Bacon Across America—road trip Summer ‘19

[wngrog]

Marking its home territory...first of many.

Boom.

 

[wngrog]

Now that you have it.

What the hell is the world coming to where a fella would go to the trouble of a 3FE engine swap and keep the 3 speed?

That is as confusing as seeing people in an Appleby's in the French Quarter.

 

[RUSH55]

Thought that was oddball too.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Guess I take the big ‘un to work and let the Little Hogger That Could rest for a day.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Now that you have it.

What the hell is the world coming to where a fella would go to the trouble of a 3FE engine swap and keep the 3 speed?

That is as confusing as seeing people in an Appleby's in the French Quarter.

There are a handful of weird/halfass/incomplete things that need to be addressed. A Toyota engine swap is one of the main things I wanted and the one thing I really didn’t want to do. One huge reason I bought it. We were passing people going up the 6% grades in CO in this beast.

It’s like it was his first truck project or something with the oddities?

I still love it. Such a badass truck.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

This is just another post to thank @J Mack

100% chance we would not have made it home without him.

 

[PabloCruise]

Words cannot describe the kindness and badassery of @J Mack we have been at his shop alllll day packing bearings, rebuilding knuckles, moving fuel lines, draining and filling gear boxes, pressure testing radiators, selling body parts, and even taking my son for a ride in his KOH 600hp FJ55.

Picking up the trunnion bearings in the morning and she should be good.

She’ll never be as badass as his 55s, but she’s a keeper.






View attachment 2015781

View attachment 2015782

View attachment 2015783

View attachment 2015784

That is awesome!
Sounds like Jim @J Mack really helped you sort through some issues!
Those bearings look awful...

I could have used a Jim on my maiden journey w/ the 3FE to Cruise Moab. Instead I ended up stuck on the side of I-70 watching dickheads from Cruise Moab blow by.
I'm not bitter...

But good deal you addressed fuel lines along with all the rest.

 

[Whiskerz]

Timely oil leak.

 

[bobm]

That is awesome!
Sounds like Jim @J Mack really helped you sort through some issues!
Those bearings look awful...

I could have used a Jim on my maiden journey w/ the 3FE to Cruise Moab. Instead I ended up stuck on the side of I-70 watching dickheads from Cruise Moab blow by.
I'm not bitter...

But good deal you addressed fuel lines along with all the rest.

That was you . Just messing Buddy

 

[bobm]

There are a handful of weird/halfass/incomplete things that need to be addressed. A Toyota engine swap is one of the main things I wanted and the one thing I really didn’t want to do. One huge reason I bought it. We were passing people going up the 6% grades in CO in this beast.

It’s like it was his first truck project or something with the oddities?

I still love it. Such a badass truck.

Now you make it yours ☺

 

[scrapdaddy]

I could have used a Jim on my maiden journey w/ the 3FE to Cruise Moab. Instead I ended up stuck on the side of I-70 watching dickheads from Cruise Moab blow by.
I'm not bitter...

I waved, you prolly weren't looking.

 

[PabloCruise]

I waved, you prolly weren't looking.

Bastid!

 

[bobm]

We were all in the same

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

We have three Maintenance Test Pilots here: ones at a school, ones medically grounded, and then me.
I really needed it be at work today so I could test fly and sign off two broken aircraft so that our maintenance report cards looks good. It would just be another week of them sitting and looking bad on paper, which the Army hates.

The point of that is that flying a Blackhawk and driving a stock FJ55 at highway speeds feels about the same to your body: the heat, the constant shaking, the mighty noise, the thumbs up from random people, and your hands and feet are always busy keeping the vehicle from killing you.

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

—-Trip by the numbers—

Land Cruiser age: 50 years
FJ55s I’ve seen in person before this: 0
preventive/past due maintenance that had to be completed in Boise : 12 hours
Nights in hotel: 2
Night in truck: 1
States visited: 10
Miles driven: 2,218
Hours driven: 41
Highway cruising speed: 67mph
Colorado cruising speed: 30mph
Miles per gallon: 14
Oil consumed: 2 quarts
Breakdowns: 0
Truck with A/C: 0
Truck with cruise: 0
Truck with disc brakes: 0
Rust free hood replacement: 1
Rainstorms: 1
Naps taken by River: infinity
Naps taken by me: 0
Other FJ40/55/60s seen on the road: 0
Tacoma’s with campers/rack/RTT seen: 3,429
Conversations with strangers: every single stop

.....and ONE young man learning to drive a manual transmission in a 50 year old Land Cruiser.

I call it a win win win!

Pics from trip

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

More

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

Colorado was amazing. So badass.

I’m embarrassed to even post pics taken from my crap phone. I want to spend a week just driving there.

We passed three people climbing the pass all the way up to the snow line! Proud moment!

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

More

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

More

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

The barren desert of Out West was scenic, but I do love my tall trees, abundant lakes, and cheap gas here in Alabama.