More Cruiser Adventures:
The tires were severely dry-rotted. The prior owner said the tires were at least a decade old.
I purchased a great set of Nokian tires online. I purchased them from
onlinetires.com.
But, a new challenge: With the vehicle still blocking part of my driveway, I tried to get the wheels off. Ha! IH8 Old Mud in wheels! The wheels were encrusted with mud, corrosion, and vines. Removing the lug nuts took a lot of elbow grease and a LONG time. Then, I needed to use a sledge hammer to bang the wheels lose. THEN, we discovered that the brakes had so many vines growing in them, that critical front brake clips had be pushed off by the vines.
A front brake refurbishment and replacement is in order. The pads are worn, and the rotors are, too. I hit the internets and ordered uprated rotors that are designed for towing. I don't plan to tow, but for a small price increase I get better stopping power, especially coming down hills. I also ordered uprated pads, and new caliper hardware to replace parts that appeared to have pulled off by the vines! The rears had not vines...and just need new pads
.
Another unexpected job: Scrubbing the INSIDE of the wheels. Wheel weights would not stick to the wheels, due to corrsion, dirt and who knows what! Once that was done... Tires Plus near the Peppermill in Reno gave great service. Talk to the manager, Mercedes (the woman, not the car!) there. She was very helpful in mounting tires that she didn't carry, and in dealing with the wheel weight issue. They also offer lifetime alignments. Great for those of us planning to keep our Cruisers running a long time!
Regarding tire sizes for FJ80 Land Cruisers and Lexus LX450. I went to slightly different tire sizes than factory. I went to a more common tire size that is slightly narrower than factory - 265/75R16. BUT, this size still fits the factory wheels. This way, if I get a side wall flat, I can more easily locate a replacement. For the same reason, there are more tire options at this slightly narrower size. The Nokian One HTs are a well-rated M+S tire, and designed for soft-roading, while remaining a good street tire. Of course, don't forget to change your spare tire too, since you are changing tire sizes! In my case, the spare was also ancient, so it needed replacement anyway.
Nokian tires are designed in Finland and have kelvar woven into the tires - this extends life, and are suposed to limits cuts due sharp (Nevada) rocks. I have a different set of high performance all-season Nokian tires on a 100% street sports car, and I have been very pleased with those tires. I will report back here, with how the Nokian One HTs do on an FJ80 Cruiser.
Next: Getting the Cruiser moving under it's own power!
