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76 Land Bruiser

76 Land Bruiser

Joined
Jun 13, 2012
Threads
16
Messages
150
Location
montana
OK, this last spring I replaced the nose cone and tub, stripped the whole thing down to metal and redneck restored it. This spring is about upgrades. I have been looking around and so far this is what I have come up with as far as a parts list. Mind you non of these are top of the line and I know how you get what you pay for, however a lot of times that comes down to a name.

First rear brakes and e-brake are gone. Upgrade jtouttfitters sells a kit for $399.00 using rebuilt Chevy parts.
While installing brake kit it suggests you remove the axle, perfect time to install a lock right locker in the rear end.
I only have an inch of clearance on my back tires with over arched super stiff springs, so I think I will do the soa on the rear and put stock springs back on. Rebuilding the front spring packs to raise it a little. New bushings too.

Then move to the front end, POWER STEERING!!!!!!! Biggest gain to me! Jtouttfitters also offers a power steering conversion kit for $399.00 Plus a mini truck steering box you provide. Doesn't include cutting your frame, looks like the easiest way to do this.

Last a Bad Lands 10,000 lbs. Winch for $299.00 it should be as good as any 8k which is more than enough. I would love a warn, but price wise and I have broke one of those too so right now that's affordable kinda, Lol.
Any thoughts or kits you guys know of?
 
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You might want to make sure you can get a mini box first, also Paul aka 3 puppies may have what you need in steering boxes. if you are going spring over you may want to consider FJ60 or Saginaw steering. you steering angles will change some and you will need high steer. The mini steering is not the best for larger than 33 inch tires.
 
My last 40 had a saginaw power steering box, was relativly easy to do, a little cutting and fabbing but pretty simple, It also worked very well, I wish I still had that rig, dana 60's front and rear, cut to fit,4:88.air lockers,sm420 tranny,fuel injected v8....
:crybaby: did not want to sell it, but, I have 4 kids and we needed more room. I have not seen a mini truck box swap, cant say how they work.......:hhmm:
 
my first comment will be there is another mud vendor I would use for the rear brake stuff before JT outfitters.
With your lift, I would not go the mini truck route, there are other options, as Larry stated above.

Call me if you want to chat about options.
Paul
 
I would probably not skimp on the winch. Part of a name brand winch is parts availability.

I know rear calipers are popular, but good working drums are not bad either. I rebuilt mine last summer with OEM parts and they work great now. They had aftermarket parts in them that were causing me some problems. Of course on my '82 the drums are auto adjusting.

I have the OEM steering which is like the mini truck and haven't had any issues with my 36's. But I chock that up to running skinnys on factory wheels. With the wider rims you probably are best off with a Saginaw setup.
 
I saw another steering kit last night that uses a saginaw in the same place as the mini truck kit. I will probably go that route. The only reason I was leaning towards it was because all the saginaws I have seen the guys ran the steering shaft straight up through the front crossmemeber cutting a huge hole in it. I don't like it even if it doesn't effect anything for some reason it bugs me.

The front isn't going to be SOA yet just the rear. I know it sounds funny but bare with me for second. the leafs on the rear are what has been on it for 20+ years. They are a 3 leaf spring that will not bend! They give me just enough to clear the fenders but the ride = that of a covered wagon. Right now I have stock springs up front. I love how soft they are, however I need another inch or so cause the lugs will catch on a hard turn while compressed.

both springs have the same arch off the rig, however the stock drops when you lower the weight on them and the 3 leafers don't. going SOA on the rear with stocks puts me around 6 inches in the rear, then on the front I want to use just the main Heavy duty leaf and marry it to the factory springs lower pack which will leave around 4 inches. It will only be this way for a year, next spring the front will go SOA also just can't squeeze it into the budget this year.

I hear what you are saying on the winch, however I had a warn on it while growing up, it worked for many years, but I did manage to break the gears and to replace the parts is almost the same as just buying a new badlands. I am sure in the next year or two I will take the plunge and get another warn but until I get the thing closer to being done that extra $200 is another part.
 
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The FJ60 mod is a great way to go too, but the parts might be harder to find to put it all together compared to the saginaw. If it wasnt for that I almost did the FJ60 setup. I agree about not liking to cut a hole in the crossmember.

That's interesting about the Warn. Which Warn was it?
 
3 leaf spring packs.......early Rancho setup.......bad ride

Those haven't been made for many , many years for that reason. more skinny leaves=better ride
 
Not sure what model of winch it was, I'm sure it was early 80's model came with it when dad bought it in the late 80's. Plus my H.S. buddy managed to overlap the cable on it. Dad took the winch off while I was in the navy. Literally haven't seen it since 99.
 
when I did my saginaw on my 40 years ago I cut the crossmember but I reformed and fabed the crossmember, turned out very nice, that cruiser was built for and lived on the rocks, had 36 swampers, never had any issues and if you did not know cruisers it looked factory,
 
I have seen a few done nicely, and they do work well, honestly probably the smartest way to go just to get rid of one more bendable rod. I just don't like how they look, Plus this seems to be the fastest way. I am sure I will be redoing most of this stuff before too long. Just trying to fit in the needed things to be semi-trail ready.
 
And Paul I will be calling you soon hold onto That window and if you have a heater fan I will get that from you too. Should have the cash this week.
 
Never ends,,,,;p
 
Scout steering is a great way to go too...if you can find a box. It's pretty much like 60 series steering but with higher output. Very clean installation and no cutting the crossmember. Does require some spring tower modification though or replacement of stock towers with F-250 towers which are cheap from the dealer.

If you want to go with a 60 series steering set up, check out the link below. This guy has a ton of 60 series parts and he is located in Bozeman.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/parting-ou...rs-tacos-etc-80s-2005-a.html?highlight=bowser
 
I have heard they are ok, not to bad for the dollars. a little slow but I would rather have slow and working than fast junk or no winch,,,, look foward to seeing it, probably wont be going on a run any time soon, took a hard hit last week below stevi on 93, wont be walking anytime soon, maybe in a couple months...
 
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