Nate's Down Under Build

[natharmstrong88]

Nate's Down Under Build (Heaps of Pics)

Ok so I figured I may as well start a build thread for my Cruiser, which my wife has affectionately named "Sway". Becuase of the noisy rattle that was coming from my rear sway bar when I first got the car. Which leads to the introduction, haha.

I bought the 2005 model UZJ100R in October 2010, from a guy interstate. He sent me a lot of photos of the car, including the things that were wrong with it, or so I thought. Some things he neglected to mention were the CV's that were very noisy and dry from having the boots torn and never repaired and various spots of rust in the body.

It has taken me this long to get the funds up to start spending and over the next few months I hope to finish off all the major modifications.

 

[natharmstrong88]

The first thing I did was swap all the parts I had salvaged from my last car, which was a solid axle 100, or 105 series to be technical. That included a lot of interior parts like black duck seat covers and sandgrabber floor mats. Then other more important things like an ARB Rear Air-Locker and ARB Compressor.

Then recently (yesterday) I fitted all my suspenion, in the rear that included 2" lifted Ride-Pro springs, my adjustable panhard rod and Snake Racing adjustable lower control arms off the last car.





Up front I had to buy all new suspension, I decided to go with the reliability of Old Man Emu for the Torsion Bars, and went with an Australian brand for the Diff Drop Kit, Superior Engineering. Along with the Torsion Bars, ARB sold me the strengthening plates for the lower arms.

 

[natharmstrong88]

Along with the lift, I wanted to give the 35's I have a little extra room to do their thing, so instead of hammering flat the pinch weld in the body, I decided to actually cut the body back to give even more room.

 

[natharmstrong88]

Once all of this was done, all I couldn't think of anything else until I fitted the new shoes haha. I got a set of 5 - 18" XD Monster Rims fitted with 35X12.50 R18 Nitto Trail Grapplers shipped over from the U.S. I was a little unsure of my choice at first, but once they were on, any doubt was gone, haha.

Here is a photo of Sway when I got it, and one of how it stands now.





The ARB Bullbar and Side Rails - Side Step Combo are at Rockhampton Powdercoaters at the moment, getting blasted and coated as they were in pretty bad condition and a little rusty. I get them back on Tuesday, when I'll fit them, then I'll do a final adjustment on the height and take it for a wheel alignment.

 

[natharmstrong88]

That's it for now as far as photos go, until I get the bar work all fitted up and I'll throw a couple more up.

Currently on their way from the states is a set of UCA's from JT's Differentials. Next week I will be ordering a set of Bolt in King 2.5" Smoothies, which once they're all fitted I will be able to bring the front up to perfectly level with the back.

 

[pfran42]

More pics!!! I need to see the wheels on that rig from tons of angles.

 

[no-pistons]

What are these strengthening plates for the lower arms that you speak of?

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

The 100's crack the a arms from the joint weld along the path of least resistance, to the torsion bar, or arm pivot mount.

Mostly from hitting the bumpstops often.

We normally remove the arms, weld them internally, and externally, to prevent it happening, when doing suspension on the 100.

 

[Littl42]

Those wheels look so nice Nate, congrats and I am looking forward to seeing more.

 

[3D FJ]

rims and tire combo are very nice! Very nice rig indeed!

 

[natharmstrong88]

Thanks guys glad you like them haha.

No-pistons - The strengthening plates are sold at arb, in the last picture of Auscrafts you can see the plate that has been welded on has two holes in the under side of it, the instructions just tell you to secure the plate with the mounts for the torsion bar, and drill two holes to bolt the plate underneath. Obviously welding them on is going to be stronger, but I was doing mine on the ground out in the sun, so i just wanted to get the job done haha, rather than spending the time and pulling the arms off to properly weld them up.

Here are a couple more pics i took this morning of the wheels. I'll use my wife's good camera to take some once its all done this week.

 

[no-pistons]

No-pistons - The strengthening plates are sold at arb, in the last picture of Auscrafts you can see the plate that has been welded on has two holes in the under side of it, the instructions just tell you to secure the plate with the mounts for the torsion bar, and drill two holes to bolt the plate underneath. Obviously welding them on is going to be stronger, but I was doing mine on the ground out in the sun, so i just wanted to get the job done haha, rather than spending the time and pulling the arms off to properly weld them up.

That's very interesting. I've never heard or seen anyone in the U.S. installing one of those, however I may be out of the loop.

I don't even see it listed on ARB USA's catalog. Do you know the part number?

 

[FullyLitLED]

That lift is only 2"? Looks pretty tall

 

[natharmstrong88]

Definitely only 2" haha, might look a bit tall due to no side steps and bullbar? The rear iss sitting at 810 or 820mm from memory and the front is something like 790mm. (measurements were done with the 16" rims still on)

 

[natharmstrong88]

That's very interesting. I've never heard or seen anyone in the U.S. installing one of those, however I may be out of the loop.

I don't even see it listed on ARB USA's catalog. Do you know the part number?

I rang ARB this morning and they said the part number for the kit is " FK27 "

Seems like a short part number, but that's what they gave me.

 

[e9999]

nice work

I'm surprised the locker from a 105 would fit the 100.

 

[FullyLitLED]

Definitely only 2" haha, might look a bit tall due to no side steps and bullbar? The rear iss sitting at 810 or 820mm from memory and the front is something like 790mm. (measurements were done with the 16" rims still on)

All this mm measurements really messing with my head

Jk bro! Awesome build! Waiting to see more!

 

[3D FJ]

I can't tell whether your previous tires were km's or km2's. Which were they? Since you've been driving on the trail grapplers for a bit now, how do they compare to your previous tires? This is something i've been going back and forth between.

 

[Liam]

those wheels look good on the truck. Im usually not a fan of "bling" but they look good.

 

[Gottagetone]

I like it!

As far as the LCA supports, Camel sells em with the Ironman lift in the US.