Clints Cruiser Project

[Clint]

I bent another front radius arm out at Minginui the other day, the anti-roll bar got ripped off at the same time. Going to look at making some stronger & caster corrected arms.
The wagon went way better off road, but I think I'd put it back on if I was doing a trip that was more touring than hard out 4x4 as she did roll a bit more on the road, even with the shocks turned up a click.



Cheers
Clint

[Disco-Blue]

Nice, same colour as the one ive just bought myself except i have LWB model. Will start a project thread soon but going to join ORE as a supporter first.

[Rotazuk]

Hi Clint
Do you have any reliable fuel consumption figures ? Just wondering what the v8 consumes .

Cheers

Chris

[Clint]

Probably around 17 litres/100km, I've had some starting issues lately & I think it's a leaky injector(s), the mileage might improve a bit when thats fixed. I'll check the odo calibration & do a proper test then.

Cheers
Clint

[Clint]

Nothing new sorry! Just a couple of better pics of the snorkle & airbox setup as requested:



The bar over the top bolts on to the snorks at either end. Needs a bloody repaint already!

Cheers
Clint

[Gnarly Dude]

Properly opening a tin of worms but how is your truck going? Did the lockers end up going in?

[Clint]

She's going good mate. Northland trip over winter:



Weekend before last, on our way to camp out somewhere deep in the Urewera:





Put some new rubber on a few months back, GT Radial Savero MT 33's which are going well. No big mods lately. Long term plan is some beefier axles, GQ front, 80 series rear then get a locker for the back.

Cheers
Clint

PS Note for young players: Toyota R151 gearboxes are real strong except for when you do too many donuts in reverse

[Gnarly Dude]

Nice, its good to see how peoples trucks evolve, would like to see how the diff swap turns out.

[Clint]

I was just cruising up the track the other day to go for a hunt & started getting one of those bad noises from the rear end. Of the Landcruiser
This is the 2nd time I've lunched a back diff so I decided to see if I could find a stronger ring & pinion. I located some at the local wreckers in an 80 series. Of course there are a couple of other bits required to put a 9.5" R&P in the back of an LJ71 so I got them too. With all that I'll need a wider front axle to match & the original one is too small anyway so I pulled the Nissan GQ front diff that I had been saving for just such an occasion out of the bushes & gave it a Brazilian & a few other beauty treatments.



Just got a package of goodies to rebuild the GQ knuckles & calipers so into that next. It looks like with new dropped & further outboard chassis end radius arm mounts for rose joint modded GQ arms, shifted spring perches on the axles & new shock mounts on the chassis the GQ axle should go in the front fairly stress free. I'll be trying to copy stock GQ geometry as much as possible so it drives nice. Main question is how much lift to clear 35's nicely. I don't want to go too tall so hacking out the guards is also being considered.

Currently on the way from Ironman 4x4 is an Eaton E-locker for the 80 rear diff. With the rear I'd like to use the 80 style 4 link setup rather than the original LJ71 2x radius arm but I have yet to measure up precisely to see what will fit. I know I'd need to move the diff spring perches & upper arm mounts inboard if I want to keep the springs in the same place on the chassis.

Cheers
Clint

[Fakey]

Nice choice of axles, same as my truck it's goin to be pretty wide too

[NJV6]

Good to see you back in the modding action.

[Madaz]

Looks good dude, looking at doin the same to my hilux at the moment too...
What was the actual difference in track width between the 80 rear diff and the gq front?

[Clint]

Looks good dude, looking at doin the same to my hilux at the moment too...
What was the actual difference in track width between the 80 rear diff and the gq front?

I actually forgot to measure up the GQ width before I stripped it Reports vary from 19-50mm narrower than the 80 so it shouldn't be anything that can't be corrected with a sane size of spacer. Should have the hubs back on by the end of the week & will get the numbers.

With a hilux you would probably get away with a cheaper GQ rear as well. I decided to go for the 80 axle for the diff offset as my SWB rear driveshaft is pretty short & the centred GQ rear would probably put a bit much pain on the UJ's. The 80 rear has other advantages too though over the GQ being a theoretically stronger full floater with a ready strengthened housing & integrated handbrake drums. One potential downside I discovered is that from 92(?) on you need 16" rims to fit over the rear disc calipers.

Cheers
Clint

[Madaz]

Looks good dude, looking at doin the same to my hilux at the moment too...
What was the actual difference in track width between the 80 rear diff and the gq front?

I actually forgot to measure up the GQ width before I stripped it Reports vary from 19-50mm narrower than the 80 so it shouldn't be anything that can't be corrected with a sane size of spacer. Should have the hubs back on by the end of the week & will get the numbers.

With a hilux you would probably get away with a cheaper GQ rear as well. I decided to go for the 80 axle for the diff offset as my SWB rear driveshaft is pretty short & the centred GQ rear would probably put a bit much pain on the UJ's. The 80 rear has other advantages too though over the GQ being a theoretically stronger full floater with a ready strengthened housing & integrated handbrake drums. One potential downside I discovered is that from 92(?) on you need 16" rims to fit over the rear disc calipers.

