LJ70 Build Thread!

[Landcruiser Power]

Hey ben heres some pictures on my Exhaust I have over 300,000 kms on my 1kzte, and im running a high state of tune as you no you should be able to drop another six sec of your time, When you shift to oz, if you ever come to NZ hit me up, will take you out 4wd as you can get flights over return for 160 dollars cheers Dan

 

[Ben]

Hong Kong!

Why?

Roger

because they were cheap mate, and i was expecting my truck to be off the road for the next 8 months, so though it doesnt matter if it takes a while to get here.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170735011734? ... 4661wt_932

Hey ben heres some pictures on my Exhaust I have over 300,000 kms on my 1kzte, and im running a high state of tune as you no you should be able to drop another six sec of your time, When you shift to oz, if you ever come to NZ hit me up, will take you out 4wd as you can get flights over return for 160 dollars cheers Dan

thanks Dan, might well take you up on that offer mate.

 

[Ben]

Drive it to Oz, hell of a road trip.

You are overlooking one other option....

Why not drive it there (ok, not the watery bits...).

Think what an adventure it would be, and justifies the insurance cost.

Pete

ok lads, im seriously considering this now.

one of my best mates is well up for it, and is happy to stick around for the first year when i get to OZ aswel. joys of being young, free, single, and mortgage free i guess.

so not only would i have good company for the trip, id also have some financial help towards the costs for getting there.

so....................................what route would people recommend?

theres only 2 issues that i can see at the moment.

1. cant really Drive through China, as both my 2 seats will be being used, and obviously to legally drive in China, you have to have a Chinese person with you in the vehicle.

2. vehicles entering OZ have to be absolutely spotless, they cant have a speck of dirt on them, else they will be put in quarantine, and you will be charged a lot of money to have them steam cleaned. its all to do with OZ wanting to keep any trace of foreign organic material out of there country to try and prevent diseases from coming in. so where evere my last destination will be before OZ, i will need to get the truck spotlessly clean.

so its just the route to think about now, and how long it might take to get there.

i am so up or this now, especially as ive got a very good mate on board.

 

[wobbly]

Get a new thread going on the trip and plans !

Pete

 

[Ben]

Get a new thread going on the trip and plans !

Pete

will do.

my new wheels arrived yesterday.

very impressed with silverline, ordered thursday morning, and they arrived the very next day.

just been and got them fitted.

 

[Red Oktober]

Those wheels look great Ben ...

I've dealt with silverline on 2 previous occasions ... and both times they have been 100% ...couldn't ask for a better/quicker service

 

[Ben]

thanks Carl.

so with all the new wheels fitted ive now got 6 x 16" 80 series wheels for sale.

i fitted the new front shock bushes last night, and while the steering was on full lock, i noticed the tyres were far too close to the rock sliders.

so i removed the spacers.

while the wheels were off, i ran a bead of silicon around both sides, hopefully this will stop water getting in and prevent them from rusting.

i only managed to remove 3 of the spacers before running out of time. so i handed my mate the wheel wrench and told him to tighten ALL the wheel nuts, while i put the rest of the tools away.

got up to go laning today, and was on the road by 6.15am. the roads were very icy, but fortunately there wasnt too much traffic. so straight up the A41 to Chester, on route i averaged 60mph and over took 3 HGV's.

got to Chester and stopped at the traffic lights. they went to green, i went to pull off and BANG! the rear wheel fell off!

obviously my mate hadnt tightened the nust on that wheel.

so id driven 40miles with loose wheel nuts. it snapped all the studs off the spacer and has destroyed all the holes in the brand new wheel as there now much bigger and oval!

im p155ed off about the new wheel thats now scrap, but i think myself very lucky to still be alive and to still have a truck in almost one piece.

so anyway..........................i removed the spacer and fitted the spare wheel, and then made sure every single wheel nut on the truck was tight.

on route to meet the others for the days laning, i gave my mate a quick call. the conversation went like this:-

him- hello.

me- hi did i wake you up?

him- yes!

me- GOOD!!! you could have killed me you f*****g t**t!

him- why? whats happened?

me- well..........one of my wheels has just fallen off. you know, the wheels that were held on with the nuts i asked you to tighten!

him- sorry, i thought i tightened them all.

