing. Its just been running like a top lately so that has been a great feeling. No issues since my radiator burst, then my rear bypass let go, and finally my mishap when I forgot to reconnect that coolant hose. No coolant loss at all. I was really hesitant about driving this thing all the way to CO for HIH, but now I have no worries at all.

Well after 3 days of my sliders sitting in the garage I decided I wasn't willing to wait until this weekend so I went ahead and threw them on. Took 30 minute after I realized at lead 4 of the 6 U Bolts have to go around the frame rails BEFORE you put the sliders up to the frame. Really what I did was set the sliders on jack stands and tilted them away from the frame as I turned the U bolts, and then slid them thru the holes on the feet. No problem. The PS was way easier as only ONE U bolt required moving a brake line.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T PINCH YOUR BRAKE LINES. There are hard brake lines on the inside of the frame rail. Don be afraid to really really get under the vehicle when you do this. Just use a flashlight and make sure everything looks good down there before you tighten up. Also make sure you square up you U bolts to the frame. The front mount in particular (at least on my white knuckle sliders) actually sits at an angle to flow with the shape of the frame. Just take the time to square them up like you would working on leaf springs. I didn't take any pictures since I did it myself. But here are some pics with the sliders installed!

P.S. These things are really beefy and really heavy, about 65 lbs each. I have plenty of faith in them. Really impressed with the quality of the product and the customer service. Natalie was a huge help, I must have emailed her 50 times. I even decided to have them powder coat them instead of me doing it and they handled it no problem and just invoiced me the difference. Excited to see how they perform. I will probably do a mini-review once I get them on some dirt.

 

[OSTATECRUISER]

Haven't had too much to do on the cruiser which I think is a really good thing. Its just been running like a top lately so that has been a great feeling. No issues since my radiator burst, then my rear bypass let go, and finally my mishap when I forgot to reconnect that coolant hose. No coolant loss at all. I was really hesitant about driving this thing all the way to CO for HIH, but now I have no worries at all.

Well after 3 days of my sliders sitting in the garage I decided I wasn't willing to wait until this weekend so I went ahead and threw them on. Took 30 minute after I realized at lead 4 of the 6 U Bolts have to go around the frame rails BEFORE you put the sliders up to the frame. Really what I did was set the sliders on jack stands and tilted them away from the frame as I turned the U bolts, and then slid them thru the holes on the feet. No problem. The PS was way easier as only ONE U bolt required moving a brake line.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T PINCH YOUR BRAKE LINES. There are hard brake lines on the inside of the frame rail. Don be afraid to really really get under the vehicle when you do this. Just use a flashlight and make sure everything looks good down there before you tighten up. Also make sure you square up you U bolts to the frame. The front mount in particular (at least on my white knuckle sliders) actually sits at an angle to flow with the shape of the frame. Just take the time to square them up like you would working on leaf springs. I didn't take any pictures since I did it myself. But here are some pics with the sliders installed!

P.S. These things are really beefy and really heavy, about 65 lbs each. I have plenty of faith in them. Really impressed with the quality of the product and the customer service. Natalie was a huge help, I must have emailed her 50 times. I even decided to have them powder coat them instead of me doing it and they handled it no problem and just invoiced me the difference. Excited to see how they perform. I will probably do a mini-review once I get them on some dirt.

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Right on! Looking good!

 

[lazarus18]

Ill be in dallas this weekend. Maybe if the stars aline we can see each others rig....

 

[atnolan94]

I'm going to be around working on my parents house since they're about to put it on the market. Also need to do my steering column and a t bar re-index on the cruiser.

Maybe we can meet up. Where in Dallas will you be?

 

[lazarus18]

I'm going to be around working on my parents house since they're about to put it on the market. Also need to do my steering column and a t bar re-index on the cruiser.

Maybe we can meet up. Where in Dallas will you be?

Not sure for most the weekend but I know ill be staying at the fairmont in dallas.... ill message you as im not sure of our schedule and if your free cool if not another time.... on second thought ill drop my cruiser off for some work to be done by you and pick up when I leave dallas jk

 

[atnolan94]

Not sure for most the weekend but I know ill be staying at the fairmont in dallas.... ill message you as im not sure of our schedule and if your free cool if not another time.... on second thought ill drop my cruiser off for some work to be done by you and pick up when I leave dallas jk

Sure....I'll work on it for a fee!!! Haha.

Just message me we can figure it out if it works out.

 

[atnolan94]

Just finished replacing my steering shaft. It’s like a brand new truck! But wow that was a miserable job. Even after I finished I had some issues with my immobilizer and my steering wheel was rubbing the column trim. Luckily I got it all done and all that awful slop is GONE! When I took the old shaft out it literally came apart in two pieces as other have reported. Interestingly enough this manual tilt shaft is pretty drastically different from the electric tilt shafts, but overall not dealing with the motors is a lot easier.

I got the steering wheel as close to straight as possible with the splines. It’s a little off, but I will deal with it for now. One spline over and it’s way way off, so this will work.

Getting there for HIH prep. Not sure I can get a lift before HIH so I will have to pack modestly, and hopefully the stock springs handle it ok.

I am getting supplies together to montaline my trim and rockers to deal with that awful black epoxy from my flares. I am still deciding how I want to go color-wise, but I will report back on this later.

Here’s some pics from this bear of a job. You can also see my dogs helping out!