I have 7K to build up my 80 and need advice (1 Viewer)

[Guambomb]

I've been reading these boards for a couple of years off and on and finally deciding to modify my rig.

I have a 94 Geen FJ80 with lockers that I'm going to build up. I was trying to find one already built but couldn't find the right one so I'll just do mine. I have it in the shop right now getting the axle's gone through and I'm having new seals installed and royal purple in the diffs. I want it to look good and perform great. Below is a list of what I'm thinking about installing. What do you think?


1. OME heavy Load 2.5" Kit - $850.00
2. ARB Deluxe Bumper - $850.
3. Warn M12000 - $1100
4. 5 Mickey Thompson MTZ Tires, 33 x 12.50 - $950
5. Safari Snorkle - $380
6. Front and rear mounted lights - ??? $500
7. Some type of rear bumper with tire carier and can holder - $1500
8. Slee SliderSteps - $845

 

[chibo]

What are you goals?

 

[Romer]

Personally, I would do the following

1. OME Heavy 2.5"
2. Sliders
3. Tires
4. ARB Winch Bumper
5. Rear Bumper

The rest can be added later but the winch would be next.

I have PIAA lights and haven't really used them much in 3 years. Lights would be last and I would put an engel frig/freezer and Ham radio ahead of the lights and snorkel.

 

[knorrena]

head gasket, valve seals, valve cover gasket, air compressor, dual batteries, and tunes.


Karl

 

[Guambomb]

What are you goals?

I have 10 acres about an 1.5 east of me in the boonies. I will be going out there alot on the weekends to camp. An hour of the drive will be freeway with the remaining half hour off road. The road has lots of mud holes and one small stream to cross. I figured the snorkle might come in handy if I'm out there when a bad rain storm comes in and I have to go back across the stream. I'd like the ride to be decent on the freeway while still getting the best traction I can out of the tires/suspension when offroad. There is one pretty steep rocky area I have to go down/up right next to the stream.

 

[Nay]

I have 10 acres about an 1.5 east of me in the boonies. I will be going out there alot on the weekends to camp. An hour of the drive will be freeway with the remaining half hour off road. The road has lots of mud holes and one small stream to cross. I figured the snorkle might come in handy if I'm out there when a bad rain storm comes in and I have to go back across the stream. I'd like the ride to be decent on the freeway while still getting the best traction I can out of the tires/suspension when offroad. There is one pretty steep rocky area I have to go down/up right next to the stream.

I think you hit it about right for $7K. Baseline your maintenance, put on a moderate lift and a huge winch since you are out alone, quality step sliders, and add lights. I'd stay out of your stream alone if it is running hard enough to need a snorkel.

With a mind to fabrication, you could save a lot of money to go towards your maintenance baseline. Bumpers are sliders alone are eating $3K easily. You could PM your headgasket just by skipping the rear bumper and running a narrower spare in the stock location. Or, if you aren't locked, get locked.

 

[bugsnbikes]

Given your parameters......If good highway manners- miles per gallon- camping- occasional water crossing- mudddddddd--

-definitely stick with 255/85 tires. Better mpg/lighter/road friendly than wider meats and probably better in the mud than wider meats and you will get true 33.4" of height with a nice highway and offroad performance even with MT's (BFG or TRXUS)

-with 255/85s' you could go with 1.25"spacers from Marlin if you plan to keep your flares and get a bit more stability which is great for on road performance and any stability offroad. If you lose flares for tight trails...skip the spacers and scrap the flares.

- keep the weight down- DONT GO ARB-or Warn12k-save about 100lbs with a Slee shortbus bumper--warn 8k and synthetic rope. ARB is just overkill imho---a shortbus will kill a deer or small american car just the same and do it with alot less weight.

- No need to do 2.5"lift for your parameters. With 255/s OME low lift with 1.25" spacers gives plenty of clearance for the 255s....and close to 3" of real lift over the stock saggy springs. This allows you to go with the great stock Tokiko/Toy shocks from CDAN at $125. AGAIN unless you plan to need clearance for big rocks/35s- 2.5" lift is just more money not needed. Theres a big difference between a rocky wash---and big arse rocker crushing boulders.

- Also no need for sliders unless you feel you will be doing more rock stuff that could potentially bang up the body. save yourself 170lbs if you can........

