Don't Lose Hope !!!! cruisers are great!!
(caution long post)
Hi everyone! I am pretty new to the cruiser seen. And have seen a few posts the last couple weeks and some of you are loosing heart and thinking of selling there cruisers, so this is my story DON'T LOSE HOPE THEY ARE AWESOME. I have wanted one for 23 yrs and finally got the oportunity to purchase one last spring a 1985 fj60, Ahhhhh!! finally. My wife has lovingly nicknamed it "CHARLIE" . Not long after I brought it home it developed a real loud knock under load, with 187,000 miles I was a little concerned about what I would find. And it seamed like it started leaking from every seal and gasket on the truck. My driveway had a steady fresh coat of various lubes. It ended up needing a re-build, I lucked into a later model 2F out of a rollover that had around 90,000 miles on it, and the price was super, compression was great in all cylinders. So I opted for it instead of a re-build, and saved a ton. Se here is what I have done to my criuser in the last 7-months of ownership. I did all the work myself with the help of friends and family, and some of the great vendors on this forum.
replaced motor. Yanked it tore through it and the trans & t-case in 48hrs(with help of father-in-law, and a buddy trey) started sunday 7am drove it monday night 11pm.
all new seals and gaskets in motor and trans.
water pump
oil pump
powersteering pump
had to completely go through the madusa of a vaccume system and fix all leaks and replace all hoses and correct all errors from po
new bds lift w/ anti inversion shackles
bds shocks
ome steering stabilizer
nology hot wires
denso resistorless plugs
all new tie rod ends and steering links
wheels and tires
royal purple trans & diff fluid.
mobil one engine oil
man-a-fre ceramic headers
sound proof entire interrior,doors,rear bay all panels. (elemental designs) eDead V.1 similar to dynamat works awesome it made a amazing difference in interrior noise.
new door speakers
added rear speakers
I have a jacobs system I have not installed yet
k&n filter
all new hoses everywhere.
I just took my first road trip this weekend, It was awesome it drives like a dream. I cruised at about 65-70 (stock gears) so I was indicating about 12% less that actual speed had a pace car in front of me letting me know my speed. It rode great had o.k. power, for the flatter roads in east texas anyway. I had CHARLIE loaded down with mountain bikes and camping gear, and averaged 16.4mpg on regular unleaded. I am absolutely pleased with the outcome of the project so far, like all great projects they never realy end they just become a pet or another member of the family, and we are glad we brought CHARLIE in to the family. So don't lose hope they do take work, and some patience but this forum s great, and almost any answer you need can be found here.
I would like to thank you all for this forum it is great.
thanx to my father in law Pappy for the help
my wife who rocks! She likes CHARLIE
seery's garage in alvarado tx. awesome people!! thanx Ken
steve at man-a-fre
liquid off-road
protrux
pics.
(caution long post)
Hi everyone! I am pretty new to the cruiser seen. And have seen a few posts the last couple weeks and some of you are loosing heart and thinking of selling there cruisers, so this is my story DON'T LOSE HOPE THEY ARE AWESOME. I have wanted one for 23 yrs and finally got the oportunity to purchase one last spring a 1985 fj60, Ahhhhh!! finally. My wife has lovingly nicknamed it "CHARLIE" . Not long after I brought it home it developed a real loud knock under load, with 187,000 miles I was a little concerned about what I would find. And it seamed like it started leaking from every seal and gasket on the truck. My driveway had a steady fresh coat of various lubes. It ended up needing a re-build, I lucked into a later model 2F out of a rollover that had around 90,000 miles on it, and the price was super, compression was great in all cylinders. So I opted for it instead of a re-build, and saved a ton. Se here is what I have done to my criuser in the last 7-months of ownership. I did all the work myself with the help of friends and family, and some of the great vendors on this forum.
replaced motor. Yanked it tore through it and the trans & t-case in 48hrs(with help of father-in-law, and a buddy trey) started sunday 7am drove it monday night 11pm.
all new seals and gaskets in motor and trans.
water pump
oil pump
powersteering pump
had to completely go through the madusa of a vaccume system and fix all leaks and replace all hoses and correct all errors from po
new bds lift w/ anti inversion shackles
bds shocks
ome steering stabilizer
nology hot wires
denso resistorless plugs
all new tie rod ends and steering links
wheels and tires
royal purple trans & diff fluid.
mobil one engine oil
man-a-fre ceramic headers
sound proof entire interrior,doors,rear bay all panels. (elemental designs) eDead V.1 similar to dynamat works awesome it made a amazing difference in interrior noise.
new door speakers
added rear speakers
I have a jacobs system I have not installed yet
k&n filter
all new hoses everywhere.
I just took my first road trip this weekend, It was awesome it drives like a dream. I cruised at about 65-70 (stock gears) so I was indicating about 12% less that actual speed had a pace car in front of me letting me know my speed. It rode great had o.k. power, for the flatter roads in east texas anyway. I had CHARLIE loaded down with mountain bikes and camping gear, and averaged 16.4mpg on regular unleaded. I am absolutely pleased with the outcome of the project so far, like all great projects they never realy end they just become a pet or another member of the family, and we are glad we brought CHARLIE in to the family. So don't lose hope they do take work, and some patience but this forum s great, and almost any answer you need can be found here.
I would like to thank you all for this forum it is great.
thanx to my father in law Pappy for the help
my wife who rocks! She likes CHARLIE
seery's garage in alvarado tx. awesome people!! thanx Ken
steve at man-a-fre
liquid off-road
protrux
pics.
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