Builds TheGrrrrr Build Thread - 2013 LC

[TheGrrrrr]

I’ve spent most of the evening texting with Zuk and am going to go with either the Nitro or Revolution 4.88 gears as they come from the same factory and he likes both. I’ll get whichever I find in stock first. Doing REM polishing, but not doing cryo-treatment. Going with the Eaton rear locker and currently not planning a locker up front. Need to find someone local to remove the diffs and reinstall when done. Hope to have it done next month depending on parts availability.

 

[grinchy]

I haven’t needed a front locker. But I also haven’t really needed the rear either. . .
From what I understand if you’re needing wheelspin for mud 3x locked is the tix.

 

[grinchy]

For a bit just diffs was carrying a Auburn elocker (on off, not lsd). It had a bigger diameter and lock pin. They now have an lsd option too. If you’re not fully in on the Eaton yet.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Great build thread. I love how functional and practical you've gone with yours, I'm a big fan of that as a build principle.

Also a reformed Rover owner here, though mine was a Disco II. If that truck was even 75% as reliable as my 100 series or even my Nissan Frontier was, I'd still own it. Great engineering, crappy build. I've been told the newer iterations such as the LR3/4 and the L322 generation of Range Rover are much more robust.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Great build thread. I love how functional and practical you've gone with yours, I'm a big fan of that as a build principle.

Also a reformed Rover owner here, though mine was a Disco II. If that truck was even 75% as reliable as my 100 series or even my Nissan Frontier was, I'd still own it. Great engineering, crappy build. I've been told the newer iterations such as the LR3/4 and the L322 generation of Range Rover are much more robust.

The L322 was the most capable off-road vehicle I had ever driven, and that was on 18” wheels. It was like cheating. It defies all conventional wisdom about IFS/IRS and if it had hydraulic instead of air suspension, I never would have gotten rid of it. The Jag engine was surprisingly reliable, but the Frankenstein year (2006) when it was half Jag and half BMW was a nightmare. I’ve heard the last 3 years of production of the L322 have been pretty bulletproof and if there was a good coil over swap available, I’d probably have one of those.

*No, I wouldn't give up my LC for a reliable L322. The LC is better in virtually every way, but I definitely bang more s*** underneath on rocks in the LC and need better lines than I ever did in the L322. I can't explain why that is, because it doesn't seem like it should be the case.*

 

[dcs111]

A few updates:

Added the Kaon Shelf:

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Mounted up the Tire table to the underside of the shelf:

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Gave away my old knock-off Maxtrax and bought a new set. Mounted them using the Rhino Rack side mount and Matrix pins:

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Cut off the hook from my Smittybuilt X2O winch and replaced with the Factor 55.

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I am curious your thoughts on any winching activity with this setup? I am considering the hidden winch vs fab bumper and leaning towards hidden.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I am curious your thoughts on any winching activity with this setup? I am considering the hidden winch vs fab bumper and leaning towards hidden.

I haven't needed to do a lot of it but the hidden winch works just fine for the couple of simple straight pulls I've done. I haven't tried any at extreme angles or anything exceptionally difficult or heavy. I tend to avoid situations that get me into that kind of trouble and I have found that when somebody else needs winched, other people with winches are pretty excited to use them. I'll always let somebody else winch and I usually end up spotting or helping out in other ways. I'm more than willing to use my winch to help out in any situation but if somebody else is dying to use theirs, then they can have at it.

 

[dcs111]

I haven't needed to do a lot of it but the hidden winch works just fine for the couple of simple straight pulls I've done. I haven't tried any at extreme angles or anything exceptionally difficult or heavy. I tend to avoid situations that get me into that kind of trouble and I have found that when somebody else needs winched, other people with winches are pretty excited to use them. I'll always let somebody else winch and I usually end up spotting or helping out in other ways. I'm more than willing to use my winch to help out in any situation but if somebody else is dying to use theirs, then they can have at it.

Too funny…

 

[kcjaz]

Added a Wolfbox G840 Video Mirror/Dashcam:

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I’ve been thinking about installing one of these video mirrors after I get my rear bumper and swing outs installed as I am anticipating the mirror view will be mostly blocked. Did you do any with the garage door buttons? I don’t really want to loose those. I’m wondering if those buttons could be relocated somehow.

Great build thread btw.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I’ve been thinking about installing one of these video mirrors after I get my rear bumper and swing outs installed as I am anticipating the mirror view will be mostly blocked. Did you do any with the garage door buttons? I don’t really want to loose those. I’m wondering if those buttons could be relocated somehow.

Great build thread btw.

Thanks! The garage buttons work just fine. The video mirror attaches to the existing mirror and doesn’t fully block access to the buttons.

 

[kcjaz]

Thanks! The garage buttons work just fine. The video mirror attaches to the existing mirror and doesn’t fully block access to the buttons.

