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- #261
Builds Manglers "Flying Egg" Resto-Build
- Thread starter Boston Mangler
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Good choice. I had mine installed by @Taco2Cruiser himself at BudBuilt in 2020 (before the SHTF). Actually they used my truck for the install video. I went with diamond plate fill. They are super beefy, but the powder coat was disappointing TBH. Mine got pretty rusty, to the point last summer I had to scrape and sand them, then I put on a coat of Rust-Oleum primer and 2 coats of satin black. Still, I really like them, great protection.
Looks like you'll be ready for April!
Those look bombproof and probably 2x as strong compared to Slee's Slidersteps
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- #264
Thanks
Yeah, Powdercoat can be tricky and be worse than a rattle can if not prepped right and the right powder isn’t used.
I went down a deep rabbit hole reading about it, after my fairly expensive “Fab Fours” (only one out at the time) rear bumper on my tundra went from nice black when it arrived to gray, peeling and rusting within a year. Was a massive enraging disappointment.
Most of the reason I decided to handle the powdercotinf myself locally.
ECP uses Prismatic brand powder, which is one of the more UV Safe powders, to prevent fade, and they do a full sand blast and detailed prepped
For comparison. I have a Buckstop brand bumper on my Ram. Put bumper on at same time was building subframe. Buckstop gave me their powdercoat color code, brought it to ECP, they matched the subframe to the bumper.
4 years later, bumper is almost gray and peeling in a few spots, subframe, although a LITTLE faded is mostly the original color and no signs of chips or peeling after a lot of Offroad abuse.
I’ve had a ton of various Slee products on my vehicles over the years and whatever powder coating they use is also top notch and VERY fade and chip resistant
Take that for whatever it’s worth, but that’s my .02
#goodpowdermatters
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- #265
Yessir.. I’m excited. Been a long time coming. Sliders should be ready from Powdercoat this week, might get extra motivated and Install them Saturday am and hit some local-ish trails Sunday
Also, just got a company vehicle, which means, the 200 is no longer my daily, which also means, shenanigans are coming….
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- Thread starter
- #266
Slowly but surely making progress on the storage/sleep platform setup idea.
Theres a lot of jigs, jogs and HVAC plenum routing in this area to work around.
Confident this is going to come out
someday
Theres a lot of jigs, jogs and HVAC plenum routing in this area to work around.
Confident this is going to come out
someday Good to see you campering her up. Mini-roamer. Are you setting her up as room for 1 or 2?
I've got thoughts to do the same once my kids head off to college. Even crazier thoughts to cut off the roof and graft in a RTT.
I've got thoughts to do the same once my kids head off to college. Even crazier thoughts to cut off the roof and graft in a RTT.
@Boston Mangler how do you like the bolster a so far? How do they compare to stock? I’ve been going back and forth between dobinson IMS and Bilsteins. Want a slightly firmer ride (1.5in-2in lift max) without losing comfort on road.
Also did you notice a big difference in pedal feel and travel with the dba rotors and hawk pads? I replaced all of my brakes with OEM rotors and pads but the pedal travel is long for my liking. Driving on road stop and go traffic is really painful.
Also did you notice a big difference in pedal feel and travel with the dba rotors and hawk pads? I replaced all of my brakes with OEM rotors and pads but the pedal travel is long for my liking. Driving on road stop and go traffic is really painful.
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- #269
Honestly still not sure on 1vs2 yet…
Back in the day, I had my 100 setup for 2, and it worked great all up and down Baja for days on end. But…
We older now, everything hurts, and I think she’s spoiled beyond repair with the creature comforts of the camper! Going to discuss it soon before i continue much further with it, but guessing the chances very slim I’d get her to crawl into the back of the cruiser instead of the king bed of the camper
She was also super adamant I keep at least one of the rear seats in because the nieces had an absolute blast up in big bear off-roading, so there’s that…
Most likely route will be another drawer next to the ARB one, fitted with a drawer style fridge, but keep the pass 2nd row seat. That’s my idea anyway.
Will see…. Work in progress
As for the roof chop tent idea, I’ve seen some 80s in person modified for that that were VERY well done and functional. Great idea if used often.
Right there with you. My better half will only put up with one camping trip a year that's without the travel trailer.
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- #271
I should have a better assessment of the Bilsteins after a little Offroad outing next weekend.
For now, I got about 2k miles on them, and the digressive valving is 100% noticeable at moderate speeds on local crappy streets and it’s a little more jarring than I’d like. BUT…. In the twisty mountain roads, at speed, they are absolutely amazing and impressive. I’ll have more feedback after more Offroad use.
As for the DBAs/Hawks. I absolutely swear by this combo and have run it on 4 different trucks. I feel it’s the best mix of pedal feel, stopping power, lack of noise, and longevity.
Brakes seem to be a touchy subject on this forum for some reason and still several folks crapping on DBA and preaching OEM. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, as everyone’s driving style and needs are different. I’m almost always an OEM only guy, except when it comes to brakes. I feel Toyota lacks here, and always has. Others will disagree and that’s fine.
