Builds Evolution of a Land Cruiser: My 80's build thread (15 Viewers)

[nukegoat]

Going with the shallowest cat and pushed up to the heat shield will put you ~1.5" above the bottom of the frame. That was the best I could do. Without deleting the cat I dont see it going up any higher unless you let the 2" x 6" tubing double as a slider and exhaust

i know someone who did that. it was a bit warm....

 

[scottryana]

Wow 3/8's is way way overkill. 3/16's is way over kill. All you need is maybe some heavy sheetmetal. You are not using that as a rocker. You just need to close the hole and give yourself a little gap. Then build your 2x6x1/4's firmly anchored to the frame those are your sliders and you will be fine.

This is one of the thoughts I had. I would do a strip of 3/8" to replace the bottom of the rocker, then do the slider separately. I know this seems overly built, but if the slider ever bent into the doors, they would have some protection as well.

The biggest drawback to this idea is weight. In order to beef everything up enough to prevent bending into the now very exposed body means adding much more weight than just that of typical sliders. The most heavy duty sliders I've seen are 4+ from Dave Gore and while they're very stout, that comes at the cost of a lot of weight.

The rig already weighs a metric s*** ton; I'd like to avoid adding too much if I can.

 

[kyzooper]

Hey Jose im thinking about buy a set of RHD Depo headlilghts can i get them sent to you, to be blacked out???

DEPO HEADLIGHTS

This is one bling upgrade I've been wanting to do for a long time but kept putting it off. While I actually like the way OEM headlights look, it was time to bring the truck's look into the current century. They were aged, rock chipped and lots of the mounting tabs were broken.

Started with a set of shiny new Depos from eBay. These things are nice! Only complaint is the mounting tabs feel even weaker than the stock plastic. Very bendy. I hope these don't crack as easily. These really should have some sort of metal backing at the very minimum.

And of course, I can't leave anything alone. While the Depos look great, they're way too shiny. Remember, chrome is for faucets. Not trucks. Got to work with the heat gun and tore these bad boys open.

Scuffed, prepped and painted. Color is Rustoleum metallic "Black Night".

Purtty

Before closing them up I ran a bead of black silicone to make sure I don't get moisture inside. After letting it dry I cleaned up the excess.

Before & After

I already had an HID kit in my OEM headlights so all I had to do was buy some H4 HID bulbs. I'm running without highbeams right now. Still need to pick up an HID kit for that. Ended up buying these on Amazon, 4300K. Really nice color. Crisp white with a slight hint of yellow. If you run HIDs you don't need to do anything with the stock harness http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YWPMSU/?tag=ihco-20

Installed! Huge difference. Makes it look like a whole new truck. Should look really sharp once I paint the bumpers dark gray.

Vs the 90s look

 

[Phildoh]

Offtopic - were you at Folsom and Florin-Perkins around noon yesterday? Saw one that looks very similar to yours without a rear bumper.

Yes sir, it was I!

 

[LFD2037]

Wow 3/8's is way way overkill. 3/16's is way over kill. All you need is maybe some heavy sheetmetal. You are not using that as a rocker. You just need to close the hole and give yourself a little gap. Then build your 2x6x1/4's firmly anchored to the frame those are your sliders and you will be fine.

Yeah, I agree. 3/8" is senseless. 3/16" is plenty.

 

[richardlillard1]

Sorry, typed it at work in a hurry. Let's make that 3/16 square tube and 1/8 strip under rockers.

3/16 is overkill, but still what I would want to use.

 

[jcardona1]

Sorry for the delay in updates, haven't had much time lately to work on the truck. I know I said a while back I was going sliders-to-rocker but I lied. Change of plans again. After I trimmed the rocker away I realized that it didn't lend itself well to welding a big plank of metal to it. It's not perfectly level front to back and not flush from the inside the rocker out to the door sill. I think the only way around it would have been to trim more out of the door sill which would mean having to trim the doors a bit - I didn't wanna do this. Otherwise I'd have odd gaps between the rocker and the 2x6 slider. So off I went to cap off the rockers. The 2x6 plank will get attached directly to the frame. I used 3/16" plate to seal everything off. I'm sure I could have gotten away with thinner material, but 3/16" makes it much easier to weld and my local metal place has it in strips that are just the right width.

