"Vintaging" Elsie (1 Viewer)

[hairy_apple]

Well, I'm pissed. I got my new tires today and I absolutely hate them. I'm sooooo disappointed right now. They are REALLY small, closer to 33s. I'm dirt poor right now or I would just go drive back down there and order different set and sell these and take the loss. I wish I had been able to see them in person before I bought them. I just assumed that the KM2s would be the same size as the old ones.

Gah... so pissed. I wish I had known. I was so happy with my old BFGs and my friends who have KM2s all love them and said they were better then the old ones. I just hate how it looks, hate how short they all. And they are way louder on the road.

 

[hairy_apple]

Well, I'm pissed. I got my new tires today and I absolutely hate them. I'm sooooo disappointed right now. They are REALLY small, closer to 33s. I'm dirt poor right now or I would just go drive back down there and order different set and sell these and take the loss. I wish I had been able to see them in person before I bought them. I just assumed that the KM2s would be the same size as the old ones.

Gah... so pissed. I wish I had known. I was so happy with my old BFGs and my friends who have KM2s all love them and said they were better then the old ones. I just hate how it looks, hate how short they all. And they are way louder on the road.

 

[Delancy]

KM2s are squirrelly, to say the least, and notorious for discrepancies.

Mounted 35x12.5x17s on Trail Ready's and they were barely 33" mounted.

345/75/16s on OE 80 wheels were close to 36".

33x10.5x15s on OE Cruiser wheels were closest at a hair under 33".

Figured a BFG thing, but the 37x12.5x17s on the 80 are nearly 38s on Trail Ready's.

You think they're loud now?

They get louder as they wear. Have around 60-65k on one set and they're much louder now than when new.

 

[Delancy]

They are good tires in the rocks, one of the few that don't have chunking issues.

 

[hairy_apple]

Yeah... just upset about the short fat look and the noise. I really wish they still made the old ones. I actually think they handled really nice driving on them.. but just wish they werent so undersized. I do spend a lot of time in rocks and know all my friends who have km2s have loved them.

 

[hairy_apple]

Almost done! Got a ton done today after spending the day yesterday doing some unexpected repairs to the tailgate. Got the latch figured out, got the ends capped and sanded pretty. Just have the jerry can mounts tomorrow to build, and mount them on there. And then... I think I'm going to sell it and build another. haha.

I learned a lot and there are a few things I thought of along the way that I want to change and incorporate into the design and they are too big of changes to modify this one. I'm really happy with it, and might hang on to it for a few months, until after DV trip is over. But I already have the next design in my head and it's going to be a big improvement in a few areas.

Padlock keeps the latch from being able to come open.. 200lbs of tire and fuel cans swinging around in traffic would be a very bad thing. Also, keeps the rear of my cruiser more secure.

Pins to lock it open. My last one was really annoying if you weren't parked perfectly even. One side would constantly be swinging into the side of the cruiser, the other side would be constantly trying to close and hitting you while you were unloading camping stuff. Ratchet straps solved that.. but this is soooo much more clean and fancy.

 

[cruisermatt]

I assume the padlock is just to stop passerby thieves and not hardcore ones?

 

[hairy_apple]

Yeah. If you really wanted in there its not really too tough. The padlock is mostly because I have no way of locking tge tailgate or rear hatch.

 

[hairy_apple]

Got the bumper done finally. Although I am still going to add a few small things I've thought of after the fact. And I still have to build the jerry can mounts that go on the shelf. I had a cool idea after building the shelf, I am going to box in the angled part of it and make a little cubby for the tow strap and jumper cables. Also have to finish my extra tough license plate mount. I'm very happy with how it all came out. It works great and looks good too.

Now... got to start the roof rack this week.

Got a new starter in it after almost getting stranded in Auburn yesterday. Wife and I had to try for 15 minutes to push it out of a parking lot onto the road which had a nice downhill for pop starting. haha. FJ40's are HEAVY when you have to push them up a slight hill.

It seemed sluggish yesterday driving it around too and I figured it could use a tune up.. I found one of the spark plugs was broken in half! Doh.. that's why it was sluggish and running rough. Much happier now. Fixed the rear hatch strut so it doesn't hit me in the head anymore. Just fixing as much little stuff here and ther too as I can to try to get things working again that haven't for a while.

