DDoD - My High Mileage 99 (1 Viewer)

[willoCo]

Did a little work on the truck today - learned how to pop the front turn signals out and replaced the bulbs as well as a headlight that was out. Looked at the ARB bar lights that aren't hooked up, seems like some of the simple adapter pigtails will do the job there.

Then took a look at the POs wiring job for the locker and compressor. I got a little suspicious when I noticed that the switches were getting warm the other day, turns out I was right. All the circuits are fused, but it's got full power for each running through the switches inside the cab instead of proper relay wiring. Both are fused at 15 amps - pretty sure the air solenoid only needs a few. But hey, it probably won't catch the truck on fire. probably.

Off to buy some new 12v bits and decide how much crap will end up wired in on this truck.

 

[GTV]

Stock tire size for 16’s is 275/70 (31.16”) not 270/65.

Tundra 16’s?

 

[willoCo]

Stock tire size for 16’s is 275/70 (31.16”) not 270/65.

Tundra 16’s?

Looks like they went to 275/65r17 in 2003 from the 275/70r16. My truck had odd size tires on it as well.
Edit: 16 inch stock LC wheels.

 

[willoCo]

Today the DDoD got a little work. I opted for the "10 minute rear shock install" hack and drilled 2 inch holes over the upper rear mounts. Some PO installed Monroe shocks at some point - and they use something like 15/16 nuts. They were also hella stuck on.
After drilling, I took care of the DS side and installed my new Dobinsons 1.5 inch spring and shock. Gotta wait for a second pair of hands for the passenger side, I couldn't get my strap wrench to stay on while I worked the impact gun.

The other day I ordered a EXPAD mattress for the back end. I'm going to see if I can hack out some sort of platform and will probably do 1/2 of a KISS drawer build (to keep my 1/2 third row usable).

Meanwhile, I had some amazon credit to use...
So I decided to get a Dometic CF-25 - which is now under $300. It's going to become my new center console.
(I have a monsterous DZW95 for my camp trailer)

So yeah, I'm going to make the DDoD usable for overnight ski trips.
With that in mind, I figure a dual battery system is in order, along with some form of heater and some insulated window covers. I don't really have to stealth camp so much as I'd like to stay warm and keep the windows from filming over.
Meanwhile, I'm still pondering the roof rack situation.

 

[willoCo]

Wife helped out this morning, so I got the other rear shock done. Then I moved to the front and swapped out the OME shocks that the PO installed and popped on my new Dobinsons. Those ARBs are only a couple of years old but I wanted the shocks to match.
I'm glad I did, I discovered that the PO used a random bolt to install the passenger side front shock. At least it was metric?
I have new torsion arms, but I'm limited on my garage time and I was getting a little tired and knee sore. I went ahead and cranked the torsion bars up a bit to level things a bit. I'm calling it good enough until I can make sure that I have enough time deal with the torsion bars.

I'm thinking about pulling the running boards tomorrow, looks like it'll be a pretty easy job.

 

[willoCo]

Didn't get to pull running boards yet, but some goodies appeared.
My Mattress and my Dometic CF25 arrived yesterday. I figure I'll work on ripping out my center console this weekend. It's already a bit foobar so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm going to see if I can cut up one console to make the dometic install look cleaner (I have a spare console from the PO) and I'm going to play with the mattress just because.

 

[willoCo]

Next up, I ordered all the PFRAN LED bits: PFran LEDs - Complete interior LED conversions

 

[atnolan94]

Great deal, I paid about the same for my 280K LC.

With those Moog LCAs I'd suggest installing Torsion Bar Reinforcing Brackets:

Lower Control Arm Reinforcement Brackets Suited For Toyota 100 Series Land Cruiser/Lexus LX470

Ironman 4x4 America offers off-road parts, accessories, and equipment for the off-roading enthusiast. Check out our website for more information.

ironman4x4america.com

or:

Cruiser Outfitters

Read more about them here:

Moab disaster turned best experience. Grandpas Garage!!!! BUY THE BRACKET!