As for pedal travel being long. Have you bled the brakes or flushed the fluid recently? That does NOT sound like a rotor or pad issue, especially if all new parts
Not sure that rotors generally will affect much in pedal feel.
The LTS pads are significantly higher friction than OEM and definitely take less pressure and travel modulation for significant braking.
There are other aspects to this too. You can swap the OEM rubber lines for stainless steel brake lines. Doing even just the front axle will make it feel more positive.
Less discussed but there's a certain amount of tuning feel that can be done with the brake pad shim stack. The OEM setup has almost 3 layers between the built in material on the backer, an intermediate anti-squeal/perforated grease holding shim, and final stainless steel shim. Some OEM setups use a more direct 2 layer stack. An intermediate shim without perforations is going to feel much more direct. In general, a less squishy stackup is going to make for more direct pedal.
The LTS comes with a non-perforated intermediate anti-squeal shim, along with re-using the stainless steel OEM, and the setup results in nicely positive pedal.
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- #273
Absolutely!
With the 80 series, with anything bigger than stock tires and any sort of weight added, SS lines were almost mandatory to get a decent pedal and a very noticeable difference for little $
On MY 200 I feel at THIS TIME the SS would be overkill, as I currently think the brakes are perfect.
But I am mostly stock, unloaded and don’t tow.
If I had bigger tires than 33s, of if I towed, I’d likely be looking at a SS line upgrade to compensate
But it’s also a personal preference thing as well how the pedal feels. What you like might not be what others like, etc…
I also have a 2020 Ram5500 camper and the brakes on it are ENORMOUS and super touchy, almost like a switch, not gradual at all, comparing to any normal passenger cars or trucks.
I don’t like it at all, but that’s just how they are
@TeCKis300 i had never heard about or thought about tuning the brakes (within reason) via pad shims. That’s pretty dang genius and simple. Thanks for bringing that up.
Yes bled it twice in fact, once during the pad and rotors replacement and another time after. No noticeable change in brake feel tbh. Other than what the new rotors and pads did.
I’ve been contemplating upgrading to SS brake lines but I saw somewhere on the forum that it doesn’t change the feel a lot and LC brakes are designed to be long for heavy modulation. I personally think there is a really long dead zone before the brakes even bite. My next pads might be the hawk LTS per @TeCKis300 recommendation, might not swap out brand new OEM rotors.
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@TeCKis300 what SS brake lines would you recommend that would be better than OEM quality and not break the bank?
I’m contemplating switching my OEM pads for Hawk LTS and swapping out SS lines just to get better brake feel. Currently this is my biggest gripe along with my CDL not working. Funny story, last time I tried engaging CDL I got locked into 4LO and I only got it “unstuck” after heating up my actuator assembly with a heat gun and tapping the assembly with a mallet. I can’t find a shop that’s willing to open up and service the actuator motors.
I’m contemplating switching my OEM pads for Hawk LTS and swapping out SS lines just to get better brake feel. Currently this is my biggest gripe along with my CDL not working. Funny story, last time I tried engaging CDL I got locked into 4LO and I only got it “unstuck” after heating up my actuator assembly with a heat gun and tapping the assembly with a mallet. I can’t find a shop that’s willing to open up and service the actuator motors.
I went with SDHQ lines, they are super nice.
'08-21 200 Series Toyota Land Cruiser SDHQ 6 Piece Brake Line Kit
The SDHQ Built 6 Piece Brake Line Kit for the 2008-2021 200 Series Toyota Land Cruiser is an improvement over your Land Cruiser's OEM brake lines.
sdhqoffroad.com
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- #278
One dumb little annoying thing that’s been driving me bonkers is the wear on the shifter.
Tried several variants off Amazon and sent them all back because they didn’t quite cut it.
Wasn’t happy the stock one is over $100, but here we are…
Note: There’s 3-4 variants of the stock one and different part #s. This is: 33504-60241-C1 if anyone cares
OCD fixed
Tried several variants off Amazon and sent them all back because they didn’t quite cut it.
Wasn’t happy the stock one is over $100, but here we are…
Note: There’s 3-4 variants of the stock one and different part #s. This is: 33504-60241-C1 if anyone cares
OCD fixed
There’s a gentleman in Etsy who makes custom real wood gear knobs for Toyotas. The black walnut burl matched my interior nicely. And it’s much higher quality. Real wood and metal not the cheap fake wood and gable leather.
I’ve documented it in my build thread. Thought you might appreciate it.
@Boston Mangler how are you liking the Bilsteins? I am highly considering them and thought I’d get your feedback.
my shop tells me my suspension parts are looking fine with the exception of one sway bar link up front. Saving up some money for a big suspension soon refresh but bilsteins are on a long back order apparently.
my shop tells me my suspension parts are looking fine with the exception of one sway bar link up front. Saving up some money for a big suspension soon refresh but bilsteins are on a long back order apparently.