Also... let my wife drive. Very scary! ha ha.

Just kidding. She learned to drive in an FJ40. Het parents have one that used to be the "family" car.

 

[winnie]

bumper turned out great ... free up some inside space for other stuff ... personally, I prefer the hi-lift on the roof rack, out of the way ... out of sight ,out of mind too for any wannabe thieves ...

 

[hairy_apple]

Yeah. That was the plan... but then when the top comes off I dont have the jack.

 

[hairy_apple]

Well, tried to get the exhaust leak fixed Friday. Guy at the shop and I looked it over, and figured out the flange on the header was bent. The driveshaft smashed the original Y pipe pretty bad and I finally got it repaired last year. Well, within two weeks it was leaking again. So finally got around to brining it back to see if we could figure out why and found that the header flange had been bent by the first Y pipe when it was damaged.

Ordered a new set of headers from Summit, arrived less then 24 hours later on a Saturday no less. So when I saw the box Saturday morning I figured we might as well do it and get it quiet again. Well.. got the new headers on and realized that new Y pipe put in last year, was put in with a bent header flange and is was not lining up with the new one because... it's not bent! So.. going back to the shop tomorrow to get the Y pip modified to fit the non bent header.

But we also managed to get a few other things done this weekend even with all the rain. Wipers now work again and I started building the tool box for the rear. I really need to get in gear because we are leaving for Death Valley in 6 weeks! I have a lot to get done still before then.

Got to build a roof rack and gutter mounts still. Hopefully this week I can start on that, although really running out of money due to some house repairs that kind of screwed us.

Need to get my business going here soon or find a real job again... hoping for the first.

 

[hairy_apple]

I'm sure that anyone who's packed a 40 for camping knows the pain of how limited storage space is. Even worse for a wheeling/camping trip when you have to bring spare parts and tools and camping crap. I am always looking for extra space for storage for small stuff. I had a semi brilliant idea last week and finally had time to do it yesterday. Made a front plate for my bumper shelf and closed it in making two small cubbies. I thought it would be perfect for stuff you don't use often, but when you need them you don't want to have to dig them out. Tow strap and jumper cables fit perfect in there.

I'll add another strip to close off the gap at the top, I just tacked it in place to see if it was going to work the way I wanted it to. There is a 1/4 gap at the bottom that I'll leave open so dirt and water doesn't stay in there. Worked out perfect!

 

[hairy_apple]

Yay. Finally done and painted and I couldn't be happier with it. Got to build the jerry can mounts tomorrow and then start working on the roof rack.

5 weeks until Death Valley. Yikes! Sooooo much left to do.

 

[terrx]

These front bumper mounts from BTB work great for the high lift. You'll appreciate having it somewhere that's easy to get to if spending a lot of time in the rocks.

http://www.btbprod.com/high-lift-jack-towers-5-inch-btb.html

Nice job on the bumper and fab work.

 

[hairy_apple]

Wow! I have not updated this in a while. Sorry! Well, life didn't really work out as planned and we were unable to go to Death Valley. I have been working on the cruiser quite a bit, just fixing lots of little things here and there. Making small improvements.

Then in the middle of June, my rear brakes finally failed! So I finally got around putting disks on the rear. What was going to be a weekend project, turned into a few weeks as I cut my hand pretty had and had stitches, then it was just too hot to work, and I ran into some minor issues. Anyway, finally finished it this week and took a trip up to Signal Peak yesterday. I coudlnt' have been happier with the brakes, the worked great. I was able to take my hands off the wheel while stopping from 55 and the cruiser just stopped straight and didn't do anything weird, even under hard braking. I can't believe I didn't do this years ago!

NEVER dealing with this crap again!

Awesome weekend.

 

[hairy_apple]

Been using my phone for offline nav, and loving it, but wanted a bigger screen. Got a 8" tablet and RAM mount. This is going to be great for backroad exploring. I'm excited!

 

[tls3601]

Where were the last two scenery pics taken?

 

[hairy_apple]

Coming down the easy way from Signal Peak.. and Lola Montez.. a tiny little lake I love.

 

[tls3601]

Really nice! I also like your version of the 4 plus carrier, I have one, but yours has more style! I like the direction you are taking your 40.......