brevitything's first yota - 98 LX470 black unicorn

[brevitything]

Thanks guys. You guys have some sweet Cruisers too!

Got in trouble for dropping the running boards - my little lady is altitudinally challenged. She asked me if there was a plan to replace the running boards, I told her about slider steps. She said that I wanted her to get tired of climbing in the Lexus, that I was trying to play her so I could buy sliders. Why did I marry a smart one?

Anyways it was kind of a job to take the running boards off, I don't see myself putting them back on. Slider steps are the future!

 

[BadReligion]

I bought mine 2 weeks ago from a dentist too. Ridiculously clean and well maintained. Must have something to do with teeth.

Its a dentist thing. I'm a bit OCD too. Drives the crazy. The last car I sold was an immaculate 06 BMW M3. Listed it on a BMW forum and it ended up in a bidding war. Got like $5k over my asking price. With that said, everything I own is pretty well maintained.

 

[brevitything]

Its a dentist thing. I'm a bit OCD too. Drives the crazy. The last car I sold was an immaculate 06 BMW M3. Listed it on a BMW forum and it ended up in a bidding war. Got like $5k over my asking price. With that said, everything I own is pretty well maintained.

Your 80 specs are impressive man... must be a monster. My wife is the OCD one, I roll with it, she copes with my messes somehow

Drove past a construction site and got some mud splattered on the Cruiser, it just feels right.

 

[brevitything]

I have been reading and researching how folks here and on Expedition Portal are building their Hundys. I am a huge fan of the old Camel Trophy, honestly I would have bought a Discovery instead of the Land Cruiser, but I don't think I want to work on a Land Rover My Jeep is high maintenance enough for me. The Toyota reliability is something that I have heard about from some very experienced folks.

In general, building my Jeep before and now starting out with the Hundy, I compare what I have to the 3-door and 5-door Disco's that they ran in the Camel Trophy. I have heard and read a lot of opinions or observations about the Trophy vehicles, but this site seems to have more detail than I have seen before:
http://www.cameltrophy.es/cameltrophy_lrdiscovery.html

I noticed that nothing was mentioned of rocker guards. I can't blame them if the things already weighed 8000lbs loaded, why would you bolt more steel tubing onto it?

Also thought it was funny how they changed the front doors to manual windows, and used the switches for the roof lights My favorite idea is a winch light mounted under the grille behind the winch, so you can see how the cable is wrapping at night. Very handy idea, never seen that before!

I think that the site dispels any myths about the Discovery's being stock. Many mechanical and electrical mods, full roll cage etcetera. Defender diff centersections.

Anyways I think I will use the Trophy spec as a baseline for my Hundy as I build it. Neat that the Trophy vehicles did what they did with open diffs on 31" tires Probably will not be building a cage anytime soon though.

For those who aren't familiar with Camel Trophy, some vids have been uploaded to Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWp8R-IqoE

 

[timer00]

Sweet LX of course.. hopefully your AHC lasts a good while yet

Was just reading through this thread and noticed the whole dentist thing.

I am in the next few weeks most likely trading my 80 for a dentists meticulously maintained 99 100 series.

He has all the records and recently did the timing/water service ~200k currently has 208k.

So I am pretty excited to get more room and power for the family.

 

[twentyocho]

Its funny you mention the OCD thing about the previous owner. I actually do have OCD and everytime I trade in for another vehicle, the one Im trading in seems to go back better than I got it and it kills my uncle. Seriously, he gives me grief for weeks lol.. Beautiful rig though that is a great find.

 

[brevitything]

Its funny you mention the OCD thing about the previous owner. I actually do have OCD and everytime I trade in for another vehicle, the one Im trading in seems to go back better than I got it and it kills my uncle. Seriously, he gives me grief for weeks lol.. Beautiful rig though that is a great find.

I feel you man, my vehicles are better when I've had them. I don't keep them spotless when I own them, but I generally make mechanical improvements. And I do detail them every now and then

 

[brevitything]

So my wife convinced me to put the running boards back on. Hey she isn't tall. So to compensate, I raised the front suspension 1"

Those running boards are a PITA to deal with, but once I got things lined up I used a floor jack to push them into position, then I put nuts on the studs under the body and removed the jack. That gave me wiggle room to get the bolts all started straight with some WD-40 in the holes in the body.

