Builds ROTW: CreeperSleeper (1 Viewer)

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CreeperSleeper

Cascade Cruisers
SILVER Star
Joined
May 16, 2005
Threads
178
Messages
7,409
Location
Canby, OR
Three years ago, I was sitting outside of a Starbucks with my girlfriend (now wife) as we chatted about me wanting another 4wd and what to get. You see, I grew up in the passenger seat of either a lifted 70’s era Chev truck or one of the CJ5’s my dad had built. Over the course of my driving, I have owned a few J**ps and a few Chev trucks, but I was tired of the size of a Chev and I was really sick of breaking J**ps! I bought my first Toyota in 2000. It was a 1987 4Runner that I put 31’s on and wheeled the snot out of. I was very impressed with it’s dependability and functionality… And it was a blast to drive. However, a very bad traffic accident sent her to the crusher. :sad: My second Toyota was a 1985 4Runner that I lifted with 33’s, 4.88 gears, ez-locker in the rear and custom bumpers. I eventually blew the motor up in it and couldn’t afford to fix it, so I sold it to a friend. It was time for me to get into the woods again, I was going crazy! Anyway, there we were, smoking a cigarette out in the sun, chatting about 4Runners, Land Cruisers and Chero-cars when low and behold Mark Hawley of MetalTech fame pulls up in a bone stock 80, covered in mud and hops out with his family. I strike up a conversation with him and mention what we were talking about and his eyes lit up… (For those of you who know Mark, he will talk for hours about Land Cruisers and is a wealth of knowledge!) He left me with three copies of Toyota Trails, a recommendation to ‘Mud and his business card. It was at that moment, as if by fate, I made my decision to get an 80. And this was before I’d ever been inside one!

(pic of my 85 4Runner)
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Two weeks later I found a 40th Anniversay in Emerald Pearl with 126k miles with lockers.
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I had my girlfriend drive me to see it as I was suffering through a suspension of my license. (I also used to be into fast European cars and street racing… Stupid, I know.) I checked it out and risked driving it around a neighborhood before making an offer and arranging for the seller to drop it off at my house! Two weeks after that, I was able to drive my Land Cruiser for the first time legally and I was in love.

I ended up naming my 80 Jillian and she has become a friend I can depend on. I started out removing the running boards and roof rack.
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Then I put her on 33” Trxus on some 16x10 black steels I had lying around. After that came the OME “J” lift and flair removal.
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It was around this time that I joined Cascade Cruisers and TLCA.
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Eventually 35” Toyo MT’s on 16x8 black steels found it’s way on my truck as a wedding gift from my wife.
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I braced the lower rear control arms with angle,
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added DOM steering rods (thanks Medusa!), added MetalTech sliders (thanks Mark!),
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a custom MetalTech front bumper (thanks LT!),
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MetalTech 2” spacers in front,
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5.29 gears (Thanks Duane!), Longfield birfs and inner axles, 6 rock lights, custom exhaust,
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MetalTech style front fender trimming,
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bobbed rear quarter panels,
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tailgate storage,
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Huskey floor liners, Cobra in-dash CB, Alpine CD player,
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Sirius receiver, Lowrance XOG gps system and a few other things I’m sure I’m missing!

Future mods include (In no particular order): Custom tube rear bumper, 37” Iroks on modified H1 double beadlocks, painted flat Khaki with flat black tubing, custom rear storage unit, interior roll cage, relocated fuel cell, equal length control arms in rear, custom 3-link front, crawl box (I’ll get something to work…) and some sort of winch system.
 
Nice job and nice cruiser. Always an inspiration...love the wheelin pics and history. Cool to see the progression of a capable grocery getter.:hillbilly:
 
Awesome Write-up Chad!!:clap:

I can't believe how nice that rig was when you first bought it.... You have definitely wheeled the stuffing out of that rig! Keep the pics and videos coming. It is awesome to see what my rig might be able to do one day....... if I can ever find the notorious coolant leak....
:cheers:
 
Nice job and nice cruiser. Always an inspiration...love the wheelin pics and history. Cool to see the progression of a capable grocery getter.:hillbilly:

Thanks!

