Meet the Mistress

[PoorHouse]

I've got Bilstiens on my LX.
I used them initally with the stock springs.
They were harsh for the first few weeks then softened up.
It didn't ride as well as I would have liked until I got the OME 861/862's.
Huge difference, much smoother but still controlled.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

1. Nice truck. Very clean.

2. Give the shocks a chance to "break in" First couple days on my new OME shocks it was a little on the harsh side. I think they are softer now. No complaints.

3. Can you fill us in on how you routed the power to your 12V in the console? This looks like an extremely useful and simple mod. Where did you patch in the power for it?

Brian

Thanks. Yeah, I had Bilsteins on an old '96 Tacoma, and I hated them at first but eventually grew to like them. I was not sure if they softened up or I just got used to it.

For the power, I ran a Littelfuse ATO Add-A-Circuit Kit that piggy-backs a new fuse run out of the fuse box. This hot wire ran through the dash and under the console, and I grounded the Magnadyne 12V outlet/USB charger to the sheet metal under the console. The Magnadyne outlet fits perfectly and seems to be pretty solid. Oddly enough, I've been using the USB ports far more than the 12v outlets. The add-a-circuit thing is a little bit redneck, but it's quick, cheap, easy, and effective. Dedicated accessory wiring (ie, secondary fuse block) won't be installed until I get more of a feel for what I want and where I want it, maybe later this year.

 

[azTony]

Here ya go. I haven't had them on too long, obviously, but I like them so far. They are extremely plush and very comfortable. I hate cold leather seats in the winter, so this is much better. The bottom area where it wraps around the side of the seat are not real sheepskin and the match in color with the rest of the cover is not perfect. Fit is good, although I modified mine to go under the headrests instead of over the headrests. It looked ugly draped over the headrest.So far they are staying in place without shifting around, other than some minor movement of the area on the front of the lower cushion.

Your seats need a hair cut

I just got my Clazzio seat covers in the mail for the Tundra. These are beautiful covers once installed but they do not make them for Land Cruisers. It will be a while until I get them installed since I just went through shoulder surgery

 

[Man Jerk]

Good eye, you know COS well.

I'm sure we're bound top run across each other. Let's hope there's no explosion!

Funny, I thought the same thing. I'm just down the hill off of Dairy Ranch and Dancing Horse.

 

[MyCrush]

Nicely clean !
Question for ya : How did the Fender removal and replacement go....straightforward or ?? And where did you source those from ?

Thanks !

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

PO had them (he bought them from Toyota) but never installed them.

3 out of 4 of my existing flare trims were acceptable, but one was really bad. I replaced that one. I broke a plastic mounting tab when I pulled the flare off and the adhesive on the new trim wouldn't stick to the flare. (I think the new trim pieces were very old.) I had to glue it onto the flare. It was such a PITA that I just left the other 3 alone. They all look pretty decent now.

FWIW, the very cold temps that day may have had something to do with the poor adhesive and the broken plastic mounting tab. If you're going to do it, do it when it's warm.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Updates - Got the Ironman coils installed - will try to get some better photos asap. Ended up with 2.25 inches in the front and a little over 2.5 inches in the back. Mixed the coils with Bilstein shocks. The ride is very nice. Caster bushings to come soon.

Also, picked up my Bump-it transfer skid and step sliders today. Can't say enough good things. Mike was extremely nice and helped me out by welding the bracket on the skid plate for me (has to be somewhat custom-fit). He also prepped the mounting holes on my frame for the installation of the sliders. Nice guy to talk to, and he's building a cool buggy in his garage with a 3.4L Tacoma V6 and Unimog axles.

The sliders have a really nice textured powdercoat finish and the installation was fairly easy. Everything lined up as it was supposed to. I trimmed the front plastic running board end pieces to make them fit the lower profile of the step sliders.

Curiously, with the addition of the lift, I developed a driveline vibration above 60 mph (even before caster correction). With the addition of the sliders, I seem to have lost enough height that the vibration went away.

 

[RepoDevil]

nice rig really like the color

 

[conviccted]

Really clean cruiser.I was planning on these rock sliders,i think your the first with them here on ih8mud.Do you know how much they wiegh?

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I think there are others with these - I found several photos of other trucks with them, but I had to search quite a bit to find them. People seem to like them.

Mike estimated the weight at 85 lbs each. He said the heavier gauge metal (what I got) added 15 lbs each to the steps. I'm not sure if the 85 lb estimate was for the thicker wall or the standard wall sliders, so let's just say each slider weighs about 85-100 lbs. The passenger side slider weighs more than the other because of the cat protection.

He guess-timated the skid plate at 50 lbs.

 

[conviccted]

Really,you got more pictures than mike has on his web site on these sliders.Your lucky only thing holding me back is the shipping cost on the sliders,but I like both his sliders for the 80 series

 

[SunTzuMD]

Nice rig - how do you like the kumho's?

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Once you go black... say, why is your so much shinier than mine? Very nice rig.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Nice rig - how do you like the kumho's?

So far they've only see street duty for about 1K miles. Initial impression is that they ride nice and are very, very quiet. Tracking is good. No idea about snow traction, as I avoid the salt with this vehicle. I've read the main complaint is they wear quickly, but by the time I hit 25K miles on these I'm sure I'll be ready for something different or bigger anyway.

 

[Cruiser Jimmy]

I call the truck my "Mistress" because I spend more time in the garage with her than with my wife. Wife's a good sport though.

Very clean and neat.


Make sure you bring the wifey in from the garage every once and a while.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Just installed Slee 3 degree caster bushings, using the Landtank template...

Let me tell ya, I thought all these people raving about caster correction after a 2.5 inch lift were just rationalizing. Turns out, they're right. Night and day difference with the bushings installed. No vibrations and drives straight as an arrow. It was wandering all over the road before. Feels like a new vehicle now.

I'll get my caster measured in the next couple of weeks and post back with the numbers.

 

[mercfan]

Very nice truck Hoosier, congrats. What all did you do to baseline it?

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Very nice truck Hoosier, congrats. What all did you do to baseline it?

I swapped EVERY fluid on the vehicle, including oil, power steering, trans, all 3 diffs, and brakes
Flushed radiator
PHH
New Belts
HIR headlights (best money spent on these trucks)
New brake pads front and rear
plugs, wires, rotor, distrib cap, distrib o-ring
T-stat, Radiator cap
lubed sunroof
air filter
wiper refills
PCV and grommet
Clay bar, Polish, and wax
Fixed all the little nagging broken things, like antenna, horns, windshield washer valve, loose mirrors, busted speakers, rattles, etc...

Hoses look good so not changed yet - other than PHH (which actually looked fine too).
Knuckles look really good, so will put that job off until next year, when I'll do wheel bearings too.
This summer I might get ambitious and clean the throttle body, but it's not a priority.

 

[flow]

now thats a proper baseline!

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Mr. Daddy,

I had never even heard of a "clay bar" until I read it on this post. Watched some youtube videos about it and I bought my clay bar kit and wax today to do it to mine.

Thanks Mr. Daddy!