Builds DougCruiser build (1 Viewer)

[Ma son]

After setting up camp, we hurried over towards Moab to run our first trail in the area. I had settled on Fins n Things as it was supposedly a fairly tame trail. It definitely didn't disappoint. I finally got the chance to test out the Valleytech rear bumper when I dragged the jerry can holder on just about every obstacle

Can you spot the paragliding photobomber?

My spotter and the treat begging drooler

We had arrived the Wednesday before Cruise Moab, so I hoped that we would run into some other rigs in the area. On our way back to the campsite, we did just that-

 

[Ma son]

The next day, we headed into town to grab some breakfast. I hopped on Instagram and saw that @rainierbuilt was in town and looking to run Fins n Things. We had a great time the day before, so I hit him up. We set up a time to meet we were on our way. We waited at the trailhead and were greeted by this behemoth

Ethan also invited this gorgeous triple locked 80 @petwhookie

What a day

 

[Ma son]

 

[Ma son]

About 3 weeks after Moab, it was time to change my oil. When I drained the pan, I noticed that the oil was very thin. I had also noticed my coolant levels dropping slowly. Concerned, I stuck my finger into the drain pan and sniffed the dark brown oil- fuel. I guess thats better than a head gasket, but I wasn’t sure how the fuel could be making it past the rings into the oil. Bad injector? Running rich? Fuel pressure regulator? It was looking like s*** was about to get expensive. I figured I’d start with the easy, inexpensive guesses first. It’s not like the motor was running poorly. I replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the throttle body, and cleaned the MAF sensor (which wasn’t OEM).

That was when I found the culprit in the case of the disappearing coolant

Turns out the o-ring on the back half of the thermostat housing had finally given up the ghost. A new o-ring and some FIPG 1282b and we were good to go. Who knows how long it had been leaking. With the coolant leak sealed up, all I could do was wait til the next oil change and hope for improvement. Time to enjoy the ride

 

[Ma son]

A week and a half later, coolant levels hadn't dropped! Then, I saw that Engineer Pass had opened for the season. The next morning, we woke up to this

Doug hated it

About 10 min from our site, we decided to see how far we could make it up Imogene.

The road ended just below the ascent to Poser Rock. Dangit!

 

[Ma son]

The following morning, we woke up to some spectacular weather. The perfect day to hit Mineral Creek & Engineer!

Mineral Point

May 29, 2022

Our final morning, mother nature told us to **** off and go home. We obliged, after our morning coffee of course.

 

[Ma son]

Summer 2022 was alot like summer 2021, less maintenance, more fun.

Took Doug and his Cruiser to the top of Mosquito pass.

Took Doug and my lady to Fall River Reservoir

The air conditioning stopped working

Doug took a bath at St. Mary’s Glacier

Doug and I took a trip up to the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming

 

[Ma son]

Got to meet up with the self proclaimed AHC Guru himself- @Leroythe02LX . He was on a trip thru CO on his way to the San Juans and I wanted to check out his LX on 35s. We decided to meet up in Salida and run Mt Antero!

Highly recommend running this trail. Its super easy, aka take your eyes off the road to take in the views!

Doug got to meet Murph! They hit it off!

Mt Antero Peak!

Right after I told John to punch it over a rock. Pretty sure this resulted in a bent tie rod

Found an old mine shaft that had filled with ice and sealed it up about 40ft in. Super cool!

 

[Ma son]

Picked up this sweet Land Shark Outfitters grille off another Mud member used. Not sure how much it was, but definitely cheaper than going the route of landcruisergrilles. It definitely needed some work though. The powder coat was coming off, it had rusted pretty badly and the emblem showed signs of wear. Luckily it still had all the hardware!

I hit it with some paint stripper I had laying around, power washed it, then painted it with some Rust Reformer and flat black spray paint. I then took apart the stock grille and painted that using some metallic silver paint I had left over from the bling rings on the Rock Warrior wheels. I drilled a few small holes in the Toyota emblem and ran a couple very small zipties through the holes to adhere it to the grille insert. It came out pretty good!

 

[Ma son]

While I was working on the grille, I was also spending some time on a more important upgrade
PROJECTORS!!!
I ordered the kits from theRetrofitSource. I went with the mini H1 kit with a black mini gatling gun shroud, 3000k HID bulbs, 35w ballast, the associated relay and some butyl tape. I chose the 3000k bulbs because I really wanted a more amber/yellow output.
Here’s the glass separated from the housing:

The projector being test fitted:

Final product!

Really happy with how they came out. Not only do they look badass, but the light output is amazing. Here’s how she looked after installation alongside the new grille.

 

[Ma son]

Red Cone Pass was another highlight of the summer. The gatekeeper gave the 100 a good challenge. The lack of down travel wasnt doing me any favors. I ran it with a couple of newer Tacomas and they made it look pretty easy i

Not sure if he’s on here but @two_wide_taco on ig

Made it through

Then on to Radical Hill

Overall a smooth trip, dragged the hell out of the rear diff going up Radical. She took it like a champ though!

 

[Ma son]

---

After a good summer of wheeling, temps finally started becoming a bit more manageable to do some much needed maintenance. After 372k miles, the front end really needed some attention. Upper and lower ball joints were leaking, front diff bushings were tearing, the infamous front end clunk was present, wheel bearings were starting to make some noise, and the front brakes were starting to make some squeaky noises.