Cheers
Clint

Yeah gq rear would be cheeper, but im not a fan of the angled driveshaft setup, plus having the head offset gives me more room for my winch rope to clear the diff.
Quite keen on using a gu front diff, but i suspect clearance issues between the pumkin and the chassis rail, Ive heard that the gu and 80 diffs are the same width, but need to check for myself.

Be good to see yours going with these diffs, then theres no reason for it not to go into the monster garage for a twin turbo conversion.............
Cheers

[shortylux]

Will be watching with interest.

It just so happens I measured my GQ front tonight. WMS to WMS was (roughly) 1590mm or 62.5".

Also I believe that if you get the brakes etc off the older 80 axle it all just bolts on and you can run 15" rims. Haven't suss'd it out myself, just what I have read.

no reason for it not to go into the monster garage for a twin turbo conversion.............
Cheers

No reason at all

[Clint]

Yeah gq rear would be cheeper, but im not a fan of the angled driveshaft setup, plus having the head offset gives me more room for my winch rope to clear the diff.
Quite keen on using a gu front diff, but i suspect clearance issues between the pumkin and the chassis rail, Ive heard that the gu and 80 diffs are the same width, but need to check for myself.

Be good to see yours going with these diffs, then theres no reason for it not to go into the monster garage for a twin turbo conversion.............
Cheers

Got the hubs back on & the GQ front axle track measured up at 1597mm wide. Maybe plus or minus a mm or 2 as I just eyeballed that the hubs were sitting straight. The 80 series rear width is 1600mm. So that's one less thing to mess with

I was hoping to have the front axle all fixed up over the weekend, the knuckles are all rebuilt now, but the caliper rebuild kit I got was the wrong size & they need new pistons anyway. This week I want to get some more accurate measurements & start drawing up how everything will fit.

Twin turbos would just be silly A supercharger however...
Clint

[juz]

Good to see your still using this beast! I thought I had seen it liste don Trademe at some stage?! Yours is what inspired me to put the V8 in mine, I have 2" Ironman springs in the back of mine and 3" Dobinsons in the front and they clear the 35" Silverstones fine. If you need to run 16" rims the standard 80series Cruiser steel rims are 16x8 with a 0 offset which you may need to get the rims under the guards a bit? There often cheap on trademe and are strong as hell.

[Clint]

Good to see your still using this beast! I thought I had seen it liste don Trademe at some stage?! Yours is what inspired me to put the V8 in mine, I have 2" Ironman springs in the back of mine and 3" Dobinsons in the front and they clear the 35" Silverstones fine. If you need to run 16" rims the standard 80series Cruiser steel rims are 16x8 with a 0 offset which you may need to get the rims under the guards a bit? There often cheap on trademe and are strong as hell.

Cheers for that mate! That ute of yours is a cool build. Mine has never been on TM, it's had regular use since I first got it really.

When you put in that rear brake proportioning valve, was that cos the old load sensing one was stuffed or because it didn't have enough adjustment? Even if I get some of the smaller 80 brakes I'll have to back them off a bit I'm guessing. I see Deranged just replaced the std valve arm to the diff with an adjuster screw on a recent project.

I was wondering how much lift to engineer in to clear 35's. I think I'm going to set it up to have axle centres 50mm lower than std, with all radius arm mounts placed to keep geometry as similar as possible to the std suspension on the diff donors. Any suggestions on this welcome. I might trim the guards up to get the last inch or so of clearance.

No pics of any progress, all the action recently has been rolling around on the floor with the tape measure going 'Hmmm...' I had a crawl around under the neighbour's 80 series the other night & got a few measurements off that, the diffs on the bench & under mine. It looks like fitting the rear 80 4-link should be fairly easy, plenty of room for the top arms in the Prado & a couple of well placed x-members to attach a bracket too. Biggest issue will be moving spring & upper arm mounts inboard.

In the front the pumpkin will be close to the RH chassis rail on full squish but it doesn't look like I'll lose any travel. Panhard might be close too.

Measured up the rear track on the Prado too, 1415mm. So the new setup is 185mm wider. However if I go from the -25mm backspacing on my current rims to zero that is 135mm overall, or ~70mm wider each side than currently, which seems sensible when I hold the ruler up to the wheel & go 'Hmmm...' Bigger flares will be required of course.

Cheers
Clint

[juz]

When you put in that rear brake proportioning valve, was that cos the old load sensing one was stuffed or because it didn't have enough adjustment?
Clint

Yeah the factory proportioning valve was stuffed, seemed an easy fix and I can adjust it to suit when its loaded up with gear or empty.
+70mm either side will be a nice width I reckon, Im running 30mm spacers and with the 50mm rubber flares the tyres just sneak in for warrents.
If you do pickup some of those 16x8 Landcruiser rims, try not to courier them. They weigh 18kg each!

