2005 build

Great day out at hidden falls on the 26th. First good wheeling for the FJ40 and the Tacoma was rock solid. The Tacoma is basically done. I have tie rod and the DK spindle gussets in the garage and the war fab tie rod sleeves ready to install. Until the bumper gets beat to hell. Now I think the $$s and time are going into the 40 -- lower gears (Orion maybe). F&R locker. Toolbox in the back. Rear bumper. Roll cage and seats. The slow conversion into a legitimate crawler.

the 63s paying off with plenty of room to go.







Do this a few more times and we will need a new rear bumper ...


10psi doing a nice job biting on the rocks



bit off more than we can chew - backing off and coming up the right side.




the easier line ... can't beat the droop on the rear. this made a world of difference in today's outing.


The milestars are doing their thing.



the damn kids love mud:




the green mile -- first time up ...






... the 40 got me to and from the trail ... success ...




Need to trim about 1/2 - 1" off the rear fender

 

found a rock on the Llano to check clearances and get the rear off the ground.



I feel like I could alter the clamp at the ends of the leaf packs and get even more droop. The shock had another 3 inches which I may hit with anything other than slow crawling. The shackle also had a tad more to go. All in all I'd say this is a success.


here is the other side. Bumps are stopping more movement and I have about 1" left. I may have trouble hitting that at speed but I also never have that intention so hopefully I'm good. If I do hit it I'll move the axle shock mounts down just a bit.


The front clears - I was putting that wheel at various angles going up / down and never rubbed anywhere


I'd love to LT that front but I think I'm good for a bit and will keep this as-is and see how it works for the next few years

 

Great trip to Abiquiu New Mexico with the family. More overland roads than 4x4 but we had a great time exploring. All in all about 2k miles.

Adding a few memorable pics. Coming from TX it is so great to have so much public BLM land to explore.




plenty of soft dirt -- a hill we couldn't climb. much steeper than it looks in the pic.

 

Well ... it's the dreaded HG my '05. I started hearing marbles in the dash and noticed the coolant bubbling. We put one of these test kits and immediately got the yellow color = combustion leak.

I've had the truck since December 04. I haven't really had a single issue so I'm going to move forward with the replacement, hoping I can keep this another several hundred k miles. Plan is to pull the head this weekend and have a machine shop check it out early next week. I am working with a trusted mechanic that has helped with my FJ so crossing my fingers a replacement does the trick for me ... fingers crossed ...

 

Dang sorry to hear that! Hopefully they get you fixed up. How many miles are you up to on it?

 

195k ... I hope to find out more around this time next week and am really hoping - or at least optimistic - that no serious damage has been done. Assuming it's been leaking for a bit the truck drives great. It has never thrown a code for misfiring, overheating, etc. I did watch the temp rise last month while the mountains but I stopped before it got near the read, let it cool, and took it easy from that point.

day 1 pics ... disassembly and some cleaning ...

 

Another good day at HF on Monday. However, my twin ARB wouldn't turn on. After some troubleshooting, I found one of the 2 40amp fuses was blown. I swapped them ... and it turned on fine but then would just run continuously. Maybe I have a leak? I'm going to track down a new 2nd fuse, grab a few spares ... and see. I guess I'll spray soapy water and see if I have a leak. The only real pain is I have it in the cubby and it really sucks getting it in and out. So I'll remove it and I guess bench test for leaks ... but I'm really not sure at this point.

The point of the trip was to verify the engine is in good shape after the HG replacement. All good!!!! open/open was probably a good thing as I didn't want to push it too hard - more of a simple shakedown run.

The obligatory flex shot with the 3 rats that tagged along. I figure if I can get my 13yo into this I'll have a lot more camping in my future.

 

post stuck haha ... had some fun yesterday testing our snow-wheeling ability. Got sunk pretty quick in about 3.5' of snow and spent the next 30 minutes shoveling out. I let my son do most of the work haha. The 2 shovels and traction boards were key. Tip - add some paradors to the traction board - I had to dig around to find it after the truck buried it



parked a few minutes later at the restaurant for Sunday dinner -- going to be some high berms this year. 20" on the mountain over the weekend.

 

Finally some more snow -- targeting 2' through the weekend. POWDER!!!

 

Finally added the ultimate headlight upgrade --- the old aftermarket lights are terrible in CB simply. No street lights haha. I brought all my tools and gear since we were going to Denver and I'd have a day in warm weather to wrench.

I wish I took a pic of the side of the truck with all the ice and snow caked on. You still see some ... this is after running through a car wash and sitting in 40-50* weather for a few hours. I'd take someone's fender flares if anyone is donating haha.

I did wreck the driver side LED wiring removing the bumper so those will likely be my next lighting upgrade. I have the osram 100/90w bulbs at the house and hope to swap those in tonight and will get some night pics. STOKED!

 

It was good to get the truck out of the snow and into some rocks today. Hartman Rocks in Gunnison, CO. If you're a mtn biker, motobike, trail runner, hiker, camper and/or like wide open roads this is a great place. Not too much crawling but it's always fun to be in the dirt.




always lookinng to flex the 63s in the back - it's so nice keeping that tire on the ground.


And we fixed a jeep that was dead due to a fuel line that came loose. The rig was interesting. linked rear. internal cage. Gatorade bottle as the coolant reservoir but glad we were there to help. good dudes.

 

Clean truck

 

good weather maintenance.
- new ujoints
- front & rear diff and tcase gear oil change
- grease UCA and LCAs

today -- put the skids back on. I did the ujoints because there was clear play in the double cardan - It was hard to access wiht the skids but once I got it off it was plain as day. I actually was greasing this but with no cap/seal it would come right out and with the snow all winter it simply destroyed it.





all better ... no more bell sound when going to drive and no more vibrations!!!

 

Well ... this isn't good ... thought I had the driveshaft issues licked. My guess is there was some crack in the rear flange that decided to leave the party last night.

Glad I had the skid to contain the craziness. so new DS and new exhaust ... more coming once I get organized.


... the rear flange ...


... time to find a new one ...

 

well ... I may be looking for a new engine. and an old but reliable daily for awhile. I blew the engine coming up and over monarch pass on Thursday. One too many trips. I was in a bit of a hurry on this one and think I pushed it too hard.

Overheated '05 and now will not start ... troubleshooting help?

 

While the coolant overflow is pretty full, the radiator isn't. As I add water it simply flows through to the engine out the exhaust.


Compression on cylinder 1 is 60psi. And while I'll do a leak down I think it's clear there is a leak through to the exhaust. My ARB compressor won't start so I'm going to pull that this morning - get it going and do the leak down and/or push air through the cylinder and I guess verify it's coming right out through the exhaust.

Either way, I'm now on the hunt for another engine. Removed the radiator ... making room starting to think through the logistics of this.

 

On its way to swap engines. I found a 2008 with 130k miles. Fingers crossed.

 

131k from a 2008. I hope this thing fires up and sounds good ...

 

So far so good. I have about 1200 miles on the new engine.

 

Great run up to Pearl Pass Oct 5. Temps stayed right in the 186-190 range which is perfect. One twisty spot about 2/3 up where you can stretch the legs and verify clearances. So many great camp spots along the route.









I need to move my DS shock mount down about 1.5" and I can get even more down travel. I have about 12 here on the shock but there are 2" to go






the front clears perfectly. I wouldn't mind figuring a way to lower the rear 1" but not sure how I'd do that without more cutting and welding with the 63 mounts.