NC LX450 (1 Viewer)

[NC LX]

Congrats, Austin!! Heather and I were saying that you guys had to be getting close

Congrats buddy!

Congrats for sure!!!

Thanks Guys! Brit went in early for a shift and ended up being the patient. Ezra Kate Bowling arrived August 1st at 2:26am. Its been about two weeks and everybody is doing good. My new "Normal" is settling in.

 

[NC LX]

But back to tech . Who are you using for the seatbelt work? Mine will be needing new or repurposed webbing as well as i have that same edge fray. Thanks.

Jason, I used Seatbeltplanet.com

I called and spoke with Mike Mills and explained what I wanted to do. After a few minutes of explaining what I wanted done he confirmed it could be done as long as the strap was long enough. His email is mikemills@seatbeltplanet.com. I don't now how many people he talks to a day but I bet he would remember me. May save you some time trying to explain what you want done if you do the same thing. I think I was the first to to something like this because he had to check around and make sure it could be done.

Turn around was fast. I received confirmation the belt had arrived Friday afternoon and yesterday at around 11 Mike called me and said they were finished and were able to use the 3rd row belt. About an hour later an email came through saying it had shipped out.

Ill post some pictures when It arrives.

 

[NC LX]

Damn this thread is one for the books.

I don't know about that. I've been helped and learned so much by others that have posted in the past. This is my way to document/entertain/pay it forward for others like me. I couldn't afford Frank if it wasn't for the Mud community.

 

[jimsmith1370]

Thanks Guys! Brit went in early for a shift and ended up being the patient. Ezra Kate Bowling arrived August 1st at 2:26am. Its been about two weeks and everybody is doing good. My new "Normal" is settling in.

View attachment 1517412

Congratulations to you both, Austin. Sorry, i haven't been paying attention to the board lately but Linda and I are so happy for you guys.

 

[NC LX]

My seatbelt arrived. The results came out great moving the 3rd row webbing to the front.

@jfz80

 

[NC LX]

259,106

Showed Frank some attention this weekend. Installed my Steering stabilizer to go with the Slee castor plates that I installed before Logan’s run.

With the beautiful weather, I convinced the family to take Frank on a random adventure.

We ended up in Virginia.

I checked the local craigslist. A few phone calls later I was winching 2 old CJ5s out of the 7 year grip of Mother Earth.

A 1972 and 1969, the 72 is 99% Complete with Minimal rust. It’s the perfect candidate to tune up, flip, and let Jeep continue to pay for my 80 mods and adventures with Isla.

I think I should start a Blog. Until next time.

-a

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I love how you flip cars man, I envy you.

How did you get it home?

 

[David70FJ40]

@NC LX I know where there are two more CJ's that are just sitting. I will find out today if they are available for sale. How about a small finders fee?

 

[NC LX]

I love how you flip cars man, I envy you.

How did you get it home?

Its not hard. It’s amazing what a little elbow grease will do.

 

[uzj100]

The flip is on my to do. People call me all the time with crazy stuff.

I need a garage, time, money, etc. but one day I will be there. That is my kind of relaxing, working and fixing and cleaning stuff.

 

[NC LX]

256, 210 10/14/2017

Weekend Maintenance
-Installed new front rotors. Replaced the drilled and slotted; they warped after having them turned 6 months ago. Finally have smooth braking back. Its the little things.
-Repacked the front wheel bearings and reset the bearing preload.
-Inspected my winch cable and rewound it with correct tension. Finally found a use for the Santa Fe's hitch.

I noticed there was a big improvement in my wondering steering issues. Warped rotors and incorrect preload could of amplified other current issues. Reman Toyota steering box is waiting to be installed and all new Japanese tie rod ends are on the way.

 

[NC LX]

Even after castor plates, New ss, and resetting my bearing preload, my steering still hasn't been 100%. I know my 80 is 20 years old and it wont be perfect, but when you look underneath and see worn TRE's and a leaking steering box, you know it can get better.

The last of the parts came in to completely overhaul my steering setup. Had an unboxing this evening. My 80 Series Steering upgrade arrived from Marlin Crawler. Looks like they released it in September so I may be the guinea pig for this kit.

Photo credit of me unboxing goes to Isla. Not sure what I was doing at 3, I doubt I knew how to work any sort of technology in 1985.