Ahh. I guess couldn’t tell from the pic. I thought the the OEM mirror was removed.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Finally got everything ordered for my regear and locker project. Ended up getting impatient with the Nitro gear availability and am giving Revolution Gears a shot. Ordered the Ring and Pinion sets directly from Revolution Gear & Axle, about $650 shipped. They didn't have the install kits in stock so the fine folks at Cruiser Outfitters were able to ship me the full install kits for about $725. Ended up tracking down the Eaton lockers (in stock) from East Coast Gear Supply for about $2450. Getting Cryo and REM treatments done locally for $350. So that's $4175 before any labor.

Still working out who is going to do the work, but I'll either be having my general mechanic pull the thirds and getting Zuk to set them up or I'll just drop the truck off at a local off-road shop that has done a couple 200's when I'm going to be out of town next month. Either way labor is looking to be around $1000/Axle.

Pulling the trigger on this project is for sure going to push out the Rhino front bumper and ARB rear, but I like the way my truck looks now and am really excited to see how it drives with the 4.88s. I doubt I'll use the lockers much, but there will be plenty of opportunity to try them out at Cruise Moab and LCDC next year.

Current status: 106,420 miles

 

[linuxgod]

I used mine in Moab. With the CDL locked and MTS set up right it probably wasn't necessary but with the rear engaged I walked up stuff that the Jeep's behind me struggled and spun their wheels on like mad. No slip, just climbing. You'll have a blast

 

[Tex68w]

I am thinking about going rear locker only, at least at first. I'd like to skip the front locker if possible as I don't plan on making it a full on rock crawler of sorts lol. It's good to know that the CDL combined with Atrac and Crawl and a rear locker can take it most places.

 

[linuxgod]

I am thinking about going rear locker only, at least at first. I'd like to skip the front locker if possible as I don't plan on making it a full on rock crawler of sorts lol. It's good to know that the CDL combined with Atrac and Crawl and a rear locker can take it most places.

I went back and forth on this myself. Ultimately I caved, though I probably could've put that $1000 to better use, particularly after having used the rear a few times (and the front once, just for kicks) in Moab and Ouray. The utility really does come from how you use your rig, and frankly 4Lo, ATRAC, CRAWL, and the CDL are extremely capable; the rear locker probably covers most situations - unless you're truly in a scenario where you can't get any traction on 3 of your wheels... and any traction at all in the rear.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I went back and forth on this myself. Ultimately I caved, though I probably could've put that $1000 to better use, particularly after having used the rear a few times (and the front once, just for kicks) in Moab and Ouray. The utility really does come from how you use your rig, and frankly 4Lo, ATRAC, CRAWL, and the CDL are extremely capable; the rear locker probably covers most situations - unless you're truly in a scenario where you can't get any traction on 3 of your wheels... and any traction at all in the rear.

Yep, the front locker is completely superfluous and I can't even begin to justify it, but like everyone else (whether they admit it or not) I just like the sound of "Triple Locked" and when I eventually grenade the front diff because I had it locked and made a mistake, my $1200 vanity purchase will become an additional $3000 repair bill. Now that I think about it... anybody want a front locker? New in box!

 

[TeCKis300]

Having a rear locker now, I'll add that it's just way more fun for enthusiast use. I've previously relied on CRAWL. I run with a buddy's GX where he added the CRAWL module (many model years don't come stock with it in the states). When we run together, the contrast is more obvious where my rear locker keeps a nice rhythm and the fun going with a hit of a button on the fly. Using CRAWL requires coming to a complete stop, engaging CRAWL, and letting the machine take over with a racket. Capable but not as fun. Without the rear locker, I would also be more likely to try with just ATRAC first (because CRAWL is not as fun and I don't feel as directly in control of momentum). Get stuck and potentially digging a larger hole. Then enable CRAWL and try again. I like being successful the first time rather than falling back on another mode.

In the southwest, we also have lots of loose dirt and sand. CRAWL is not as effective in some obstacles that just need momentum, wheel speed, and that rear lock.

ATRAC seems to do a great job managing front wheel slip. Reacts super fast in my experience when just managing the front. I think I agree that the front locker is superfluous, or really that last 5% of capability. Left foot braking could probably claw back some of that last percentage of capability too.

 

[Tex68w]

Rear only it is then. Where are you guys ordering your rear ARB lockers?

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Rear only it is then. Where are you guys ordering your rear ARB lockers?

The ARBs should be pretty easy to find in stock. I don't think Cruiser Outfitters had any earlier this week. You can buy them on Amazon. I ended up going with Eaton eLockers because Zuk stopped installing ARB.

ARB sucks air

ZUK shares many close-up good pics of Toyota gear installs

www.gearinstalls.com

 

[TheGrrrrr]

My general mechanic and Zuk will be coordinating the work for the week of December 6th, which is nice because I'll be traveling for work and should come home to a regeared and "Triple Locked" rig. The relief of knowing Zuk is doing the gear and locker setup is pretty significant as this is the one mod that has had me really stressed out about getting it done right.

May have a couple other mods coming soon depending on Black Friday sales. Certainly close to pulling the trigger on an ARB rear bumper (non-swing-out and probably color matched) and trying to talk myself into a pair of Baja Designs LP9s to custom mount in front of the grill. A Rhino color matched front bumper will be had eventually but for now I like the stock front end and hidden winch. Still haven't needed the better approach angle of an aftermarket bumper.