me- well you obviously didnt! got to go anyway cos im driving, speak to you later.

met up with the others.

bent my steering bar AGAIN.

so out with the jack and winch, to get it some where near straight.

the lanes were very tight, and one had a lot of fallen trees, one of which ripped my roof rack off.

in the end i took the roof rack off completely, and put it in the back, as i couldnt get past one tree in particular that was leaning over the track.

not sure whether i prefer it with or without the roof rack.

bent the bloody steering bar again!

and straightened it again!

need to call Gwyn Lewis, and see if he will make me some sumo bars. need to be the same as the 80 series ones he sells, just a little bit shorter.

lots of snow up on the wayfarer. so we stopped for a snow ball fight!

finally home after 12hours behind the wheel.

 

[Red Oktober]

They're great pics m8

hope your mate is going to replace the bit that broke through his negligence

 

[Crushers]

i have corrected the weak connector bar by removing one end, sliding a piece of thick walled tube over, tack welding the ends so it doesn't move and reinstalling the other end.

works very well ...

i have also had wheels come off over the decades, i now use a torque wrench on EVERY wheel i reinstall to be sure.

 

[Rob]

i have corrected the weak connector bar by removing one end, sliding a piece of thick walled tube over, tack welding the ends so it doesn't move and reinstalling the other end.

I like this idea, good suggestion if you still have straight bars. How much clearance do you leave between the bar and the tube? Is it a really close push fit or can you feel significant play? If its the latter the bar can still bend messing up your tracking but at least you carry on driving

 

[Chas]

i have corrected the weak connector bar by removing one end, sliding a piece of thick walled tube over, tack welding the ends so it doesn't move and reinstalling the other end. . works very well ...
i have also had wheels come off over the decades, i now use a torque wrench on EVERY wheel i reinstall to be sure.

Forgive me if I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, but would it be better to leave it 'untacked' and allow it to revolve if it hits an obstruction while still giving extra strength

 

[Rob]

Chas, if its not an interference fit then it will rattle and softer material will wear away.

Edit: thinking about it the fit would have to quite loose for that to happen

 

[Roger Fairclough]

The front steering bar connects the Pitman arm to the n/side hub and as such will not affect the tracking. The better solutions to Bens problems are:-

1) Stop driving so quickly on the trails.

2) Stop hitting things.

3) Make a protector plate.

Roger

 

[Chas]

Chas, if its not an interference fit then it will rattle and softer material will wear away.

OK, that makes sense

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Ive been thinking about sleeving the steering rods and leaving the sleeve to rotate but adding a grease nipple to it so I could add a layer of grease between the bar and the sleeve which should help it rotate and at the same time should stop it rattling.

 

[Ben]

i like the idea of sleeving it.

would be cheaper than the £180 Gwyn Lewis wants for sumo bars, and i guess would do the same job.

how thicker wall of tube would be best?

The front steering bar connects the Pitman arm to the n/side hub and as such will not affect the tracking. The better solutions to Bens problems are:-

1) Stop driving so quickly on the trails.

2) Stop hitting things.

3) Make a protector plate.

Roger

yesterday when it bent badly it meant i had no left steering lock at all! and made the steering wheel vibrate badly

it wasnt bent at all yesterday from driving into things! it was bent by me trying to turn the steering while, while one of the wheels was in a rut or against a rock, tree stump etc.

i am going to make a steering guard which would help protect it from hitting things, but like i say thats not what keeps bending it at the moment. its trying to turn the 35" tyres, and not realising im against a rock etc.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben.

Viv---she of the many cups of tea ---decided she would stay out of this one and suggested I should do the same.

But I am made of sterner stuff.

So, are you ready for this

If you cannot turn the steering wheel, you get out of the car to find out why.

You do not continue to wrestle with the wheel to such an extent that you bend the steering rod.

By the way, your arm (the one on the car) has been bent so many times that serious strength loss is inevitable.

By adding in strength to the arm, you will inevitably transfer the loadings to the ball joints and they are not designed to take this kind of abuse.

Roger

 

[John_McCartney]

Sensible woman, that Viv.

 

[Gav Peter]

 

[wobbly]

I agree with the steering arm losing strength if bent on more than one occasion, particularily if heat is applied to re-straighten it.