Poor life decisions epitomized; Taking Mom's car to the party

[WrongsideDaily]

Congrats on making the leap, I did myself about 6 years ago for reasons similar to what you described. Tell us more about the shop.
And that freaking foot in the air out of the water is hilarious, like a diver with a diver down flag.

Let’s talk about more Dog, first. Please excuse the photos, lunched my Pixel6 Pro this week and dug out an old iPhone 11pro.

As GSMTR creeps up on us, I started getting worried about the ARBs not showing up in time. Hearing ‘two weeks’ for two months is inexcusable, so I grabbed what I could and an ARB rear and Eaton front showed up at the door with some SuperPro goodies for EVERYTHING up front.

With stuff piled up, I found a stopping point on a 4runner in for some wheel seals and such and found my blown up front diff and quickly realized I done effed up; carrier caps were just tossed inside the box with the GRENADED carrier and my heart sank a little. I REALLY didn’t wanna tie up the lift for this job, and I DOUBLE REALLY didn’t wanna do it on the ground. And I already popped the Nitro Gear 4.88 ring gear on the Eaton. Sigh.

No BS, I go grab a pair of Circle K’s finest bargain dogs (smoked Gouda links, 2/$3.50) and a six pack and decide to clean up and wait for parts when I get back with my eye on getting some paws in the water when my phone dings with a text about a free core front diff in Corpus from a fellow 100 owner. Stars aligned, and I found myself with two pitbulls at the QT fueling and airing up because I’ve been dailying this thing on 17psi. Some days I wanna buff out the pinstripes, other days I wanna make a sticker for the back that says “follow me for more body damage!”

Core acquired! Time for some beach action with the Boys as I haven’t been to this beach since the Zebra striped 55 was alive. It’s where and what I learned to drive in. And as far as I know, the boys have never been, so like COTR last fall, I found myself driving to a place I hold dear in my heart with my best friends in the world.

 

[WrongsideDaily]

I was genuinely surprised that the Gulf Beach at P.I.N.S wasn’t covered in seaweed and the water was relatively clear. 78* day and not a cloud in the sky, I think we made it probably 10 miles in before I was ready to watch the boys explore the landscape.

Unlike Pig, Windows is more of a land shark.

While one guy sunbathes, the other screams at the Ocean like Lieutenant Dan atop the crow’s nest. As the tide pulled back into the ocean and the sand disintegrated under his paws he tirelessly dug and yelled until I had enough Sun and began to think about the week ahead of me.

And back to reality we go…

 

[WrongsideDaily]

A few more shots of my boys for good measure, we all know the 100 isn’t the fabric this thread weaves.

All in all a great weekend. A little luck, a little solidarity, and some great company. A lot of challenges ahead of me the next month, but sometimes you gotta roll the dice.

 

[Roody]

Man, looks like a hellofa time. If not for you then certainly for doggos. Padre Island seems like a special place that we all need to explore at some point.

 

[boma23]

Reserved, but with a New Year's Joop pic until I can catch up. Also, sway bars are for the garbage, fight me. View attachment 3207850

loving this thread!

Except there's a man on that youtube says you get more flex with no front sway and keeping the rear sway, than with no sway at all. Good vid with some actual measurements and photos to back it up:

 

[WrongsideDaily]

loving this thread!

Except there's a man on that youtube says you get more flex with no front sway and keeping the rear sway, than with no sway at all. Good vid with some actual measurements and photos to back it up:

I have a REALLY hard time with YouTube. My problem is, I can usually read and comprehend much better than I can listen and understand a point they’re trying to convey that’s usually regurgitated from elsewhere. Maybe it’s the ADHD. Additionally, I feel there’s some arbitrary points here. Sway bar end link length, shock length, etc. Either way, I ain’t buying it even if it’s free and I ain’t going back, I’m moving forward.

Well I coughed up some more scheckles.

