Builds duggy's build thread: 1997 40th Anniversary 80 Series

[duggy]

Hey guys! I hadn't started a build thread since my 100 series. That truck definitely showed me what was possible with some fab skills and being able to accept successes and failures.

I usually like doing these to not only detail what mods I've done to my truck, but also help me keep a chronological order of stuff I've done to the vehicle. I've owned a few 80 series before, some in terrible condition, some ok, but this vehicle was set on my lap from a customer of ours and was in great condition. I've always lusted after the 40th anniversary Land Cruiser in Sage....I have always thought it was the perfect color and definitely was on my bucket list to add to the stable.

It's a 97 40th Anniversary edition 80 series that was fully locked and super clean. It was in a previous rear end accident which was fixed by a body shop in Utah.

I had a previously built 94 80 that was in great condition and was complete. Since I acquired this 80 series, the plan was to transfer all of the parts over to the new 80. A lot of folks asked me why the transition to the new 80, especially since the green one was built pretty much how I wanted. There were 2 particular reasons

1) The green 80 came from the Northeast, which meant that it had some rust issues. It wasn't terrible, but every time I worked on it, I would estimate the job doubled to account for broken bolts and siezed hardware
2) The 1994 is an OBD1 vehicle....not very conducive for a Wits End turbo kit

I originally planned to fly to SLC to drive the truck back, but shop duties had other plans so I elected to have the truck shipped to me in Houston. The trucking company definitely took good care of the shipping process, and I felt comfortable with the whole process. It took 4 days to get trucked from Utah to Texas.

 

[duggy]

I knew I wanted to get all of the parts transferred over from my green 80 to my new one but of course the shop duties always take precedence over working on my own truck. This left me with working on the truck afterhours, off days, or during slow periods. I started off with transferring the Trail Gear winch bumper along with the Smittybilt 12k winch. I'm not terribly in love with this bumper, and am looking for a replacement soon. I'm not entirely in love with anything on the market currently, so I may have one custom fabbed up here in town.

I also test fit some TRD Pro wheels from a 5th Gen 4Runner. I didn't like the styling too much so I decided to test fit the old setup. They're SCS Ray 10s in brushed gold on 37x12x50x17" Goodyear MTRs. The MTRs have been an awesome tire for me, and I'm a super huge fan of them on and offroad. I usually air down to 15lbs and it's perfect with conforming to the terrain I'm used to wheeling in. 37s do fit with no lift but barely.

I decided to go ahead and throw on the 4x4labs rear bumper also.

 

[duggy]

During this point, I was waiting on suspension from Slinky to become available. The setup on my 80 was King 2.5 RR shocks with adjusters on OME J Springs with a 1.5" spacer up front. This setup rode VERY well on a heavy truck, but I wanted to try out the Slinky springs. In the mean time, I decided to just go ahead and transfer the suspension from my green truck to the new truck. This was a process....took over 1.5 days to do.

New King Shocks valved for a heavy 80

Kings, OME Springs installed, no caster plates yet. Driving this setup on the freeway sucked until I put caster plates on. All is well now, but before that, it was definitely sketchy.

 

[duggy]

Went ahead and installed the ARB Drawer system with the Elements 63qt fridge. That fridge will serve as double duty in my Tundra also, being that it's wind/water/dust proof, the decision was pretty easy to make.

Also installed a Blue Seas 12v car charger/USB port in the drawers

 

[ThomasMore66]

Lots going on here. I like it.

 

[TJ Vines]

Really loving the brushed gold wheels and sage color combination.

 

[FJ40JOHN]

Looking forward to the progress as well as your evaluation of the slinky vs. current setup.

If you decide to ditch the TG bumper, definitely let me know.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

I was wondering if this thread would ever get made! I’m definitely interested to see what you come up with for a front bumper. Nothing quite on the market checks all the right boxes for myself either.

 

[duggy]

Southern Cruiser Crawl 2018 was approaching super quick so this was another one of those times where I had to get the truck ready for the long haul. It's actually only 6 hours away, but I wanted to make sure we properly base lined the truck and got all of the parts I wanted on the rig to get it ready.

