So this is the frankenstein project I've been working on.. the frame/core support/inner fenders/engine/transmission from the 94 LC I bought in April 2015 and rolled outside of Ouray 4 months later, the 97 locked axles I bought at the same time, the body shell is from a front-end wrecked 97 LX450 I bought in September 2015, hood and fenders from
@arcteryx.
Lift:
TJM 50mm progressive springs, Fox 2.0 shocks (the shorter ones),
Weight:
single battery up front for now. IPOR cross member, Slee shortbus front, Warn 9.5XP, 4x4Labs slider kit (more on this later), 4x4labs rear dual swingout kit with spare. 315s on 94 LC wheels. Lots of tools and 8" and 9.5" diff chunks sitting in back.. probably similar to trip weight. No plans for RTT, and my overall goal is to keep it light.
TJM rubber caster bushings, and a rebuilt front shaft: no crazy vibes. Before the weight of the bumper and winch driveline angles weren't happy and vibes were noticeable. After rebuilding the rear, I need to get one of the balanced but honestly I could run it like it is and be just fine.
LOTS more work than I anticipated to get the early 1FZ-FE to play nice with the 97 dash. I might do a writeup at some point.. but that'd be even more work, for something no one else is dumb enough to do. Other than sit and tell people not to do the same thing.
Anyway.. cloth seats from my 94, deflared.. I knew deflaring an LX means 50+ holes per side and I don't really care if this is perfect, so I just used aluminum AC tape over the holes with the plan of eventually putting bedliner over it. Tape and holes are visible, but I don't care. Bigger concern is possibility of popping a hole in the middle of it, but that bedliner is super tough. If it happens, it happens. I'll deal with it.
Attaching pics of the tape/liner, sliders, and tire/wheel/slider profile.
4x4labs sliders: look great, DOM tubing, super strong. but.. if you decide to get the kit (~$600 I think) be prepared.. it is a TON of work, and if you are like me it won't all work when finished. I'm not sure what shifted so much upon welding, but the cat cover bolts are out of line by well over a half inch. THIS IS NOT LUKE'S FAULT. But, it is a complicated design, and there is a lot that can go wrong between all of the mounting spots and tacking things in place and warping when welding.
So.. I have to decide how I'm going to get the cat cover to fit.. possibly move some of the welded nuts to another surface and enlarge some of the mounting holes. Between the three surfaces it bolts to I'm still not sure if everything will fit, but it's either that, try to talk luke out of another cat-cover kit, or scrap the whole slider pair and get something else.