My long awaited first 60 series Land Cruiser (1 Viewer)

[landsnoozer]

Been super busy with the truck the last few weeks, here are some of the recent things we have talked. Knuckles and breaks are finished up, (rears need a little adjustment). Decided that it might be a good idea to upgrade break lines since we were going to have to get a clutch line from the master to the slave made anyways (they turned out very nice.

Next up, pedal bucket is in. And working like a charm.

Eventually I need to figure out what to do with all these extra wires and get a new carpet kit in here.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So a quick update. Mason took his 61 back to Austin (about an hour away) in early June. I was in CO when he picked it up and Mason finished the brakes before taking the 61 on it’s first trip on roads above 35mph. Receive a call from Mason after he gets home describing the handling of the truck and wanting to know if this is how 60’s felt. Could not add much as he described a bit of walking and wandering of the steering wheel. Fast forward to yesterday and I proceeded to drive his 61 to our favorite cafe for a burger. Got a few miles down the Hwy just below posted speeds and I puss*ed out. Turned the 61 around and headed back to the shop. Bottom line I felt it was not safe to drive. The symptoms were severe walking/wandering and the front end would dip and drift. Keep in mind that the farm to market road just outside my neighborhood has a “chip and seal” surface (tar and rock) and with quite a bit of commercial traffic it has a lot of ruts (not necessarily visible to the eye) which provides a great testing ground for dialing in a leaf sprung 60. Put it on the lift and checked out the TRE's which are in great shape and have the 555 markings on them. The springs are not familiar to me and knowing this truck came from Japan, it's hard to say what brand they are. Also has the extended shackles which look to be from CCOT. Punch list to correct this situation:
1. ensure the two adjustable TRE's are tensioned to spec
2. verify the tow is @ 1/8"
3. Order 4 degree caster wedges from Valley Hybrids
4. Order new OME steering Dampener from VH's
5. Install set of Ironman (believe they are heavy's) kit (with shackles) I have in my shop
6. Install a set of OME (around 15K miles) I took off my personal 60
7. Order and install ironman spring bushings

I have zero experience with Ironman springs but have read good reviews online. The set I have came off another 60 with a reported 30ish K miles. The u-bolts that came with them look almost brand new. This is a budget build for good reason and have to get it ready and safe for Mason's big trip to SAS7. We did install a new head early last month and the truck runs awesome.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So a quick update. Mason took his 61 back to Austin (about an hour away) in early June. I was in CO when he picked it up and Mason finished the brakes before taking the 61 on it’s first trip on roads above 35mph. Receive a call from Mason after he gets home describing the handling of the truck and wanting to know if this is how 60’s felt. Could not add much as he described a bit of walking and wandering of the steering wheel. Fast forward to yesterday and I proceeded to drive his 61 to our favorite cafe for a burger. Got a few miles down the Hwy just below posted speeds and I puss*ed out. Turned the 61 around and headed back to the shop. Bottom line I felt it was not safe to drive. The symptoms were severe walking/wandering and the front end would dip and drift. Keep in mind that the farm to market road just outside my neighborhood has a “chip and seal” surface (tar and rock) and with quite a bit of commercial traffic it has a lot of ruts (not necessarily visible to the eye) which provides a great testing ground for dialing in a leaf sprung 60. Put it on the lift and checked out the TRE's which are in great shape and have the 555 markings on them. The springs are not familiar to me and knowing this truck came from Japan, it's hard to say what brand they are. Also has the extended shackles which look to be from CCOT. Punch list to correct this situation:
1. ensure the two adjustable TRE's are tensioned to spec
2. verify the tow is @ 1/8"
3. Order 4 degree caster wedges from Valley Hybrids
4. Order new OME steering Dampener from VH's
5. Install set of Ironman (believe they are heavy's) kit (with shackles) I have in my shop
6. Install a set of OME (around 15K miles) I took off my personal 60
7. Order and install ironman spring bushings

I have zero experience with Ironman springs but have read good reviews online. The set I have came off another 60 with a reported 30ish K miles. The u-bolts that came with them look almost brand new. This is a budget build for good reason and have to get it ready and safe for Mason's big trip to SAS7. We did install a new head early last month and the truck runs awesome.

