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Big K of Justice posted:I don't know how you guys do it in states without vast amounts of public land [BLM/etc]. I get jealous of how nice the folks out west have it as well. We have quite a few great trail systems, both public and private, within a days drive of central NC, but much of it is just trails for trails sake or old forest service roads. Not quite the epic vistas of Tahoe/Rubicon, Utah, Colorado, California, Nevada, etc. We get rewarded with a few stunning vistas here and there, but I've always wanted to Go Out West and hit the classics.
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Nov 27, 2018 16:40
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A lot of outdoor stuff that I took for granted in Oregon or northern Michigan is very much a rich man's game in NC it feels like due to the inconvenience of everything
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Nov 28, 2018 05:20
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Paulie posted:I get jealous of how nice the folks out west have it as well. We have quite a few great trail systems, both public and private, within a days drive of central NC, but much of it is just trails for trails sake or old forest service roads. Not quite the epic vistas of Tahoe/Rubicon, Utah, Colorado, California, Nevada, etc. We get rewarded with a few stunning vistas here and there, but I've always wanted to Go Out West and hit the classics. You know of anything in the far-west NC area? Got a buddy that lives near Asheville/Pisgah/BRP, and I'm thinking of heading that way if they retire me in the next few years. I may just keep a decent small trail rig in Alaska and use it whenever I come back, but if there's anything worth driving near AVL, I'd love to hear about it.
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Nov 28, 2018 15:15
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Nov 28, 2018 16:01
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Dannywilson posted:You know of anything in the far-west NC area? Got a buddy that lives near Asheville/Pisgah/BRP, and I'm thinking of heading that way if they retire me in the next few years. I may just keep a decent small trail rig in Alaska and use it whenever I come back, but if there's anything worth driving near AVL, I'd love to hear about it. Tellico used to be THE place in WNC/East TN but it was closed a few year back  due to environmental concerns so wealthy people could have cabins. There are a few private parks - SHOP (sugar hill offroad park), a new, smaller place that will likely grow is Patriot mountain park, near Boone. SHOP is owned by a club, but they have open rides a few times a year for fundraisers and such. Brown Mountain near Morganton is public and has a short trail for a full size vehicle, and more stuff for bikes and ATV/UTVs.A somewhat outdated list is here and you can check the later pages of this thread as well.
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Nov 28, 2018 16:38
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I am moving to Armidale, NSW, Australia, and I hope to buy a car fairly soon after I get there. My contract is for 3 years and I want to get out and explore the area as well as some longer trips. The NSW National Parks often describe access to remote campgrounds as requiring 4x4. Question 1. Would a "proper" 4x4, like a HiLux or a Landcruiser be absolutely necessary, or might something AWD, like a Subaru be suitable? I'm trying to hit a good trade-off of fuel efficiency, size (smaller), and capability as well as basic comfort for highway and city driving that I'll be doing much more often than driving on unsealed roads. My budget will be about $10K, and my fiancee wants a more reliable car than what we currently have in Canada: a 1997 Ford Ranger 4x4 (shouldn't be difficult, my Ranger has many issues). So she's set an age limit of no older than 2008 MY. She is also fond of small hatchbacks, and I like them too so if a reasonable AWD system will get us down some National Parks dirt roads without too much drama (some drama is good, don't want to be bored) then I think there are many options. Question 2. A bit of poking around Gumtree for specifically 4x4 (rather than AWD) brings up some interesting things. Does anyone have any experience or opinions about Great Wall Motors? They seem to have a few 4x4 options (V240 ute, X200 SUV) that are younger than 10 years old and are selling for less than $10K. Question 3. What would you look for in my situation? Comedy options welcome!
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Dec 14, 2018 16:40
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cursedshitbox posted:man no kidding... Norcal has some dirt but you can't put your grubby knobbies in it. I want this truck. I need to get an old flatbed 4x4 diesel for a ranch truck.
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Dec 14, 2018 19:34
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ExecuDork posted:I am moving to Armidale, NSW, Australia, and I hope to buy a car fairly soon after I get there. My contract is for 3 years and I want to get out and explore the area as well as some longer trips. The NSW National Parks often describe access to remote campgrounds as requiring 4x4. Don't buy a great wall, they're fucken garbage mate. I wouldn't trust one to go anywhere you couldn't in a subie and get you back in one piece. How far off road do you want to go? If you're doing unsealed roads not too far out in the sticks you'll be ok in a Subaru etc, we used to do them in a falcadore. But if you're going out further I'd be looking at a proper fourby, at least in QLD some of the less used tracks are too much for an awd and you want to have peace of mind. That said, if your budget is 10k and you want something newish you'd be better buying a forester and just not going anywhere too rough.
