How much "abuse" is too much?

[Tools R Us]

... C pillars at the bottom where the glass ends. ...

I thought, by this age all of them that have been wheeled would have the typical center of the C pillar crack. It's very common, I thought it was a standard feature?

 

[Tools R Us]

That reminds me, my panhard mount is cracked.

Oh my, you are destructive,,, welcome to the club!

 

[Alleycats]

Maybe your mechanic friends are more familiar with a unibody design where tweaking the frame could be pretty easy really, but Land Cruiser is body on frame with solid front and rear axles so bending the frame would be hard to do from just driving.

 

[Dave 2000]

I thought, by this age all of them that have been wheeled would have the typical center of the C pillar crack. It's very common, I thought it was a standard feature?

I think you are right here, it has not happened on mine yet, but I keep loads on the full length roof rack spread out so hoping to avoid them happening.

regards

Dave

 

[MDarius]

Here's a link to a definitive C pillar thread

 

[Dave 2000]

Here's a link to a definitive C pillar thread

Nice one MDarius, the ones I have seen have been on the earlier models but note the later versions also have issues. The B pillar has also seen some cracking, in particular on a late friends 1990 model from Germany. I know that year may seem odd for those in Europe but, I can confirm it was registered in that year, it had cracks B and C. He spent a lot of time off road with a fully loaded (full length) rack.......................oh oh, the same one I purchased from his missus last year...along with the RTT!

Regards

Dave


(Dave 2000 logs off and is seen taking a fast stroll down towards the garage).................................................

 

[702FZJ80]

That pic you posted is mostly suspension articulation but if you want to see how much of your frame is working too, try opening all the doors. If they won't open then you know you might be flexed a little too much. LOL I would think any actual damage would come from high speed maneuvers, not slowly crawling and letting the truck do it's thing.

 

[inkpot]

My first rules is; keep at least two tires on the ground, they don't fly well, too heavy, often doesn't end well. I sometimes like the high speed dirt road/sand wash stuff, but doesn't take much of a screw up to break the first rule and long term is hard on the rig. Most low speed stuff, crawling, wheel lifting (posing), twisting it up, doesn't appear to have significant frame/body integrity effect.

Most of what we see is from long term, constant hard use. They are heavy enough, more weight = higher chance and sooner possibility of wear/fatigue.

I figure if it ain't broke , then you have not really abused it. On the other hand, to back up Tool's theory, I launched my rig thru a huge hole, in the dark, at speeds over 30 mph. Had all 4 wheels in the air for several car lengths. I did not go back and measure . It porpoised really bad: came down WAY hard on the front wheels, way off the trail! Engine was still running and no sound or smell indicating the fan had been into the radiator, so I drove back onto the trail and all seemed fine, so I drove on. I did notice my steering seemed a bit loose, like bad toe in and I had some new noises, but quite drivable. Still wondering how I missed seeing that hole?? Final damage report: split all 4 lower bushings on the radius arms. Bowed the tie rod, found some slop on the drivers side TRE, and bent the front axle housing about 2 degrees. Not only have I felt it is OK to drive around town since the event, but i have also taken it out wheeling twice since. I am pretty sure most other comparable vehicles would not have come home on their own power. Just my humble opinion.

Note of Irony: I was just starting to return home after rescuing a good friend from a bad stuck when this happened . Fate DOES have a sense of humor occasionally! John

 

[MDarius]

I figure if it ain't broke , then you have not really abused it. On the other hand, to back up Tool's theory, I launched my rig thru a huge hole, in the dark, at speeds over 30 mph. Had all 4 wheels in the air for several car lengths. I did not go back and measure . It porpoised really bad: came down WAY hard on the front wheels, way off the trail! Engine was still running and no sound or smell indicating the fan had been into the radiator, so I drove back onto the trail and all seemed fine, so I drove on. I did notice my steering seemed a bit loose, like bad toe in and I had some new noises, but quite drivable. Still wondering how I missed seeing that hole?? Final damage report: split all 4 lower bushings on the radius arms. Bowed the tie rod, found some slop on the drivers side TRE, and bent the front axle housing about 2 degrees. Not only have I felt it is OK to drive around town since the event, but i have also taken it out wheeling twice since. I am pretty sure most other comparable vehicles would not have come home on their own power. Just my humble opinion.

