Builds What did you do to your Land Cruiser/Toyota/Lexus 4X4 this week?

[Just Diddly]

Trying to get the cats in my '93 figured out. Temperatures are significantly cooler at the outlet than the inlet (from my understanding, outlet temps need to be 30-100 degrees WARMER than the inlet). No CEL or real apparent issues, but the exhaust smell is pretty bad, so much so that I am often forced to the back on roadtrips because my buddies complain about the smell when following me and it puts out significantly more smoke than I am comfortable with. Decided run a bottle of Cataclean through it to see if that clears up any gunk before I start tonights project of removing the passenger side slider, soaking the bolts, trying to get the cats off, clean them with laundry detergent and some other chemicals, and see if there is anyway I can salvage them before I get the weld-on high flow units from Magnaflow.

I've been sitting on a pair of OEM O2 sensors still in the packaging for months now, should I just go ahead and swap them in if I stick with the current cats or just wait until I get Magnaflow's before installing them?

 

[1972FJ55]

Did the Tundra brake upgrade to the 4Runner.

 

[splitshot]

Did the Tundra brake upgrade to the 4Runner.

What coils are you running on the 5100's?

 

[1972FJ55]

What coils are you running on the 5100's?

I'm using the '99 one year only 1" tall springs. I've got the matching ones on the back. Pretty happy with the ride and handling.

 

[splitshot]

I'm using the '99 one year only 1" tall springs. I've got the matching ones on the back. Pretty happy with the ride and handling.

I was toying with those. I'd bet one couldn't tell a difference. I chose the OME 880's for the front, and 906's rear matched with the 5100's.
Supper happy as well.

 

[TWILLY]

Last week we land cruised for eight days and 900 miles from Flagstaff to the Tushar Mountains, the Paunsaugunt Plateau, the Aquarius Plateau, the Kaibab Plateau, and then back home. But for a few stops for gas and ice we were, as usual, fully self-supported with food and water--a good fit for the Covid situation.

Tushars

The Tushars were spectacular. The eastern ascent from Junction sees about a vertical mile of elevation gain and very steep gradients--a good functioning cooling system is key. I'd hoped to camp above treeline for both scenery and lack of bugs, but our route was still under snow. We hiked the alpine, photographed wildlife and fly fished nearby streams.

Tundra, big views.

Finally losing their winter wool in July. Stalking these guys at 12,000 ft was a hell of a workout.

Buggy camp with a nice view.

Paunsaugunt

We then made our way to the Paunsaugunt Plateau, where we found a shady, creek-side camp. Aggressive brown trout in tight channels made for fun fly fishing, and there was excellent wildlife for photography and nerding out on natural history.

(continued)

 

[TWILLY]

(continued) Paunsaugunt

Small but feisty brown trout

Ruby-crowned kinglet

One of the nicer camps we've found in years, right on the creek--no mosquitos.

 

[TWILLY]

(continued) Aquarius Plateau

We ascended the Aquarius Plateau from the west. Like the Tushars, this was another long, big climb. Once on top, we made our way east for a few hours until we found lakes. It was pretty but, as feared, too buggy, and so despite scenic camps we didn't stay long. A west-east traverse of the Aquarius would be a great cruise later in the fall--after the bugs and before the snow. This is remote country--we saw very few people.

Dry meadows at 10,000ft along the western Aquarius.

Camp at a lake. Nobody around.

Kaibab Plateau

After mosquitos pushed us off the Aquarius., we made our way to the familiar country of the Kaibab Plateau and to what I think is one of the best camps in the American West on its eastern edge. The weather was perfect and we were treated to a spectacular lightning show with evening storms firing north of Winslow.

A view from camp to the east -- Marble Platform, Echo Cliffs, Kaiparowits Plateau.

As she has for nearly three decades, the old girl did great once again--making more great memories.

 

[NMBound]

Last week we land cruised for eight days and 900 miles from Flagstaff to the Tushar Mountains, the Paunsaugunt Plateau, the Aquarius Plateau, the Kaibab Plateau, and then back home. But for a few stops for gas and ice we were, as usual, fully self-supported with food and water--a good fit for the Covid situation.

Tushars

The Tushars were spectacular. The eastern ascent from Junction sees about a vertical mile of elevation gain and very steep gradients--a good functioning cooling system is key. I'd hoped to camp above treeline for both scenery and lack of bugs, but our route was still under snow. We hiked the alpine, photographed wildlife and fly fished nearby streams.

Tundra, big views.
View attachment 2369203

Finally losing their winter wool in July. Stalking these guys at 12,000 ft was a hell of a workout.
View attachment 2369209

Buggy camp with a nice view.
View attachment 2369210

Paunsaugunt

We then made our way to the Paunsaugunt Plateau, where we found a shady, creek-side camp. Aggressive brown trout in tight channels made for fun fly fishing, and there was excellent wildlife for photography and nerding out on natural history.

(continued)

Last week we land cruised for eight days and 900 miles from Flagstaff...

These are some amazing shots!

 

[NMBound]

It is completed. That was a new experience. The rear springs look like they're settling. Maybe I should put the spare in the back? It steers like a metal red wagon right now. I am trailering it across town to the guys who aligned my 5th gen tomorrow morning.