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Dec 15, 2018 09:00
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ExecuDork posted:I am moving to Armidale, NSW, Australia Seconding not touching the Great Wall stuff at all. How much do you think you’ll be out and about? You’re probably better getting a Forester so you can have basic car functions covered for everyday use and then picking and choosing where you explore based on this. Usual Subaru caveats apply. If you want something a bit more capable, perhaps a Nissan Patrol. They don’t seem to hold their value like Toyota’s do https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1999-Nissan-Patrol-ST-GU-Manual-4x4/SSE-AD-5825492 Comedy options include a Wrangler, a Falcon RTV or a Suzuki Sierra/Jimny.
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Dec 16, 2018 02:29
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Bugger sticking to 2008 and newer, just buy pretty much any diesel 60/70/80 series Landcruiser and as long as it hasn’t rusted to a fine dust it’ll be reliable as anything E: a petrol GU will cost you more in fuel in a year than just buying a diesel truck in the first place, 20+L/100km
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Dec 16, 2018 03:19
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Hell, a little Suzuki will get you an amazing distance off-road for not much coin. Diesels are big in Aus cos our fuel actually costs money. Anything Toyota has a retarded Toyota tax attached to it (eg turbo diesel 100 series landcruisers that are 12-15yr old still go for close to $40K)
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Dec 16, 2018 05:41
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Could you negotiate with your employer a vehicle lease for your period of employment? Then lease a Navara or Rollux or something.
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Dec 16, 2018 22:29
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Anyone have any experience with a late model F-150 with 35s or maybe even 37s? I finally realized how poo poo my factory tires are when I tried to drive up a mild incline in 4x4 on snow yesterday so now I'm thinking about replacing them soonish rather than in a year or two when they wear out, and I will use that as an excuse to get a lift and I will not tell my wife how much any of it cost, because she was in the truck yesterday and even she is not happy with the current tires. I don't drive it daily so I don't really give a poo poo about gas mileage but I do care about highway manners because I take it on ~2000 mile roadtrips once or twice a year. I was kind of planning on a 6" lift with 35s because I actually go offroad (and have dragged the frame a couple times already) but BDS says 37s will fit so now I'm thinking why the gently caress not how much can an extra inch of radius make to highway manners and effective gearing but I'm still worried about highway manners and effective gearing (I have the 3.5EB and 3.55s which at least is the higher of whats available IIRC). I've researched a lot on f150 forums but a lot of it seems to be kinda pointless because you can't tell the difference between the "I put 35s on without even a leveling kit and they don't rub because my truck has never even been on a gravel road" and people that aren't morons unless you twenty questions all of them.
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Dec 16, 2018 22:32
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Paulie posted:I get jealous of how nice the folks out west have it as well. We have quite a few great trail systems, both public and private, within a days drive of central NC, but much of it is just trails for trails sake or old forest service roads. Not quite the epic vistas of Tahoe/Rubicon, Utah, Colorado, California, Nevada, etc. We get rewarded with a few stunning vistas here and there, but I've always wanted to Go Out West and hit the classics. Try Iowa. 99.9% of the state is soybeans and hog lots and the rest of it is cities and rivers. And the owners get super fuckin pissed when you try and offroad through their hog lot. In NV now though so gonna make up for lost time.
