Builds The never-ending build: My 80 Series (1 Viewer)

[H8 Roads]

I also was able to get my front limit straps on. I bought them from Wide Open Design. Great company out of Tennessee. They have been really helpful during this build.

I notice that a lot of people mount their straps further out more in line with the coilovers. I took a little gamble but they seem to work fine. Stops the shock approx. 1 1/2 to 2 inches before full extension. From my research I found that you want to prepare for the straps to stretch 1 inch for every 12 inches. These are 12 inch straps so all should be well. I imagine they will only stretch longer with age.The measurements vary just a bit from side to side because of the way the pan hard shifts the axle.

Here are some more shots of the suspension working.

I made another TRD center cap for the spare tire. I also bought a little led light from Advance Auto Parts for 10 bucks. Came with the grommet. Pushed right into the lug nut hole. Works perfectly.

Next I plan to mount my winch and get all the wiring done on the front end. Also I am still chasing my rear driveshaft vibration. Hopefully I can get that figured out soon. Then I will mount the rock sliders and start driving this thing a little. I’m really excited at this point even though I have a long way to go still. I just want to start getting a few miles on this thing and continue to test and tune.

I hope all is well for everyone!

 

[Broski]

Very nice Fab work and attention to detail. SWEET REG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BMValentine]

I'm coming from the 60 series world, so excuse my ignorance, is the caster adjusted through your links on this 3-link setup? what did you set yours to?

 

[H8 Roads]

Very nice Fab work and attention to detail. SWEET REG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for the kind words. It has been a long and tough project. I like small little details a lot. It’s been fun but I’m ready to drive this thing a little. Haha

 

[H8 Roads]

I'm coming from the 60 series world, so excuse my ignorance, is the caster adjusted through your links on this 3-link setup? what did you set yours to?

Yes I adjust the castor with the links. Mine is set at about 6 degrees.

 

[BMValentine]

Yes I adjust the castor with the links. Mine is set at about 6 degrees.

This is far superior to my leaf springs on my FJ62, and superior yet to the radius arms of the 80 series....may be time I throw the 80 series front axle I have laying around under cruiser.... This is one of the better build threads, thanks for sharing.

 

[H8 Roads]

This is far superior to my leaf springs on my FJ62, and superior yet to the radius arms of the 80 series....may be time I throw the 80 series front axle I have laying around under cruiser.... This is one of the better build threads, thanks for sharing.

I say go for it! Haha.

Thanks again. I’m really glad that I decided to do this build thread. I have really enjoyed everyone’s input and feedback. Met some really cool people too! I like to share my experiences and my approach to this build but mostly I love to learn what other people have done and gain knowledge from their opinions as well. That’s what this forum is all about. Sharing with one another in a way that helps everyone. I’m glad to be a part of it. Should have done it much sooner. Haha. After all seeing all of the builds here on mud is what inspired this build in the first place!

 

[H8 Roads]

Ok so I officially got the cruiser out on the trail! We went to Potts Mountain Jeep Trail located in New Castle Virginia. Wow what a trail. I believe it is said to be the hardest trail in Virginia as far and national forest trails go. Trail was tight in some spots for a rig this big but manageable. We had three rigs. My land cruiser, my old cj5, and my buddy took his TJ Rubicon on 37s. Was an awesome weekend. Here are some pictures!

Cruiser performed well. Good run to let me know what I need to tweak. I went back down to my ome 863 rear springs with a 1 inch spacer. Essentially a 4 inch lift. That was an attempt to fix my driveline vibration. It helped but didn’t solve my problem. Bought a brand new driveshaft from Toyota and it fixed the issue completely! The 863s, however, are just not stiff enough for swing out with full size spare, gear, and 4 people. Not to mention I plan to pull my off-road trailer some. I may consider 4 inch competition coils. I really don’t want to go back up to my 5 inch ones. Also I ordered air bags for inside the springs. I’m aware this might not work with a truck that is flexed out a lot but I’ll try anything twice. I’ll experiment and let you know the results. In the meantime I’ll post some more pics.

 

[H8 Roads]

So here is a picture of the new rear driveshaft. I think the slip joint was too wore out on my old one.

Here is a picture of us heading out. First time I have ever took two rigs at the same time. Ha. My buddy Ben did well driving my Jeep. I got to drive it some also which was really fun. That little thing is such a blast in the woods.

Even saw another cruiser on 40s. What are the odds?

 

[H8 Roads]

Ok it seems like a lot of pictures but I have a feeling no one will mind some more action shots!

 

[H8 Roads]

Ok so I have to get some pictures of the Jeep’s in here.

We also took a little detour on our way back home to stop by Falling Springs Falls outside of Covington Virginia.

All in all it was such an amazing trip and we all had a lot of fun. We drove 2 hours away from home on the highway, wheeled an amazing trail, and made it back home with no issues. Was almost unusual. Haha. No winching or working on anything during the trail ride. We got back to camp at a reasonable time. Chilled and shared stories around the campfire that night. Got up the next morning and explored a nearby fire road, saw a waterfall and got to hike from the top of it to the bottom, then made the journey home. Couldn’t ask for anything more.

