the before, photo 1
after photo 2
my mounting technique photo 3
after photo 2
my mounting technique photo 3
ome 3" lift and 35" bfg km2's. before and after shots, with wheeling pics snuck in.
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- #2
wheeling pics from charouleau gap. which i can never spell right.
for non-az folks, this is one of the "baby" trails in southern az. one of the places i first cut my teeth in the world of rock crawling.
and i haven't wheeled a non-buggy in a long time. i have to say i really missed it. having to actually pay attention to where i was putting my tires had become a bit of a lost art.
last photo is just a pic of the valley looking down from the trail.
this trail is only 25 minutes from my house.
for non-az folks, this is one of the "baby" trails in southern az. one of the places i first cut my teeth in the world of rock crawling.
and i haven't wheeled a non-buggy in a long time. i have to say i really missed it. having to actually pay attention to where i was putting my tires had become a bit of a lost art.
last photo is just a pic of the valley looking down from the trail.
this trail is only 25 minutes from my house.
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- #3
one last pic
this is one of the water crossings on this little trail.
this was taken from my drivers window. it was a beautiful day.
best part of this rig is the fact that i had my two boys in the car with me the whole time. sleeping no less.
this is one of the water crossings on this little trail.
this was taken from my drivers window. it was a beautiful day.
best part of this rig is the fact that i had my two boys in the car with me the whole time. sleeping no less.
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- #4
i know this isn't hardcore tech at all. but who doesn't like wheeling pictures? 
also, not to sound like too much of a fanboy, but....
i only got this rig a month and a half ago. and i have to say, it is by far the most capable, mildly built rig i have ever run. it is unbelievable for an open diff fat ass suv. the fj80 is one of the best little secrets i have ever run across.
i have been a toyota guy (and land rover owner) for well over ten years. and this is my first cruiser.
so i guess the next step is to find some of the local tucson cruiser owners and wheel with them. because taking it out yesterday was almost more fun than my more hardcore runs in the buggy.
also, not to sound like too much of a fanboy, but....
i only got this rig a month and a half ago. and i have to say, it is by far the most capable, mildly built rig i have ever run. it is unbelievable for an open diff fat ass suv. the fj80 is one of the best little secrets i have ever run across.
i have been a toyota guy (and land rover owner) for well over ten years. and this is my first cruiser.
so i guess the next step is to find some of the local tucson cruiser owners and wheel with them. because taking it out yesterday was almost more fun than my more hardcore runs in the buggy.
Nice. Manually mounting and dismounting tires is hard work.
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- #6
the high lift was the trick. and there was no way i was paying a tire shop a $100 to do it.
but it wasn't so bad, these km2s are like butter. load range c and 15" wheel. they almost "popped" on by themselves.
this makes me fear that they will wear out in a year though.
but man, do they ever hook up on the rocks. even wet they grab better than the maxxis creepies i have on my buggy.
but it wasn't so bad, these km2s are like butter. load range c and 15" wheel. they almost "popped" on by themselves.
this makes me fear that they will wear out in a year though.
but man, do they ever hook up on the rocks. even wet they grab better than the maxxis creepies i have on my buggy.
I like the look. Are you planning to regear?
Nice rig, way to go.
Next job: paint. 
joseywales
Renaissance Redneck
^ Exactly! I have the OME kit but 35" KM2s are next on the list! How much power did you lose with the tire size increase? 5%? 10%?
Looks great.
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- #12
well, here is the deal with the regear...
i have no idea what is actually in it. because on the 31's that came with it the speedo was close to 10mph off. and that was that i was "actually" doing ten less than what the speedo told me. so now with 35's it is pretty much right on. so that was weird to me.
as far as power loss goes, it is barely noticable. but what i have noticed is that i have to manually shift the tranny a lot to get it to drive in the right power band. otherwise it feels like a dog off the line.
offroad, i never had power issues. it crawled and climbed like a demon. i was kicking the crap out of the jeeps that were locked and geared and whatnot. it had plenty of low end control. made me realize that all the time i have been a slave to a manual trans for rockcrawling is just dumb. auto is waaaaaaayyyy better. so much more control. a lot of the old myths surrounding the "manual is better" are easily dispelled by driving one with a good auto.
so at this point, i see very little reason to regear.
i have no idea what is actually in it. because on the 31's that came with it the speedo was close to 10mph off. and that was that i was "actually" doing ten less than what the speedo told me. so now with 35's it is pretty much right on. so that was weird to me.
as far as power loss goes, it is barely noticable. but what i have noticed is that i have to manually shift the tranny a lot to get it to drive in the right power band. otherwise it feels like a dog off the line.
offroad, i never had power issues. it crawled and climbed like a demon. i was kicking the crap out of the jeeps that were locked and geared and whatnot. it had plenty of low end control. made me realize that all the time i have been a slave to a manual trans for rockcrawling is just dumb.
auto is waaaaaaayyyy better. so much more control. a lot of the old myths surrounding the "manual is better" are easily dispelled by driving one with a good auto.so at this point, i see very little reason to regear.
