jellyfishfiesta
New member
Thanks, I'm gonna do some hood vents I think. Those aluminum radiators look pretty good and are $100 less than the OEM one so maybe I'll go that route to save money. Anyhow good luck with your axles. Gonna do 4.88 gears?
The Restoration And Build Thread For My 1992 FJ80
- Thread starter Summit Cruisers Jr
- Start date
Thanks, I'm gonna do some hood vents I think. Those aluminum radiators look pretty good and are $100 less than the OEM one so maybe I'll go that route to save money. Anyhow good luck with your axles. Gonna do 4.88 gears?
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Yeah I will be going with 4.88s once again. I was thinking I would pull them from my current axles, but then again, I could probably get more money out of my axles the way they are set up right now.
On a side note, does anyone know what my current FJ80 axles would be worth? Full rebuild on them ~40k miles ago, 4.88s, and no leaks, and knuckles are clean. Basically great shape, but semi float rear. Is throwing them up on CL for $1000 or so overpriced or pretty fair?
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Pitchpt
Observer
Price sounds good. But, I'd swap thirds, and keep the 4.88's, unless a new carrier (ARB/Detroit/etc) is on your radar. Then, sell the 4.10 thirds/housings separately. That may expand your market a bit.
bkg
Explorer
His new axles have elockers
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Yes the new ones will be getting set up with fresh gears and master rebuild kits as I am sure they are due for everything. I am not even sure if the FJ80 front third members are interchangeable with the FZJ80 due to possible different spline counts. The rear doesn't matter regardless since it is a semi float anyways.
Honestly, I didn't ever really think about how much work it is to swap the e locked axles into mine. Honestly kind of wish I just had a full float rear to swap in with a harrop, but I bet by the time this project is over I will be happy.
Lately I have been thinking about how I want to be notified when the lockers come on. I may use the curved blank dash switches and cut out front, center, and rear locker symbols and have an led behind the cut out and thin transparent film and be notified that way and just pull the CDL bulb from my dash.
Honestly, I didn't ever really think about how much work it is to swap the e locked axles into mine. Honestly kind of wish I just had a full float rear to swap in with a harrop, but I bet by the time this project is over I will be happy.
Lately I have been thinking about how I want to be notified when the lockers come on. I may use the curved blank dash switches and cut out front, center, and rear locker symbols and have an led behind the cut out and thin transparent film and be notified that way and just pull the CDL bulb from my dash.
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Several weeks back, right after finishing up another batch of swing outs and packing to head back to school, I finished up my Hi-Lift mount for my swing out. I also built a rack that mounts to my Yeti Cooler swing out that uses two Yakima Highroller tray racks to hold a couple of bikes. I had one sitting around, and a friend loaned me one he wasn't using. I have almost 40" of clearance with this set up, and I think it will be perfect for all of the shorter trips with less people.
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Finally got a chance to make it home this weekend and get several things done. I started with cutting out the factory cross member, but got my plan to replace it with 2x4x1/4" steel didn't work out...yet. I realized I really need about a 2x5 to tuck up under the rear cross member step to support it without leaving weird gaps between the molded corner wings and where they match up. Honestly it is so tempting to just cut a little more off and build a bumper...
Here's how the factory cross member held up to 4 bolts and roughly 180 pounds bouncing up and down on it. Keep in mind I also supported it by tying it into the next cross member.
While the sawzall was out, I also trimmed my exhaust to dump behind the rear axle. I also welded on a downturn to shoot it down to the ground.
Then today, I replaced the AC compressor and flushed the lines and my dad installed a Ford starter solenoid to cure the occasional delayed starting.
Here's how the factory cross member held up to 4 bolts and roughly 180 pounds bouncing up and down on it. Keep in mind I also supported it by tying it into the next cross member.
While the sawzall was out, I also trimmed my exhaust to dump behind the rear axle. I also welded on a downturn to shoot it down to the ground.
Then today, I replaced the AC compressor and flushed the lines and my dad installed a Ford starter solenoid to cure the occasional delayed starting.
karlmagnum
Observer
Great work! I like the swing out mods you did. Very functional.
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Yeah I could see that. I wrote it like it's a straight into the ground dump, but what I meant was that when I chopped it, it was shooting a little bit onto my frame rail. I cut a 90* in half and welded it on so it angles it straight back and slightly down, but it still has roughly the same angle to the exit as the original exhaust tip did. It's just higher up and not as far back. Time will tell if I will end up doing something differently though.
