What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week?

[4Cruisers]

Installed pedal box and steering column support. Can someone confirm if this is the correct placement of the upper and lower halves of the support?

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That's what my '76 FJ40 looks like.

 

[tlaporte]

Things are changing here locally, mainly because the entire forest around town has been burned by seven major forest fires dating back to 1977. Back when I was growing up, all you ever saw were an occasional deer on the highway. Now we see deer in the yard almost every day, a coyote a couple of times a week, bobcats in the back yard, bears in the backyard and at the elementary school, and a mountain lion now and then (in broad daylight).

No wild boars, though. But we have seen javelina twice in the median and on the shoulder of I-40 between Albuquerque and Kingman. We didn't realize they were that far north.

My daughter was supposed to do a Girl Scout camp this summer up north of Magic Mountain off the 5 but it was canceled due to the ongoing presence of mountain lions in the camp area.

 

[1911]

Is that a FN FAL? If so, how do you like it? I'm tossing around the idea of a .308 AR vs a FAL

Yes, and I love it - probably my favorite rifle ever. A joy to shoot; very little recoil, accurate. If you get an old military surplus one (like mine) you ought to have a gunsmith check the head spacing; some of these old rifles were used pretty hard. DPS/Panther used to make new ones; not sure if they still do.

The downside to them is that you are pretty much limited to iron sights. The dust cover on the top of the receiver is just a piece of stamped steel that slides off to field strip it; not heavy/stable enough to support a scope mount. I have heard of purpose-made scope mounts for the FAL that replace the dust cover, but have never seen one in the flesh and would be leery of them. So if you want a scope or any optic on your rifle, the AR platform would be far superior.

For anything else where iron sights will do, the FAL is a great rifle IMO.

 

[tls3601]

put on some trail miles over the weekend. came pretty close to not going due to a vapour lock issue. so glad i went anyways

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Vapor lock is a common theme with 40’s, have to let my ‘76 cool herself off in hot weather before restarting.

 

[bikersmurf]

Swapped my leafs from front to rear and rear to front. Cruiser had a bad squat when purchased from PO. Leafs were on wrong ends. Looks appropriate now. Still need to flip shackles however I couldn't because driver front shackle bolt is welded to the inner shackle plate because it's to close to the power steering box to get a nut on the backside. No worries I'm planning shackle reversal or at minimum different shackles period. I like the HFS from ccot but would probably have the same clearance issue without shackles reversal. Either way it's much more level now. Has any one else ever seen this or have any other ideas. I was thinking a thinner nut might clear.

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Scary what some have done, given that tack welds are prone to cracking.

I’d not recommend a thinner nut… but the head of the bolt is usually only 1/4” thick. Unless there’s something I’m not seeing… run the bolt the other way through the shackles.

If you needed, the steering box could be removed to make it easier to install the shackles.

 

[Judger]

Added some retro bling yesterday, probably my toughest project yet. . This may came in the back when I bought it under some antlers and arrow heads. No idea what Toyota it actually comes out of, but it lives in Garby now.

 

[BearBio]

Things are changing here locally, mainly because the entire forest around town has been burned by seven major forest fires dating back to 1977. Back when I was growing up, all you ever saw were an occasional deer on the highway. Now we see deer in the yard almost every day, a coyote a couple of times a week, bobcats in the back yard, bears in the backyard and at the elementary school, and a mountain lion now and then (in broad daylight).

No wild boars, though. But we have seen javelina twice in the median and on the shoulder of I-40 between Albuquerque and Kingman. We didn't realize they were that far north.

I have seen two tarantula hawks this spring. They are not supposed to be found north of Nevada.

 

[1911]

Drove it into town to go to the pharmacy today; felt a funny but small rhythmic vibration at 65 mph, like a wheel weight had come off. Shrugged and kept going, until one of my BFG KM3's de-laminated. Limped home at 25 mph; didn't want to change a tire on the narrow shoulder of that Farm-to-Market road.

I had liked those tires until today; guess I will try something else this time.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Drove it into town to go to the pharmacy today; felt a funny but small rhythmic vibration at 65 mph, like a wheel weight had come off. Shrugged and kept going, until one of my BFG KM3's de-laminated. Limped home at 25 mph; didn't want to change a tire on the narrow shoulder of that Farm-to-Market road.

