ERMB's Hundy Cruiser Build turned 4Runner Build

Awesome, link it in here when you do! Can't wait to see the progression, fast or slow...no matta!

 

Dude! If I recall you painted a canopy for the green truck. Is there a DIY? How did it turn out? How much did it cost?

 

Ok, got it back from the mechanic yesterday evening. Everything checked out great! So, I got the both diff oils changed, valve cover gaskets replaced, and had him just look over everything. I have a knock when shifting from "R" to "D" and only then. It's definitely coming from the front drivers side wheel. The mechanic said the wheel bearings were good. I suspect it might be my drivers side axle flange teeth worn. I'll address that in a couple of weeks. Also I had the gear oil for the transfer case in the back seat and told him to change it but I guess he overlooked that. I'll do that myself this weekend. I have just been going over it inside and out just buttoning up things, checking for loose bolts or broken items that might need replacing. So far so good. I will however need the plastic mid skid, it's broken in several places where it bolts up, PO just rigged it up with larger fender washers. I may just remove it until my replacement comes in. Today I removed the running boards and mud flaps (replaced with the mud flap replacement sheets)and cranked up the TBs a few turns to level it out. I like the outcome so far, until I get my lift and new tires. A couple questions, do I need to get it aligned after cranking up the torsion bars, and are any of you running wheel spacers with your stock 16" wheels? I ran spidertrax on my Tacoma when I had the OEM wheels and never had any issues. I am asking because I love the look of the stock LC 16" wheels and plan on keeping them, but I hate how far they sit inside the fender well. Just curious if you guys think it's fine to run the spacers? Or if there are certain things about the LC's setup that might not be ideal for spacers? Thanks. Here is a before and after so far

 

That's great that everything checks out!!! Sounds like your going about it the right way. As far as the TBs go I asked my mechanic the same thing and and he said it "might" be fine but just keep an eye on the tread wear if it starts to wear uneven then go get an alignment if not drive on!
For the spacers I do have them and they make quite the difference aesthetic wise for sure. Land Cruiser 100 have this weird bolt notch that has to be milled into them because of the way the front hub is made. But yes they're out there just make sure whoever you get them from they are 100 specific!

 

Yeah, I just wanted to make sure everything checked out mechanically before I started putting $$ into mods. This thing is fun. I have worked 150+ Overtime hours in the past 2 weeks specifically for the purchase price and upfront maintenance cost for it just so I didn't have to come out of pocket for any of it. I'm looking into spidertrax 1.25" and they are milled specific to the 100 Series. It's off next week to get the front seats, front arm rests, steering wheel and console reupholstered with the correct leather. Then I'm gonna tint the front passenger, driver and windshield a light tint, this Texas sun turns this MF'er into an oven. I spent all day on it today just cleaning things up, zip tying up some loose wires and shot some high quality rubberized undercoating on the frame and underneath on crossmembers and anything that needed some refurbing. I like it already a lot better than my Tacoma. I have realized, I'm an SUV guy more than a truck guy. I can't wait to be as meticulous with this LC's maintenance as I have been with the T4R and Tacoma, in hopes to put another 200k+ worry free miles in the LC100!

 

Saw your post on IH8MUD and love the stance of your LC. I saw you went with the TD 2" 41mm and dual rate coils. A few questions, quality of components, any rubbing with the 295s, how is the ride with the TD setup, and when you load up with gear do you get much sag in the rear? Did you swap out your TBs with aftermarket? And would you mind getting a measurement from the ground to the DS door sill? Weird question I know, but I just don't wanna get too high with the lift on this one, my Tacoma and 4Runner are almost too high for my liking now. Thanks, your LC is looking great

 

Finally found the source of my mysterious rattling noise!!! Next fix rear sway bar extended links!

 

Man I'm glad you posted this, I'm slowly replacing all worn bushings and chasing a "rattle" myself. Just ordered these, hoping this is the fix. But mine seems to be coming from the front, I already replaced the front sway bar links and it's still there. I'm wondering if it's my front brake pads? They seem to have a lot of play where the caliper pins go through the pads, and it kind of mimics the rattle I'm hearing. Any experience with this? I know they are supposed to slide along the pins as the caliper cylinders are actuated, but mine seem to have excessive movement. I have also read that with high mileage 100 series, the bushings in the rear UCA/LCA's can be worn enough to have slop in them to cause them to move enough in the bracket to create some rattles. I'm eventually replacing wheel bearings, cv's, all bushings, UCA/LCA's, front and rear shocks and coils and torsion bars. After the drive train and motor already checked out, and after all the above, she should be as good as new.

