LJ70 Build Thread!

[Paddler Ed]

Thanks Ed.

The music was just terrible. Imagine all the worst songs from the last 30 years compiled together and that's what it was like.

Is his daily driver anything with RM Williams stickers on it, or Elwood stickers? Or is it just because it isn't dance music?

You might be right about those signs because the tracks were definitely 4wd tracks on the map.

Some of that sounds like the conversation I've had with NSW NPWS...
Me: "Hello, I'd like to find out about the track that runs from Point Lookout to Killekrankie Mtn"
NPWS: "Do you mean Wilson's Lookout?"
M:"No, I mean Robinson's Knob Trail"
NPWS: "Ah, that's got a locked gate on it because it's now a fire trail, and has no vehicle access on it"
M: "So is ____ road open then?"
NPWS: "When are you thinking of going out there? There's fires in that area" Checked on NSW RFS Website and the nearest is about 20km from where I want to go
M: "Not until the weather changes"
NPWS: "Can you phone back next week? The guy you need to talk to isn't around at the moment"

Even the first conversation that the local tourist information office had with NPWS was about that good... the poor Tourist info lady was so cross she couldn't answer my question...

Have you seen the Lock the Gate yellow signs?

 

[AndyCook]

brilliant

those winches are certainly being used a lot !

 

[Ben]

Is his daily driver anything with RM Williams stickers on it, or Elwood stickers? Or is it just because it isn't dance music?



Some of that sounds like the conversation I've had with NSW NPWS...
Me: "Hello, I'd like to find out about the track that runs from Point Lookout to Killekrankie Mtn"
NPWS: "Do you mean Wilson's Lookout?"
M:"No, I mean Robinson's Knob Trail"
NPWS: "Ah, that's got a locked gate on it because it's now a fire trail, and has no vehicle access on it"
M: "So is ____ road open then?"
NPWS: "When are you thinking of going out there? There's fires in that area" Checked on NSW RFS Website and the nearest is about 20km from where I want to go
M: "Not until the weather changes"
NPWS: "Can you phone back next week? The guy you need to talk to isn't around at the moment"

Even the first conversation that the local tourist information office had with NPWS was about that good... the poor Tourist info lady was so cross she couldn't answer my question...

Have you seen the Lock the Gate yellow signs?

No he hasnt got any of those stickers on it.

I do listen to music other than EDM, theres heaps of good, more mainstream music that has come out of the last 30 years, just Michael obviously chose all the worst he could find.

No not seen those signs on gates over here.

It does amaze me some of the things that parks and DSE do over here regarding track closures. It seems like they just think right were going to close these tracks bring the bulldozer in and delete them from the new maps.

brilliant

those winches are certainly being used a lot !

Thanks Andy.

We were all running Warn 8274's with upgraded motors.

I dont believe a normal low mount winch would have stood up to the sheer amount of continues winching we did, especially on day 3.

As the drum is well away from the motor it never gets hot. On a normal low mount the rope would have melted, because we were winching for hundreds of meters at a time continuously.

I just wish I'd bought one years ago! So much stronger, quicker and better than a normal low mount winch! I can see why all the comp guys run them. Last a life time aswell as all the service parts are readily available.

 

[Ben]

Otways Trip Day 3.

After a great nights sleep I awoke to a dry chilly morning.









I cooked breakfast.



And we hit the tracks.





Over a little log bridge.









Just after the log bridge was a steep slippery climb and Justin needed a little winch pull to get up.



What we saw next was truly magical for me! My first Koala in the wild.







Koala photographed we left him to it and continued back down the track.











Despite driving over this fallen tree on the way down, Michael couldnt get over it going the other way so we got the chainsaw back out.









On the next track we found another tree down across the track.











We headed to some more tracks and along the way we passed a waterfall.









Sadly the walking track to the falls was closed.

So we carried on and drove some really boggy tracks.













We then drove to what is the toughest track in the Otways.

Oregon Track.







