Builds cuttin up the lx (1 Viewer)

[wv_lx450]

Good to hear. Ive heard of the trans fluid/acetone mixture but never tried it. Ive never needed anything on this truck since its completely rust free. Most of the bolts can be broken loose and then spun out with my fingers. I was definitely caught off guard by this one lol.
I would love to get a second one some day because i kinda miss being able to jump in my truck and just do some trail riding/exploring. I love this truck but its an all day trip just to load it up on the trailer and take the family out riding around.

 

[Wrench]

Another trick is to heat the bolt/stud up and melt a candle into the treads. Works every time!

 

[wv_lx450]

Hadnt heard of that, may have to try that next time. Ive had good luck just heating stuff but anything that makes it easier is never a bad thing lol. I have plenty of rusted bolts on my subie to try these tricks on

 

[Golgo13]

ok, so apparently im an idiot lol. shoulda read up on the removal process first. in trying to avoid the steering linkages and hydro hoses in front of the panhard bolt, i was trying to remove the nut instead of the bolt. once i gave up on that, i worked a wrench onto the head of the bolt and was able to turn the bolt finally. this is why the nut wont turn....
View attachment 1155640

To prevent this sort of issue in the future always make sure to only turn the side with the washer.

 

[wv_lx450]

Makes sense, i didnt notice whether there was a washer on the bolt side or not but there must be one. Ill have to look when i get back into town on tuesday.

 

[wv_lx450]

got it all put back together the other day. could have used a slightly smaller ID tubing but it worked fine.

 

[wv_lx450]

started a lil more trimming

so i can get rid of these..

 

[1973Guppie]

Oh, im sure they never planned ahead for these types of modifications lol. i was just kinda surprised that the top of the box isnt even somewhat closed off. it wouldnt even keep dirt and dust out really. def not blaming mr. t tho. im gonna do something to sort of seal the edge of the dash where the windshield used to meet it and see if that takes care of it.

I am willing to bet that the top end is open to allow heat do dissipate from the electronics.....if you seal it, it may overheat.....

 

[wv_lx450]

yeah, i ended up leaving it open and attempted to seal the top of the dash as much as possible. seems to be doing fine so far

 

[1973Guppie]

got all the press work done and removed the viscous coupler. anyone worried about the press work involved shouldnt be. i was afraid it would cause problems or i would mess something up but everything pressed apart and back together very easily.
View attachment 966843 View attachment 966845
anyone need a nice paper weight? lol
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thx for this, I have to put in my tc gears soon and was worried about the press work, any reason to take the case out? or is it just as easy to leave it in? I am only doing the gears, not the part time kit.....

 

[wv_lx450]

i took mine out so i dont have any experience otherwise. the hardest part of the the whole process was lining that big, heavy sob up with the trans. other than that, no real issues. i will say that it was really nice having the tcase up on a work bench to disassemble it and keep everything in order. not sure how that all would go laying under the truck.

 

[wv_lx450]

and i didnt do a part time kit either, just removed the viscous coupler. i put line locks in my truck so now i can lock front/rear brakes and spin one or the other with the center diff unlocked. worked out better than i thought it would. really helps in those tight spots to be able to do a front dig and spin the truck onto a new line.

 

[PDoyle]

Screen it in!!!!

 

[wv_lx450]

got it mostly finished. its an ugly hack job but im not trying to do any sheet metal work to make it pretty. serves its purpose i guess. now i have to get some harnesses for the rear since i cut the seat belt mounts out.

 

[wv_lx450]

wheeled with John Herrick from Crawl Magazine this weekend. had one nice day and got rained on all day saturday. still a good time.

 

[AndyR]

wheeled with John Herrick from Crawl Magazine this weekend. had one nice day and got rained on all day saturday. still a good time.

Hey wv_lx450,

You ever do any wheelin' along the Gauley River near Swiss?

Me and a buddy were down there a few years back to do some paddling, and ran into wheelers near the river...one was driving a chopped 450.

There were eyeing my stock 80 with great interest! I said, 'Hell, when we get back off the river, my truck's gonna be all chopped up!"

Had a few laughs and beers with those guys later on.



-Andy

 

[wv_lx450]

That was probably me and the group i ride with. We park in the big field at swiss and wheel the property after you drive past the railroad tracks. We have 5500 acres there and thats where we wheeled with crawl mag.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Ever thought about organizing a park there? It would be awesome to have some more options in the east.

 

[wv_lx450]

We have but we dont have "official" use of the land. Its kind of just an unofficial understanding with my dads company right now. They just passed a law here that allows any county to set up an offroad park and the state will be responsible for it. It releases the landowner from any liability for anything that goes on and provides funding for maintenance and oversight. We are hopeful that we can work something out with the company to do that in the future.

 

[wv_lx450]

Also, they just opened bearwallow to trucks. Its part of the hatfield mccoys trail system. Its in logan county, wv. (pretty close to charleston). Weve had a few guys down there workin on the trails