I was starting to order parts shortly after I bought the truck, so I knew there was some work to be put in. The general plans were to get the interior and organization set, along with all of the drivetrain work done. Some details below of the drivetrain work:

Nitro 4.88 Gears w/ master install kit
Cruiser Outfitters Knuckle rebuild kit
RCV 300M Upgrade birfields and CV shafts
Aisin Part time hub kit with chromo hub gear
EBC Black Series rotors F/R
100 Series OEM Front Pads
80 Series OEM Rear Pads
Sumogear part time spool
Trail-Gear low range 25% reduction gears

37s will probably be the max tire size I'll ever run on this truck. 40s are not in my immediate future, and I don't really see this rig getting larger tires than that. I have run 4.88s on my previous 80 with 37s, and also my 100 and they were absolutely perfect in gearing. At 70MPH I am at 2100 rpm which is the sweet spot driving wise on the freeway. I have never touted that gears increase your gas mileage, but I have gotten 13.5-14MPG fully loaded on 2 trucks so far, where previously I got 10MPG steady. The transmission and engine are much happier with being re-geared.

Gear setup table

I typically get great patterns with these Nitro Gears

While the diffs are out, a knuckle rebuild was in order to baseline the front axle. This is one of those things that I always do when I buy a new 80. The peace of mind is great on long trips.

I also elected to get some stronger axles in there and went with RCV 300M 30 teeth upgraded axle shafts and birfields. With the chromoly shafts in there, wear begins to become a concern so the part-time kit was ordered up and installed. The Aisin part-time hubs allow you to disconnect the wheels from the birfs, and the part-time spool allows you to disconnect the front and rear driveshafts in the transfer case. This allows me to limp home if there are issues with any breakages on future trips.

 

[duggy]

Brakes were upgraded to EBC rotors, OEM pads, and new Napa calipers. The Aisin hubs were installed along with the ARP Hub and knuckle studs

Test fitting the aisin hubs with the ARP studs

Perfect fit!

Rear Nitro shafts were installed as I was waiting on rear rotors

 

[duggy]

Sliders from White Knuckle arrived just in time so those went on also

 

[duggy]

It was time to pull the transfer case apart to install the low range reduction gears and part-time spool. This job isn't hard per-say, but it is involved, especially if you are doing it on your back. I've done it a few times on my back, and with this being the first time on a lift, it's SO MUCH EASIER.

There are a few guides out there showing how to replace these gears, they all offer great guidance. I will throw a note out there to make sure that you time your CDL actuator properly. I didn't, and had to remove the actuator to time it properly

I unfortunately don't have a ton of pictures detailing this process, namely because I was tired of my gloves smelling like gear oil and grabbing my phone to take pictures during that time is difficult

Pressing old parts off

Rear housing gear assembly with new gears and spool ready to go back in

Old parts...I have a few sets of these now, thinking about welding them and making some type of trophy out of them. Very mad max-esque

 

[duggy]

The interior got some great upgrades also. I installed a Sony Carplay app radio which added Bluetooth music and calling capabilities to the 80 along with a slew of other features to bring the sound system to today's standards. The door speakers were replaced with 6.5 Polk Audio Speakers to replace the torn paper cone speakers.

I also added a Uniden Bearcat 980SS CB Radio for trail communications. In my group the predominant use is CB, so it fits my needs pretty well. I also added some cup holders from @bhicks to help with organization inside the truck on trips. I am super picky about everything in the truck having it's own spot, so I can easily find it, but also to keep clutter at a minimum. On road trips, the front console of a truck is already pretty cluttered with chips, snacks, drinks, etc, so any way I can help to keep my OCD at bay helps.

I also added some Recaro seats from an Accord Euro R. I got the idea from @Sambosuda who has had these seats in his truck for a good while now. I used seat brackets from Planted Technologies and everything fits perfectly. I will most likely get some new seat slider rails as the ones I have on there are.....of lesser quality.

 

[duggy]

Shakedown run to Southern Cruiser Crawl!

I will say....taking a trip after installing so many new parts is kind of gut wrenching. I parked the Tundra for a week and drove the 80 back and forth from the shop to home. I was only able to get 400 or so miles on the gears before the break in, but I am happy to report that there were no issues!

This is my first time to SCC after hearing so many great things about the event. It's about 6-7 hour drive from Houston, but definitely well worth it! I'll be making this one of my yearly trips for sure! Some pics below, lots of poser pics included.

 

[duggy]

Some more pics!