Originally Michael said he only wanted to go and look at it and that he wouldnt drive it in hs 80 due to all the bog holes.

But when we got there I told him were driving it!

He went first.







And was soon winching.







My turn in LJ next.





We also ended up needing to winch.



















You know you've been on a crazy angle when you've spilled diesel and buried the side of the truck in the bank.



Justin was soon also winching.











































The next hill climb was very long and steep with some big rock steps half way up, so we were soon all winching again.





















As I got to the top I suddenly lost drive to the drivers side front wheel while winching. Michael came over and found my free wheeling hub on the ground nearby. Id blown it clean off.





Even with both air lockers in, so I was in 3 wheel drive I still couldnt drive over what should have been an easy section of track and instead had to winch my way all the way out of the forest using Michaels 80 as an anchor.

By the time I got out all the warning lights were on as Id been winching that much I'd flattened the 2 batteries. Time for that 3rd battery I think.

I left Erin sat in the car with the idle turned right up to get some charge back in the batteries.



Within 10 minutes the warning lights had gone out and the batteries had some charge back in them.





We decided at that point as I now didn't have 4wd to follow the power lines track out and return to camp. We will be back again soon though to finish the track.





We got back to camp and packed up.









I made lunch.



As I wanted to drive with the bonnet slightly open to get more cold air to the over heating engine I was worried it could fly open at highway speeds so put some cable ties on it just encase.





We said our good byes and headed off.





I stopped at a car wash to try and clean the worst of the mud off.







Ended up filthy!



While underneath cleaning the mud off I spotted that the small gash in the side wall of the tyre that I got on day 1 was now a huge split!

Not wanting to drive home on it encase it blew out I decided to swap it when I got to Danny's house. I had to go to Danny's to return his ARB fridge that he very kindly lent me.





As I stopped carrying my 37" spare a while a go and now carry my 35" BFG spare which is 20kg lighter I decided to put the 35" spare on the front and the other 37" front on the back.













Ready to leave.



Michael had trailer his 37"s to Danny's, so he refitted his 35"s and we drove home.





As LJ wont be going on any more trips for 2-3 months I wanted to make sure shes spotless so I drove her to work on Thursday and then after work I spent an hour underneath pressure washing every trace of mud off.





I also cleaned the damaged tyre.



My boss has just bought a tyre machine and my work mate helped me get the damaged tyre off.







I'm going to see if I can get the tyre repaired if not I will keep it for off road use only, like if I do any comps.

It still holds air fine but the side wall has delaminated.

TAFE (College) is going really well. Only got a few more weeks left and then we break up for Christmas. I've almost finished making my second project which is an anvil. I had to free hand cut all the steel to size using oxyacetylene and then weld it together using a particular technique (which I've forgotten the name of ) using the MIG.



We've now started renovating the bathroom which is the one I use. It looked very dated and horrible but this is in fact luxury compared to the terrible conditions I had to use at the horse place when I first got to Australia.









We've now completely gutted it and I'm now fitting all the new pipe work for the new bathroom suite. Were changing the layout so theirs lots of plumbing to be done.

I will be working on this every weekend for the next 4 weeks, then my mate gets here from the UK and we will be going on a huge 8000km road trip.

Got heaps of work to do on LJ aswell over the next few months.

The electrics are going to be a huge job but will be awesome once there done. The trouble is I've constantly added bits over the years so its now a mess.

The plan is to rip everything out and have one main loom with all different coloured wires going to everything I want in the car. So LED striplighting in the cab, 12v sockets in the front and back, new gauges on the top of the dash for EGT, Boost and air pressure, new high output ARB compressor with tank mounted underneath, light bar on the bull bar, driving lights on the bull bar, rear reverse lights, new air locker loom to allow me to use the front and rear air lockers independently of one another, super loom to make the headlights brighter, and split charge system to charge the 3rd battery.

I also want to get all the bodywork sorted out and then re-spray the whole truck, and of course fit the viscous fan and sort the over heating issue out.