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Anyways, rear crossmember 2.0 is done. After deciding to place the 2x4 at the bottom, for strength and better receiver location, I needed to fill the gap. I had already notched the 2x4 and bent it back to follow the same contour as the factory one. Kind of thinking back on this, but I could have left that gap in there and put an air outlet and used that space for some stuff, but in the end can't go wrong with it looking factory. I would have liked to gain some clearance but it just wasn't going to look right if I retained the factory bumper wings.
Bent up some 1/8" as a facade so to speak to fill the gap and support the cross member.
I've also done a couple small things when I've had time, and I put the RTT on for spring break. We were hoping to head out to Sedona, but it just didn't work out time wise, so I'll be heading out to NWA for several good days of riding. Then I'll probably get back and start working on some other various projects I have planned.
Bent up some 1/8" as a facade so to speak to fill the gap and support the cross member.
I've also done a couple small things when I've had time, and I put the RTT on for spring break. We were hoping to head out to Sedona, but it just didn't work out time wise, so I'll be heading out to NWA for several good days of riding. Then I'll probably get back and start working on some other various projects I have planned.
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Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
Went out to NWA for spring break and managed to not get flown home via a mediflight this year which was a huge plus. Perfect weather made camping very enjoyable except for having to pay $20/night for a spot. Didn't really do much wheeling or picture taking but was nice to get several days away from school and responsibilities and just ride bikes, drive around, and eat good food. Then I got back to town and started working on some more swing out kits and organizing the garage a little bit. It's gotten quite messy and disorganized lately
Then helped a friend install clear glass on his Cruiser and repaint his window trim. He took some sick rollers of my cruiser and my dad's in return
I still haven't decided what I want to do with my locked axles yet. I'm on the fence about selling them and doing harrops once I can find an unlocked full floater or just dumping tons of money, time, and effort into swapping both locked axles despite the issues OEM lockers experience...
Then helped a friend install clear glass on his Cruiser and repaint his window trim. He took some sick rollers of my cruiser and my dad's in return
I still haven't decided what I want to do with my locked axles yet. I'm on the fence about selling them and doing harrops once I can find an unlocked full floater or just dumping tons of money, time, and effort into swapping both locked axles despite the issues OEM lockers experience...
Summit Cruisers Jr
Well-known member
A week or so ago, with finals and school mostly over, I headed home to do a little bit of prep for a Memorial Weekend trip to the Ozarks. Nothing major, but things that needed to be done. I started by changing the oil, and then I put in new Sylvania Xtravision H4 headlight bulbs...which were a great improvement over the cheap ones I had thrown in there after needing some last summer in Colorado. My battery also started showing signs of dying several days prior so I put in a new Interstate "blemished" battery.
Last Friday, after finishing my final test of my 20 credit hour semester, I jumped in the cruiser, gassed it up, and met up with my buddy Will (who took the first 4 pics) on I40. Over the next several days, we met up with several other cruiser owners, Bryan, Bill, and Caleb, and entered the Ozark National Forest.
Everything went great except for an intermittent issue where Bryan's would start bogging down until at WOT. 85 miles from home, Will and I were both exiting i40 for some gas when crap hit the fan. I was on the phone with my dad and saw Will's cruiser nearly roll in my rear view mirror while he was fighting all sorts of drifting and whipping around at the start of the off ramp while I coasted down.
As I applied my brakes to slow down and stop I started getting a horrendous shake which I thought was either a loose caliper or cracked and lodged piece of brake pad. I creeped it into the gas station and found that one of my front caliper bolts was gone and the top one was finger tight. While I found out that that was the issue, Will had walked down from the top of the off ramp to tell me what had happened to his cruiser.
He had a flat tire, shattered one of his new SCS F5s and had a partially severed brake line, along with some other damage. His caliper came loose and did a full 180* until being wrapped up by the dust shield thus locking up his wheel and shattering it in the process.
It was a long evening, but luckily we were okay. Super weird and the fact that it happened at the same time is very strange and makes me want to think we were somehow sabotaged by some side by side people as there were only a couple instances towards the end of the trip while we were out in the woods that I wasn't keeping an eye on my cruiser. It doesn't make sense why someone would do that, but it doesn't make sense how two separate Cruisers who have had brake work done independently from each other and at different times would have lost the exact same lower brake bolts on the driver's front caliper at pretty much the same time.