I couldn't find any info on MUD but it replaced everything which is what I was looking for. I didn't want to mix new parts with old. The kit came with;

• (1) 23mm right hand thread TRE with castle nut & cotter pin
• (1) 23mm left hand thread TRE with castle nut & cotter pin
• (1) Heavy Duty DOM Marlink Tie Rod drilled and tapped for 23mm TREs
• (1) 21mm right hand thread TRE with castle nut & cotter pin
• (1) 21mm left hand thread TRE with castle nut & cotter pin
• (1) Heavy Duty DOM Marlink Relay Rod drilled and tapped for 21mm TREs

80-series Steering Upgrade Kit | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

Went ahead and opened my remanufactured Toyota steering box, just because.

Looking to go ahead and start the install this week. It appears I may be one of the first with the Marlin Steering upgrade to post it on Mud. Ill update it later with a comparison of the parts old vs. new when the installed happens. I'm sure others may be curious about this kit as well.

 

[NC LX]

11/3/2017 256,680

Installed the new steering box and drag link. Going to install the tie rod tomorrow. Write up to come.

Here’s a few pictures below because with out pictures it didn’t happen.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

11/3/2017 256,680

Installed the new steering box and drag link. Going to install the tie rod tomorrow. Write up to come.

Here’s a few pictures below because with out pictures it didn’t happen. View attachment 1567699

View attachment 1567697

View attachment 1567698

View attachment 1567700

I think there's only so much play you can take out of worm and sector steering boxes. You can make it good, it just won't be rack and pinion.

I'm eager to hear how the Marlin set up works for you. That looks like a quality set of linkage.

 

[NC LX]

So far so good. The box definitely helped. No more wondering around. It feels like I'm finally getting everything dialed in since the OME springs earlier in the summer.

Im curious to see how the 555 TRE hold up.

I think there's only so much play you can take out of worm and sector steering boxes. You can make it good, it just won't be rack and pinion.

I'm eager to hear how the Marlin set up works for you. That looks like a quality set of linkage.

 

[NC LX]

Bumper 3.0

Changed out the driving lights for a set of amber spot cubes. I needed something that can put out light some distance.

The lights are a surface mount so a couple of
Relief cuts solved the problem of aiming them straight on a curved bumper. The Welding wire ran out while in the middle so I still need to finish boxing in before I can paint.

Went ahead and mocked the bumper in place. Pretty pleased with the look. Even in the daytime I can already tell I’m going to be even more pleased with the increased output

Lights finished up.

 

[NC LX]

Me and the family took Frank to the Smokies for Christmas. There were a few stops along the way and did a little bit exploring of exploring.

On the way there, we stopped by Max Patch and had it to ourselves. I convinced Brit we had to go to the top. The wind chill at the top was brutal. It was so windy at the top, Isla got blown over and Im sure the wind chill was well below freezing.

Mandatory Max Patch family selfie. Too cold to take a better picture.

Brit is smiling but it's not to be confused with the " I'm gonna kill you, I can't believe you brought us up here, you really thought this was a good idea!!" look.

 

[NC LX]

Christmas Eve I ventured out for some hiking/exploring up the mountains.

I found an old homestead from the 1880's. The craftsmanship is amazing. Pretty cool to see the old rough cut timber and the thought of how it was assembled.

I hiked on up the mountain. The aftermath of the fires was still obvious. It amazing how the forrest has bounced back.

The highlight was definitely walking up on a mamma bear and her two cubs on the hike out. I'd like to personally thank Apple for you update. Because of your update it took my phone almost 40 seconds to open the camera and miss the best shot as they passed in front of me.

 

[JohnVee]

I'd like to personally thank Apple for you update. Because of your update it took my phone almost 40 seconds to open the camera and miss the best shot as they passed in front of me.

So glad I'm not the only one. Mine is a very early 6 model (maybe 4 years old?), so I assumed they were secretly slowing it down like I suspect they did to all my other apple devices after 2 years. Now the battery apology thing... But that's all for a different thread. Back on topic - I've missed lots of SPOTTED pics in traffic while waiting for the camera to open, and some cool wildlife pics. No bears, though.

 

[NC LX]

1/12/2017 258,670k

Friday, @Green Hell Mustang and I dove into fixing Franks Pulseing Brake Pedal. I couldn't of done it with out him.

Installed the following parts:

• Driver and Passenger Beck/Arnley Calipers ( OEM Castings)
• EBC 6000 Green Pads
• Slee's SS brake lines (7)
• Aisin Master Cylinder
• New Dot4 Brake fluid.
• Machined Front Rotors

Also, set the hubs to 10 ft lbs on the inside nut and 47 ft lbs on the outside nut.

OLD vs. NEW

This was found inside the bottom of the old master cylinder. 20 years of brake fluid neglect.