Michael has ordered us some super strong studs to replace the studs on his 80 and the studs on LJ, seen as on this last trip both LandCruisers managed to shear all the studs off holding the drive flange/free wheel hub on.

 

[Ben]

Ooops missed these posts, sorry guys.

Another great update Ben.

I'm curious about Michael's coffee setup ... do you have any more info on it or more pics?

Thanks mate.

Will get some pics and info for you.

Great pictures Ben.

Thanks for sharing.

Your weather must be starting to pick up nicely now.

Gra.

Thanks.

I wish mate, we've had a few nice days but now its gone cold again.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great stuff Ben , you can't really blame any failures happening, riding tracks as tough as that!

The Koala was cool, he had a sort of WTF look on his face Idiot humans again...

Erin looked impressed too!

Thanks for sharing... and all the hard work that goes with it

 

[Paddler Ed]

Thanks Ben!

Another great write up. The Oregon Track looks an interesting route...

When we were looking for our place to live in up here, trying to find something that was from at least the 1990's interior wise was a mission; most of it seemed to be stuck in the 70's or 80's! Really hard to explain to others who aren't used to it, especially when you're not in the CBD area. BUT they do have some good ideas like the drains in the middle of the bathroom floor and laundry (utility) room floors, which are great for keeping the houses cleaner.

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Little update.

Work/fabrication pics first.

My manager asked me to design and build a frame for the back of his Landrover Defender 110 to go in place of his back seats. He will then fix ply wood to it and mount his fridge.

So the idea was to use all the original seat mounting points and bolts, and to make it reasonably quick and easy to get out.







Todays little project has been modifying the rear axle casing on the comp truck.

The idea being that we fit bigger tyres to give us more ground clearance, so by shaving 25mm off the bottom of the diff housing we've created as much clearance as fitting 50mm/2" bigger tyres.

The axle is a modified 80 series one, so is running a Toyota 9" diff.



I marked and cut it.









Removed the old drain plug from the piece id cut off.







Drilled a hole.





And welded it on.





Toyota axles are made from 6mm thick steel, the last axle I cut and welded was for my old boss in the UK and that was on a Landrover and was no more than 2mm thick.

Anyway.......................

I decided to stick with 6mm. So I cut a piece of 6mm flat bar to length and then used the brake press to put a series of tiny bends in it at 15mm intervals. This created an almost perfect curve.







Welded and flap wheeled smooth.







As requested more info on the coffee machine Michael has installed in his 80.

Its powered by a 12,000 watt inverter mounted behind the rear seats.





And the coffee machine is next to the fridge and 30 second kitchen.





Michael had a few problems getting this setup to work. He had to run big 50mm + cable from the batteries under the bonnet to the inverter. I suggested he run the cable inside one of the chassis rails which he did and this worked well.

But he discovered that its no good running big + cable capable of taking a lot of current, if the earth/negative isnt of similar size cable. So rather than running a separate 50mm earth cable to the back of the car, which was the only way he could get the coffee machine to work off the inverter, he chose to change all the earth leads under the bonnet to 50mm cable and that fixed the problem.

Work is progressing on the bathroom. The plasterers are coming next week then I can paint, tile and fit the new bathroom suite and then fit the new door, skirting and architrave.





Me hard at work working out where everything will go and making sure all the pipes are in the right place.









Michael has become obsessed with building shelves in to the walls, hence why there is now one in the toilet for toilet rolls, and there will be one above the bath and one huge one in the shower.

Its his house and if thats what he wants me to build then I will build it!





Apologies for the picture quality. The camera stopped working on day 3 of the Otways trip and I haven't had chance to go and pick up the replacement yet, so these are all phone pics.

 

[grantw]

Thanks for the pics Ben of the coffee machine setup 12000W is a little crazy!

 

[Chas]

Is that really 12000 watts? or is that a typo? when you think an immersion heater in a water tank is only about 2000 or less a coffee machine shouldn't need much. Or is that just a bit of overkill on the inverter?

