Builds Lumpskie's Diesel 80 build (1 Viewer)

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Made more progress on the Land Cruiser. The drivelines were still making noise, so I decided to grease them properly this time. So I pulled the skid plates off... they were covered in dry mud. So, I cleaned that up:

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Since I was in there, I decided to complete a mod that I had been meaning to do for a while. I installed rubber isolation pads to prevent galvanic corrosion between the aluminum and steel.

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Then, I painted up all the steel in the interface with the frame sliders:

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I greased up the u-joints and drive shafts too. This time, I gave the u joints a lot of grease. I used the needle fitting to get the inboard u joints. I'm now getting almost no sound or vibration. I'm going to put some miles on the cruiser and see if the u joints settle in at their new angle. If not, I'll order up some new ones.
 
I ran the infamous "Angry Trout Guy" trail with the Exploring New Hampshire guys this weekend. It was a lot of fun and, even though the trail was incredibly narrow and difficult, the Land Cruiser made it through without any damage or needing to winch! Our route leader was a Jeep and I had to give him a hard time here:



Here are a couple shots I grabbed:

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And here are a few more scenic shots showing the "softer side" of Angry Trout Guy.

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So, I attended Fall Crawl this past weekend. Of course, getting there couldn't be a smooth and easy thing because that's just not my style. So, driving home from work on Friday, I heard a quickish squeal and smelled burning rubber. I pulled of the highway, fully believing it was another car and not me. Sure enough, a quick peek under the hood showed that I was missing an alternator belt. I gingerly drove home and inspected the remaining alternator belt. It was pretty beat up, with teeth missing in a number of spots. Also the AC belt was flipped upside down. I gave @beno a call and he immediately sprang into action. He had my belts in stock and I could hear him packaging them as we spoke on the phone. Per his advice I (obviously) fixed the AC belt and added a little extra tension to the remaining alternator belt. He said I should be ok to attend the run, so I made that my plan. On the way to the run, I stopped by my local O'Reilly Auto and picked up a Gates 11A1005, which they listed as a Gates 7395. I kept it in my rig... just in case.

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Wifey, is 8+ months pregnant but she insisted on coming on this trip. She wouldn't take no for an answer. (this actually makes me happy) So, she, my 3 year old son and I headed into the woods using the remaining beat up belt. When we got to Fall Crawl, there were probably around 50 rigs there... it was busy. Soon we hit the trail. From the start, I could tell our group was really comprised of 2 mini groups and we didn't mesh well. So, 2 Tacomas and I decided that we would venture off on our own. It was one guy from Queens NY, who was wheeling his '96 Tacoma for the first time, my friend Kevin and me. This was a great decision. We hit some decent trails, saw some great fall colors and kept whatever pace felt right. We talked the new guy through the obstacles and I got to have a wheeling day where I never engaged a locker! It was fun to have a more laid back trip and I got to play around with the Slinky setup a bit more... I really like this setup. Here are some pictures:

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There was one spot where I got to stretch the Slinky's legs a bit. I was still open diffs and not flexed out.

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Here's a little perspective on my door sill height on the obstacle for perspective. I'm pretty happy with the Slinkys and have some ideas to improve flex for next year.

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Best choice on the front bumper, and the light option look sweet.
 
Best choice on the front bumper, and the light option look sweet.
Thanks! I smile every time I walk up to my Cruiser with that bumper on there... the quality is so good. (As I'm sure you do too)
 
The attention to detail and custom work Rich put into his Bumpers is just Amazing. Mine has taken some really hard hit with nothing more then a few scratches. I really like it. THANKS Costa Fabs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ack. I got my new belts from @beno and they look great. I removed all my old belts and am trying to get my new alternator belts on. I loosened the adjuster on the alternator all the way out and loosened the bolt that keeps that adjuster in place. I also loosened the bolt that the alternator pivots on below. The new belts are sooo close to making it all the way on but it's just too tight. I've tried pushing on the alternator to get a little more slack with no avail. Do any of you 1HDT guys have any hints or tips to make my life easier here? (@IanB @mudgudgeon )
 
With everything loose, maybe a few smacks with a rubber mallet to get it to swing far enough over so the belts can be slipped on? Maybe a shot of WD40 on the pivot point, and work it back and forth a bit? It sounds to me like you've loosened off everything you should need to, it's likely just that those belts haven't been changed in a very long time.
 
A buddy put together a much better video for the run:



I see you guys running these red sand ladders a fair bit on your last trip, I've been looking at them for snow wheeling usage, they are pretty cheap on amazon.

Do you have any comments on their quality or durability and if you'd buy them again?
 
Ack. I got my new belts from @beno and they look great. I removed all my old belts and am trying to get my new alternator belts on. I loosened the adjuster on the alternator all the way out and loosened the bolt that keeps that adjuster in place. I also loosened the bolt that the alternator pivots on below. The new belts are sooo close to making it all the way on but it's just too tight. I've tried pushing on the alternator to get a little more slack with no avail. Do any of you 1HDT guys have any hints or tips to make my life easier here? (@IanB @mudgudgeon )

You can't just get a little of the belt over the edge of the crank pulley and just bump the starter? That normally works well for those stubborn belts that won't go on that last bit, at least on the 1fz-fe.
 
With everything loose, maybe a few smacks with a rubber mallet to get it to swing far enough over so the belts can be slipped on? Maybe a shot of WD40 on the pivot point, and work it back and forth a bit? It sounds to me like you've loosened off everything you should need to, it's likely just that those belts haven't been changed in a very long time.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a little WD40 tonight. I'll also pull that little skid plate off the bottom and see if I can gently bump the alternator a bit to get it to move more. It's good to know I didn't miss a bolt or something holding it in place!
 
You can't just get a little of the belt over the edge of the crank pulley and just bump the starter? That normally works well for those stubborn belts that won't go on that last bit, at least on the 1fz-fe.

I can't quite get the belt to position itself on the pulley. But I was thinking about trying that last night... just need to be sure I can get the first belt all the way into its back slot!
 
I see you guys running these red sand ladders a fair bit on your last trip, I've been looking at them for snow wheeling usage, they are pretty cheap on amazon.

Do you have any comments on their quality or durability and if you'd buy them again?

I have been repeatedly surprised and impressed with those cheap amazon specials. My buddy Kevin bought them and we all expected them to fail or break. Since he has a little less clearance than some of us, he has used them a LOT over the last couple of months and he's been hard on them too. They have held up really well. I even used them as a bridging ladder (2 deep) and they took the weight of the cruiser without complaint. My impression: They work way better than my TREDs and cost way less.
 
You can't just get a little of the belt over the edge of the crank pulley and just bump the starter? That normally works well for those stubborn belts that won't go on that last bit, at least on the 1fz-fe.

Does the 1FZ-FE have dual alternator belts like the diesels do?
 
Lets revise that because I didn't read that clearly.

No idea what diesel belt situation is. The problem he described is similar to what I've dealt with getting two crank pulley belts on in 10 degree weather.
 
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Lumpskie The way I have done this is get the belt on all pulleys except the fan pulley, put a socket on the bolt that hold the alternator pulley make sure you are in neutral use one hand to try and push the belt on the Fan pulley & crank the ratchet on the alternator pulley it should walk that belt right up on that pulley.
Good luck hope this works.
 
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Lumpskie The way I have done this is get the belt on all pulleys except the fan pulley, put a socket on the bolt that hold the alternator pulley make sure you are in neutral use one hand to try and push the belt on the Fan pulley & crank the ratchet on the alternator pulley it should walk that belt right up on that pulley.
Good luck hope this works.
I am having a hard time visualizing this.
 

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