I'm happy with the look of the tires. I had read some things that made me think they would look too small, but I think they look fine. Either way, we are swapping these black wheels and tires onto the 5th gen in approximately 10 months after those all seasons are finished. They're looking pretty meager right now, and I would be surprised if they last that long in this heat.

It gives me a chance do the overland rig's wheels and tires differently. I'm thinking about a negative offset and a lower profile. I'm very happy with the Yokohama G003s, and I might buy them again. The question is, do I go to 285/70/R17?

 

[NMBound]

I used a Craftsman Headlight Restoration kit on the 4th gen and all I have to say is...damn! It was 20 bucks! I also got the tow from a High Desert Cruisers club member. I can't wait to get this on the trail.

Before:

After:

 

[DSRTRDR]

(continued) Paunsaugunt

Ruby-crowned kinglet
View attachment 2369244

great pic

 

[brettwilm]

Those of you that have replaced a brake booster on an 80 know that you often have to loosen mounts and jack up your engine a bit to clear the intake manifold and get the new booster against the firewall. Good mechanics will accomplish this by wrenching on the isolator lug nuts in a counter-clockwise manner but not me. Last week I started on th DS upper mount and cranked on that sucker--clockwise, unfortunately--with my 17mm socket and breaker bar until, you guessed it, I sheared off the lug. It was early and in my enthusiasm I had begun without any coffee. Learned THAT lesson--oh, and that "lefty-loosey" one too.

My new mount arrived promptly from NLXTACY at Wits End along with some caliper bolts (who hasn't thrown a bolt and scavenged one from the rotor?) and a very sexy 1FZ-FE engine name plate. Tonight I removed air filter housing and intake, forward exhaust manifold heat shield, loosened PS and transmission mount nuts, and removed DS lower mounting nut without incident. Removed fan shroud bolts too. Tomorrow I'll find a scrap of 2x6, jack up the engine, replace the DS mount, and install that brake booster (you remember the brake booster?).

Damn I'm speedy and efficient!

Follow-up, the brake booster install went as well as I should expect. First replaced the engine mount I'd destroyed--guess what, that is a white-knuckle operation when the engine is jacked up by your gimpy 2.5 ton floor jack with 3 stacked 2x4 sections for adequate extension (did use jack stand for backup), gently milking down a tiny bit at a time to keep DS and PS mounts properly positioned. Had a difficult time inserting booster into the firewall as alignment between inner and outer panels had shifted and I had to force up the inner firewall with a BFS (big friggin screwdriver) to align the 4 bolt holes. Once the booster was in, engine lowered, brake pedal mechanism re-connected, new driveshaft firewall gasket installed, and everything else re-connected and tightened up , took a considerable amount of bleeding to get the air out of the breaklines especially to the fronts since I'd removed all the lines from the master cylinder. Oh yeah the lower line into the three-way cross-threaded and I was losing fluid until I sorted that out. At any rate, it's good to be back on the road and hard brake issue repaired!

 

[Jhayesvw]

I put some 35s on and the stock wheels too. I like it so much more.

 

[brettwilm]

I put some 35s on and the stock wheels too. I like it so much more.

View attachment 2379615

Looks very stout. Describe Lift?

 

[Jhayesvw]

Looks very stout. Describe Lift?

Thanks. The lift is a OME 851 front and 860 rear spring setup with OME L shocks and extended brake lines. I also run a 1” aluminum lift spacer up front.
I need to buy and install castor plates still. I have the castor bushings but want plates.

 

[GeoRoss]

Finally some new tires. I hope to test them out next week.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Got quite a few projects done in advance of LCDC next week:

1. Mounted the 20lb PowerTank to the Roof Rack and it has been rock solid. Saved me in near Lake Mary on a back trail when my ARB compressor switch failed. Added benefit is that it runs my impact gun really well for tire changes. Also added the Rhino Rack dual jerry can horizontal mount for carrying my Scepter jerry's (1 petrol and 1 water) and even sets up for locking them do they don't disappear. PowerTank mount also have lock compatibility. I picked up a pack of 4 padlocks all keyed the same.

I finally completed phase one (operational and safe, but not pretty) of my 12v setup. I've added a RedArc BCDC1225D to charge the new Renogy LiPO4 100ah battery installed in the DS drawer wing. I distribute from the battery off a BlueSea fuse block. Also added a Renogy 1000w inverter w/ remote to power the two AC outlets mounted in the PS drawer wing face. Hardwired the fridge power, lots of additional USB 3.0, USB-C and 12v outlets and the Icom 5100 all to run off of the LiPO4 battery. I also installed the Victron 712 Battery Monitor with bluetooth. I can track battery status and usage over time with my iPhone or with the Android app installed on my GROM Vline2, which is running on the OEM Multi-function Display. The GROM now also supports wireless Apple CarPlay, which has been AMAZING. GaiaGPS works pretty well on it too.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Also installed an interior hatch release for when I'm camping in the truck, Tinted the windows with ceramic to 5% in back and 18% in front. Mounted the new awning and some BudBuilt sliders a while back.

 

[Rooty245]

Finally some new tires. I hope to test them out next week.

Love the geology humor! Be sure to never take a schist for granite.