Note of Irony: I was just starting to return home after rescuing a good friend from a bad stuck when this happened . Fate DOES have a sense of humor occasionally! John

See?? Now, THIS is what I'm talking about. For a vehicle that is not my primary commuter, just a weekend war machine, I think this is an acceptable amount of damage for an extreme situation. I wouldn't have WANTED to bend the front axle, but could deal with it. If damage extended to mounts that needed to be welded or a bent frame that would have reached "too much" for me.
For my daily driver, that's already "too much".
Overall, for the vehicle, all those things can be replaced so it's not too much.

"Too much" for the truck, imho, is when the truck is held together with license plates and insulating foam or bandaid stitch welds and things are still off "a couple of degrees." When it can't be reasonably returned to "right" instead of "good enough". Then you drive it into the ground and give it a proper send off.

 

[Tugarin]

@Tugarin, are you in the oil fields?

What kind of "commute" are you doing where 2:3 trucks are seeing serious wear issues?

I work for a company who works with oil, gas, mining and other companies remotely located and pretty much there are no roads literally. And not only in Kazakhstan, but whole Central Asia. So it is mountainous, desert, steppe roads. I do have company's 3 liter TD 150 Prado 2015 - it does not seem to coupe well with these roads so I use mine 80. Company covers all expenses on maintenance.

He's in Kazakhstan, last time I checked.

Think "very few real roads" and those that do exist are in s*** shape.

Not really, we do have good roads between cities, the problem is I do not go to the cities. I travel in completely different areas.

 

[120mm]

Those views kind of remind us of how insubstantial man is, huh?

 

[Dave 2000]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Oh yes.

regards

Dave

 

[Tugarin]

My 80 never let me down on these roads when you have no human in radius of 300 KMs, and when it's below 42 or +45 Celsius. Good maintenance and TLC can get you anywhere.

 

[120mm]

I grew up in the American Midwest and have felt an affinity for Central Asia since the early '70s. A local guy The Geoconsultant | Dr. John (Jack) Shroder worked/works as a geologist all through out the region and one of my best friends was in the Peace Corps in Iran/Afghanistan.

My wife has friends in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

I tried to go there in the mid-80s, but only got as far as Moscow. Met my wife, though (also an American), so it wasn't a complete loss. Finally got to go myself and worked between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 2009-2012, evaluating infrastructure projects for the US .gov as well as various NGOs.

I'm always looking for an excuse to go back, btw....

 

[Tugarin]

Finally got to go myself and worked between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 2009-2012,

By the irony I travel all these places, know most of all the roads and mountain passes in that area. Spring is coming and will be a beautiful views of fields of poppies, green mountains - it is perfect time to be there in next 4-6 weeks. Aaaaand I will be there

 

[landtoy80]

Those pic look like Wyoming oil field pic to me.

 

[TexasJack]

I have owned my rig since 1997. I wheeled it stock until 2010. I was lucky I never damaged anything other than the running boards.

The smart approach is to build protection into your vehicle. In the picture you have no sliders (so you are putting the rocker panel at risk everytime you wheel it) and you have a stock rear bumper (which puts the rear end of the body at risk). You probably don't have a skid plate over your tranfer case and transmission either. By adding these components, you protect the parts of the vehicle most likely to suffer damage when you wheel. It is prudent to add them if you plan to wheel in any challenging environment. If you don't have lockers and plan to wheel aggressively, I would add them. The other thing to consider is a lift and larger tires. Many people will tell you a 2.5 inch lift and 33s are good enough and they are probably right. Higher lifts simply reduce the scrapping on the equipment mentioned above.

Acceptable wheeling damage always comes down to a personal philosophy. I fixed up my TLC to ensure I could get where I was going and get back home. I hunt/wheel in some challenging environments so I built my truck accordingly. If I can take an easier route to get somewhere that isn't considerably longer, I will do so to reduce exposing my TLC to unnecessary damage. I do NOT seek out the biggest challenge to prove to myself I can overcome it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking that approach but over time, you will accumulate damage. If I planned to take that approach to wheeling, I'd build a rock crawler from the frame up and I'd tow it to the location I planned to wheel.

With that said, I have crossed many "challenging" mountain passes with ease. a TLC is an awesome vehicle. I did Black Bear pass on the way from Ouray to Telluride and never touched the bottom of the vehicle. It wasn't really a challenge at all. Many people have done this pass in a stock TLC so you don't have to baby it to have fun in it.