What have you done to your 100 Series this week? (44 Viewers)

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Nothing glamorous. I noticed a couple of weeks ago after I filled up the tank that the gas needle wasn’t moving off full. As any Land Cruiser owner knows, that ain’t right. A couple of day at full, it finally dropped some, but only after letting it sit at work or home for a while. Not while it was running. After researching here on MUD, I figured it had to be the fuel gauge sending unit. Checked my local dealership, Fred Anderson Toyota’s online parts and found they were running a special on”fuel system” parts so I ordered the sending unit, fuel pump just because it’s got 350k, filters and a tank gasket. It took about an hour to open it up and replace everything.

Happy to report, it seems to be working again. I filled up after the work and drove it a couple of days and burned though a little over 1/2 tank and I did a fill up. I guessed about 14 gallons judging by the gauge. Filled up and it was 14.096 gallons.
 
Not all LC things are LC-specific; plenty by now are just general old-car stuff. Passenger door was getting hard to shut and usually took two tries. I didn’t think the truck had ever been wrecked, so got to looking. Just needed the loose latch tightened up- I’ll probably keep playing with it and get some loctite on there when it seems 100%. 95% fixed while making my breakfast today.

Screw’s a T35- biggest torx bit in the box o bits.

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Me too….. lol

Yeah I picked up this Eastwood base welder for like $175 and just been dicking around with it for years. Messed up a lot of metal but finally getting better at it.
That's cool, almost want to enroll in a class just to learn the basics
 
Me too….. lol

Yeah I picked up this Eastwood base welder for like $175 and just been dicking around with it for years. Messed up a lot of metal but finally getting better at it.
hahaha

I have had it on my "to do" list a long time as well. I gave away my crappy old trailer frame before we moved; shoulda kept it as a welding learning project/ test bed. Oh well- I'm sure there's something on craigslist that could serve similarly.
 
Installed the STEDI 8.5" Type X Sports. Both are spot so I'm waiting for a flood cover to come in for one of them. Only complaint is that I'm gonna have to do some modification either to the lights themselves or to the mounts as they are about 15-degrees too low and the upper part of the bullbar is preventing the adjustment I need. Thinking I'm just going to take an angle grinder to the cooling fins on the back of the lights to get more tilt out of them.

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Video after install --> New video by Kyle Dearing - https://photos.app.goo.gl/kjS3urbNytBdfP886

Video at night --> New video by Kyle Dearing - https://photos.app.goo.gl/L3YRrmPtnWP9CYQNA
 
Installed the STEDI 8.5" Type X Sports. Both are spot so I'm waiting for a flood cover to come in for one of them. Only complaint is that I'm gonna have to do some modification either to the lights themselves or to the mounts as they are about 15-degrees too low and the upper part of the bullbar is preventing the adjustment I need. Thinking I'm just going to take an angle grinder to the cooling fins on the back of the lights to get more tilt out of them.

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Video after install --> New video by Kyle Dearing - https://photos.app.goo.gl/kjS3urbNytBdfP886

Video at night --> New video by Kyle Dearing - https://photos.app.goo.gl/L3YRrmPtnWP9CYQNA
I had a similar issue on my old LX with ARB bar and 9" ARB knock offs. I found out that drilling new holes in the mounting brackets was easier and got me the best adjustment range.
 
I had a similar issue on my old LX with ARB bar and 9" ARB knock offs. I found out that drilling new holes in the mounting brackets was easier and got me the best adjustment range.

Awesome, I'll give that a shot!
 
After about 500 miles I figured I’d share my thoughts on the upgraded rear control arms. As you’ve probably already seen, I went with Ironman 4x4 adjustable uppers and SPC lowers. So far I am extremely happy with both products. No squeaks, creaks, or unusual noises. It definitely tightened up the rear and unfortunately for me, has magnified my need for the rear panhard angle correction.

Also, while I’m thinking about it, the rear pinion angle adjustment. Super simple with the Ironman adjustable control arms. If I remember correctly, I was between 3-4 degrees out of adjustment. I did have a slight vibration before the adjustment, at about 55-60 mph. It is no longer present. I attribute this to the pinion angle correction. Some may disagree, but it’s what worked for me.

I did do a 500 mile inspection today. All fasteners were still torqued properly. The Ironman uppers had not loosened at all, but I did get them just a hair tighter upon inspection. The Permatex brand Orange gel thread locker is the trick for adjustable suspension parts, in my opinion.
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I also bought some “Amazon special” LEDs for the reverse lights. They actually look pretty good so far.
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What happened to the old?!? Don’t hear about too many catastrophic failures of that 4.7
Yea, this one was abused by the previous owners mechanic. I have a thread going about it, but basically I found a piece of foreign metal in the cylinder when I bought the truck. I removed it, but the engine was on borrowed time.
 
Keep or nah? Had an extra decal and put it to use on the awning. Wanted it closer to the edge but there’s just no way to get it to stay there without coming undone from repeated openings.

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Step one of updating the rear suspension components complete. Installed these SPC rear lower control arms today in about 30 minutes. I also used all new hardware; nuts, bolts, and washers. Definitely something anyone with basic hand tools and a torque wrench could accomplish. Really happy with the quality, they are a bit beefier than the factory arms. They also have what SPC calls an xAxis joint, also know as a cross-axis joint. It allows a little better movement and articulation as well as being a sealed self lubricating joint.
The Ironman adjustable upper control arms should be here Monday for install! From there, I’ll measure and adjust my pinion angle.

Pro tip: Use a ratchet strap attached to the lower shock mount and to a forward section on the frame if you need to align the holes. Way easier than using a centering punch.

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How do you like the Ironman awning? I went with the 8' Yakima just because that's where my Christmas gift card was for. I wanted the Ironman. ;)
 
How do you like the Ironman awning? I went with the 8' Yakima just because that's where my Christmas gift card was for. I wanted the Ironman. ;)
Just my 2 cents, but the Ironman awning is awesome and well worth the price. The awning also has a nifty little feature that if one of the metal channels bends or gets broken (say a gust of wind carrys it off) you can remove the piece and just turn it around and use the holes/channels on the other side.
 
I can say that this DIY Prinsu style roof rack project is 99% complete. I'm waiting for Amazon to deliver the trim to put it on the bottom of the wind deflector. This project was truly a labor of love and sheer determination to see this through. Somethings I wished I had to make the job a lot smoother, like a drill press. Lining up the holes for the extruded aluminum cross bars was a challenge without a drill press. I had to sit there with a round file and kind of hone out the hole so it'll line up. Then I was sweating it drilling the holes in the wind deflector so that the T-nuts would line up properly. But i managed to do that but ran out of black oxide rounded 1/4"-20 bolts, so I ran to Home Depot to buy some nasty plated ones which I'll replace as soon as the black oxide ones come in.

If I were to do this again, and that's a BIG IF things I learned along the way things would be a lot better. But such is life.

EDIT: Amazon came and after i finished making the family dinner and ate, went back out to install the rubber molding. Now i can enjoy it.

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