Ordered! Cruiser Outfitters is a very nice company! Give them a call!

forum.ih8mud.com

Real time busted LCA

can I limp this home 150 miles on back roads at 45-50mph? LCA busted where the torsion bar mounts to the LCA. (known weak spot failure) Thanks in advance

forum.ih8mud.com

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS I HAD A MOOG LCA BREAK ON ME IN MOAB SUCKED SO MUCH NEVER AGAIN

I was halfway they hells revenge, and because I run 35s, my tires were catching the fender as I turned. Cooked my sway bar end link, CV, wheel bearing. I had to pry my fender well away some to stop some of the rubbing. Never again I’mso anti-moog it’s not even funny.

 

[willoCo]

Decided to build up a LifePO4 battery for my 100.
After eyeballing lots of options, I settled on using headway cells from battery hookup. $10 each, each battery I'm building will get 32.
4s8p is a pretty good build for this. In addition, since I'm using headways, I can use this battery for emergency starting or winching - each cell is rated for 200A of surge output, and I'll have 4 cells in parallel... Hell, I could weld with these things if I had to.

Here's the math for the build:

Cell V	Cell Ah	P Count	Cell Count	Cost each	V	Ah	KWh
3.2	8	8	32	10	12.8	64	0.8192

Why 8P packs? I'm using some handy plates made just for that purpose. I actually liked the math better for making a 40 cell battery with 80Ah, but 64Ah is fine. This battery will still kick the crap out of any lead acid system. Also, I'm making a pair of them but will maybe probably only have 1 of them in this truck.



I still need to decide on a BMS. I was tempted by the 100A unit that battery hookup sells, but I I'm still hunting

For charging I'm adding some solar bits, along with a DC-DC charger that'll properly charge the lifepo4 pack when the car is running.
The starting battery will remain lead acid (may replace with a duracell AGM).

For cost comparisons:
100Ah battle born: $950 on amazon
60Ah DIY: $330 (batteries with shipping) + $40 plates = $380. I'll be adding an enclosure and a BMS, total cost will definitely be under 450-500.

Now, if I decide that I really, really want more capacity, I can! It would be pretty easy to add another couple of batteries to each row.

Anyhow, I'm thinking that I'll add in a custom high amp contactor feed for starting/winching ops, and the normal load feeds will need to be supported through the BMS.

Example: solar charging, DC-DC charging, fridge, ham radio, lights, etc will all need to run through the BMS control.
For high amp situations I can run a contactor between the two systems. That lead will bypass the BMS completely.
For temporary usage this will be fine. For low C batteries, this is a bad idea. The Headway's I'm going to use are actually pretty impressive for high output.

 

[willoCo]

Today, DDoD got a Rhino Rack Backbone and Pioneer platform installed. My fingers are sore and I cut myself on the edge of the old plastic roof cap.

Long story short, it's installed, I had to rip out the roof rack gutter trim as my factory rack bolts used a different set from the backbone. Apparently they revised the rack a few times.

On the other hand, I see an opportunity for a custom light/etc mount up there if I get bored - two unused mounting bolts at the front of the truck. The rack was a mild surprise, since I haven't gotten shipping notification yet. My ski rack bits are missing, but that's fine since I need to order the mounts for that anyway.

I do need to remove the rear spoiler mounts - my spoiler was gone but the mounts are still there - and they hit the platform.
Beyond that, I'm going to add some side/rear flood leds - I had them on my jeep and found them very handy. I'm still deciding if they need some extra controls - maybe fet based dimming...

 

[willoCo]

Battery parts have arrived, spent some time building.

1) Jehu's headway plates
2) a pile of headway batteries from batteryhookup
3) a pair of 60A Daly BMS units. (which are 40A charge, 60A discharge)

The BMS is a shortcut - they were available in the US on ebay and they were $30 each.
That said, for my build, they are sufficient. Why?
My charge sources will be less than 40A. Solar will probably be 10ish, and DC-DC will only be 20A max.
What about high loads like starting or winching?
Those will bypass the controller and only be connected on-demand

Normal daily load will simply be running the fridge.