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Dec 16, 2018 22:45
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slothrop posted:How much do you think you’ll be out and about? You’re probably better getting a Forester so you can have basic car functions covered for everyday use and then picking and choosing where you explore based on this. Usual Subaru caveats apply. Thanks to everyone, lots to think about. I'm liking the Suzuki Jimny, they're basically missing from Canada (they probably exist but I never see them) and it seems to fit the budget and probable uses. Figuring out what we'll do with the car is the hard part. In Canada, I've been pretty regularly getting stuck / breaking down and calling CAA; I'm surprised they don't know me by name by now, but that's probably because I keep moving between provinces. Driving down a road I probably shouldn't is something I do fairly often. Neglecting maintenance until it becomes a serious problem is also something I do fairly often, unfortunately, which is a big reason why we're looking at newer vehicles. Previously posted in this thread:  SD 185 Snowtracks 02 by Martin Brummell, on FlickrObviously there's less snow in NSW than in Quebec, but I think the underlying motivation - get out and see - will be the same. Fuel efficiency is important because I like to push 300-400 km of scenery past the windows on my weekly Sunday Drives. Getting to interesting places for a walk in the bush and / or camping is also a major reason for buying a car. So something that behaves reasonably well on the highway and around town (i.e. not a giant lift kit and gently caress-off mudder tires) but gives me a chance to get well and truly stuck in an inaccessible location and have an "adventure" is what I'm looking for. The Jimny seems to fit that. Anybody here driven a Jimny much? What's the direct competition for a Jimny? When I search for 4x4 Manual I get pages of much bigger cars. pazrs posted:Could you negotiate with your employer a vehicle lease for your period of employment? Then lease a Navara or Rollux or something. I have no idea. Rather than derail this thread with vehicle-finance questions, I'll head over to the BFC "Buy a Prius" thread and see what they can tell me.
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Dec 17, 2018 16:39
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A Jimny is a pretty small vehicle. Think Suzuki Samurai and you’re not far off. I got the impression from seeing them in Japan that they were supremely capable off-road but not very fast and had poor road manners like you’d expect with a small, tall, solid front axle 4x4. Still, a lot of people had them as their only car so it must be pretty tolerable. Not sure what else is in the same niche. If that’s the vehicle you want I think Suzuki is probably one of the only games in town outside of something like a Daihatsu Rugger (which is larger). Toyota FJ?
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Dec 17, 2018 17:17
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Jimnys are pretty common rentals in Iceland and I saw people doing things in those that I wouldn't have thought possible.. most notable was some doofus fording a glacial river that was at least two feet deep and rather fast moving. But I saw them crawling through rough tracks twisting through lava fields like it was nothing too. Can't speak to their reliability but they're surprisingly capable. I'd love to see them on this continent. 
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Dec 17, 2018 17:25
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Jimny wins the Character award in my heart. A Forester does sound like a pretty good middle of the road option for you, but only so long as you can remember to check/add oil. They don't care about much anything else for maintenance, but that there oil consumption is a thing.
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Dec 17, 2018 17:26
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PabloBOOM posted:Jimny wins the Character award in my heart. A Forester does sound like a pretty good middle of the road option for you, but only so long as you can remember to check/add oil. They don't care about much anything else for maintenance, but that there oil consumption is a thing. I'm pretty much useless at cars (story happening right now because of deferred maintenance + mistakes) but I should be able to keep on top of oil levels. Sneak preview: my Ranger, pictured a little upthread, is at a transmission shop getting some level of rebuild. This morning my regular mechanic flushed the transmission fluid and it came out silver.  Anybody who saw my posts about towing in the Stupid Questions thread in May might have an inkling of what I (probably) did wrong.
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Dec 17, 2018 22:42
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You might want to work on that tbh. Not sure on how far bush you're planning to go but there are plenty of spots even closer to the coast where if you broke down you'd be at least a solid day's walk from any civilisation or even a mobile phone signal. I mean I've no idea what canada is like so maybe this is just teaching grandma how to suck eggs but being able to rely on your vehicle is pretty important. Anyway, jimnys are cool and go lots of places. Not sure how comfortable they are around town, I've seen a few out in the sticks and they just keep trucking along. They've got a fairly small fuel tank stock so you might need to take a jerry or two on longer trips if that's your thing. ili fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Dec 17, 2018 |
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Dec 17, 2018 22:56
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Newer cars are going to break down too if you don't maintain them. They're just more complicated and expensive when they do.