Measured from bottom of rim through center to the fender lip, 28.25" on the passenger side. Put a 30mm socket on the breaker bar, and used the floor jack to unload the torsion bars. Did about 5 turns on the passenger side, the torsion adjuster bolts were backed completely off. Set the vehicle down and measured 29.25". Then did the driver's side, drove around the block, and measured again. The driver's side was only 28.5", the passenger at 29.5(!?) I never measured the original height on the driver's side, but I think it was sagged.

The steering has been pulling to the left, and I think I know why. I ended up with 6.5 turns on the driver's side bolt, but had to back the passenger side off to about 4 turns. After driving around the block and rocking the truck back and forth, I ended up at 29.25" on both sides.

They say that the Lexus springs are softer than Land Cruiser ones, I wonder if the torsion bars are too. Also I wonder if Lexus trim vehicles all come with the torsion bars set as low as possible.

With the vehicle sitting a little more level, and the front suspension in a new range of travel, the truck seems *very* happy! It is even more controlled than before braking and turning, yet soaks up the speed humps in my neighborhood like they aren't even there. My Avalanche was sprung too softly for big bumps like that, and my Jeep tries to launch you through the soft top.

These trucks they make in the Araco factory are *really* impressive

 

[1loudLX]

So, do you have one that didn't come with AHC? The way you adjust height on the LX is the little sensors on the UCAs(F&R). You adjust T-bar to get your pressures back with-in range if needed.

Yes AHC t-bars and rear coils have a lighter spring-rate as the AHC also takes on some of the vehicles weight.

 

[brevitything]

So I picked up a brush guard in great shape, and got a great deal on it. I know about the "damage multiplier", I don't care. I like the look of these.

I found it on Craigslist for $100, without the brackets of course. It is black powdercoat and only has one place to clean up/touch up. It is straight and true.

After hauling it around for a few days, last night I started mocking up and fabbing brackets. Here is the guard sitting on jack stands.
http://marmot.dudeabides.net/galler...tall_phase1/IMG_20130623_185442_204.sized.jpg

Here is my awesome fab shop, my work bench at the back of the garage. Started by using some heavy angle steel to make the brackets that will bolt to the factory recovery point bolts on the frame. The brush guard lines up perfectly on the outside of both frame rails.

Here are the brackets installed. In order to drill big enough holes in the angle steel, I had to use a 3-phase 3-drill process. I used the awl to divot the steel where I want the drill bit to center. Then drill a pilot hole about 1/4" wide with a little drill, followed by my 1/2" power drill with a 1/2" bit, then finally my little variable speed drill with a stepper bit.

Once the brackets were on, I lifted the guard back onto the jack stands to figure out the next step. The sneakers will not be part of the final design

Turns out that I need 6" of clearance between the top chrome strip on the hood/grille fascia, and the top bar of the guard. That will be neat because I will still be able to open my hood! I took some measurements and I think that the guard will tuck in very nicely around the nose of the vehicle. All that is needed is two L-shaped pieces of heavy plate, with a total of 10 more holes to drill.

I sketched the L-brackets on some steel plate that I had, and made them out of a square to reduce the total amount of cuts needed. It takes a long time to cut heavy plate with a small grinder. I kept getting all of the drill shavings and sparks in my sandals, but it was so hot in the garage! I wore my welding apron when grinding so I didn't burn my clothes off, the angle and plate really throw a lot of hot sparks.

I was having fun, I like doing little fab projects. But I must have gotten tired and impatient, because I let the smoke out of my old Harbor Freight grinder less than halfway through cutting the plate.

It was smoking where the wire went in to the handle, so I can probably fix it. But it was getting late so I took a shower and got some tacos. I will probably go get a new grinder today.

Anyways I think this mounting will be as strong or stronger than the OEM brackets. I wrote WAAG, because I think it is a WAAG guard. They said it would take 4 weeks and $150 to get the brackets. The money is kind of steep, but a month is way too long.

