*Rickashay's 97' LX450* - "Tom Cruiser"

[rickashay]

Yes I did, like you it was my favorite vehickle when i sold it and got the LX. The LX in all aspects has proven its self over the 3 years i have owned it, love it. Its not as extreme as the 4runner was but it easily gets be everywhere I want to go in comfort. In the starting stages of a diesel swap now.

Cool, your 4Runner was WICKED. Probably my favorite 2nd gen out there.... Oh diesel swap eh, do you have a build thread somewhere I can poke around in? Sounds like another awesome project!

 

[rickashay]

I had ONE day off, it was absolutely gorgeous outside, and I had an itch to work on "Tom" so I made the best of the sunny day.

Finished pulling the interior panels (doors) and then pulled off the front bumper and winch. I wasn't sun burnt enough at that point, so I decided to de-flare the Lexus.... just need to get someone (hopefully Nick!!) to weld up the holes and then I'm off to the races. Also ordered a Porter Cable polisher to try and clean up the black paint. Not that much of it will remain after it get's LineX'd up to the upper door bodyline. I'm sure a lot of people will be bighting their nails on that one, as I know it's not liked by everyone. My reasoning is that the black paint on this truck is in pretty bad shape (scratches and oxidation). I could probably revive it, but I know that as soon as I get out onto the trail, it's going to happen all over again. One thing I loved about the Duster was it's light color that did a VERY good job at hiding scratches. With the Lexus, I wont be so lucky. Considering this is going to be a purpose-built adventure/wheeling rig, I need to make it best at doing just that with low maintenance. I called around and was thinking of painting the whole truck Millenium Silver (Vic's old 3rd Gen 4Runner color) or the new FJ Trail Team Cement Grey, however 6-10K for a paint job is pretty rediculous - and no, I won't do a backyard special paint job, I'm way too OCD. LineX will be drastically cheaper and I'm going to get it painted (it will have a little gloss and will be washable) the same color as my soon-to-be Gunmetal SCS wheels. I think it's actually going to turn out pretty BA and I won't ever wory about scratching paint again....

Oh, and a photo of Tom Cruiser without all of his flares/cladding:

20120622-IMG_1652.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

 

[ericbirk]

OK now your bringing back some memories, were you the guy who travelled to seattle to buy that 80 series to find it had an exhaust hole in the frame? Or am I mistaken AGAIN. lol I do apologize. I agree with all of your above statements though, stoked for the capability of this rig out of the box with more room to spare. My LX has the Aussie in the rear, but I'll probably be swapping that for air lockers and 4.88/5.29 gears in good time. Not sure if I like the ratcheting locker, or at least, that was my initial biast perspective. Now that I think about it, I havent even noticed it in there while driving the LX. Hmmmmmm....

Yup that was me... what a crappy day that was!
I ordered a rear ARB for mine for now, when/if I decide to do the front I will go with 4.88's as well as I am sticking with 35's on this one.

I am toying with the idea of a de-flare as well. Already ripped a rear one off on the first trip out, thankfully it didnt damage anything else...
WIll be keeping an eye out on this to see how yours goes!

 

[SCSPerformance]

Hey Addison, welcome to the board! This is going to be an epic build and I'm glad SCS can be a part of it.

 

[rickashay]

Hey Addison, welcome to the board! This is going to be an epic build and I'm glad SCS can be a part of it.

Hey Vin! Thanks for dropping by, I'm stoked as always to have the opportunity to work with SCS and rep your killer wheels. I'm sure which ever SCS setup I end up with is going to be a hit! Haha

 

[scottryana]

Hey SCS will you be offering a stouter wheel for the 80 series? It looks like all your wheels are rated to around 2100lbs while the stock 80 wheels are rated to 3800lbs each. Good looking wheels and nice wights!

 

[rickashay]

Hey SCS will you be offering a stouter wheel for the 80 series? It looks like all your wheels are rated to around 2100lbs while the stock 80 wheels are rated to 3800lbs each. Good looking wheels and nice wights!

I'm not going to speak for SCS here, but do you think a more stout wheel is indeed needed? The GVWR on the 80's is ~6450 lbs? Shouldn't that mean that even 1750lbs per wheel would be overkill? I know the factory wheels are stronger (and that the 80-series wheels are some of the strongest wheels Toyota has ever made) but does that require the aftermarket to exceed them to be sufficient? Maybe I'm missing something so please educate me if I'm being a newb.

The SCS wheels are lighter and still exceed the weight requirements. I'm also sure there is some safety factor in there somewhere... not that I would want to rely on that, but I don't expect my 80 to exceed (2100lbsx4) 8400 lbs.

Update

Not anything big and crazy yet... still tyring to sort out some of the smaller details with a complete lack of time off of work to accomodate.

My girlfriend was down in Spokane a couple weeks ago shopping, and it just so happened that Sears had a battery sale going on. I ordered one online and had my gf "import" the box of electrons and deliver it to my door. I opted for the Group 31 as I don't plan on running duals.