 

[Ben]

oops! Yeah thats a typo!

Its a 1000 watt inverter.

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi Ben Top trip I love it Tony. Thanks

 

[Ben]

Thanks Tony.

Hoping to get an update up soon.

Got loads of pics to post but things are pretty hectic at the moment trying to get Michaels bathroom finished before my 4-5 week holiday next month.

Got a nice little trip report from a crazy night drive we went on Saturday night as well.

 

[Ben]

OK finally update time.

The 79/80 series rear axle that we cut the bottom off to gain 25mm more ground clearance under the diff needed a tiny bit shaving out of the bottom with a die grinder to clear the ring gear.







Sick of the handbrake shoes getting destroyed every event we've drilled some holes in the backing plates and added some 30mm rubber grommets. The idea is now that after an event we can pull the rubber bungs out and hose all the mud out of the drums.





The comp truck is all back together now and ready for our next event next year.

I had to do a bit more work on the red Vitara that weve been getting ready to sell.





The new tool box is awesome! Its great being able to wheel all my tools to where eve I'm working.



I built a set of rock sliders for a customers Vitara and as he wanted to use the tubes as air tanks I had to get them air tight.









Fitted.









Work has been progressing on Frankenzuke, the Jimny I've built.

I needed to finish the rock sliders and wanted to make them look a bit different, so I thought about adding different size holes to the pieces of flat I was going to weld across the top.



But I decided it didnt look right.



So I came up with another idea.

















I had to fit a new carpet.











I reinstalled the air system and got it all connected properly.











To neaten up the rear as we dont have any rear seats and dont see any point in sourcing and fitting some I made a ply wood box to store recovery equipment in.







And covered it in marine carpet.







I removed the roof rack so the car can go to be resprayed.



I bent and welded on a piece of tube along the front to protect the light bar that we will mount below it. The rack will now go off for shot blasting and powder coating.



The prototype battery tray I designed and built has come back from the laser cutters with a sample they made.



I had to make a few adjustments to it but I soon had it fitted to a customers vehicle. Were getting one more made and once I've checked its right we will be ordering them by the 100.





OK back to LJ..................



Got a few things to fix before our next adventure.

I need a better solution to the mudflaps as they keep getting damaged.



I've bought some decent rubber from Clark Rubber and I'm planning on making some big mud flaps that cover a lot more of the tyre and having them so they can be easily fitted/removed. The idea being I can simply unclip them when I venture off road and then clip them back on for the drive home.



Need to fit my spare hub as I sheared all the studs last time I was out and blew the free wheeling hub clean off. A set of super strength studs have turned up from the US and they are supposedly unbreakable.



One of the guys I go 4wding with suggested that the reason LJ leans so badly on the drivers side could be because the castor correction bushes in the front arms are slightly out. So he suggested I could swap the arms and see if it sits any better.

So I decided I would pull the arms off and change the chassis end bushes while they were off.





Bushes didn't look too bad but decided I would change them anyway as that way I know theyve all been changed.



The ironman castor correction bushes have seen better days but there still OK.









The new bushes were slightly longer so would need cutting down like I had to do with the rear ones.











I cut 5mm off each side with the bandsaw.



Got them refitted.



Work has been progressing on the house.

The shower has had cement board nailed to the walls which has then been coated in a special waterproof system.









































I've been doing my forklift test/license this week. I had a day of training on Saturday and next Friday I've got the test.

That will be another useful qualification in 18 months time when I should have finished TAFE with my welding qualifications and can then go and work in the mines.



The gym is going really well and I've finally managed to get my 6k run which I do 3 times a week below 30mins.



Tes got picked up the other day and is now at the docks awaiting a ship that will take her to the UK.





And finally we went on a night drive in Michaels 80.







Found some tough tracks and did a lot of winching.















There was a bit of panel damage and a badly dented/crushed prop shaft.













As the tracks were so challenging weve decided to run a trip there in February. So I've put it on the clubs trip system as an extreme trip.