I have a project in mind that I am accumulating parts for, I would like to tie the grille guard into the top of the frame as well for more strength. Maybe today or tomorrow I can finish the brackets and paint everything.

 

[brevitything]

So, do you have one that didn't come with AHC? The way you adjust height on the LX is the little sensors on the UCAs(F&R). You adjust T-bar to get your pressures back with-in range if needed.

Yes AHC t-bars and rear coils have a lighter spring-rate as the AHC also takes on some of the vehicles weight.

Cool thanks for the spring info man! You have a sweet LX.

Thanks for the info about adjusting the sensors, I did read the thread on Mud here about that. Honestly I don't plan on retaining the AHC system for very long. Everything is corroded, and all of the bushings are shot.

Also I am not sure on the condition of the AHC system. Dampening seems pretty good, but how do you really measure dampening?

I am getting some clack/squeak/clunk from under the truck, I am betting that it is bushings on the track bar ends, shocks and sway bars. I did notice that the sway bar bushings are disintegrated on the front. So I plan on rebuilding everything with new bushings, and putting new long travel shocks all around.

In general I have found that if I like a vehicle when I get it, I will end up *loving* it once I have tuned and replaced the suspension. I did that on my Jeep, and since then I do it on all of my vehicles. Even if it is just new OEM suspension, it makes a big difference after a few years of use.

Do you guys disconnect sway bars for trail use at all? Or remove the rear swaybar permanently?

 

[brevitything]

Spent the 4th holiday sweating through my clothes in the garage. Epic humidity dude!

Got all of the brackets cut for the brush guard.




It is very slow going with a grinder and a couple hand drills. You forget how hard heavy plate is.





I adjusted the AHC sensors, maybe 1/2". Maybe it worked?




I saw this surfing the net the other night, it made me laugh

 

[brevitything]

Kind of a fun project, got a Curt receiver for the rear end of the Hundy.

Did the install myself, it really wasn't bad. A little different, I'm not used to working with existing nutserts in a frame like that. After a while I figured out that I needed to use a prybar to wiggle the nutserts into position, and using penetrating fluid and a toothbrush, clean the nut threads. I was careful with the prybar so as not to damage threads, and I had to whittle the toothbrush head down to fit in the hole. Then I would test fit the bolts, and once I could get them started well, I would move to the next hole. Eventually everything was prepped, and I used a jack stand to hold the reciever in place while I got the bolts started. The electric impact wrench then did the coup de grace. You can see the rust and crud on the concrete that I knocked off with my thrashing around Haha.

Now I can pull my old Jeep in flat tow mode with the Hundy. That is exciting, it is nice to know that if I break the Jeep (which does happen) while on the trail, I can drag it home with the Land Cruiser.

I'll put up pics when I do my test tow soon

 

[brevitything]

I bought a front receiver for a mid-90's 4Runner, found it online for close to $125. It is a Warn. I want to mount it on the Hundy, so that I will have a front clevis for recovery, and also I plan to put my Jeep winch on a receiver mount so that I can swap it between vehicles.

I didn't want one that bolts to the bottom of the frame and hangs below the factory bumper skin, the approach angle would get pretty bad. I want to figure out a way to put it on top of the frame, so that the license plate can flip down to provide receiver access. I think that would be perfect.

In my opinion, any stock 4x4 with a low range transfer case is pretty capable. If you have a winch and recovery points, you can basically drag it through anything. I don't plan to trash the Hundy, but I would like to have the confidence to try things knowing that I can self-recover if I need to.

So I pulled the brush guard and bumper cover off, and started scheming and test fitting the front receiver.

For this one I was trying to see what it would be like if it was on the bottom after all. The only secure place to bolt things is the bottom of the frame.

I decided that it would be worthwhile to fabricate brackets that bolt to the bottom of the frame, wrap around the frame rails on the outside, and come back across the top of the frame. The Warn could then bolt on to the brackets there, putting the receiver behind the license plate on the stock bumper cover. The 4Runner receiver has 2 funny ears that were bent to bolt in to the side of the frame rails further back, I will not be able to use that part of the bracket so it will be cut off with the grinder.