This is under the A pillar. The hole you see is a barbed fitting I attached to the sunroof drain tube. It will drain directly to the outside instead of inside the rocker cavity like before.

I ended up cutting off the entire lip of the door sill. So the doors will actually hang a tiny bit lower than the the edge you see here. j

I have about another foot to go then I can start on the sliders. I hate welding upside down.

 

[lenross1]

Whacha got against big boned bodies??
I like a little meat on her bones ya know? ;p

Lookin good! Can't wait to see her after the lipo

 

[Phildoh]

Really curious to see what ya do with the exhaust system on the pass side. I want to sleeve the frame and route it through the frame instead of underneath, seems like it'd work ok, already have my cats turned and tucked up tight. Seems like without the rocker it might dissipate the heat a little better as well with your belly tuck you have going.

 

[jcardona1]

So this past weekend was the annual Cruiser Gold Rush camping trip at Gold Lake. A big group went on some milder trail runs and a few of us did the more difficult Snake Lake loop. Somewhere along the line (I think I know where) I bent my Hellfire high steer arm. That's right, 3/4" of steel just folded right up. WTF. Amazing how the tierod didn't bend, or that I didn't blow a TRE. I think part of it was due to leaving the unused hole open, probably should have sealed it up for strength. Going to see if I can have this straightened out so I can weld an insert into the hole.

Fold line is right where the paint cracked.

 

[solidfrontaxle]

WOW

 

[AMMO]

So this past weekend was the annual Cruiser Gold Rush camping trip at Gold Lake. A big group went on some milder trail runs and a few of us did the more difficult Snake Lake loop. Somewhere along the line (I think I know where) I bent my Hellfire high steer arm. That's right, 3/4" of steel just folded right up. WTF. Amazing how the tierod didn't bend, or that I didn't blow a TRE. I think part of it was due to leaving the unused hole open, probably should have sealed it up for strength. Going to see if I can have this straightened out so I can weld an insert into the hole.

Fold line is right where the paint cracked.

Really surprised this didn't happen on the pass side...

One would think the "energy" would be greater traveling directly down from the box... I'd think a failure would occur there vs. on the drivers side via the relay rod.

 

[Finnyfam60]

Wow. Unlike button needed.

 

[Apounder]

I plan on cutting the rockers and that dumb section behind the rear tire and just plating it, moving my current sliders up and leaving them tubes, and running a tube rear bumper on top of the frame in the rear almost flush to the bottom of tailgate and around the sides, cutting the rear frame to the body mounts, and welding a triangular piece notched for tube at the end of the frame, hopefully all goes well lol

 

[Booger weldz]

Random pics of what I did to the exhaust and cats.

 

[Pat80]

Did you really have to plate all along the rockers? Couldnt you get away with just plating the holes where the pillars are?

 

[jcardona1]

Did you really have to plate all along the rockers? Couldnt you get away with just plating the holes where the pillars are?

Probably, but I didn't like how flimsy the door sills felt uncapped. Now they're super solid and I wouldn't hesitate to stand on them.

 

[Pat80]

Oh right, didnt think it would be that flimsy, i was just gonna cap the pillars holes but will probably be doing all of it now

 

[nukegoat]

Probably, but I didn't like how flimsy the door sills felt uncapped. Now they're super solid and I wouldn't hesitate to stand on them.

The rocker panel provides all the I-value for the floor in that area. One thought would be to weld a spine along the edge, but inside the door panel to shore it up.

 

[nukegoat]

So this past weekend was the annual Cruiser Gold Rush camping trip at Gold Lake. A big group went on some milder trail runs and a few of us did the more difficult Snake Lake loop. Somewhere along the line (I think I know where) I bent my Hellfire high steer arm. That's right, 3/4" of steel just folded right up. WTF. Amazing how the tierod didn't bend, or that I didn't blow a TRE. I think part of it was due to leaving the unused hole open, probably should have sealed it up for strength. Going to see if I can have this straightened out so I can weld an insert into the hole.

Fold line is right where the paint cracked.

I suspect this happened when it contacted something above it that your bump stop failed to prevent. I know you probably doubt that but mechanically it would be very difficult to bend that much from stress induced by the tie rod. Clearances are wacky sometimes when all twisted up...