Build Less is More - Frank, the ugly 80.

[BlueCruiser84]

The 5.29s well be a game changer

And you scored on the seats

On the seats - I know. Guy was parting a cloth ‘94 rig On Facebook and had another cruiser with terrible leather. I said, “man this leather is rough... Oh, do you want to trade these ratty old cloth seats for my leather? It would look great in here.” He was pumped. I was pumped. ThankS Facebook!

 

[Cruiserhead05]

I lengthened the rear lower control arms to get my pinion right and scootch the axle back a bit. I installed the @Delta VS panhard relocation bracket and some Dobinson front and rear coils thanks to @H8 Roads.

I really didn’t think the panhard relocation would make much difference. I didn’t realize how used to the rear end moving around I had gotten. I live on a windy back road and driving feel was totally different after the bracket. Very nice.

the Dobinsons are great springs as everyone here has heard. Their shocks are very nice too. Night and day difference between the new setup and my previous. No pictures. It still looks like a dented up 80 with a 4” lift.

Do you know which springs you ended up with? Lots of different various so would be curious is the model # tag was still on there. My old J's are tired.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Do you know which springs you ended up with? Lots of different various so would be curious is the model # tag was still on there. My old J's are tired.

They are the 4” Flexi coils front and rear with the recommended shocks.

Previously I had a cobbled together system with the cheapest stock length shocks I could find. This system rides very well. The 80s suspension feels better, to me, than my 2004 tacoma or our 2014 highlander. it really is a nice system. And the rear panhard bracket was a great addition - I didn’t realize how irritating that rear end shimmy was until it was gone.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Pushed the front axle forward an inch with the redline kit. I had already trimmed the front to take care of any rubbing issues so it was more for looks than anything else. I hate when the front axle gets pulled back upon lifting - looks like a guy with an overbite.

before

after

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I was having some vibrations after the 5.29 install. My rear driveshaft had a bunch of dents and spirals in it and the spline engagement in my slip yoke was borderline acceptable.

I had another shaft retubed with some heavy wall tube and lengthened 3/4”. She runs down the interstate as smooth as a, well, uh....it’s acceptable. Let’s leave it at that.

 

[Broski]

Pictures of the redline kit & your handy work ?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

@Broski hmm let’s see. I actually took pictures this time.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I left the Tattons shaft alone. I still have about 4” of spline engagement which is plenty. The slip joint on these shafts is like 7.5” long or something.

 

[Drillsmoke]

Frank is alive! I am Kevin, the new owner of Frank, and thought I would revive this thread with the permission of Brian (BlueCruiser84). Anywhoo here goes...

I have always been more into jeeps, but got the landcruiser bug two years ago when my cousin gave me a hj60 that he imported and then deemed too rusty for him to want to mess with. My wife and I drove it around VA for a summer camping and mountain biking, and I wheeled it once up at Big dogs but quickly came to the realization that It needed either a body, a top chop + a cage, or for me to... get another landcruiser without any rust!! I was in the middle of a never-ending cj based crawler build, and had a willys for street driving/mild wheeling, so when my wife told me she was pregnant with our first child my first reaction was to instantly start searching for a solid rig that could be morphed into a less-hardcore 4 door crawler. Enter Frank!

Biran and i have been good friends since our VT days, so we went back and forth a couple times and then i decided to trek from RVA to Staunton and buy a rig that I could hopefully take my wife and baby/child wheeling with.

Brian can attest to this, I LOVE BUYING TIRES. lol, so first thing i did when I got Frank home was order a set of (5) Maxxis Razrs in the 37x17 flavor. . The next week I added a badlands winch, I have had really good luck with an old school badlands 12k on my cj crawler, so I decided to give the new Apex a go as it was all the rage in budget winch world. Mounted the winch, and drove Frank and wheeled behind the local target all summer and fall. Fall came and went and then it was time for a baby to arrive.

Welp I waited around 5 months for the Maxxis tires to not show up before I finally called NTW up and asked for my dough back. My wife had our baby, and I soon found myself on the couch at 3 am with my laptop and a sleeping infant. I was gonna be cooped up for weeks, had just canceled my maxxis order, and didn't know what to do... Sooooo I bought (10) Cooper STT discoverers, 5 in the 12.5 flavor and 5 in the 13.5 flavor. I also ordered a set of steelie raceline beadlocks, and some other randdom doo dads.

So now I am at home, have a 1 week old, have figured out the baby sling around the chest thing and my tires and beadlocks start showing up. que some pics....

Paint booth in the backyard in December, couldn't have asked for better weather!

 

[Drillsmoke]

Whoever said you cant mount beadlocks and torque 3,000,000 bolts with a 2 week old baby strapped to you clearly is either way smarter than me, or just plain lazy!

 

[Drillsmoke]

mmmmmmmmm, went with 3.5" backspacing wheels and the 13.5s. It was a good choice, I like a little wider stance, and I thought this would be a good width for something that would end up getting wheeled pretty hard.

 

[Drillsmoke]

So now I had a winch, beadlocks and some proper good tires so I decided to cruise the rig all winter and spring. It handled nicely on the street, but offroad it def needed lower case gears and hydro, skid plates would be nice, and so would RCVs in the rear. soooo thats what I did next! Now considering that I have 3 other high-maintenance rigs at this point a time-intensive job and an infant I called up Ted Szego in Mechanicsville to see if he wanted to do some work for me. I had already measured for a Ram and had PSC shorten a 10" travel ram down to 9.75", I had a fresh set of RCVs sitting in the shop and Brian sold me a set of case gears with the cruiser, so all I needed to do was take Ted the rig with the ram, gears, shafts and some 3/16" steel plate and let him get to work. Pics of all this coming up next...

 

[davidp14]

Gald to see frank is being well cared for. I was told however he was getting 1 tons and 40s.

anybody that can set beadlocks with a baby strapped to their chest is more man than me

 

[matzell]

Ted does good work, I am sure he will take care of you.

 

[Drillsmoke]

Ted does good work, I am sure he will take care of you.

Oh he did! And Rob this is Kevin, you did the guages in my white ls swapped cj7 crawler a couple years back. You gonna be at the clcc fall crawl at the cove?

 

[Drillsmoke]

View attachment 3132782

Gald to see frank is being well cared for. I was told however he was getting 1 tons and 40s.

anybody that can set beadlocks with a baby strapped to their chest is more man than me

Hahaha, dont think the thought hasnt crossed my mind! However, i probably will just wheel this thing w/ stock axles and 37s, (38 sxs if i get dumber than i am already) and drive it on the street a bunch. Although i do really want to build an ls swapped 60 on tons, but that is a couple years out.

 

[matzell]

Oh he did! And Rob this is Kevin, you did the guages in my white ls swapped cj7 crawler a couple years back. You gonna be at the clcc fall crawl at the cove?

That was a nice rig. Yes. I will be at FC. I plan to bring my little FJ40.