The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

around here it the jetties & fishermen's garbage.

 

Picture of truck with updated configuration from July/August 2018 Mono trip.







Everything worked superbly. Loved having a rake on this trip. Cargo box was super helpful and could not even tell it was up there. Truck was super smooth at interstate speeds. All the sound proofing work pays dividends. The banancing beads in the tires have them wearing super smooth. Very happy with trucks performance.

I'll post more pics when at a normal workstation. F*** mobile and tablet picture editing.

 

never saw someone carry a rake before, yet for years thought it a good idea for camp housekeeping.

 

No external weights. there is a chart for the balancing beads based on your tire size how many you should add at the time that you mount the rubber. there is a technique to it to make sure that you don't spill the beads make sure they're all in one place when you inflate the tire.

I have been extremely happy with the balancing beads. the only potential downside I've ever thought of is if I ever have to plug a hole in the tire I may have to wait a while until the glue cures before I can start rolling down the road. Not a big deal just something I thought of.

I can highly recommend them provided that the instructions are followed and that legitimate product is used. some people will cut corners and use Airsoft beads or other stuff. I used to ceramic beads that are made for the tire. They are extremely dense and work very well.

Dynamic balancing has the advantage of always perfectly balancing the tire each time it starts rolling.

A coupe times when I've accelerated from a stop into a turn hard the tire will miss balance and I'll have to stop the truck and let the beads reset. Usually this is like Interstate on-ramp or something. Since I know about it I've learned to adjust my driving so that I turn and then accelerate. Not a big deal just something to be aware of.

I love my rake and I'm never camping without it again. Mine is made of plastic and wood so it's very light, also very effective!

 

Back in the day, all that Toyotas ever carried were rakes and lawnmowers.
#heritage
#roots

 

#GAF














Gardener as fuck.

 

When I bought my 1992 used in 2000 in Southern California it took me nearly two months to find a truck in good condition and manage to purchase it before the gardeners did... It was like that scene in the Simpsons where their dog has a hundred puppies and Homer is trying to eat a bag of chips. Each chip gets eaten by a puppy just as he is about to put it in his mouth.

 

I saw where you put them on but do you like the 255/85's?

 

Awesome. Was it all tent camping or did you guys get a room to clean up one night?

 

Thanks. Had a hotel first night, and 4 nights in tent after that. On this trip, I had two 4 Gal solar showers, and a propane powered one. So we clean up well each night. Plus we swam every day, so that's nice as well.

I started writing trip report... hope to finish over weekend.

 

How are your lca bushings holding up?

 

Hi Kevin! I haven't calculated mileage since installing, but they are doing fine. I visually inspected them a few weeks ago. If there was an easy way to grease them I would; they make a wooshing sound when suspension is full-tilt oscillating. I don't like the sound, but it doesn't bother me too much. If I was going to swap LCA's again I think I might use stock bushings.

 

Interesting - I haven't had any issues with noise coming from the bushings - the ball joint though has been nothing but a headache. I do NOT suggest Pro-Forged ball joints for the LCA's. So far one boot completely disconnected and wouldn't reseat so proforged sent me a new unit to swap the boots over - it's holding but the nut side of the boot has pressed down to expose the ball portion of the ball joint and the grease just keeps seeping out and water can easily get in. The otherside the boot has a pin hole tear in it after about 15k. Currently I haven't had time to rebuild the new units so I just keep pumping new grease into it. I have a set of the moog internal boot ones that I will be swapping in when I rebuild my spare set of LCA's. I did Prothane Supergrease the hell out of the bushings when I pressed them in and installed them so that might be easing the pain on the noise. I have about 25-30k on my current rebuilt LCA's.

I picked up a set of spare LCA's to rebuild and noticed that they were silver instead of black - they look identical to the stock OEM ones but silver so I'm not entirely sure if they're oem or not...

Sorry for the winded rant ... really bummed that my LCA's aren't working as well as I hoped after spending so much for the proforged components.

 

Dirt King and Total Chaos both make stock length LCA's. @SconnieHailer runs the dirt kings and a couple folks run the Total Chaos that I've seen. They are both uniball lowers though.

 

Right on, I figured that might be the issue. I've heard the north can be hard on uniballs.

 

All good.

As far as ball joints, OEM Toyota are really good. the Moog for the LCA are well built, USA made. I can recommend them. I don't think I'd run any other brand. I wanted the highest quality components I could source for reliability purposes.

I need to calculate mileage on my rebuilt LCA's I'm not 100% certain as to where the sound is coming from, could be the UCA's too. I have poly everywhere in the front end now except steering rack, and I'm not gonna mess with that unless I have to due to wear.

It's a good idea. if Marlin makes one for our trucks I'd be interested. I like the concept of his bolt in ball joint. Makes service easy.

The ball joint is ideal for overlander, IMO.

IllI stick with rebuilding and beefing up the stock ones with a welder. Reinforcing the eyes, and wedding the drain holes shut. That plus I found an auto shop that will press bushings and BJ for peanuts. So much less expensive than aftermarket replacement.

.

 

That's my plan. I have set of arms sitting in the garage with some whitelines from the group buy and Croms excellent build thread to get me through.

 

Is it just the angle of the picture, my imagination or did you replace your sliders?

 

No. Burned on with a welder, still attached.

 

Don't forget mounted machine guns.

This is one of my favorite threads, and among the first I check when it comes to maintenance. My sound deadening project is following the endeavors of @Crom, @GHOST SHIP, @ItalynStylion, and a few others.