Awesome Write-up Chad!!:clap:

I can't believe how nice that rig was when you first bought it.... You have definitely wheeled the stuffing out of that rig! Keep the pics and videos coming. It is awesome to see what my rig might be able to do one day....... if I can ever find the notorious coolant leak....
:cheers:

LOL! Yeah, she's been well loved... GENERIC said that I have the most trail abused 40th Anniversary in existance!
 
Damn dude, u don't wheel that often, huh?:D... That thing was clean when you first got, body damage doesn't bother you? Oh well, at least you wheel it!:cheers:
 
Nice ride and sweet pics!
 
Man, you beat that thing like a red-headed step-child! :smokin: :hillbilly:

Nice rig, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here!
 
I almost bought this truck before Chad did, but ended up passing on it and finding mine a couple weeks later. It's a small world of Cruiserheads that I would find Chad here on 'Mud a couple days later and eventually hook up for some wheeling.

Chad's 80 is beat up, for sure, but he is a blast to wheel with. I can honestly say, every time I wheel with Chad, I have a great time and you just know going out that you are going to see an 80 series do something you wouldn't think it would be able to do. I've learned a hell of a lot about my rig watching Chad go through things; sometimes cleanly, sometimes not. Either way, it is inspiring watching somebody push these rigs to/beyond the limit.

It does make me laugh sometimes just how beat to hell his truck is, but when you think how much money some people have into their trail rigs just to get them up to the capability of an 80, it really isn't that much of an abomination that somebody beats on the 80 series trucks like this. It isn't a daily driver anymore, so why not?

Have a ball, Chad. :cheers:
 
Awesome man, glad to see you use it hard :p One of these days though, you should get a couple of those dents pulled out lol
 
Nice write-up Chad and looks like you really use your truck.
 
Great pics Chad! Neat to hear the history and see the progression. Will it be at the meeting this month? I still need to look it over and see the pyramid shaped seat base from all that pucker factor!
 
Damn dude, u don't wheel that often, huh?:D... That thing was clean when you first got, body damage doesn't bother you? Oh well, at least you wheel it!:cheers:

I don't get to wheel her nearly as often as I would like! The body doesn't bother me too much anymore, but the first one hurt! I sometimes dream of buying another one that is straight and swapping everything over, but it's kinda nice not worrying about it with the tight trails we have around here.

I almost bought this truck before Chad did, but ended up passing on it and finding mine a couple weeks later. It's a small world of Cruiserheads that I would find Chad here on 'Mud a couple days later and eventually hook up for some wheeling.

Chad's 80 is beat up, for sure, but he is a blast to wheel with. I can honestly say, every time I wheel with Chad, I have a great time and you just know going out that you are going to see an 80 series do something you wouldn't think it would be able to do. I've learned a hell of a lot about my rig watching Chad go through things; sometimes cleanly, sometimes not. Either way, it is inspiring watching somebody push these rigs to/beyond the limit.

It does make me laugh sometimes just how beat to hell his truck is, but when you think how much money some people have into their trail rigs just to get them up to the capability of an 80, it really isn't that much of an abomination that somebody beats on the 80 series trucks like this. It isn't a daily driver anymore, so why not?

Have a ball, Chad. :cheers:

Aw... Thanks, Steve! It's true, I bought it to wheel!

Awesome man, glad to see you use it hard :p One of these days though, you should get a couple of those dents pulled out lol

Great pics Chad! Neat to hear the history and see the progression. Will it be at the meeting this month? I still need to look it over and see the pyramid shaped seat base from all that pucker factor!

Glad you liked it! I will make sure to bring her out to the meeting this month for everybody to drool over (or cower from!).


Thanks for the kind words everybody. I know that I push my 80 a lot harder than a lot of people on here, but to me that is the fun of it. Jillian may not win any show-n-shines, but it's amazing how many people on the local trails recognize her. I get stopped every time I'm out for someone to say hi or look at the new mods I've done... Most of the time, I can figure out who they are for the life of me!
 
I will never forget after my attempt at Duane's mud pit with my 40, your attempt at the mud pit with your 80. Listening to your motor bounce off the rev limiter sounds like victory...............
 

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