Knuckle removed

Upper BJ lookin good


New lower ball joints, Nitro UCA, CV axles

New rotors, pads and hardware. The anti rattle clips and pins really needed to be replaced. The clip on the passenger side was missing, and the driver was broken in half and rubbing on the rotor. Gotta love previous owners.

New diff mount arms and bushings

Some new sway-away torsion bars from @sleeoffroad too

Full list:
Cv axles, hub drive flanges, snap rings from cruiser outfitters, cone washers, diff mount arms/bushings, slee diff drop, wheel bearings repacked, torsion bars, nitro gear uca, 555 lower ball joints, and oem pads/rotors/hardware

 

[Ma son]

After the front end rebuilt, the torsion bars were adjusted so there was a 1” rake. It looked really good.

The problem was, I wasnt able to get the 50-70mm droop recommended by Slee. So I went back to Slee and picked up a set of 866 springs. I liked the idea of a progressive spring. Not too high of a spring rate for everyday driving, but enough to handle a full load when going camping.

Then it was time to go test everything out. Headed up to Chinns Lake with my neighbor Antoine @GreenLandCruiser , sure is nice having another 100 owner 100yds away.

A beautiful September afternoon in the mountains

 

[Ma son]

After Chinns, Antoine went home and I headed to Breckenridge. I’d always wanted to drive up Peak 10. It was 100% worth it. Such a nice road with some fun towards the end. Views were fantastic even though some thick clouds came in.

I’d gladly live here

Made it to the top!

Spotted a nice campsite in the next valley, south of Peak 10. Plotted it out on the map and headed that way with Doug. The next morning, we woke up to our first snow sighting of the year since spring- Sept 15.

 

[Ma son]

The next day, some extended sway bar end links arrived from Trail Tailor. I probably didnt need these, as I only have a 1.5” lift at most, but I definitely needed some new bushings so **** it.
Heres a side by side between the front OEM(?) and TT links.

The rears that I removed definitely didn’t have OEM bushings. I think they were Moog. Overtightened and shot.

Also, @GreenLandCruiser gifted me this AWESOME old Slee sticker. Apparently it came in the parts bin from the PO of his vehicle. Anybody have any idea how old it is?

 

[Ma son]

I’m a big fan of last minute on the fly trips, so when I saw that there were sites available in Canyonlands on the White Rim Trail, I booked two nights. The first night, we’d be at Hardscrabble Bottom. The second night, we’d be staying at Airport.

Two days later we were on our way to Utah. Most of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico had been forecasted to get absolutely pissed on with rain. Moab was really the only option for fair weather that weekend. At about 3pm, we received this:
“Heavy rain forecasted for 9/20/22 - 9/22/22 is expected to make conditions on the White Rim Road very challenging or impassable on the West side of the road (between Hardscrabble and Mineral Bottom Switchbacks). Travel is not advised until rangers are able to safely assess the road conditions later this week.
Exercise caution and expect more difficult than normal driving conditions on the White Rim Road; including washouts, deep water, mud, and rock falls. Be prepared to self-rescue, turn around, or drive out-and-back to reach your campsite. Driving after dark is dangerous so give yourself ample time to negotiate this difficult terrain.”

Well s***.

I decided to keep this information from my girlfriend and keep the pace towards Moab.

By about 6:30pm we arrived to this-

Just as beautiful as I’d expected. This was a bucket list trip for me. I never thought I’d actually be able to do this!

The road to our site was pretty easy. Mostly a two track road with no real obstacles. As we approached the Green River, the recent influx of rain started to show itself. All the drainages leading to the river were washed out, making the road a bit more fun!
An hour later, we had finally made it to Hardscrabble

Dougie

 

[Ma son]

Day 2 on the White Rim Trail:
Doug was ready to get after it

We had about 50 miles of driving to do that day. With the possibility of bad weather looming and alot of ground to cover, we packed up and hit the trail around 8am. The day went pretty smooth, with some light showers and slightly washed out river beds. The views in Canyonlands took on a whole new light being able to stand on the edge of giant cliffs you could only see from the air. This is the way to see the park IMO. It was so much better than viewing on the paved roads or from the lookouts. Here are some of my favorites from Day 2.

Nice bum where ya from

 

[Ma son]

Our final day, we woke up at the Airport camping area.

After a couple of days of wet weather, a nice sunny 75° days was more than welcomed. We knew that we’d have to finish up the White Rim then drive back to Denver that day, so we packed up and left early. The final stretch was just as gorgeous as the rest.

Shafer Trail from the top

 

[Ma son]

A week later, @GreenLandCruiser picked up a new TJM t17 bumper. Being the nice guy he is, he gave me his old stock bumper. A little less damage was welcomed on my rig!

 

[Ma son]

A couple weeks later, I met up with a couple of guys I follow on social media, Jason and Will. We decided to take a stab at one of the Gulches in CO Springs- Hackett Gulch.
Here’s Jason’s rig on 35s, mine on 34s and Will’s on 33’s. Bunch of good lookin rigs.

Doug

One of my favorite obstacles on the trail