 

[Brad Kayser]

DDoD == Daily Driver of Doom, seems about right.

So I pulled the trigger on the high mileage cruiser, picked it up last night.
280k on the clock, to be fair, there are alot of 200k cruisers out there.
Why would I do this? It's triple locked and has an ARB bumper up front.
Rear toyota locker, usual center diff/transfer case lock and front ARB air locker and air pump.
No rust other than the paint chips. someone... replaced front fender with slightly mismatched paint and bolted the fender of the headlight tab. :/
Some peeling clear coat and oh god why is there fake wood glued to everything?
Stock height suspension with OME Nitro's up front

Maintenance in the last year or two:
Moog CAs, Moog lower BJs, CVJ rebuilt steering rack, new PS pump, TYC radiator, it's had multiple transmission service jobs done (fluid/filter)

To kick off the mods, I've got a Tigershark 11500SR winch on the way. Open box from amazon (hopefully it has the acutal winch in it, some of those returns are just random old crap in a box.)

Today I drove it down the mountain and got a feel for it. Picked up a couple of bulbs, still need to hunt down one to replace one of the bulbs in the AC controls. Power antenna is gone, just makes a sad grinding sound. Power windows have that slooooooow speed.
Handling is pretty good, half worn BFG all terrains definitely suck in the snow.

Most annoying thing: The horrible stick on aftermarket fake wood trim. There's a little rectangle of it stuck to the glove compartment handle. It was even on the steering wheel. I may hunt down a donor dash to get rid of it. blech.

Thats probably the original wood trim. I just replaced all of mine with a kit i found on carid. It cost 250. and 5 hrs getting all the 3m glue off the pieces but im happy w the result. Feels updated now.

 

[willoCo]

Got my ski rack bits for the pioneer rack. The mounting bar is a bit overpriced IMO but I picked up a pair of the 24 inch bars. I have the largest ski rack that rhino rack makes, so of course it's longer than the 24 inch bars.
After eyeballing it for a minute, I decided to drill new mounting holes. Once those were done I checked and found that I needed some form of spacer. Fortunately the rack has them already - and I have a pop rivet gun.
It turns out that the rubber grips are trivial to remove from the inside of the rack, so I pulled the one on the bottom side to get access.

Original position of the spacer is on the right - minus the two small rivets that were holding it in place.
A bit of drilling, riveting and boom, I can mount the rack how I want to - which is offset and it'll look clean.
I needed four 1/4 rivets and 8 3/16 rivets to do the job. The 1/4s are just on the ends - I only had like 10 3/16 rivets around.

Honestly, if you just wanted to flat mount these racks to the pioneer rack, just pull the rubber bit, drill the holes and get some unistrut nuts. I opted to add the bars so I'd have the extra height for ski bindings when the kids are along.

 

[willoCo]

Victory pic - Racks mounts on the bars. I have enough room that I can shift them over a good six inches for when I want to use the other side of the rack.
Still gotta fill that winch spot...

 

[willoCo]

Well, big snow this weekend and I got the cruiser stuck. Total pain in the booty.
I was kicking myself for not working on the winch yet - I had to go get my 4runner and use it to pull the cruiser's fatness out of the snow bank.
The runner was down below and of course my neighbor's daughter thought it was a great idea to block it in with her truck- and not tell anyone who's truck it was. So after an extra 45 minutes of asking around we figured that out and she unhappily came down to let me out.
After that the cruiser made it up fine, and then of course I had to winch the 4runner like 4 times to get it up. Go figure.

I am adjusting my priorities a bit and started getting bits for the 8274 that's getting wedged into the ARB.
First up, RED Winch's OX Motor, bus bar set, albright contactor and cover. I *really* appreciate the busbar setup that they put together. It eliminates all the chunky wiring between the solenoid and the motor. It also put the contactor on the end of the motor which reduces the size of the setup.

