Builds Evolution of a Land Cruiser: My 80's build thread (3 Viewers)

[customcruiser]

Home stretch. Paint and reassembly.

Can you tell me about your bump stop mounting?
Did you just cap that tube and thread your cap or something different?
Looks like an easy way to extend them.... especially for me since my factory rear bump stops are gone.

 

[jcardona1]

Can you tell me about your bump stop mounting?
Did you just cap that tube and thread your cap or something different?
Looks like an easy way to extend them.... especially for me since my factory rear bump stops are gone.

Yeah pretty much. Made a cap, welded a nut on the inside, welded it shut. Easy

 

[jcardona1]

Things have moved slowly. All I've done lately is finish the wishbone bracket. Spent way too much time on this stupid thing. Using a massive uniball from Ballistic. Bronze races, 3/4" bore, 65º of misalignment. Now I can start on the wishbone link. Kinda nervous about that part as all my angles and measurements need to be spot on so I don't end up with a cockeyed rear axle.

 

[jfmaillot]

massive and sexy

 

[2fpower]

Looking heavy duty..... and I thought I was overbuilding my portal axle stuff.

 

[BILT4ME]

I have to ask........with as much trussing and such as you've done here....would there have been a real benefit to going with a set of Rockwell 2-1/2 Ton axles or planetary axles?

 

[jcardona1]

I have to ask........with as much trussing and such as you've done here....would there have been a real benefit to going with a set of Rockwell 2-1/2 Ton axles or planetary axles?

Well the truss wasn't really added for strength although that could be an added benefit. It was mostly to give a place where to mount wishbone link. I could have built something off the factory UCA brackets like Nukegoat did but felt it was easier to simply cut them off and use an off-the-shelf truss. But you're right, this is a lot of work to keep the stock axles. But switching out axles is a big expense I'm not ready to make yet. If/when that time comes most of the link/bracket work on the frame will already be done. Just a matter of attaching existing links to the new axles.

 

[BILT4ME]

Well the truss wasn't really added for strength although that could be an added benefit. It was mostly to give a place where to mount wishbone link. I could have built something off the factory UCA brackets like Nukegoat did but felt it was easier to simply cut them off and use an off-the-shelf truss. But you're right, this is a lot of work to keep the stock axles. But switching out axles is a big expense I'm not ready to make yet. If/when that time comes most of the link/bracket work on the frame will already be done. Just a matter of attaching existing links to the new axles.

I guess sine you're going 3-link, that places a link directly on top, which would be hard with a set of Rockwells.

I am just amazed and the amount of energy expended in this. I wish I was young again..........and had more resources to do what you've done, even if has been done 3-4 times.......

Not saying it's bad at all. I absolutely love your truck and following what you're doing. Keep it up! I'll live vicariously through you!

 

[jcardona1]

I guess sine you're going 3-link, that places a link directly on top, which would be hard with a set of Rockwells.

I am just amazed and the amount of energy expended in this. I wish I was young again..........and had more resources to do what you've done, even if has been done 3-4 times.......

Not saying it's bad at all. I absolutely love your truck and following what you're doing. Keep it up! I'll live vicariously through you!

It's amazing how much less motivated I am to do this vs when I did the 3 link in 2015. Career has changed significantly which means longer hours during the week which means I rarely touch the truck M-F. So I usually have a few hours to spare on the weekends if we don't have any plans. I can see why people pay to have this stuff done.

 

[maxamillion2345]

But wheeling season is almost here...

 

[jfmaillot]

Hehehehe it’s been like 5 years for mine and I still have to 3 link the front lol

 

[TachedOutOffRoad]

What a badass rig! I saved about 20 pics of great ideas to "borrow"!

 

[jcardona1]

Alright! I actually feel like I made a bit of progress of this weekend. First up the upper wishbone link. Because I'm running a DC shaft and I'll need to tune the pinion angle I wanted to give myself plenty of adjustability. I couldn't really find any large adjusters I could run on the single uniball joint so I opted for dual 7/8-14 double adjusters behind the frame mounts. Link to the adjusters in case anybody's interested. All tubing is 1.5" x 0.25" wall DOM.

Yes the uniball is off-center in this pic. I got frustrated trying to build the arms at the perfect width centered on the uniball so I just burned those in separately then centered the uniball afterwards.

Then I cut the tubing for the lower links and connected the axle for the first time.

And started to cycle stuff around. First problem/screw-up. When I made the bracket for the uniball I built it so it would be neutral at ride height, or at 0º. Well turns out that was not a good decision because I need a lot more down-travel than up. So, full droop on both sides is a bit limited when the uniball binds in the mount.

I have two options: 1) cut off the wishbone bracket and rebuild which I really really don't wanna do as I'm kinda over this project already or 2) run a center limit strap on top of the wishbone right at the point where the uniball binds to avoid any damage.

I'm leaning towards 2) because I can still get plenty of full droop on both sides (36" hub center to top of fender), side to side down travel is unaffected and this is what I see myself using more, and this isn't a gofast truck hitting jumps in the desert at high speeds.