 

[onemanarmy]

if it doesn't have any front axle shims at all now, that is your problem.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@CenTXFJ60 Couple of things that tightened up the wandering on my shackle reversed 60 here … and I’m at about 4-5” lift:

1. I have 4* shims. They help considerably.
2. What really made the steering pop into focus was going beyond 1/8” of total toe-in. I’m just shy of 1/4”. That made a HUGE difference.

I took a long trip to the mountains weekend before last and still experienced some wander: severely twisty, potholed, & grooved I-70 through the Rockies, very windy with constant 40mph breeze and 50-60mph gusts in some of the narrow canyons, roof rack loaded with camping boxes so a high center of gravity and basically a wind sail. A worst case scenario for driving feel in a tall truck. I think the missing link is my lack of front sway bar. I’m going to find one locally and get some extended shackles, hope to have that thrown on the front by SAS departure time.

Try goosing the toe-in a bit. It’s easy, takes 20 minutes. Not sure of the current lift but maybe 2* shims for 2-3” of lift if you have one of the more “standard” suspension kits, 4* if it’s sitting pretty tall. Can’t wait to see this thing!

 

[CenTXFJ60]

if it doesn't have any front axle shims at all now, that is your problem.

Agree 100% as I’ve done several lifts with and without (have since added wedges to most of them). This truck drives way worse than any OME lift I’ve installed with shims. Out of spec toe and the extended shackles (which I’m not a fan of) could be compounding things.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

@CenTXFJ60 Couple of things that tightened up the wandering on my shackle reversed 60 here … and I’m at about 4-5” lift:

1. I have 4* shims. They help considerably.
2. What really made the steering pop into focus was going beyond 1/8” of total toe-in. I’m just shy of 1/4”. That made a HUGE difference.

I took a long trip to the mountains weekend before last and still experienced some wander: severely twisty, potholed, & grooved I-70 through the Rockies, very windy with constant 40mph breeze and 50-60mph gusts in some of the narrow canyons, roof rack loaded with camping boxes so a high center of gravity and basically a wind sail. A worst case scenario for driving feel in a tall truck. I think the missing link is my lack of front sway bar. I’m going to find one locally and get some extended shackles, hope to have that thrown on the front by SAS departure time.

Try goosing the toe-in a bit. It’s easy, takes 20 minutes. Not sure of the current lift but maybe 2* shims for 2-3” of lift if you have one of the more “standard” suspension kits, 4* if it’s sitting pretty tall. Can’t wait to see this thing!

Good call Jim. I’ll play with the toe and see where the optimal point is.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So just cleaning up some loose ends while I wait for the spring bushings to make it here from IronmanUSA. When I bought this truck in April I knew the bumpers were out of wack and a bit loose. Looked into that yesterday and verified the front had the 4 top bolts but zero nuts. And nothing down below. And whoever put the bumper mount brackets back on had them reversed. The 61/62 brackets are offset. The taller side goes up. Being reverse the bumper was sitting a few inches lower which is why I could not fit the tow hook I robbed off a parts 62. Fast forward and I flipped them and straightened a bend in the top of the bumper. Helps to have a big ass old vice. Good news is Mason received the carpet kit and already dropped off 7 yards of Thermozite. We will tackle the install in a few days. Also drilled out the holes and added nutserts (spelling???) for when we find this truck a late 60 skid plate.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Oh yeah…I removed the old procomp shocks and all 4 are dead. Zero rebound. Could be part of the handling issue