Solid Copper Bus Bar Set

Solid Copper Bus Bar Set

www.red-winches.com

It also happens that I've decided to go 24v on the lifepo4 battery pack, so motor and contactor were ordered with that in mind.
The beast will also be getting a 24v dual ARB air compressor upgrade as well.

Meanwhile, I'll be hunting down what sounds like a broken u-joint later today, I'm hoping it's the drive shaft and not a CV.

 

[willoCo]

I have a couple other threads, but the short version is that the PS axle seems to have popped out a bit. Current hope is that the locker isn't munged (ARB Air locker). Didn't pull the axle yet due to random evil weather. (And I don't have parts yet)
I've decided to replace the craptermarket axles the PO installed with some used factory axles with 64k on them. Also waiting for toyota to get new flange studs and nuts in. I had to bet them a bit - and they'd been beaten a bit by someone else. Planning to do the diff seals while I'm there and refresh the diff fluids in the front.

Meanwhile, I've ordered a 24v motor and solenoid upgrade for the 8274. Depending on how things go I may see about modding the ARB bumper to take the thing this weekend.
I also received my 24v dual ARB air compressor - wiring is less than stellar. ARB assumes that you'll run a pair of lead acid 12v batteries and that it's ok to run control wiring from the middle of those. (unfused +12v pseudo ground) This is no acceptable IMO but I'll modify the wiring to suit my needs. My fridge also takes 24v, so it should be trivial. The plan is to run a my custom 24v LifePO4 battery pack to drive em. Biggest concern is battery capacity for winching, but with the high amperage Lifepo4, the only issue is delivering enough charge to the pack during heavy usage. Offhand I can run the winch for a good 15 minutes on full load with my pack.

 

[willoCo]

Sooo, I broke a ring gear.
The DDoD is getting full 4.88 nitros front and rear. This'll be my first time tackling this but it's doable.

Meanwhile, my new motor arrived. Honestly it took me longer to get by the post office than shipping across the world did.

I opted to get their bus bars and albright solenoid. They didn't include mounting bolts for the solenoid and I'll need to add some locking bolts for the mounting bits. However, this is super clean compared to the original warn setup.

Quick shot of the back of the solenoid, you can see where it'll bolt up to the back of the motor.

Finally, the delrin cover (little overpriced) fits over the main bars to protect things. Oddly, they put the OX-MOTOR bit facing the wrong way for people looking at the front of the winch. (meh)
Anyhow, this is a clean setup. The motor is HUGE.

 

[willoCo]

Got a good new this morning. My gears have shipped!

 

[willoCo]

Gears arrived, I found that the air line was loose in locker, so that explains the locker not working.
I'm going to pull apart the locker and rebuild it. Hopefully it just needs the air service kit. It's got some scoring on the outside edge that

Meanwhile, I pulled off my running boards today. I've been meaning to do it and I wanted the extra clearance to get under the chassis.
I like the look! Pretty easy job (aside from the random salty dirt falling in my face).

 

[willoCo]

I've been slacking on this. It keeps friggin snowing. (Three feet over the weekend)
Anyhow, I've totally disassembled the front diff. I've decided to do the rear after the front is done - I want two wheels on the ground for safety sake.
I'm down to getting a bearing puller to remove the old races with and then I can reassemble - with new ring gear bolts and a bit of clean up on the ARB flange.

I did get to drop by my storage unit and pick up my shop press, With that, I'll be able to press on the new bearings and clamp the diff so I can torque down the ring gear bolts.

I've got a good $100 in bolts, nuts and c clips coming from toyota. Seems that they don't bother to sell the front shock bolts anymore. I have one that's a crappy replacement and I am annoyed that I can't get a factory one.

Aside from that, I'm thinking about modding my diff mount to include a drop. I should be able to cut it, use the truck as a jig and re-weld it with a 3/4 drop pretty easily. Doesn't seem worth $250+ for an aftermarket.