Gary's Cruiser Build

[Cruising Canuck]

Picked up a fantastic package today.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Picked up a fantastic package today.

Are those the new BFG ATs? Curious to see if they start cracking out in the center like the rest of late.... I hope this was just a build date issue that they have figured out and corrected.

I will be going with Cooper's because of this issue.....

GL,

J

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Are those the new BFG ATs? Curious to see if they start cracking out in the center like the rest of late.... I hope this was just a build date issue that they have figured out and corrected.

I will be going with Cooper's because of this issue.....

GL,

J

Thanks for that info J, I did some research just now and I can't seem to find if all tires are affected or just a certain size or production date.
I dont know if that cracking would cause any serious issues, but it sure does lower your confidence in the tire, you dont want those tires failing on the highway

They were the only tire offered in 33 10.5 r15 where i am. I will keep a sharp eye on them

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Not sure what sizes/dates are affected. But centers start to crack out at the 5-10K mile mark.

Just a heads up and something to watch for. There is a thread in the tire section on the issue.

J

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Got the truck on jack stands for the suspension swap.



Got the rears out last night, the one pin was seriously stuck, I ended up grinding it out.



The Ome springs are significantly bigger than the originals, i was kinda shocked by the size difference




Unfortunately my one shackle kit is missing pieces, the closest parts place is 2 hours away, and it's going to be 1-2 weeks to order it in from California.
That's going to lay up the truck for longer than expected.
I'm debating s***ty rigging a shackle out of the old leaf spring

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Also, I've done many coil over spring swaps, and a couple suspensions with a separate coil spring and shock. The shocks have always rebounded when compressed. These shocks only damped in the rebound direction,

http://vid1107.photobucket.com/albums/h388/gary_perkins_86/LC Rebuild/20160803_192720.mp4

Is this normal? Do most shocks on leaf sprung vehicles act like this?

 

[onemanarmy]

Those are your old shocks? They are worn out.

the shouldn't violently pop back when compressed, but should come back to static pretty quick

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Okay, so I reused my old shackles while I wait for some pieces in the mail. It took significantly longer to install the rear springs than I figured. For some reason I couldn't get the passenger spring to line up with the axle.

It's a little concerning how tight the flexible brake line is with the springs at full extension.

How important are the rubber isolators that surround the springs? I measured poorly and cut my u bolts too short, so I removed the bottom rubber isolator. Is this going to give me any issue's. Is it worth buying new u bolts to have that isolator?

Here's my obligatory pictures of the rears done... ish

 

[cruiserpilot]

Lots of people remove the original factory rubber spring isolators. So it's not a big deal. I've left mine on
only because they are still mint but I wouldn't lose sleep over them missing.
I took a photo of my 5 yrs old OME med and new OME med springs and there was a 1" difference. Doesn't take
long for them to settle.
What is your source for the OME inversion shackles? Seems like too long to get them shipped in, unless the cost is
an issue.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Lots of people remove the original factory rubber spring isolators. So it's not a big deal. I've left mine on
only because they are still mint but I wouldn't lose sleep over them missing.
I took a photo of my 5 yrs old OME med and new OME med springs and there was a 1" difference. Doesn't take
long for them to settle.
What is your source for the OME inversion shackles? Seems like too long to get them shipped in, unless the cost is
an issue.

Thanks for the info on the isolators. I was a bit worried. I live in ontario canada. Getting parts is a royal pain, it takes a long time and they are 2 times as expensive, It had to try 3 different suppliers of FJ60 suspension before I stumbled across a place sorta local. Truck Parts & Jeep Parts - Lift Kits, Winches, Tonneau Covers, Tires, Wheels, Bumpers, Performance – 4 Wheel Parts
I can't even get them shipped quicker because it's a warranty thing, it has to go through their system

I gotta say, owning a vehicle like this would be extremely difficult without the internet, I don't know how guys did it back in the day.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Here is a online stock parts supplier. I just ordered some little hardware bits from Japan. I'll let you know what the experience
of dealing with them is like when the parts arrive. It's totally online, but they have every stock part you could need.
Spare parts for Automobile Toyota LAND CRUISER/LAND CRUISER PRADO | Buy spare parts for automobiles and moto equipment from Japan at reasonable prices in MegaZip online shop.

In Canada,
4WheelAuto in Edmonton
Radd Cruisers in Duncan
North Shore Off Road in N Vancouver has a guy who is more land cruiser oriented. But it's hit and miss getting him
That being said, I've always had good luck in my dealing ( OME springs, shackles, etc ) and were good price and they ship.

