New LX450 owner in Spartanburg (1 Viewer)

[Bryanseye]

Howdy all. Reading though your threads here and in the 80 series section have been extremely helpful and I just wanted to introduce myself. With another kid on the way, I decided to retire the '04 Grand Cherokee for a few more seats. I ended up thinking an 80 series was an ideal replacement with its I6 and solid front axle. The plan was to have something by the Overland Expo but that didn't work out for a few reasons.

Loving it so far. Still getting used to a more truck feel but it runs great. Love that at stock height I am running bigger tires than my 2" lifted Jeep. May have to swap the wife's van for a 100 series later too.

Done:
Replaced cracked intake hose and a few other vacuum lines, realized air filter wing nut was missing and got an OEM replacement, replaced distributor o-ring and rotor, greased fittings, swapped some interior bulbs, cupholders!, wrapped steering wheel

Need to:

• Make a couple of your meetings/events.
• General fluid replacement
• PHH (still original)
• One u-joint had a broken grease fitting. Tried to extract it with an ez out but it broke off inside. Options? Guess I will eventually need to replace the whole joint
• These are supposed to have skid plates in front of the cross member, right? Mine is missing. Any leads on a scrap donor?
• Aftermarket radio has the interference from being connected to the factory amp. Need to figure this out.
• 2nd (brief) owner set it up to haul a big trailer. Installed trailer brake control and air bags over the rear axle. Everything was very new and I am assuming not used more than once when he realized it wasn't the best vehicle for towing. I removed the trailer brake control but haven't explored the airbags yet. There are not accessible air fittings so I am not sure yet what I will be doing.
• etc, etc, ...

That's it for now. Fighting the urge to blow our budget and outfit this thing but probably keep it stock for a few years. When it is time to drop the running boards I have a few ideas.

Quick pic at Milliken this afternoon. Just a clean, boring stocker.

The journey begins

• Bryanseye
• Oct 22, 2016

 

[6894kevin]

Looks good to me.... but I'm fond of the 80's

Welcome to the addiction!

 

[JToobe]

Howdy all. Reading though your threads here and in the 80 series section have been extremely helpful and I just wanted to introduce myself. With another kid on the way, I decided to retire the '04 Grand Cherokee for a few more seats. I ended up thinking an 80 series was an ideal replacement with its I6 and solid front axle. The plan was to have something by the Overland Expo but that didn't work out for a few reasons.

Loving it so far. Still getting used to a more truck feel but it runs great. Love that at stock height I am running bigger tires than my 2" lifted Jeep. May have to swap the wife's van for a 100 series later too.

Done:
Replaced cracked intake hose and a few other vacuum lines, realized air filter wing nut was missing and got an OEM replacement, replaced distributor o-ring and rotor, greased fittings, swapped some interior bulbs, cupholders!, wrapped steering wheel

Need to:

• Make a couple of your meetings/events.
• General fluid replacement
• PHH (still original)
• One u-joint had a broken grease fitting. Tried to extract it with an ez out but it broke off inside. Options? Guess I will eventually need to replace the whole joint
• These are supposed to have skid plates in front of the cross member, right? Mine is missing. Any leads on a scrap donor?
• Aftermarket radio has the interference from being connected to the factory amp. Need to figure this out.
• 2nd (brief) owner set it up to haul a big trailer. Installed trailer brake control and air bags over the rear axle. Everything was very new and I am assuming not used more than once when he realized it wasn't the best vehicle for towing. I removed the trailer brake control but haven't explored the airbags yet. There are not accessible air fittings so I am not sure yet what I will be doing.
• etc, etc, ...

That's it for now. Fighting the urge to blow our budget and outfit this thing but probably keep it stock for a few years. When it is time to drop the running boards I have a few ideas.

Quick pic at Milliken this afternoon. Just a clean, boring stocker.

The journey begins

• Bryanseye
• Oct 22, 2016

Welcome & a stock 80/LX450 is an awesome vehicle! Congrats on the purchase! Upstate Cruisers is gathering next Saturday at Paris Mtn State Park for our annual meeting. We will post details soon. Look forward to meeting you!
Fortunately we have an awesome resource locally in trollhole's cruisers in maudlin...Marshall shepherd will be glad to answer any Q's you have and can do any work you aren't comfortable in tackling!

 

[CharlestonG8R]

Welcome! Looks like a very nice truck, would love to see more pictures as you have time. If you plan to build it in to a wheeler, I'd recommend a build thread.

The stock skid plate didn't really do much, I think I tossed mine out when I got an aftermarket skid plate from Cruisin' Off Road. I like the one I have; it's beefy. I think the most popular option for aftermarket skid plates, at least from the folks that I know, is the Iron Pig Off Road skid plate. I haven't heard any complaints.