My mate gets here from the UK in less than 2 weeks and then I've got 4-5 weeks off work and were going on a huge road trip up the East coast. Cant wait!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Wondering when the write up was going to appear; nearly messaged you earlier about it! Good to see, and like the Frankenzuke's sliders

Do you have any pointers on designing/doing a draw system? I'm thinking about one for the 4Runner, but am undecided, as when we went away the other day it all fitted perfectly without.

On the mudflaps; have you though about conveyor belt, a bit more weight and hopefully more resistant? Thinking about the fastenings; what about a coarse threaded screw with a wing nut on the head so that you can whizz it on quickly, or alternatively stud with a hole for a p-clip to slide in? I'm sure others will be able to articulate the ideas better than I can.

 

[Ben]

Wondering when the write up was going to appear; nearly messaged you earlier about it! Good to see, and like the Frankenzuke's sliders

Do you have any pointers on designing/doing a draw system? I'm thinking about one for the 4Runner, but am undecided, as when we went away the other day it all fitted perfectly without.

On the mudflaps; have you though about conveyor belt, a bit more weight and hopefully more resistant? Thinking about the fastenings; what about a coarse threaded screw with a wing nut on the head so that you can whizz it on quickly, or alternatively stud with a hole for a p-clip to slide in? I'm sure others will be able to articulate the ideas better than I can.

Thanks Ed.
Would have updated sooner but working 10-12 hours a day 7 days a week at the moment.

Less than 2 weeks though until my 4-5 week holiday! Ridiculously excited!

If you read back through my build thread you will see how I built my drawer system.

Depending on what your doing, some decent plastic boxes could work just as well in that you can just lift the boxes out with all the camping gear in when your not doing trips, giving you your boot space back.

For me LJ is obviously just a toy so I'm actually thinking of going the other way in that I'm trying to squeeze all my camping gear in my drawer system.

Another mod I've been thinking about for a while is the bigger of the 2 back doors.........................

There is a spot of rust int he bottom corner that needs cutting out and new metal welding in, so while its on the bench at work I'm going to cut all the ribs out of the inside of the door as obviously it doesn't carry a spare wheel anymore. I'm then going to line the hole with some aluminium and by my calculations my double burner gas stove should fit snugly in the door, freeing up more space in the back of LJ.

The mud flaps were made from thick conveyor belt material from a mine. Maybe its old and fatigued and thats why it seems so weak. Maybe its just when its getting full of mud and continually dragged over rocks.

The rubber I've bought is similar to what is fitted now and has cotton material through it, but obviously its new so should be tougher.

I have considered the wing nut idea, but I dont want bolts/thread sticking out when there not attached, and I dont want a threaded hole that will just fill up with mud.

I've seen them before where theyve used a very simple gate lock/sliding bolt to clip them in and lock them onto brackets on the rear bumper.

I think removing them completely when off road is the best solution, just need some spare time now to get them built.

 

[fridayman]

Hi Ben. How many tons is the press that you use to get the bushes out? I might need to change my lower control arm bushes again and want to press them in/out myself this time.

 

[Ben]

Its a 20 ton one, although a smaller one would have done it.

If your struggling to get the old ones out this stuff helps a lot:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Loctite-...ustrial_Supply_MRO&hash=item2a34795301&_uhb=1

 

[clivehorridge]

Bathrooms

Great write ups and pics as usual Ben, thanks!

Looking at your bathroom project only reminds me that I have 6 en-suites to install! How depressing!

the framing is all done and the service points are all in, just need fitting out... a lot of cash and a fair bit of work....

 

[hairyguy4]

I found an easy way to get my bushes out of my radius arms (before I had my press) was to chain drill the rubber around the outer collar, knock the center out and then cut the seized in ring with a hack saw and just pop it out my hand , for your mud flaps im sure you could knock something like this out in no time

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/inde...k-disconnect-mud-flap-hanger-kit-no-drop.html