Old vs. New

20120629-IMG_1656.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Instead of trimming the fins on the battery itself, I trimmed a small corner of the battery box:

20120629-IMG_1658.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

With the above modification, I used the factory (or at least the PO's) J-screws and a piece of "L-channel" I had lying around. I plan on removing the factory battery box in the near future and having a real battery box fabbed up.

New home in the engine bay:

20120629-IMG_1661.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

I pulled the skid plates and sliders off, and finished removing all of the lower cladding. Truck is headed to the welder next week to have the holes filled and should be LineX'd by the end of the month.

 

[scottryana]

Many 80's here are over 6450lbs, and the 8400lb estimate assumes a perfect 50/50 weight balance, no steep inclines, or wheels lifted off the ground. If you're willing to take the risk that's all that matters.

 

[rickashay]

Many 80's here are over 6450lbs, and the 8400lb estimate assumes a perfect 50/50 weight balance, no steep inclines, or wheels lifted off the ground. If you're willing to take the risk that's all that matters.

So what your saying is that I'm greatly under-estimating the potential heft of the 80? lol I knew they were heavy but I never thought I'd be able to hit the 8000lb mark. Crazy!

 

[scottryana]

No I don't think you will hit 8000lbs static, but I think you will exceed 2100lbs on a corner fairly easily if you have a 6600lb truck coming down a steep slope, pick up a wheel during articulation or bouncing over rocks etc. But like I said as long as you are accepting of the risk its worth trying I suppose.

 

[shockeere]

There looks to be a bit of a lift on there, can you confirm what type? Subscribed as I can tell this is gonna be a great build.

1997 lx450: 135k miles, unlocked, packasport

 

[AKers]

There looks to be a bit of a lift on there, can you confirm what type? Subscribed as I can tell this is gonna be a great build.

1997 lx450: 135k miles, unlocked, packasport

I believe it is an OME 2.5-3". Might look like more with all the weight reduction he has done.

 

[Gorilla]

damn loved that 4Runner! Cant wait to see what you do to the 80

 

[rickashay]

There looks to be a bit of a lift on there, can you confirm what type? Subscribed as I can tell this is gonna be a great build.

1997 lx450: 135k miles, unlocked, packasport

Yah, sorry I didn't post much about the current mods. It's on OME 850/863 springs and has a 30mm spacer in the front.

I believe it is an OME 2.5-3". Might look like more with all the weight reduction he has done.

Haha I was thinking that as well, I bet it's come up an inch since I got it! My garage has become a void for LC parts.

damn loved that 4Runner! Cant wait to see what you do to the 80

Thanks! Hoping this thing starts to come together quick in the next couple months...

 

[Gorilla]

From your decals on your 4Runner, looks like your into the JDM scene a bit??

Especially your rims on it.

 

[Gorilla]

lol wtf, I thought these plates looked Familiar....

They are NSW Aussie plates.

 

[rickashay]

From your decals on your 4Runner, looks like your into the JDM scene a bit??

Especially your rims on it.

It's funny I don't even have a car, and havent for some time, but I've always been an enthusiastic following of the JDM world and the car industry in general. Needless to say, I have several plans/ideas rolling in my head. Once the Cruiser is done, I plan on getting a project car. Thinking either a GS300 and doing a 2JZ-GTE swap or doing something weird and getting a Porsche 944 and swapping in a 1UZ TT. Pipe dreams now, but the ideas are there nonetheless!

I checked out your website in your sig - some WICKED cars there... and wheels. Love the volks and work wheels.

lol wtf, I thought these plates looked Familiar....
They are NSW Aussie plates.

Hahah That's my buddies old 3rd gen. It was recently destroyed by a drunk driver unfortunately, but he just replaced it with a 4th gen v8 sport edition 4Runner. He's into cars... he's had a bunch of mkIII supras, and a pretty wicked Aristo. Now he's onto another MKIII Supra. Jealous of all the turbo goodness you get over there in Aus.

 

[Gorilla]

ahh hehe cool! Well the Supras and Skylines over here are all grey imports anyways lol. Aristo would be sweet.

My site hasnt been updated in a while

Why is he running NSW plates? There is a Candian guy here at work, and I showed him, and he was confused lol...said you guys dont need to run plates up front, so its probably just for show?

I saw your wheeling pics on that thread and said to him "how can you leave that beautiful place?". He said too much snow lol

 

[AKers]

Why is he running NSW plates? There is a Candian guy here at work, and I showed him, and he was confused lol...said you guys dont need to run plates up front, so its probably just for show?

As far as the front plates go, it depends on what province you are in. In Alberta, yes we do not need front plates but I think you do in all other provinces. I like it simply because it leaves the front end of the vehicle clean looking, just my opinion of course.

 

[Gorilla]

He is from "MooseJaw" (hahahah). Yeah If I could run without a front plate, I would 100%!!!

And typo in my last post (Canadian*)