I would have thought there was a larger off road community retail that would be more helpful in Ontario, but rust never sleeps
and I think most people move on to newer stuff.

 

[cruisedeisel]

Everything you done is awesome work. BUT these welds. Dont go to fast over any speed bumps.

I just moved last month so the progress on this build has slowed right down. But I did manage to do one exciting thing.

I made up a little fixture for holding the engine mounts inline for when I cut them out and transplant them into the fj frame

This is a pic of the freshly welded mounts. Welding vertically is quite difficult, so the welds are not pretty. But they will do

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Here is a online stock parts supplier. I just ordered some little hardware bits from Japan. I'll let you know what the experience
of dealing with them is like when the parts arrive. It's totally online, but they have every stock part you could need.
Spare parts for Automobile Toyota LAND CRUISER/LAND CRUISER PRADO | Buy spare parts for automobiles and moto equipment from Japan at reasonable prices in MegaZip online shop.

In Canada,
4WheelAuto in Edmonton
Radd Cruisers in Duncan
North Shore Off Road in N Vancouver has a guy who is more land cruiser oriented. But it's hit and miss getting him
That being said, I've always had good luck in my dealing ( OME springs, shackles, etc ) and were good price and they ship.

I would have thought there was a larger off road community retail that would be more helpful in Ontario, but rust never sleeps
and I think most people move on to newer stuff.

Thanks, I've dealt with radd a few times now and 4wheel auto. And you are totally right about the state of offroad in Ontario. The only vehicles are wranglers. Rust claims the rest within 10 years, or the classic vehicles are kept in immaculate condition in garages, never trail ridden. And there is no aftermarket here for anything other than Jeep.

I really like wranglers, but variety is the flavor of life. I have always had the need to not conform

Everything you done is awesome work. BUT these welds. Dont go to fast over any speed bumps.

Booger welds extraordinaire, I agree those welds are garbage, but I don't think the welds are structural in that place. They seem to just hold the motor mounts in place, I don't think they hold any weight of the motor. I actually didn't weld them, but i realized at that moment that I need to learn how to weld to prevent that on future projects.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Made some more progress the last few nights. I have finished the suspension and moved onto rebuilding the front knuckles.



I can't wait to see how it looks on it's wheels.

The knuckle rebuild is going quite well. Fairly straight forward, just messy. I got one side taken apart and almost clean.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I finished up the knuckle rebuild and finished replacing all the tie rods. I have a universal on the steering shaft that has a bit of play. Once all that is done it should ride like a dream.





Then I burned it pretty late finalizing the cargo area. I bought a cheap piece of carpet to throw back there until I replace all the carpets.
The only problem with cheap carpet is that the ends aren't bound and it will unravel and fall apart. A really cheap fix is to use hot glue on the ends to bind it. Works perfectly, just looks a little bad.




I'm taking the truck to the shop today to get an alignment and the exhaust re-worked.

 

[klinetime574]

Good work so far. No biggie on missing the spring isolators. I took mine out when I installed my OME suspension back in '07.

To note on those brake lines: The stock lines are not long enough if you ever droop that tire closest to the brake line. I would replace the frame to axle lines on front and rear with extended lines. Keep rubber or go SS. You should be able to source something in your area.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Here is the cargo area before and after. I spent about $120 refurbishing it.
I am going to make aluminum panels with storage, the plastic is just for prototyping / short term solution.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Good work so far. No biggie on missing the spring isolators. I took mine out when I installed my OME suspension back in '07.

To note on those brake lines: The stock lines are not long enough if you ever droop that tire closest to the brake line. I would replace the frame to axle lines on front and rear with extended lines. Keep rubber or go SS. You should be able to source something in your area.

I noticed the rear brake line issue, I had the spring at full extension and the line was as tight as a banjo string.

My front flex lines have a tiny bit of cracking. So this winter I am going to replace all the lines with ss

Right now the drivers side suspension is pretty level, but the rear passenger spring is about 1" taller than the driver side. I hope it will settle out.
The truck drives amazingly smooth with the new springs and new rubber, it's nice not smashing off the bumpstops all the time.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

I took the truck on a shake down cruise off-road. The OME suspension is very good, I was quite hesitant to buy it, but I am very glad I did. T totally transformed the driving dynamic of the truck.


I will be leaving for the Yukon on thursday,
It will be about 15000km of driving round trip, should be a good one.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Loaded the truck up and put down about 1200km first day. As we were pulling into the campground the northern lights turned on. It was spectacular



I onlyused my cellphone camera, and the results are good enough for me