Tarbe's 80 series

[tarbe]

Thanks for the welcome!

I only have a couple driveway shots and one of my son with two deer he took this past year. It is a '97 LX-450 with OME heavy springs plus 20mm in front, Hanna sliders, ARB front, Slee x-fer skid, Slee front swaybar drop blocks, Slee extened SS brake lines, 295/75 BFG AT/KO. Engine is stock - added a Greddy catch can to keep the oil from the PCV out of the intake, LEDs inside, added an OEM center diff lock switch and did the "Pin 7 mod" so I can have the center, front and rear diffs locked or unlocked in both high and low range. Added a Superlift tru-speed so I could correct the speedo/odo.

Next up is a rear bumper/tire carrier/gas can carrier. Leaning toward the Hanna, but Iron Pig is supposed to have a new bumper out in June. Also thinking about dumping my ARB for a new Slee front bumper that was unveiled at Moab last week.

Not too much on the expedition side yet...just a work in process. I've had it two years (in August) and 40,000 miles. It has 154,000 on it now.

Wheeling to this point has been limited to the Razorback Ramble up in AR and around the hunting lease (mud....yuk). I really want to make it back to Moab and am intrigued by the idea of a nice long expedition through Utah canyon country.

Tim

 

[tarbe]

Here is where the squirrels live

 

[Wanderlusty]

:wavey: Welcome. Nice truck. I see we are almost neighbors, at least close enough for you to head into my stomping grounds for some wheeling.

Yeah, I have the itch to get back out west sometime soon too. Definitely Moab and parts unknown in S. Utah, but also want to hit the San Juans in Colorado too.

I did the "Million Dollar Highway" in a Nissan Maxima in early April of last year and that was no easy feat. Heading back during the 'thawed' months in a 4x should be a breeze.

 

[bluerunner]

Very clean LX!

Can't wait to see more pics of your progress!

:beer:

 

[shawkins]

I really like the way you have the running board end caps installed with the sliders. Are they easily removed for when you hit the trail and need to use the sliders? I would consider doing this with my 4Runner if so.

Thanks,
Stephen

 

[tarbe]

Those are the stock caps and they are easily removed with three 10mm fasteners.

I recently did some cutting on them, to make them more trail friendly.

 

[tarbe]

Very clean LX!

Can't wait to see more pics of your progress!

:beer:

I was planning to buy a rear bumper this month. Then I spend $3,000 (my deductible) on neck surgery for my wife. Spending $3,000 on me next week (heart catheterization...another deductible) and just got an estimate for some needed gutter work....$1,950.

Just so happens a Hanna bumper with dual swing-outs is $1,950.

Bumper......gutters. Gutters......bumper.

 

[clarkrw3]

Good work...nice to see another LX built. have fun with it!!!:elkgrin:

 

[Scott Brady]

Very clean and well built LX. I like the well thought out progress:victory:

 

[bluerunner]

I say remove the end caps from the stock sliders and get the rear bumper, you wont rip the gutters off 4wheeling!


:shakin:

 

[tarbe]

I recently finished converting all my interior incandescent lights to LEDs. Some folks don't like the whiter light from LEDs, but I sure do.

I also understand that current draw is 1/6 that of comparable incandescents. I have also been told the wavelength of light is less attractive to bugs (especially helpful if you camp out of your vehicle). I have not had a chance to test this feature out yet!

After a couple changes on the fly (didn't buy enough horsepower!) I ended up with 24 LED panels in the front map light and center dome, a 36 LED panel in the rear dome, 6 LED bulbs in each of the doors and 4 LED fixtures under the dash on each side to light up the foot wells.

The door bulbs were plug and play. The panels had to be soldered into the existing wiring in the domes. The under dash lights were spliced into the wires going to the door lights. The wires are found in the loom behind the kick panel. If you are severely color deficient like me, you ask your son to help you find the right wires!

I always felt 80 series Cruisers were poorly lit, and I believe this light upgrade is very worthwhile.

I purchased my LEDs from www.superbrightleds.com.

 

[tarbe]

Just finished another minor yet highly beneficicial mod.

Stock temp gauges often have large "dead spots" engineered into them, to keep folks from running to the dealer every time the temp climbs. The 80 series Cruiser is no exception.

This becomes undesireable when you consider the aluminum head, the fact that our viscous fan clutches become toast around 100k and the usual cooling system degredation on 9 to 15 year old vehicles.

Quite a bit of research was done by a fellow over on IH8Mud (RavenTai) in order to determine suitable mods to the gauge to allow for more sensitivity.

What I ended up doing was replacing a 75 ohm resistor with a 100 ohm, and I replaced a zener diode with a 150 ohm resistor.

My gauge will now show visible movement with as little as 5 degrees change in coolant temp. Prior to the mod, the gauge would not move until the coolant went up about 25-30 degrees...too late in my book (especially given the proclivity of the 1FZFE head gaskets to go poof!).

I ran about 15 miles in the sand this past weekend to test out my new fan clutch/t-stat and the modded gauge. Deep soft sand in high range deflected the temp gauge, but only to the tune of about 5-6 degrees (approx. 1.5 needle widths). I had never seen the gauge move before...takes a little getting used to! The gauge never moved when in low range. The cooling system seems to be working well.

I recommend this mod to anyone with an 80 series. You will be much better able to take quick corrective action if something changes to allow your temps to climb. The head gasket you save WILL be your own!

Here is a link to the instructions on IH8Mud.com

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=64252

 

[Scott Brady]

Great idea. My Taco gauge never moves once the vehicle is warm. That is why I am considering one of those OBDII monitors.

I like these functional and beneficial mods. These little improvements all add up :victory:

 

[Cruiser99]

Maaaaannnnnn....... I wish I saw this post in time.....just finished modifying my instument pane (UZJ100) and closed it al up a couple of days ago.

That would have been a cool mod to do....maybe next time.

D.

 

[adventureduo]

Looks really good! can you post up some more side profile shots? Im getting ready to lift my rig.. and i like the J spring with the tire combo your running!