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I had liked those tires until today; guess I will try something else this time.

good to know I’m rolling on some ticking time bombs

 

[cuteo100]

I'm glad I went with the Yokos for my new tires instead of these BFGs 2 weeks ago. Glad you're ok!

 

[1911]

good to know I’m rolling on some ticking time bombs

To be fair, those tires are more than 12 years old; don't know how many miles 'cause my odometer has been broken (again) for a long while.

But I've never had a name-brand tire come apart like that before, no matter how old.

 

[imyahucklbrry]

Drove it into town to go to the pharmacy today; felt a funny but small rhythmic vibration at 65 mph, like a wheel weight had come off. Shrugged and kept going, until one of my BFG KM3's de-laminated. Limped home at 25 mph; didn't want to change a tire on the narrow shoulder of that Farm-to-Market road.

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I had liked those tires until today; guess I will try something else this time.

Thinking a WTH call to BFG Tire Inc is in order! Damn scary…… and I’m running the KM2 version
Also….. glad you weren’t hurt!

 

[1911]

I'm glad I went with the Yokos for my new tires instead of these BFGs 2 weeks ago. Glad you're ok!

One of my sons-in-law works at a family tire business and they sell Yokos so I'll likely try them. I really liked the several sets of Toyos that I've had on my other 4WD truck, but his shop got crosswise with the local Toyo distributor so he won't buy them anymore.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

To be fair, those tires are more than 12 years old; don't know how many miles 'cause my odometer has been broken (again) for a long while.

But I've never had a name-brand tire come apart like that before, no matter how old.

didn't the KM3’s come out like…3 years ago?

 

[Dizzy]

Five years for anything destined for pavement beyond residential speed. Or, at least, that's how I roll. Tires, batteries, winter-driven-engine-oil, and hydraulic fluid, once they get dirty, I've got my money's worth with them, regardless of mileage.

Glad that you are alright, and the Cruiser too.

 

[Dizzy]

Trusty 26" tires just barely fit.

Made it to 11,319 - feet. It is the service road to the regional radio towers, so no vehicular use is allowed. Then it started to rain. Froze my a** off. It was exhilarating to be running back down to 10K kinda soaked with light wind. Pulled the dash knob for coolant to run thru the heater cores until I got back in town.

Maybe I'll beat the rain next time.

 

[FJ40|RUNNER]

Five years for anything destined for pavement beyond residential speed. Or, at least, that's how I roll. Tires, batteries, winter-driven-engine-oil, and hydraulic fluid, once they get dirty, I've got my money's worth with them, regardless of mileage.

Glad that you are alright, and the Cruiser too.

Yep, conditions, design, and usage make true life vary widely, but tires age out and should be replaced with a greater sense of urgency than pretty much all other components. 5 years is a good rule of thumb.

At 12 years age I’d be buying another set. I had a TSL do similar around 5 years (not near as severe), got me another set that I’m hoping to burn off before then!

 

[Living in the Past]

Yes, and I love it - probably my favorite rifle ever. A joy to shoot; very little recoil, accurate. If you get an old military surplus one (like mine) you ought to have a gunsmith check the head spacing; some of these old rifles were used pretty hard. DPS/Panther used to make new ones; not sure if they still do.

The downside to them is that you are pretty much limited to iron sights. The dust cover on the top of the receiver is just a piece of stamped steel that slides off to field strip it; not heavy/stable enough to support a scope mount. I have heard of purpose-made scope mounts for the FAL that replace the dust cover, but have never seen one in the flesh and would be leery of them. So if you want a scope or any optic on your rifle, the AR platform would be far superior.

For anything else where iron sights will do, the FAL is a great rifle IMO.

Is that a Belgium made Fabrique Nationale FN? I bought one back in the eighties new before the foreign import ban in 1989. Heard about the replacement dust cover to mount a scope. Back then spare magazines were dirt cheap, $50 for 10. I cut one down to only hold five rounds to make it legal to hunt with. Mine was a match grade and very accurate even with open sights. Liked mine so much also bought a FNC.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

came across a Cache of NOS GOLD CaD Genuine NipponDenso radiator caps 16401-40020 first gen. Yellow caution foil decals

 

[1911]

didn't the KM3’s come out like…3 years ago?

Could be; I may have my model numbers switched - in any event they're the BFG MT tire available in 2008.