The de-schekling is KILLING ME!!! But the vision is keeping me alive. Truck goes back on the lift probably today to get some measurements for the company I have making my shocks. I’m probably gonna sit on this til they show, but I’m super excited to be supporting something I believe in as well as becoming a dealer. I’ve watched these folks reinvest into what they’re doing the last few years and really start growing. Dedication, accountability, those are traits I admire in folks and these folks aren’t lacking in that department from what I’ve seen. Luckily, we live in the age of the internet and OME has a great chart online with their coil spring rates. As we all know here, the front is a little different and calculating effective spring rate from a torsion bar is just a formula with some data plugged in. Even an idiot with a 10th grade education (ME) can sort it out. And if you doubt yourself (like me) you can then run it through chatGPT to confirm and feel stupid for trying to think when it took the AI two seconds (if you’re like me).

Dogs for good measure, happy Hump Day!

 

[4Beast]

A few more shots of my boys for good measure, we all know the 100 isn’t the fabric this thread weaves.
View attachment 3312359

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All in all a great weekend. A little luck, a little solidarity, and some great company. A lot of challenges ahead of me the next month, but sometimes you gotta roll the dice.

This guy is doing it the right way, Land Cruisers and doggos. I work so my truck and my dogs can have a better life.

 

[WrongsideDaily]

This guy is doing it the right way, Land Cruisers and doggos. I work so my truck and my dogs can have a better life.

Sounds like we’re both doing it right! Gotta say, Pig is 3000% happier in a Land Cruiser, here’s his first day with me.

Just like the Hundo, all my other cars tend to be basic commuters that end up unreasonably modified. This was an NA/auto car that got swapped with a 1jz and r154 manual just before I acquired my sweet Pork, and this was year three with my PorkButt and year 5 with the x81 sporting a fresh 3SGE/J160 swap in full schmuck trim.

Pork ate the seat when an 18yo girl home from college talking to her BF she hadn’t seen in a few months pulled out in front of me in a jeep. Twisted it pretty good, my back definitely hurt for a while.

Then Pig got this. Before the battery died, it was disc brake swapped out back with Matrix xRS brakes. Now it’s waiting for me to finish the 2zzge/c60 swap from the same Matrix that’s currently bolted in all the way down to the CVs. Need to sort brakes, shifter and cables, and wiring. I’ll run a separate relay and pump in surge tank to keep my stock fuel tank (level/evap) functions and supply fuel properly. But I got sidetracked by the 100, lol.

TL;DR stupid beater Toyotas and sweet pups are life.

 

[4Beast]

Sounds like we’re both doing it right! Gotta say, Pig is 3000% happier in a Land Cruiser, here’s his first day with me.
View attachment 3313524

Just like the Hundo, all my other cars tend to be basic commuters that end up unreasonably modified. This was an NA/auto car that got swapped with a 1jz and r154 manual just before I acquired my sweet Pork, and this was year three with my PorkButt and year 5 with the x81 sporting a fresh 3SGE/J160 swap in full schmuck trim. View attachment 3313548

Pork ate the seat when an 18yo girl home from college talking to her BF she hadn’t seen in a few months pulled out in front of me in a jeep. Twisted it pretty good, my back definitely hurt for a while.
View attachment 3313557

Then Pig got this. Before the battery died, it was disc brake swapped out back with Matrix xRS brakes. Now it’s waiting for me to finish the 2zzge/c60 swap from the same Matrix that’s currently bolted in all the way down to the CVs. Need to sort brakes, shifter and cables, and wiring. I’ll run a separate relay and pump in surge tank to keep my stock fuel tank (level/evap) functions and supply fuel properly. But I got sidetracked by the 100, lol.
View attachment 3313594

TL;DR stupid beater Toyotas and sweet pups are life.

Yikes, sorry about the car, that's a lot of time and money. Our dog definitely like the Cruiser more than the car, more space and higher up.

 

[usedname]

Hahaha that license plate

 

[WrongsideDaily]

Hahaha that license plate

There's just something about driving a Prius at 5mph + over the speed limit that makes other drivers act like they're gonna freak out in a GameStop

 

[Boston Mangler]

I vote this Thread of the Year!