I was in the same boat.
My speedo was also running about 10MPH fast, and with my 35x12.5x15 KM2's it is now just about dead on. The only power loss i noticed was when i stopped facing up hill (but i also have a 3FE) other than that, it's sweet. I love the KM2's, haven't found anything to stop them yet! Hopefully i will be ordering my lift soon.
My speedo was also running about 10MPH fast, and with my 35x12.5x15 KM2's it is now just about dead on. The only power loss i noticed was when i stopped facing up hill (but i also have a 3FE) other than that, it's sweet. I love the KM2's, haven't found anything to stop them yet! Hopefully i will be ordering my lift soon.
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- #14
as far as repainting goes, i really want to repaint it, but wheeling it in az is going to scratch the ish out of it the first time out. we call it "arizona pinstripes".
so it is not tremendously worthwhile to paint it just yet. the two tone scheme i have seen on here with the black bottom and black top with the color in the middle looks pretty sweet. with the exception of how bad an idea a black roof is out here in the 120 degree heat.
back to the power loss, i forgot to add, that the only time i notice any real power loss is when i am trying to pull a hill. then i would say it is a good 10% by my well calibrated butt dyno.
but overall, i wouldn't be scared of throwing in the 35's and waiting on gears. i read several posts on here where guys felt like the 35 swap was fine without a regear. 37's, now that would be another story. that would be a regear and remotor.
did i mention that this is an az vehicle its whole life, and i am reasonably certain that (i am only 3rd owner) that yesterday was actually her first time on a real trail in her 246,000 mile life? so it has zero rust and no actual body damage. the entire ignition system was replaced with brand new oem, all the taillight lenses had been replaced two years ago. and it was shop maintained by the first owner (came with all receipts).
and i got it for $1,000.
plus the interior was darn near immaculate. its only blemish was the faded and peeled clear coat.
so it is not tremendously worthwhile to paint it just yet. the two tone scheme i have seen on here with the black bottom and black top with the color in the middle looks pretty sweet. with the exception of how bad an idea a black roof is out here in the 120 degree heat.
back to the power loss, i forgot to add, that the only time i notice any real power loss is when i am trying to pull a hill. then i would say it is a good 10% by my well calibrated butt dyno.
but overall, i wouldn't be scared of throwing in the 35's and waiting on gears. i read several posts on here where guys felt like the 35 swap was fine without a regear. 37's, now that would be another story. that would be a regear and remotor.
did i mention that this is an az vehicle its whole life, and i am reasonably certain that (i am only 3rd owner) that yesterday was actually her first time on a real trail in her 246,000 mile life? so it has zero rust and no actual body damage. the entire ignition system was replaced with brand new oem, all the taillight lenses had been replaced two years ago. and it was shop maintained by the first owner (came with all receipts).
and i got it for $1,000.
plus the interior was darn near immaculate. its only blemish was the faded and peeled clear coat.
"and i got it for $1,000" 
Sweet deal, congrats!
Sweet deal, congrats!
- Thread starter
- #16
reason it was only a grand was that the previous owner could not get it to spark, so it sat for 9 months. he replaced everything but the ecu. so he thought that the ecu was dead.
real culprit....
a half working efi main relay.
never trust autozone parts. (it was a "new" relay).
real culprit....
a half working efi main relay.
never trust autozone parts. (it was a "new" relay).
Land Rover. A disco setup right looks good and the range rover, to me, is the best looking suv I have ever seen. Not a hardcore wheelin look, but we had the 03 body style and it looked good! The only problem with them is you have to buy a flatbed to go with it. Unless you do a diesel conversion, You are going to have Triple A on speed dial! We had many issues with ours, and it spent some quality time on a flat bed, but everything was covered under warranty. As soon as it hit 75k and warranty was over, we sold it.
This too is my first cruiser and I look forward to reliability.
b4 the dogs came out
some more before
and after 35-12.50-18s pitbull rockers
