Sempertoy
Explorer
Let me tell you a little story about the time I tried to sell my Land Cruiser...
I have had my 80 for just over 2 years. It has been a great vehicle and it has taken me all kinds of places that my tacoma couldn't have. When I originally bought my 80 I was able to nudge my wife in the right direction by saying that it was a great family vehicle! With all those seats there was plenty of room for car seats. Also, because it was an auto trans, it would make more sense than the taco since both of us could drive it. So I bought it, did some work on it, added some mods to it etc etc. If you have not read my build thread before, you can see here all the things I have done.
Fast forward to about 8 weeks ago. I Had grown tired of my 80 and was ready for a new vehicle. I decided that I would downgrade and buy a mini truck and with the cash leftover I would mod it and buy a sensible DD.
Here is the truck I was set to buy. It was located outside of Los Angeles, and I was looking for flights out there. I had a pretty positive buyer for my 80, and was all set on selling, flying and buying.
And that is when I got some of the best news I have ever received. I AM GOING TO BE A DAD!!! I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that positive test, and it was such a great feeling. After this great news, we had to sit down and have a serious vehicle talk. In January we bought my wife a 2010 Camry XLE that had 28,000 miles on it to replace her 04 Alitma with 198,xxx miles. She is set, with her car and we decided that keeping the Cruiser for the original reasons we bought it was the best thing for us to do. I called up the truck owner, as well as the perspective buyer, and both were very happy about the news and there were no hard feelings about the transaction that wouldn't be taking place.
So after all that, it was time to get some serious work done to the 80. It has been neglected for a while. While I was in the Military we were saving as much as we could so that when I got out we would have a decent amount of savings. I haven't worked since May 2013, but I have been attending school full time and with the GI Bill, there is a little monthly income. So cruiser funds have not existed, but it was time to reach in to those savings a bit and make this beast road worthy.
First things first. I had been wheeling at a local OHV park and my front diff exploded. I mean, it was nasty. I needed to fix that, but decided that rather than replacing the front with stock gears, it was finally time for a re-gear. I called up Kurt at cruiseroutfitters and ordered 5.29's, master install kits, new OME front shocks, new steering damper, rear axle rebuild kit and some misc front end stuff to put my axle back together.
Step 1. The tear down. It's always easier to take things apart than to put them back together
Here is my ring gear
Another shot
Step 2. Drop off diffs to get reworked by this fella http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fro...29-re-gear-for-80-series-non-e-locker.800032/ he did a superb job. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy, or a more tech savvy gear guy. Very happy with his work, and he is VERY reasonable with his prices. Especially after one of the local cruiser shops I called wanted $85 an hour. I can't imagine what that would have cost me on this job If you read this you will notice that I also had to buy new side spider gears because mine got trashed. This delayed the job a few days, and then lack of shims also delayed progress.
Step 3. While I was waiting for the diffs to get done (took a while, no big hurry) I decided to tackle some of the things that needed to be done to make this a safe/comfortable vehicle for my wife to drive, as well as to transport a new baby in a few months. First up was power seats. Ordered caps and gears from gamiviti, and luckily all I needed was caps. Now both driver, and passenger seats have full range of motion!
If you look up in the top right, you can see how the PO/Mechanic tried to fix the seat with a hose clamp and a bolt. Needless to say, do not try this at home.
I also replaced my low pressure PS lines.There was a leak from the reservoir and these were the culprits. I couldn't believe how dry and brittle they were! These have to be original. 210k on them.
Next, I rebuilt the rear axle using @CruiseOrlando write up on the subjct found here http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/how-to-rear-axle-rebuild.732072/. Sorry, I don't have any pics of the process, it was pretty straight forward and a 1:banana: job.
After that, it was time to add a little flare. I ordered the vision-x tantrum kit and installed some rock lights. They are VERY bright. I am really happy with how these turned out, and they weren't too expensive. About $130.
Fnally, I got my diffs back and put them in this past weekend. It was rather uneventful, except for the fact I lost a couple parts from the day I broke my diff and had to pull the drive flanges to get home. One simple call to @beno and they are on their way!
I must add that having the 5.29's is a NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE from stock gears. It no longer feels like a slug in first, I have an actual noticable powerband on the highway, and offroad manners and much much better. I haven't been wheeling yet but I was messing around on a small hill on our property that is pretty steep and much less throttle was required to get to the top.
Where does Moab come into this equation? Well last year, when I got out of the Corps I took a solo trip to Moab as a sort of "reset" button on life. I loved my time in the Marines, but there were things I would be ok with forgetting and ghosts I could live without. It was a great trip, and so this year I am going to repeat between semesters. My wife and I want to visit our families in SLC, but because she can't get a lot of time off work, she is going to fly home and I will drive. I am leaving a week before her and will hang out in Moab for a few days. Unfortunately, I will miss cruise moab AGAIN thanks to my finals schedule. But I am still holding out for next year. On a side note, if anyone wants to meet up in Moab and wheel, I would love that! I have a thread going for the details. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/123639-Moab-Canyonlands-End-of-May-2014
I have had my 80 for just over 2 years. It has been a great vehicle and it has taken me all kinds of places that my tacoma couldn't have. When I originally bought my 80 I was able to nudge my wife in the right direction by saying that it was a great family vehicle! With all those seats there was plenty of room for car seats. Also, because it was an auto trans, it would make more sense than the taco since both of us could drive it. So I bought it, did some work on it, added some mods to it etc etc. If you have not read my build thread before, you can see here all the things I have done.
