New member... Hello there VI. Bit of an intro....

[slowandsteady BJ]

Insured the Sixty after its 6 month stint as a lawn ornament. She, in typical Land Cruiser fashion fired right up without a single complaint. I had changed the oil and given it a once over before i parked it last Dec. so I was confident it would be a get in and go kind of departure. The wife and I needed a getaway so on went the roof top tent and off we went. The only rule I broke was not packing a spare. Some of you might remember the spindle shank sheared on the swing out last winter and I've been too busy to replace it. I brought a plug kit and with fingers crossed we were off....

Originally we were going to head to Pender but we changed plans at the last minute and headed towards Port Renfrew with no particular plan after that. We had lunch in the Renfrew pub and broke out the BC Backroads map book. We decided on heading up Gordon main. We wanted to camp by a river, lake or up a mountain with a view. Hard to get all three so we went scouting. We pounded along Gordon main for a good long while using GPS points to determine our location on the map...... at least we thought thats what we were doing. We planned on snooping around the Gordon main caves but before we knew it we were staring at a bloody golf course. Oops, we got a little ahead of ourselves, I (jokingly) blame the overhead tree canopy throwing off the GPS.

First pic is the view from the camp spot we found. 2 Twin Otters, a Beaver and a Norseman took off from the lake during the afternoon.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

About half way up Gordon main I realized the last time I drove the truck was Dec. and the cold weather blind might still be drawn down. Indeed it was but the "B" didn't seem to mind one bit. I guess the cooling system is all up to snuff. lol.

After we got to the unexpected golf course we headed north west up the lake and looked for a good spot. We drove into a campground that cost $20 and was dark gloomy and didn't have a level spot anywhere. There was the typical scungy troglodyte caretaker flogging his overpriced firewood from his derilict RV. Since we were set on camping and not just "parking" we headed off. We headed up another mainline and off a little branch road found the lookout where we camped. Awesome spot.

We set up camp, fired up the old 50's Coleman stove I picked up from Seapotato made dinner and sat in peace and quiet. Great little trip.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Nice to see the truck back on the road. Looks like a good trip. I'll be doing the same with my family soon. But towing a trailer due to our young kids.

 

[Stumpalama]

Great to see someone still exploring!

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

You guys are lucky to have parents to take the kids for a few days, your trip looks great as per usual

Rob

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Great to see someone still exploring!

Always brotha, although I must admit it'd been way too long since the last outing. Work keeps getting in the way of life.

You guys are lucky to have parents to take the kids for a few days, your trip looks great as per usual

Rob

Ya, we are spoiled. The big one was at a sleep over and the small one was at Grandams. Funny thing is, the wife and i moved where we did to get away from the hustle and bustle of the rat race. After a few years of peace and quiet (by city standards) even life here tends to seem busy as our definition of hectic changes. That was the case last weekend and an adventure was in order. Was nice falling asleep listing to the birds chirping while a creek flows in the background with the absence of cell signal the threat of nusance (work related) phone calls reduces to nil.

Here is a pic of the old Coleman from Potato man. The smell of the thing just screams camping!

 

[seapotato]

Here is a pic of the old Coleman from Potato man. The smell of the thing just screams camping!

you sure it was the stove screaming ?


Mel was....somewhat less than enthusiastic about using it....


I briefly considered a demonstration of the perils of propane, but then realized I would be fighting for the honour of cooking every meal while camping, and IF, for some reason, the 50 year old stove didn't function one weekend after ALL my protests...

It doesn't bear thinking about.




Enjoy the stove....

 

[Toshi38]

Looks like a fun trip! good to see the 60 back on the trails

 

[dingo]

That pic with the island on the lake, it looks like your perched up above the caycuse campground,

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

That pic with the island on the lake, it looks like your perched up above the caycuse campground,

Yep, that's more or less it. We were on a little spur rd off of Caycuse Hookup, 450m elevation.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Well as Juneuary wraps up here and in lieu of some better weather approaching the Cruiser itch is, well..... itching.

The whole "no spare tire" thing on the last outing kinda blew as it had me a tad concerned, and the truck rode like cr*p without that extra weight over the back.

I tore into the rear bumper to replace the sheared spindle which was of course welded top and bottom. I had been putting this job off for a while for good reason, I knew it would be a bit of a pain because the rear bumper is an air tank so the welds had to be great and the 60 is too tall to get in the garage with the tent on. Wind and Mig's dont mix. So I hacked into it with the grinder, torched the old one out, levelled the truck out and carefully plumbed the new one nice and vertical. I shoved a welding mit into the bumper to stop any schrapnel making it into the air tank and what the glove missed I got with a magnet.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Got the new spindle from Jason at Cruisi'n Off Road. I wasn't in a rush so he was able to add it to an order and get it for a better price. The new one is much nicer and thicker, came with Timkin Bearings and the fit and finish was awesome. Its a Summit Machine unit.

The size was different enough that I had to do some modifing, no surprise there. Anyway, It all went together well and I even remembered to remove the welding glove from the rear bumper before I welded everything up. Chased a pinhole air leak here and there and slapped some primer on it real quick yesterday afternoon so I could get the old girl all packed up and ready for something far more interesting....

 

[wussyPup]

very nice, Cam

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Nice work!

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Good work kid, that spindles beef...

What kinda dollars for such a monster and what is the shaft size going into the bumper.

Rob

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Good work kid, that spindles beef...

What kinda dollars for such a monster and what is the shaft size going into the bumper.

Rob

I ordered it (and received it) a while ago so I dont remember what it cost. I also didn't measure the shank dia. Summit Machine's website is under construction so I couldn't reference it there either.

 

[robustbambi]

This thread is killer! Ya hid it over in a clubhouse thread making it all secret haha. Excellent fab work!

 

[90landcruiser]

Those airbags are nice, I think I want to do the same to my truck. I would be interested in seeing more pictures if you have them. Did you just put the bags on the rear axle?

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

This thread is killer! Ya hid it over in a clubhouse thread making it all secret haha. Excellent fab work!

Ya, kept it kinda "low pro" over here where its nice and quiet. LOL.

Those airbags are nice, I think I want to do the same to my truck. I would be interested in seeing more pictures if you have them. Did you just put the bags on the rear axle?

Shannon, When you are ready, PM me your email and Ill send you some pics that are more detailed. Nothing about my install is bolt on.... Its all kinda improvised but does work well.

 

[Crescent Wrench]

Looking very good Cam, you've definitely got skill. Keep it up!