HG- $1500
Fridge-$700
OME low lift+1.25spacers- $400
shocks-cdan- $125
Slee shortbus- $1000
Warn 8k synth rope- $700
255/85s- $800
****rest of $$$ on things you may or may not need like:
oba
Webasto or Espar heater- *if you do any cold weather in cab camping
some type of water transport if needed- MSR dromedarys/ jugs-custom tank with pump.
RTT possibly
rear storage system

YOu might check out the Expedition Portal since your needs are far more oriented to Expedition type setup than the Crawling/Offroad bias you might find more of here. The weight issue of things like ARB/sliders/etc although seem to be a paltry difference REALLY add up in the end. If you dont mind driving around with a super sluggish(10mpg) behemoth at 6-7k+ before loading camping equipment.......you will be insuring more wear and tear on drivetrain/suspension and end up with a flexy rattlebox in no time.
If you focus on keeping weight down- and designing your rig for your needs you will see that the money you have left over can go to things that are suited to your needs like RTT / Deep cycle batt system/ heaters/ shower system/ water system/ all which can come at a pretty penny if you feel they are useful to your situation.

The only reason to consider the 2.5"lift would be if you see more tall rocks/boulders and water crossings over 36" depth. With the low lift OME /255s and 1.25"shims---your distance to fender top is 38.25". Go measure your stocker- and see how much difference that really is without going to 2.5" and you might be surprised.

You are already locked! and with some MTs-even on stock saggy springs---you have one of the most capable rigs off the shelf. Everything else should simply be geared toward maintaing durability/longevity/and usefullness to suit YOUR purpose. Adding a ton of weight where not needed is the first step in going the direction away from durability/longevity/ driveability. One of the beauties of this vehicle is the awesome combination of on road driveability and offroad prowess- and it just takes a bit of thinking outside the box to keep it that way.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

I am also in the process of outfitting my cruiser for basic wheeling, family road trips and towing.
I am choosing to baseline everything. (for me this means also stripping all the useless crap off the cruiser like factory running boards, roof rack and flares.
My cruiser had ome medium lift when I bought it so I will make do with the suspension for the time being. i think the most important items to be dealt with are the
1. cdl mod
2. sliders
3. tcase skidplate
4. low profile allen head diff plugs
5. tires
New bumpers and lots of other stuff are also on my wish list but will have to wait till I get more cash.
Lucky me the po already extended the axle breathers and added an angle iron powersteering line protector

 

[Tapage]

I would do ...

1. J springs front 863 rear ( level kit )

2. 315 tires of your choose ..

3. R&P 4.88

4. Front bumper

5. Winch

6. Rear Bumper

7. Snorkel

 

[Atticus]

If you're talking about just ten acres, I would buy some sliders, some mud tires, and spend the rest on gas.

 

[hawkeye]

get the T-case skid it is only like $150, and I alwas hit my t case.

 

[CodyRx7]

I would try to make it bigger than mine.

 

[ranma21]

Hey Guambomb,

I just imported some rear bumper with tire/fuel carrier. Few more left. Thought you might be interested.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/207856-rear-bumper-tire-fuel-carrier.html

Cheers'

Lim

 

[ranma21]

With all that mod, you will have an ultimate offroad machine. I would go with all the maintenance service first. You might want to consider the other version of Slee slider, I have both. The Sleestep will be good for daily driving. Personally I prefer the other one for offroading. Probably a roofrack and dual battery mod down the road.

 

[CruiserLegolas]

GuamBomb,

Your list looks good. Doing a 2.5" lift and staying with 33" tires saves you some money because you don't need to re-gear and you don't need to replace all the other suspension related parts required when you go higher than 2.5" lift.

Since you want the heavy suspension, then you need to stay loaded to avoid a stiff ride. You are loading up with the heavy front bumper and winch, sliders, and rear bumper w/tire and gas cans. You'll be carrying cargo too, so you are good.

If I had the cash to do mods, this is what I would do:

1. OME Mediums
2. ShortBus Front Bumper
3. Warn X9.5 with synthetic rope
4. Hanna or Slee sliders
5. 285/75 Revos

Post pictures of your before and after mods...

 

[Doc]

255/85 tires, low lift, sliders, shortbus bumper with 8k winch and syn rope, one of ranma21's rear bumpers, and skip the snorkel until later.