A good friend (that built and drives the white Wrangler in my pics) is a professional mechanic and fabricator, he works in a race shop. He advised that for winch mount and recovery work, I should use 1/4" plate or heavier. Digging through my scrap metal stock, I have very little 1/4" material. I have a hunk of plate that might be big enough to cut up and fabricate the brackets from. That would be a lot of work with hand tools.

I am going to make a trip to the metal scrap yard, Research Alloys, and see if I can find something in roughly the correct dimensions. If so then I will be on my way to wrapping up the reciever project and moving to new things

 

[brevitything]

Ok so by Wednesday I got an email from Andy's Auto Sport saying that they had not been able to confirm yet whether or not their vendor had the TJM torsion bars available. I called them and they said the same thing. I needed to get my truck rolling, I needed it to haul camping gear and tow my Jeep for a trail ride weekend.

I called Slee offroad, and left a voicemail. I got a call a few minutes later from a guy named Cristo Slee, he confirmed that he did have 100 series OME torsion bars in stock, and also 100 series take-off torsion bars. I called Andy's Auto Sport to cancel my order, after being put on hold for a few minutes they were able to confirm that the TJM bars had in fact already shipped. Excellent

TJM Equipped

 

[BamaHeel]

Did you measure twice?

On both sides?

 

[brevitything]

Armed with the new torsion bars, I took a run at the driver's front which already had a new shock installed. I ran the 80 series rear shocks on the front, and YJ Wrangler 4" lift front shocks on the rear. The shock lengths are perfect, the Wrangler shocks are a couple of inches longer than the 80 series.

I had already had the front of the torsion bar off to reindex, but I needed to get the bar out of the adjuster bracket at the rear end. I ended up using a propane torch to heat up the bracket, then put vice grips on the torsion bar and hit things with a 4lb sledge. I heated the thing for a good five minutes, it came apart quickly after that. I found it easier to install the brackets on the new torsion bars outside of the vehicle after spraying with PB Blaster, then knock them back off. That removed the corrosion and crud inside the bracket, and made it easy to install the torsion bar under the vehicle. After I got it back together, it seems like things moved, and I might need to reindex to get more adjustment. But I decided to get things finished up and see where we were at.

The passenger front hydraulic shock sucked, it was really hard to remove. During this whole process I was being very hard on tools, using the impact wrench and breaker bar. I disintegrated some sockets and adapters. I had to really scrounge to find a 12mm socket for the shock bolts, I had destroyed all of my 12mm sockets. Then I had to put a piece of pipe on the end of a breaker bar, and put vice grips on the shock tube to get the shock nut loose. It took patience and slow pressure. Eventually the vice grips went flying and sure enough the nut had moved. I then grabbed the impact and things came apart quickly. The torsion bar replacement went pretty fast by using my technique from the driver's side.

I set the truck down and backed out into the driveway.

After measuring, the front end was too low. So I jacked up each side and hit the torsion bar adjusters with the impact. From hub center to fender lip I am at 21" front!

I was at 20" rear A little more of a saggin wagon look than I wanted, but it was a great start. I now had a Hundy riding on springs, torsion bars and shocks only.

The next night I fabbed some plates and used metal screws to seal the holes in the cargo area floor. Also I left the sway bars mostly detached to see how it drives. Then I started thrashing to get ready for my camping and wheeling trip, and spent an evening or two having drinks by the fireplace

All in all I can see why it costs a few $$grand to swap from AHC to conventional suspension. It is a big job but with an impact gun and a few tools you can definitely do it at home. If you are in the rust belt it can be an epic battle Haha. I still need to remove some AHC components.

 

[bluecruiser]

What exactly are 80 series rear springs?

 

[hoser]

What did you use to cut the holes? A skilsaw?

Drastic measures but you won the battle!

 

[brevitything]

I ordered and received quantity 4 x 30mm coil spacers from Man-A-Fre. Man they were really nice folks to talk to. When I installed them, that's when I understood about unhooking vent tubes and e-brake brackets. I had to flex the rear axle a lot to get the spacers and springs in, in fact even my long rear shocks didn't have enough droop and I had to unhook them. Very happy with the look and ride now!

Current stance is 21" front from hub center to fender lip, 22" rear. Very happy truck, very happy driver