As far as the radio, I'd unplug it from the factory amplifier for sure. The stock speakers were crap, so the PO didn't have to break the bank to get a decent upgrade. I think I spent <$100 for the front and rear and it sounds far better than the originals. But yeah, try unplugging the factory amp and see if it clears up. If that doesn't work, a filter should take care of any buzzing from the alternator.

BTW, I notice the picture of Chesty Puller, were/are you in The Corps?

 

[Bryanseye]

Welcome! Looks like a very nice truck, would love to see more pictures as you have time. If you plan to build it in to a wheeler, I'd recommend a build thread.

The stock skid plate didn't really do much, I think I tossed mine out when I got an aftermarket skid plate from Cruisin' Off Road. I like the one I have; it's beefy. I think the most popular option for aftermarket skid plates, at least from the folks that I know, is the Iron Pig Off Road skid plate. I haven't heard any complaints.

As far as the radio, I'd unplug it from the factory amplifier for sure. The stock speakers were crap, so the PO didn't have to break the bank to get a decent upgrade. I think I spent <$100 for the front and rear and it sounds far better than the originals. But yeah, try unplugging the factory amp and see if it clears up. If that doesn't work, a filter should take care of any buzzing from the alternator.

BTW, I notice the picture of Chesty Puller, were/are you in The Corps?

I will try and get an autumn poser pic later. Thanks for the skid info. PO put pioneer speakers in the doors at least, I havent dug much deeper, but obviously the setup had a shortcoming. Yes, USMC vet.

I made a drastic improvement in the ride today and would not describe it as a truck feeling as much anymore. What I thought were airbags over the rear axle were practically solid rubber. I don't know exactly what to call them, but they provided zero flex on the rear. Weird.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Welcome and beautiful truck!!

 

[Trollhole]

I know that truck. The red roof rack pads give it away. The guy down the street owned it for a year or so. Tried to get him involved in the club but he never did anything. It's a nice truck if I remember.

 

[Bryanseye]

I know that truck. The red roof rack pads give it away. The guy down the street owned it for a year or so. Tried to get him involved in the club but he never did anything. It's a nice truck if I remember.

I figured the pads would stand out to someone. I have a custom aluminum roof rack on the Jeep that I will eventually modify to fit the LX. It needs cleaned up and recoated anyway.

 

[Trollhole]

Yep. Steve has seen it up close and talked to the guy. That being said I know probably half of the Land Cruisers in the upstate.

 

[Teddy]

Welcome! Nice looking truck. Hope to meet you soon. Come out to the annual Saturday if you're available.

 

[Bryanseye]

Update:
Didnt plan in having to do a new battery too, but it was toast afterall.

Coolant system work: Flush, new rad hoses, thermistat, and the dreaded PHH. It turned out that removing the starter helps free up some wiggle room for the PHH, so I rebuilt the solenoid while I had it off. The hose was brittle and definatley needed changed.

Several dash bulbs were out. LEDs made it Christmas again. Birfs look good and got some more moly.

Fearing a leaky oil pump cover. Need to clean up and keep an eye on it.

Still no good pics.

 

[Bryanseye]

Fall pic until I get into the woods for real. This is cheating at a parking lot.

And 2 working power seats!

 

[Bryanseye]

Update. Temp mount for the Rigids until I get an ARB (no definate plans). The sticker should be good for a few HP but since it is an 80 it may work the wrong way.

Changing the fan clutch fluid this weekend and changing front diff fluid and ps fluids. That should be every fluid baselined at that point.

 

[JToobe]

Update. Temp mount for the Rigids until I get an ARB (no definate plans). The sticker should be good for a few HP but since it is an 80 it may work the wrong way.

Changing the fan clutch fluid this weekend and changing front diff fluid and ps fluids. That should be every fluid baselined at that point.

View attachment 1360533

Join us next Saturday evening for our Christmas gathering?

 

[Bryanseye]

Can't make this but need to get to one of the meets for sure.

 

[jfz80]

Nice looking truck and definite upgrade


What do you think of the LEDs in the dash. Ive considered them but rode in an 80 with all new bulbs that were entirely too bright and did not respond to the dimmer.

 

[Bryanseye]

Nice looking truck and definite upgrade


What do you think of the LEDs in the dash. Ive considered them but rode in an 80 with all new bulbs that were entirely too bright and did not respond to the dimmer.

They look good and do dim with the rest. The green tint is slightly off from the gauge cluster, but only an issue if I try to be picky. The only thing that does not come across completely right is the light on the temperature scale doesn't quite reach to the ends. I took a "before" pic but an "after". I will get that tonight and post the difference.

Finished flushing all the PS fluid this weekend. Used about 1/2 gallon until it started coming out of the return line clean. Also wired a green lit rocker switch for the Rigids and mounted in one of the blanks. Only blew 4 fuses before I figured out the blue and black wires were crossed.

 

[Bryanseye]

Before -After

 

[Trollhole]

nice

 

[JToobe]

Where did you get the LED's?