This is full droop equally on both sides where it binds. I think this should be good for my use:

However during full articulation I have no issues. I would end up having to run 3 limit straps total which is probably goofy but oh well. 1 short in the center, 2 longer ones on each side for coilover limits. As you can see I actually ran out of room to flex because my rotor was dragging on the floor. And besides, this is way more articulation than I can use because of tire-to-fender clearance. I've already cut as much as I can without going into the doors.

This is the max I could do that would still allow the tire to turn freely

Then I checked full stuff on both sides equally. Plenty of room here (factory cross-member/spring perches were removed).

Plenty of room in between gas tank and lower link

Full stuff

And that's it for now. I think at this point I'm ready to start messing with the coilover mounting. Waiting on a few brackets so I can start with that. And I need to run the suspension calculator to see how things are looking

 

[jcardona1]

This weekend I made a first attempt and fitting coilovers under the truck and it didn't go so well. I think I may need to go back to the drawing board. As mentioned in my previous posts, I was going to try and make this work using the 4WU coilover brackets for mini trucks and 4Runners.

Received the brackets and they're freaking beautiful as to be expected from Brian:

I was hoping the upper brackets would go past the top of the frame to give me a bit more clearance. Unfortunately they do not and mount pretty much parallel with the top edge of the frame. My next thought was to try and mount them off a crossmember, angling them back more and hopefully giving more room for a 14" coilover:

I positioned the brackets so that the coilover is fully compressed when the tire is fully stuffed into the fender, just like I did on the front. I figured this would work.

All seemed well at this point until I lowered the axle back down to ride height and that's when I saw my problem. Look at the amount of shock shaft showing at ride height. It's about 2", basically nothing. So while I have plenty of up-travel during articulation, up travel at full bump would be very limited. The steep angle of the coilovers (about 60º back) screwed me over and messed with how the shock moves during normal travel and articulation.

In order for the coilovers to work as they are currently oriented, I need to go substantially higher on the frame mount and substantially lower on the axle mount, kinda like how the factory shocks hang below the 80s axle. However with the 4WU brackets I cannot do that as they are set to kind go in one place.

I am gonna have to figure out an axle mount that brings that coilover almost inline with the bottom of the brake rotor and perhaps use a regular coilover tower inside the frame to give me more height. I'm hoping this can give me a 70~80º angle and give a better range for the coilover to operate in.

I've already ordered some new parts and will be sending these back. Frustrating setback, but it's just how it goes with this. I just wish I didn't have to wait a whole week for the new parts. 'Till next time...

 

[2fpower]

Instead of cutting at the ball, could you just cut here, and then rotate it a few degrees?

 

[White Stripe]

I agree flex droop is more important than non flex droop. Instead of a center strap I would consider a small atv winch so that not only could it be used of limiting center droop, but also could be used as a suck down winch for when you have to go down steep decents you could suck the rear down, and could also be good for steep ascents to keep any excess anti squat from lifting the rear as you climb.

 

[kdxman]

Just a thought as I know nothing about building a suspension system. What about a cantilever system? that would fix the angle on the coilovers, but require a lot more work.

 

[mr jits]

I run a center limiting strap as well as one for each shock. I had the same thought process as you in that I'm not running at speed trying to jump the thing and I think I rely much more on articulation than anything else (my center strap limits due to driveshaft length). I've noticed nothing adverse from the center strap setup and have yet felt a need for a suckdown in the rear. That being said, I run captured coils which have much different manners than coil overs in regards to unloading.

 

[nukegoat]

It's amazing how much less motivated I am to do this vs when I did the 3 link in 2015. Career has changed significantly which means longer hours during the week which means I rarely touch the truck M-F. So I usually have a few hours to spare on the weekends if we don't have any plans. I can see why people pay to have this stuff done.

Try adding kids

 

[jcardona1]

Instead of cutting at the ball, could you just cut here, and then rotate it a few degrees?

I actually addressed this already over the last few days. I ended up tilting the truss back more and extended the upper wishbone. That gave me several more inches of droop and a bit less up-travel. I think it should be just enough to max out the coilovers - I hope.

I agree flex droop is more important than non flex droop. Instead of a center strap I would consider a small atv winch so that not only could it be used of limiting center droop, but also could be used as a suck down winch for when you have to go down steep decents you could suck the rear down, and could also be good for steep ascents to keep any excess anti squat from lifting the rear as you climb.

That would be a nice solution. I like what Nukegoat did. But I may be short of room depending on where/how I mount the coilovers. May have to be a project for down the road.

I run a center limiting strap as well as one for each shock. I had the same thought process as you in that I'm not running at speed trying to jump the thing and I think I rely much more on articulation than anything else (my center strap limits due to driveshaft length). I've noticed nothing adverse from the center strap setup and have yet felt a need for a suckdown in the rear. That being said, I run captured coils which have much different manners than coil overs in regards to unloading.

Good to know! Any pics of that setup?