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Lastly…since this is a budget build to get her road ready for SAS, I mounted up my old KM2’s on some steelies I had and will put them on the truck once the shipment of acorn lug nuts come in. They have at least one good trip to CO left in them and then Mason will choose his next tire/wheel combo when he recovers from all we’ve done to date. He’s running 80 rims currently. The pic with two wheels/tires below are my KO2’s from my trailer just to see if he was ok with the look. I like the steelie look personally.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Got the spring bushings in on Friday. Tackled putting on the used Iron Man springs, new 4 degree wedges, some lightly used OME shocks and a new OME steering dampener. Checked the alignment and it was pretty spot on within 1/16”. Left that alone and Mason and I took her for a spin. Truck handled like a dialed in 60 should at Hwy speeds. Found a sticker on the take offs and they were sold by SOR and manufactured in Canada. Have never seen or heard of these. But with the extended shackles and worn out bushings I’m pretty sure that’s why it was walking all over the road.
The Iron Man feel nice but they have ultra long rear anti-inversion shackles and the rear sat over 3” higher than the front. The front anti-inversion shackles are the same dimension as the oME’s. I had an extra set of OME rear shackles so we threw those on there. It still stink-bugged by 3” in the rear. The fronts were semi-flat evidenced by the shackle angle. I have a pair of OME add-a-leafs for the front so threw one in on the right side. Brought it up by half an inch. This system is weird as both the front and rear had 7 leafs. Now one side of the front has 8 leafs. Gonna do the other front and see how she rides. But the stink bug look bothers me. Did not get pictures but the rear Ironman shackles were almost 2” longer than the OME. I’m just not a fan of extended shackles. At least they do it in the rear which is the trailing portion and not impacting the steering.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Jimmy those springs with the “Made in Canada” sticker are Standen. Those came with the early Man a Fre shackle reversal kits and probably other 60 offerings from different companies. I think Standen was a contract manufacturer from what I can find.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Jimmy those springs with the “Made in Canada” sticker are Standen. Those came with the early Man a Fre shackle reversal kits and probably other 60 offerings from different companies. I think Standen was a contract manufacturer from what I can find.

Good to know Jim. Are they any good? If so I’m considering putting them back on with the new bushings and the OME anti inversion shackles (eliminating the SOR extended shackles). At least they sat level vs this iron man system. The stink bug affect with the IM’s is hideous

 

[CruiserTrash]

I can’t really make a fair comment on them since mine came out like this:

They had decent arch overall, but see the way the shorter ones are splayed out and not making contact with the ones above them? They were loose feeling and clunky, but got really stiff really quick as the top springs would bend and engage the lower ones. It’s like they were loose but hit a brick wall.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Here’s how it sits. The right side I added a leaf so it’s 2.5” lower in the front. The other side is still 3” lower. Have two used sets of OME springs. Considering swapping to one of those sets.

 

[LETSROLLEM]

Good times at the barn yesterday Jimmy, thanks for the hospitality and tips on the carpet install. Good to meet some new folks and catch up with you and Kevin (thanks for the burger Kevin). Great to meet Mason, he’s got the Cruiser bug, so he’s in good company. Thanks for letting me take up space in the barn. Got my “to do list” (that we all seem to add to daily, am I right?) for next time!

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Good times at the barn yesterday Jimmy, thanks for the hospitality and tips on the carpet install. Good to meet some new folks and catch up with you and Kevin (thanks for the burger Kevin). Great to meet Mason, he’s got the Cruiser bug, so he’s in good company. Thanks for letting me take up space in the barn. Got my “to do list” (that we all seem to add to daily, am I right?) for next time!View attachment 3375790View attachment 3375791View attachment 3375792View attachment 3375793

You got it Daniel. Was great having you out

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Added an OME leaf to the fronts as well as the one OME leaf that has the brackets on it. Had to do that because the iron man one could not fit the sleeved bolt with an additional leaf. So the truck leveled out to within an inch and a quarter, however it rode like dog-sh*t at Hwy speeds. Way too stiff up front having 8 leafs vs 7 in the back. Not sure if it’s the leaf count or the fact I combined two different brand springs. Regardless, I have a set of used OME’s from Luis in Austin. He said they are a bit tired so I’ll put the add a leaf in the fronts (5 to 6) and leave the rears the way they are (8 leaf’s). Will still be a bit of a Frankenstein as I’m gonna try to reuse the new iron man bushings we put in there. Here’s how she sits with the Ironman

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Wanted to share some tech info I trialed for the first time. Casey @POTATO LAUNCHER has shared this with me in the past but this is my first time to try it as an alternative for buying the $25-30 (each) pieces from cruiser outfitters. They are the only ones I know that sell the isolator delete spacers.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Wanted to share some tech info I trialed for the first time. Casey @POTATO LAUNCHER has shared this with me in the past but this is my first time to try it as an alternative for buying the $25-30 (each) pieces from cruiser outfitters. They are the only ones I know that sell the isolator delete spacers.

Forgot the pics