Mine after scavenging a brake bolt off Will's cruiser and putting the caliper back on.
Will's while waiting for the tow truck
With this trip in the books, I am starting to clean mine up for the numerous projects I have planned for it this summer. Last week I bought new door seals/weatherstripping for all of the doors, along with new plastic clips, new window felt weather stripping, inner body mount rubbers, motor mounts, FZJ80 front swaybar bushings (so I can upgrade to the large one that I pulled when I pulled the set of locked axles, and some fresh Wet Okole seat covers in charcoal with lumbar support. I will be doing all of these little fixes simultaneously with the building of swing out kits coming up this June. Once all of the swing outs are shipped out, I plan to strip down the cruiser--flares, hood vents, bumpers, swing outs, and sliders. From there I will be monstalining every part that has been previously sprayed with Rustoleum bed liner since it is cracking and discoloring. I will also be taking the valence off for a repaint and I am thinking that I will just go ahead and patch the two useless lights that go below the headlights and have a solid panel for a clean appearance. While it is stripped down, I will be giving it a much overdue buff and wax. If time allows, I am also itching to build a new front bumper, and buy a full floater rear axle to build up with a Harrop locker and install it. There's probably several other things I am probably forgetting, but we will see. I would still like to be able to go up to The Rockies for a month or so to just wheel and ride bikes.
Last Friday, after finishing my final test of my 20 credit hour semester, I jumped in the cruiser, gassed it up, and met up with my buddy Will (who took the first 4 pics) on I40. Over the next several days, we met up with several other cruiser owners, Bryan, Bill, and Caleb, and entered the Ozark National Forest.
Everything went great except for an intermittent issue where Bryan's would start bogging down until at WOT. 85 miles from home, Will and I were both exiting i40 for some gas when crap hit the fan. I was on the phone with my dad and saw Will's cruiser nearly roll in my rear view mirror while he was fighting all sorts of drifting and whipping around at the start of the off ramp while I coasted down.
As I applied my brakes to slow down and stop I started getting a horrendous shake which I thought was either a loose caliper or cracked and lodged piece of brake pad. I creeped it into the gas station and found that one of my front caliper bolts was gone and the top one was finger tight. While I found out that that was the issue, Will had walked down from the top of the off ramp to tell me what had happened to his cruiser.
He had a flat tire, shattered one of his new SCS F5s and had a partially severed brake line, along with some other damage. His caliper came loose and did a full 180* until being wrapped up by the dust shield thus locking up his wheel and shattering it in the process.
It was a long evening, but luckily we were okay. Super weird and the fact that it happened at the same time is very strange and makes me want to think we were somehow sabotaged by some side by side people as there were only a couple instances towards the end of the trip while we were out in the woods that I wasn't keeping an eye on my cruiser. It doesn't make sense why someone would do that, but it doesn't make sense how two separate Cruisers who have had brake work done independently from each other and at different times would have lost the exact same lower brake bolts on the driver's front caliper at pretty much the same time.
Mine after scavenging a brake bolt off Will's cruiser and putting the caliper back on.
Will's while waiting for the tow truck
With this trip in the books, I am starting to clean mine up for the numerous projects I have planned for it this summer. Last week I bought new door seals/weatherstripping for all of the doors, along with new plastic clips, new window felt weather stripping, inner body mount rubbers, motor mounts, FZJ80 front swaybar bushings (so I can upgrade to the large one that I pulled when I pulled the set of locked axles, and some fresh Wet Okole seat covers in charcoal with lumbar support. I will be doing all of these little fixes simultaneously with the building of swing out kits coming up this June. Once all of the swing outs are shipped out, I plan to strip down the cruiser--flares, hood vents, bumpers, swing outs, and sliders. From there I will be monstalining every part that has been previously sprayed with Rustoleum bed liner since it is cracking and discoloring. I will also be taking the valence off for a repaint and I am thinking that I will just go ahead and patch the two useless lights that go below the headlights and have a solid panel for a clean appearance. While it is stripped down, I will be giving it a much overdue buff and wax. If time allows, I am also itching to build a new front bumper, and buy a full floater rear axle to build up with a Harrop locker and install it. There's probably several other things I am probably forgetting, but we will see. I would still like to be able to go up to The Rockies for a month or so to just wheel and ride bikes.
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