Fast forward to about 8 weeks ago. I Had grown tired of my 80 and was ready for a new vehicle. I decided that I would downgrade and buy a mini truck and with the cash leftover I would mod it and buy a sensible DD.
Here is the truck I was set to buy. It was located outside of Los Angeles, and I was looking for flights out there. I had a pretty positive buyer for my 80, and was all set on selling, flying and buying.
And that is when I got some of the best news I have ever received. I AM GOING TO BE A DAD!!! I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that positive test, and it was such a great feeling. After this great news, we had to sit down and have a serious vehicle talk. In January we bought my wife a 2010 Camry XLE that had 28,000 miles on it to replace her 04 Alitma with 198,xxx miles. She is set, with her car and we decided that keeping the Cruiser for the original reasons we bought it was the best thing for us to do. I called up the truck owner, as well as the perspective buyer, and both were very happy about the news and there were no hard feelings about the transaction that wouldn't be taking place.
So after all that, it was time to get some serious work done to the 80. It has been neglected for a while. While I was in the Military we were saving as much as we could so that when I got out we would have a decent amount of savings. I haven't worked since May 2013, but I have been attending school full time and with the GI Bill, there is a little monthly income. So cruiser funds have not existed, but it was time to reach in to those savings a bit and make this beast road worthy.
First things first. I had been wheeling at a local OHV park and my front diff exploded. I mean, it was nasty. I needed to fix that, but decided that rather than replacing the front with stock gears, it was finally time for a re-gear. I called up Kurt at cruiseroutfitters and ordered 5.29's, master install kits, new OME front shocks, new steering damper, rear axle rebuild kit and some misc front end stuff to put my axle back together.
Step 1. The tear down. It's always easier to take things apart than to put them back together
Here is my ring gear
Another shot
Step 2. Drop off diffs to get reworked by this fella http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fro...29-re-gear-for-80-series-non-e-locker.800032/ he did a superb job. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy, or a more tech savvy gear guy. Very happy with his work, and he is VERY reasonable with his prices. Especially after one of the local cruiser shops I called wanted $85 an hour. I can't imagine what that would have cost me on this job
If you read this you will notice that I also had to buy new side spider gears because mine got trashed. This delayed the job a few days, and then lack of shims also delayed progress.Step 3. While I was waiting for the diffs to get done (took a while, no big hurry) I decided to tackle some of the things that needed to be done to make this a safe/comfortable vehicle for my wife to drive, as well as to transport a new baby in a few months. First up was power seats. Ordered caps and gears from gamiviti, and luckily all I needed was caps. Now both driver, and passenger seats have full range of motion!
If you look up in the top right, you can see how the PO/Mechanic tried to fix the seat with a hose clamp and a bolt. Needless to say, do not try this at home.
I also replaced my low pressure PS lines.There was a leak from the reservoir and these were the culprits. I couldn't believe how dry and brittle they were! These have to be original. 210k on them.
Next, I rebuilt the rear axle using @CruiseOrlando write up on the subjct found here http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/how-to-rear-axle-rebuild.732072/. Sorry, I don't have any pics of the process, it was pretty straight forward and a 1:banana: job.
After that, it was time to add a little flare. I ordered the vision-x tantrum kit and installed some rock lights. They are VERY bright. I am really happy with how these turned out, and they weren't too expensive. About $130.
Fnally, I got my diffs back and put them in this past weekend. It was rather uneventful, except for the fact I lost a couple parts from the day I broke my diff and had to pull the drive flanges to get home. One simple call to @beno and they are on their way!
I must add that having the 5.29's is a NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE from stock gears. It no longer feels like a slug in first, I have an actual noticable powerband on the highway, and offroad manners and much much better. I haven't been wheeling yet but I was messing around on a small hill on our property that is pretty steep and much less throttle was required to get to the top.
Where does Moab come into this equation? Well last year, when I got out of the Corps I took a solo trip to Moab as a sort of "reset" button on life. I loved my time in the Marines, but there were things I would be ok with forgetting and ghosts I could live without. It was a great trip, and so this year I am going to repeat between semesters. My wife and I want to visit our families in SLC, but because she can't get a lot of time off work, she is going to fly home and I will drive. I am leaving a week before her and will hang out in Moab for a few days. Unfortunately, I will miss cruise moab AGAIN thanks to my finals schedule. But I am still holding out for next year. On a side note, if anyone wants to meet up in Moab and wheel, I would love that! I have a thread going for the details. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/123639-Moab-Canyonlands-End-of-May-2014