Bravo Sir

 

[JOSHD]

Do you plan on installing the lockers and gears yourself? I have some nitro gears and some eaton knockoffs sitting in my garage but not the courage to install myself.
Looks like you're in my backyard as well. What part of Central Texas?

 

[WrongsideDaily]

I vote this Thread of the Year!

Bravo Sir

Thanks! Year isn’t even half over yet, hoping to keep this energy!

Do you plan on installing the lockers and gears yourself? I have some nitro gears and some eaton knockoffs sitting in my garage but not the courage to install myself.
Looks like you're in my backyard as well. What part of Central Texas?

I live in RR, shop is in Leander which is where I spend most of my time these days. I honestly bought the gears and lockers to be able to level up on my skill sets and start offering services to others once I can tangibly see results. Im 100% confident I can nail it, but 200% not the type of person willing to learn at someone else’s expense. What part of the best State in the Union do you reside in? (Had to do it lol)


I’m honestly just not used to having such a great support system, but I suppose as you find yourself things just start falling into place. Without a doubt I’m beyond lucky to have found people in my life that see me for who I actually am rather than taking me at face value and I’ve never made that easy for anyone. I’m genuinely at a loss for words to how people have come through for me lately. My friend Scott (a fellow UZJ100 owner that was at COTR2) bent WAYYYYY over backwards and knocked this out in short fashion and surprised me with this:

www.PorkShop.net

This floored me. A lot of days I wonder what I did to deserve friends like these.
I’ll make a thread for it shortly, but in all honesty I don’t wanna whore myself out here, I just wanna hang out and wheel with y’all. If I can help some folks along the way I’d be glad to do so. Scott, if you’re reading this, I ****ing love you dude! Believing in me when I didn’t did more for me than you could ever know and this was almost too much. It is too much, and I can’t wait to put you on the business end of a man hug.

Yesterday I reached a stopping point with a Rolla in for everything and started pulling apart the diff I grabbed from the coast on Sunday. When he said it had a bad pinion bearing he wasn’t lying! Looked like it had been apart at some point prior, so my work was cut out for me with the flat stone. Good thing I was waiting on some OME springs for a 3GT4R I built a few years ago that’s getting some big changes soon .

A few days ago a local-ish dude I’ve known through GTE Lexus stuff for a while hit me up. He recently got a GX and has been going down the rabbit hole with it and asked if I was going to Jambo. I’m not. The drive there and back with the state this thing is in after a year of me puts the risk meter higher than the reward meter. I mean, I wholeheartedly believed I was gonna be stranded South of San Antonio last week with two dogs, no tools, and a spare. We were talking about what it needed to get going, talked about a few other things, and agreed to try to figure out some runs in the near future. So I’m sitting here playing blown diff doctor and the FedEx guy shows up with two boxes…

I barely know Nick outside of just following each other around the web after selling him some parts a gazillion years ago. I was half expecting him to stop by on his way out as he mentioned he’d like to try to, but instead he had a box sent there. With a steering rack for an 100, and a message that said “You have a drive that society lacks lately. Get your s*** together and get out on the trail with us”. I can honestly say it’s not the first time I’ve broke down and sat on the floor of this shop in tears, but this time it wasn’t because I was feeling overwhelmed as if I’d made another extremely poor choice in life and that the walls were caving in. I was just REALLY overwhelmed by the gesture, and everything else in general that has been happening. I started laughing thinking “Well s***, all these great things happening and I’m probably gonna get smacked by an 18 wheeler and die on the way home and nobody has told Pig he needs to call Thomas J Henry if I get hit by an 18 wheeler”.

Thomas J Henry wasn’t needed yesterday, thankfully, but a c clamp was.

Felt like Ice Cube yesterday, was a damn good day. And today is two years with the neediest, meatiest, boy I know; Windows aka WindowsXP/Beef.Teef/Beefers/The Good Doctor

Feeling really thankful sliding into this weekend. I may be 20 years late to this party, but at least I showed up.