 

Yeah, i have some other issues to work out as well but for now I'm just fixing them as they appear. Since the lift my CV's are spewing grease so I need to reclamp them. I have the new clamps I just need the time to get in there and change them out. I'm starting to notice some wear on the outer edge of my tires so new UCA's will probably correct that issue, but that one can wait because wear is minimal. I still have a slight oil leak which I think is coming from the oil pan, I'm hoping its only a seal but the previous owner did absolutely nothing to this car for 200K except change the oil and other basic maintenance from what I've seen so far.
For the rear sway bar, I climbed under and pushed on the the bottom of the link and found that their was some play. Then I with an open palm I hit it from the bottom pretty hard and it mimicked the sound pretty closely so I'm pretty sure this is the rattle I've been chasing. I've also heard that the heatsheilds to the cats can have a rattling to them because the bolts that hold them together corrode away over time. Mine seem pretty solid so thats not it in my case.....yet.

 

Sorry I missed this one! Yes the Tough Dog set up is pretty awesome so far! I've heard of lots of people not being happy with the stiff ride of the OME kit. I'd say that the ride comfort on this setup is pretty darn close to the original ride with a slighter firmness where it counts. I went with the progressive coils though 0-600lbs rather than their standard coil for the 2in kit, it was only because the others were out of stock. Jason at Trail Tailor offered to send me the others if I didn't like the ride but I'm very happy with them so their going to stay. I think it's just the right amount of lift and I'm pretty sure i got closer to 2.5 or more over what i had, but I did no measurements previous to the lift so i cannot confirm other than what I observe. The kit came with new TB's so that was taken care of. Sag is minimal when weighed down from what I've seen. While towing the camper and loaded sagging was minimal if anything it probably rode perfectly level rather than with the little bit of rake it has at normal. When I get home I'll try to get a measurement for you.
I've had no rubbing issues anywhere, which has been the best part. Getting in and out of the truck I would say feels exactly the same as the running height of my tacoma felt with a 3in lift. The 295's I think are the perfect size for these trucks and I've only ever heard of complaints from people running 35's on these because the extra weight make the truck wear though parts crazy fast! I don't really want to be replacing all my steering components every two years so I'm going to keep an eye on the things up front I've already replaced to see how they do.

 

I think I finally found the source of the rattle. My front lower shock mounts are toast. I'm sure the rears are too. I emailed Trail Tailor for some info on a ToughDog setup. Might as well do it right the first time. I just really don't wanna go as high as I did with my Tacoma and 4Runner. We'll see what they recommend

 

Jason's a great guy, I'm sure he'll steer you in the right direction! All my commuincommun with him has been on point! Good luck!!

 

Thanks!

 

Started today painting the spare, first I went with a dark bronze but when I put it next to the truck outside it looked more like a poop brown! It doesnt look too bad in the pic, but in person it was pretty awful!
I then repainted them a gunmetal gray. I like that much better so I'll be doing the rest of them tomorrow hopefully.

 

Looks great! Saw it over on MUD first. I like it. Today I replaced the Rancho 5000 garbage shocks with Fox 2.0. Wow, words can't describe, what a difference. The Rancho's were done, the ride was horrible, the bushings were shot, I felt and heard every bump. I could move the shock body by hand in the lower mount. It rides like a new one now, what a plush ride. All the rattles from the garbage shocks are gone. They must have been in really rough shape. I'm gonna run these until Jason, a vendor for them, gets in some 41mm ToughDogs with the dual rate coils. But I'll be honest though, I might just run these for a year or so, I like the stock height of it now, and now with these Fox 2.0's, it has me just wanting to run it like this until I get some other mods done.

 

Yeah, I look at all the things I put into this with the lift and I sort of wish I waited until I worked out all the kinks first, but oh well it is what it is!!!

 

Finished the tire rotation and wheel painting today. Came out pretty good although not sold on the color yet. I think it might grow on me though. Wish it was a shade or two darker though.
My sliders should be coming in any time now so those will be my next project!

And I found this little issue while I was in there. What I thought was weeping clamps was actually a big ole hole!

 

@tacobell007 Drew I may need to schedule a visit to western mass for some work if you're still doing jobs like this with your buddy. Maybe we can make it a beer and wings weekend with Tony and Doc...and anyone else who's around!

 

Whatcha looking to get done?

 

The pic in my last post on the last page shows it, but I found a big tear in my CV on the driver's side!