I 2nd the motion of staying out of any stream that requires the use of the snorkel. Un-doubtedly it would be much faster moving and may push you down stream quickly. The only way I'd cross a fast moving stream like I'm imagining would be to toss your winch line across to a buddy first. But, running an electric winch under water is dicey at best.

 

[jfz80]

- keep the weight down- DONT GO ARB-or Warn12k-save about 100lbs with a Slee shortbus bumper--warn 8k and synthetic rope. ARB is just overkill imho---a shortbus will kill a deer or small american car just the same and do it with alot less weight.

but that dead deer may then crash your radiator/grill/lights, roll over your hood, and then try and join you in the drive seat
unlikely, yes, impossible, no....especially if your lower

- No need to do 2.5"lift for your parameters. With 255/s OME low lift with 1.25" spacers gives plenty of clearance for the 255s....and close to 3" of real lift over the stock saggy springs. This allows you to go with the great stock Tokiko/Toy shocks from CDAN at $125. AGAIN unless you plan to need clearance for big rocks/35s- 2.5" lift is just more money not needed. Theres a big difference between a rocky wash---and big arse rocker crushing boulders.

for a very similar price you could have the 2.5 and i think youll find the ride a bit smoother in your rocky section than a spacer ride.(trdparts4u just had J kit shipped for 589) The above may be best for you, just sayin dont make it a $ based decision.

- Also no need for sliders unless you feel you will be doing more rock stuff that could potentially bang up the body. save yourself 170lbs if you can........

except the first oops can be quite pricey, and they are nice to stand on when washing or in/out if lifted.

Everyone has a different use and need for their 80 as you can see from the above suggestions. I dont aim to bash bugs suggestions, just playin devil's advocate here for a moment. I definately agree to:
PM
tires
armor
winch
lift
and then based on decisions made, you may do some driveline upgrades, whether gears, or panhards or what not.
BUGS--- whats your measurement to the fender flare from ctr of hub? just curious so we can compare similar stats.

 

[TX80Fan]

I've been reading these boards for a couple of years off and on and finally deciding to modify my rig.

I have a 94 Geen FJ80 with lockers that I'm going to build up. I was trying to find one already built but couldn't find the right one so I'll just do mine. I have it in the shop right now getting the axle's gone through and I'm having new seals installed and royal purple in the diffs. I want it to look good and perform great. Below is a list of what I'm thinking about installing. What do you think?


1. OME heavy Load 2.5" Kit - $850.00
2. ARB Deluxe Bumper - $850.
3. Warn M12000 - $1100
4. 5 Mickey Thompson MTZ Tires, 33 x 12.50 - $950
5. Safari Snorkle - $380
6. Front and rear mounted lights - ??? $500
7. Some type of rear bumper with tire carier and can holder - $1500
8. Slee SliderSteps - $845

Pretty dang good list for starters...don't forget to baseline all the fluids, check belts, blue fan clutch, radiator coolant swap to Toyota Red, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Also, get a CDL switch, OEM hand throttle for ramping up the engine during winching and do the Pin-7 mod...you're set!

I'll go out on a limb here and say to stick with the ARB and M12000...and keep the supplied steel cable with the winch

Remember, it's not a race car...it will be impossible to get a speeding ticket you'll be so heavy and slow (like a tank)

 

[Guambomb]

Thanks for all the feedback. I will do some research on the suggestions and start ordering my parts this week. Lim, I
like the rear bumper. I'll shoot you a PM. I'll do the lift
and tires first and then start on the bumpers.

I definitely want to do the center diff switch too. I'm stll a little confusedon that. The slee website says it's just plug and play but
from searching this site, it looks a little more difficult than
that. Maybe I'm getting that mixed up with the 7 pin mod?
Here's a couple of before pics:

 

[bugsnbikes]

Everyone has a different use and need for their 80 as you can see from the above suggestions. I dont aim to bash bugs suggestions, just playin devil's advocate here for a moment. I definately agree to:
PM
tires
armor
winch
lift
and then based on decisions made, you may do some driveline upgrades, whether gears, or panhards or what not.
BUGS--- whats your measurement to the fender flare from ctr of hub? just curious so we can compare similar stats.

Not sure about hte measure from the hub center- will go grab a tape and find that out.