 

[H8 Roads]

Hello everyone! Hope all is well. I haven’t posted anything in a while. I’ve been busy with work and all the other stuff that’s going on these days. Ha. I have, however, had some time to drive the cruiser. It’s so awesome having it on the road now. I’ve been driving it everywhere!

We made some time to get a couple float trips in.

Also did a little last minute night wheeling!

I’ve been having so much fun with this thing! I’m totally in love. Haha

 

[H8 Roads]

I took a friend and his two sons up to a local trail this past Saturday. We all had a blast! The kids loved it.

I also had a chance to install those air bags in the rear springs that I mentioned before. This was the first test off-road. Really helps stiffen up the rear. So far they are working great. They work well while flexing too. I haven’t played around to much with pressures yet. I only have about 10 psi in the rear passenger side and 5 in the driver. I will probably try a little more next time. The reason I have more in the passenger side is to keep it from going to that side under acceleration. Since the front is opened up with the three link and no sway bar the torque of the engine wants to lift the front driver side which makes the rear passenger side squat.

I mounted the schrader valves to the crossmember underneath in between the bags. If the bags continue to work out I may relocate them to an easy to reach spot.

 

[H8 Roads]

The next step is to try and get the AC working. It has never worked since I have owned the truck. I took the blower motor out to clean some debris out of it and that turned into taking the evaporator out to clean it. Ha. Since it is easy to get to and there was no pressure in the system I decided to go for it. It’s not bad at all to remove.

After removing the evaporator it appeared that this may have been where it was leaking. There was dye in the lines and it looked to me like there was a little in the bottom of the box that the evaporator is in. I went ahead and installed a new evaporator.

The next issue that I ran into was no voltage getting to the compressor clutch. There is an AC amplifier right behind the glove box. After researching where power is supposed to be going I found that something was wrong. It appeared to be that no power was coming from the HVAC control unit.

 

[H8 Roads]

Time to pull the dash apart......again. Ha. I was able to source a used cluster to install.

It worked! Now I had power to all the appropriate places. Next was to test the clutch engagement. I unplugged the AC pressure switch right in front of the battery and bypassed it with a piece of wire. I only did this for a couple seconds just to see if the clutch would engage. It did! I now have everything back together. I am just waiting to be able to take it to my buddy to get charged. I am anticipating more gremlins but I really hope that there are none. Ha

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Man you have one awesome truck! Love this thing! Very clean!

 

[H8 Roads]

Man you have one awesome truck! Love this thing! Very clean!

Thanks so much! That means a lot. It has been quite the journey so far. I never imagined it would turn into what it has. I love it. Hopefully within the next year I can get it painted. That will be the icing on the cake!

 

[H8 Roads]

So I had an opportunity to work on my off-road trailer. I built a rack to mount my rooftop tent to it. I wanted whatever contraption I made to be removable so I welded some tabs onto the trailer that the feet of the rack could bolt to.

I matched the tubing to the size that the sides of the trailer was built with. Tried to follow the lines of the trailer for a cleaner look. My OCD strikes again. I used 1 1/2” tubing with a 3/16” wall thickness. May be slightly overbuilt but obviously I wanted it to be sturdy. I built the two crossbars first then used some C channel to connect the two from front to back. Not only did that strengthen the entire structure it was also for the runners of the tent to sit on. I simply drilled three holes in each channel for the bolts of the tent to go down through. Works really well.

 

[H8 Roads]

I got the rack all painted up one night and the next day was able to bolt it on.

I had a couple of my buddies come over to help me get the tent on top. Ended up a little higher than I wanted but I wanted to be able to haul my canoe and other boats underneath the tent. I also have the annex for the tent. I contracted CVT to see what the optimal mounting height was for tent to utilize that the best. They told me 6’6”. It ended up 6’4”. Basically perfect!

I can’t wait to test this setup out!

 

[H8 Roads]

So I haven’t posted in a while. A little update on what I’ve been up too.

It’s been a hard year for everyone but a lot of us have found a way to have some fun while staying safe.

Outdoor activities have been a go to for many people. Me included. I got the Land Cruiser on the road this year and have been racking up the miles ever since.

The Capital Land Cruiser Club was still able to hold their Fall Crawl Event at the Cove this year. The turn out was great and everyone had a wonderful time. It was the first camping trip for my trailer set up.

The first day was really beautiful. Warm weather with the sun shining. I was mostly on the blue (intermediate) trails. I wasn’t trying to go crazy, just wanted to stretch her legs good. Lol. Pretty tight trails for a big rig like mine. I felt like I spent a lot of time keeping the roof out of the trees. Ha

The second day was a bit cooler with some overcast but was still a spectacular day. I meet another group of guys with 80 series and they we more than happy to let me join them for the day.

All in all it was a successful trip. My Cruiser rolled down the highway pulling the trailer just fine, wheeled all weekend, and was able to make the journey home.

I met a lot of wonderful new people and created what I hope is some lasting friendships!