 

[WrongsideDaily]

Not much new other than a little progress on the front diff and a working parking brake. Feels good after what seems like forever of having an in-op hand brake. Ultimately a poor encounter with a gabion retainer wall left my parking brake cable slightly stretched but not enough to warrant replacement, thankfully. A slight adjustment and thorough clean of Windrock’s finest silt should get me ready for another dose.

This was more of a “while I’m here” thing as I had started noticing a pitch under braking to the right; left rear caliper sliders were McFlurried. Luckily I was able to get them salvaged.

ARB front lockers are in stock as of today, but I’m already committed. Core diff I acquired spun the race of the rear pinion bearing which left the race itself .0020 smaller than the race I pulled from my first diff I exploded and mixed carrier caps on… no bueno. I also don’t have a bore dial to compare, but I have some sleeve retainer good for .007 gaps and a part time kit which leaves my theory at I’ll be fine. So I pressed the new race in after the oil slinger and headed to Toyota for a switch.

Race I pulled out

And my race from my diff that had more metal soup than I’ve ever seen in my life

 

[WrongsideDaily]

Welp, no 29 spline front yoke means I’m dead in the water. I have plenty of stuff I can do to buy time today such as prep the switch I snagged yesterday to play nice with the ARB and Eaton while I wait for a mountain of Disc Brake Australia parts to show up for a local 100.

101% sure my shocks won’t be ready for GSMTR but the combo works as is, so I guess I can’t complain. Really hoping for a shake down run sooner than the actual GSMTR event like last time. I guess we play the waiting game.

 

[4Beast]

Welp, no 29 spline front yoke means I’m dead in the water. I have plenty of stuff I can do to buy time today such as prep the switch I snagged yesterday to play nice with the ARB and Eaton while I wait for a mountain of Disc Brake Australia parts to show up for a local 100.
View attachment 3319182

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101% sure my shocks won’t be ready for GSMTR but the combo works as is, so I guess I can’t complain. Really hoping for a shake down run sooner than the actual GSMTR event like last time. I guess we play the waiting game.
View attachment 3319188

Looks like Windows has an unlocked rear differential. Must have ATRAC.

 

[WrongsideDaily]

Looks like Windows has an unlocked rear differential. Must have ATRAC.

full frog in effect!

A little upset that I didn’t catch the front yoke not being in the order, but it’s coming. In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about fixing my exhaust manifold leak (and lack of exhaust left, in general) in the most unreasonable way possible for probably three days now. Last night I ordered a bunch of tubing, a y pipe, and a bellow. But I woke up thinking about this particular diet again. Anyone got a cheap or free LC100 oil pan and pickup in central texas (or like, a 3ish hour one way from central TX)? Also looking for a cheap or free blownt-up 4spd auto from a 100 series as I want the input/output shafts. I’ll have the Vitz available next week/end to make some moves if so.

I’ve had this thing slated for my Soarer for a while now but all I care about lately is the Cruiser. Tuned ecu with no emissions, and trans tuned out. I have an old ‘built’ a340 from being a Cressida nerd and a stand-alone controller. If I had the hard parts to Frankenstein this stuff I’d probably make it happen. My truck is past emissions testing in Texas, I’m wanting the cheap ponies.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Great thread. My legs are numb as I could not get off the throne until finishing all 5 pages. Look forward to following your journey and meeting you in person. You have crazy mad skills and love your approach to these rigs.

 

[WrongsideDaily]

Great thread. My legs are numb as I could not get off the throne until finishing all 5 pages. Look forward to following your journey and meeting you in person. You have crazy mad skills and love your approach to these rigs.

Thanks! Been thinking about doing some weekly or biweekly shop hangs, and everyone is always welcome! Been thinking about trying to incentivize folks to let me weigh their rigs to collect data by offering tacos. Plus I need honest opinions on my Pork Butt tbh. My roommate, though from DEEP East TX, is a commie and doesn’t eat BBQ.