Cant wait to see it on its new diffs..

[Clint]

Just sent off a few notes & pics to the certifier to make sure I'm not going to snooker meself with anything & to check if my welding looks ok. Got the go ahead there so time to start hacking stuff up

Had the tig for about 10 months after using an ol stick welder for ages, it seems to do the business:



I tried a test to destruction on my sample but I clearly need a bigger hammer!



I can't do anything quite this pretty out of position so if it gets too hard attaching the new chassis mounts I'll get a pro on the job & drag it down to Mike or Klem's hoist & supply some beers. Hopefully careful prep & a few practice welds in the same positions will see me though though.

Cheers
Clint

[Clint]

Saturday was a great day to be in the shed with a warm welder so made a little progress on the back diff, set up a jig to keep the upper arms aligned while being moved in 40mm each side:



Mounts stuck back on & spring mounts chopped off:



The axle spring mounts will be reattached about 50mm inboard each side & 50mm further forward to match the LJ71 upper spring mounts.

Cheers
Clint

[Clint]

Some more minor progress, front calipers all rebuilt & fitted. Front arms threaded for rod ends.



I've been keeping an eye out for some 16x8" rims on trademe & found some for sale close by last week. Good quality ROH jobbies in the desired black colour with -12 backspace which should be ok. They came with some tyres too



With heavy duty tubes into the bargain it was too good a deal to pass up.

So my old 33's are for sale, 4x near new GT Radial Savero MT 33x12.5 plus one near new Sumitomo Serengeti MT 33x12.5 on 15x8" -25 offset rims for $1200 the lot which will be a smokin' deal for somebody.(edit: sold now sorry)

Cheers
Clint

[SMOKEY]

A first , congratulations Clint, at last a tidy workshop. And thanks for the build post ----- well done.

THERE IS A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE,

FITZY.

[shortylux]

Pricey's tyres?

[Clint]

Cheers Fitzy, trying to do all sorts of different stuff in a 2 car garage is much easier if it's tidy, I've had the luxury of setting this one up from the start as a dedicated workshop with vehicle storage being secondary. Once the cruiser gets rolled in & the diffs stripped out things are going to be pretty messy & cramped for a while though.
I'm trying to get as much stuff done as possible before then, currently making a 20T press as I'm going to have a few jobs for one during the build & I had some old scrap the right size lying around. By next week I should be getting serious though, will start on the front diff I think.

Pricey's tyres?

Nope, Pricey's ones were on 15's otherwise I might have stretched the toy budget a bit more & got those, beadlocks would have been nice. These came from a guy called Mike with a nicely setup dark grey 80 series, he had found the road handling to be a bit funky so swapped to some MT's.
Will see how they go, they're as big as I'd ever want to fit so will be great to have for setting up suspension placement & guard chopping.

Cheers
Clint

[shortylux]

Cool. So will we see you driving in a winch challenge soon?

[Clint]

Cool. So will we see you driving in a winch challenge soon?

Yeah... Nah. Not sure I can be arsed putting on a cage & I know too well just how brutal winch comps are on a vehicle. Some slightly more laid back competition like team challenges could definitely be on the cards though.

Cheers
Clint

[Madaz]

Cool. So will we see you driving in a winch challenge soon?

Yeah... Nah. Not sure I can be arsed putting on a cage & I know too well just how brutal winch comps are on a vehicle. Some slightly more laid back competition like team challenges could definitely be on the cards though.

Cheers
Clint

Brutal???? Dont know what you mean?????

[Clint]

Back into it this week. Cruiser is now in the shed minus the front diff. The next time it moves it will be rolling on the GQ front axle. First job, while there's easy access, was to pull the sump to fix the sheared off bolt where it has been seeping oil for the last 7 yrs.

Front axle etc got sold within hrs of posting up here, to Matt who also bought my old tyres Great to make some space in the shed, & put some cash in the budget for the rest of the project.

In other news, my Ironman electric diff locker is now at Performance Mechanical in Taupo waiting to be fitted up.

Cheers
Clint

[Clint]

Fitted up the new rubber before the axle-ectomy to check clearance:



The Cruiser guards are actually quite roomy. Some trimming will be needed though.

With entropy & a 3/4" rattlegun on the job the old axle came out pretty quick.



The old axle & tyres were last seen heading for Huntly on the tray of a hilux so there's no going back now

Currently sorting out bits & pieces for fitting the GQ axle, machined up an adapter washer for the driveshaft last night & redrilled the flange:



I may eventually get the driveshafts modded with the bigger GQ size UJ's but as it looks like the current shaft will be close to the right length that will do for a start.

Had a look at the tyre vs front radius arm clearance on full lock:



With the steering stops unmoved from what was probably the factory position on the GQ the 36's just kiss the arm, so the -12 backspace rims are perfect.

Cheers
Clint