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Dec 18, 2018 01:28
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I'm super busy these days and bad at updating. This past fall I was kinda knee deep in the poo poo. Way too much stuff going on at work and getting the shop ready for winter, then had to also move my apartment because old landlord sold building and new landlord raised rent 50%. I'd sleep in the loving land cruiser before I pay that much. Luckily I found a place 19 days before I became homeless and it gives me room for multiple car bullshits in the not winter season. Dealing with all that I took a Sunday and hosed off from Maine to NH and VT. Rode the Kancamagus highway which was beautiful at the end of the fall. At the other end I spotted these fuckers from the road and pulled in.  Took a tour of their car collection and my favorite thing was a camper trailer with an alu boat as a topper. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46281-d2373427-Reviews-Kancamagus_Collectibles-Woodstock_New_Hampshire.html After that it was off to the Lost River. http://www.lostrivergorge.com/ My parents took me as a kid and I've been wanting to go back. Last weekend it was open for the year and was on the way to my main destination. Next up was the Lyndonville Airforce base. For some background, it was basically a radar base built during the coldwar on a mountain. https://vermonter.com/abandoned-air-force-base-east-haven-vermont/ The road up is narrow and some pines wanted to pin stripe the truck.  The entrance has been closed off with a giant oil tank in the way, but a bypass has been carved out. Being alone and a 6 mile walk out I was sketched out by the bypass. Got out and walked it and it wasnt terrible. I threw the truck in 4 low and eased in, land cruiser walked right through it. My friend has done it in a mildly built crosstrek but in a new to me truck that far away by myself it was not ideal. Getting through the trees on the switchbacks the view opens up and you're greeted by towers and a parking lot.  There are a few towers and a large warehouse plus extra foundations.  From one tower looking at another.  I actually found the place really eerie all by myself. Having played a ton of the entire Stalker game series really didn't help.  Further up the main tower checking in on the land cruiser. In the first tower I heard noises and thought someone was coming so I wanted to be near my truck just in case. Turns out it was the metal creaking in the wind all around the place. The noises and vibe are unreal.  Top of the tower was unreal. 7 or 8 story climb through a metal stair well. The door had welded rebar to discourage people but someone had cut it out. Top floor before the roof had trash from people partying. Carried out what I could. In the future I plan to go back with trash bags. Once at the top you can see forever. It was a great experience and I plan to go back. I got an entry level DJI drone but I didn't want to send it up with how windy it was having not flown it much. That will be for a return trip. Slow is Fast fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Dec 18, 2018 |
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Dec 18, 2018 01:31
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Part 2 Land Cruiser posting. The good and the bad. I had to move and was really under the gun. I had filled a ton of totes in advance and left them at the shop in anticipation. Once I got keys to the place I loaded the truck up with totes and just started stacking them in my new place. Truck swallowed them without issue. Move day came and I recruited a high school friend. He helped me move into my last place 6 or 7 years ago after we couldn't get my couch up. He hosed off to cali after I helped him prep a poo poo craigslist hyundai for the trip years ago back in my old thread. A few jobs, a divorce, and an entire barnstorming of the Appalachian trail later hes back and we've been hanging out, glad to have him help book end that chapter of my life. Him and his GF are interested in doing truck things and I've got plenty of truck and camping ideas in the future. But yeah, the Land Cruiser did work on my move:  The truck recovered my grandfathers boat from neglect and is safely at the shop. Then I took the shop land lords utility trailer to dispose of a gently caress ton of tires and to pick up some filing cabinets for bartering. Coincidentally the one with hosed up drawers is going to become some rockers for this thing. Yin and Yang. This thing is going to have to tow the rally car and I do events year round so I picked up some snows. The only 33 inch E loads available are winterforces, which I've never been about as an altimax arctic guy, but they mounted up fine once I got the bead blaster and lift technique down. Balance was weird but I figured out the trick on my machine. Had to read the tire rack article about how much weight is acceptable, but they were fine on the highway. Then I dipped the wheels black with some gloss:  loving love the look. Found a pic of the same color truck on bronze wheels and I think my AT wheels are going bronze. I've got a set of Tundra fat five 18s for some C load millage master poo poo tires, not sure what to paint them, but a problem for later. After blasting down the highway to meet up with a friend things were fine, then in stop and go traffic the truck goes into limp mode. No power and it's shifting like a dump truck. In limp mode it shifts with full line pressure and the stupid loving throttle body setup with a magnetic clutch just loses its mind. There is a cable throttle back up that actuates the throttlebody about 30% if you stomp the pedal. Get to my friends place and shut the truck off. Completely panicking I start it back up and drive around the block and it seems ok. I've been hearing some clicking and clunking from the drivetrain and thought I blew the weaker 98-99 front diff. Drive to the shop and its driving fine power wise. Throw it on jack stands and drain the front diff. Fluid is good. Pull the front hub dust caps. My drive hubs and CV have a ton of loving play so there is my noises. I park the truck and escape pod in my WRX. I planned to take the truck off the road for winter rehab but didn't expect to have my hand forced. After some reflection and research later I think I understand. The 100 is notorious for stupid throttle body issue, but what was weird is mine didn't code out for the TPS and APS, I had a stored code for p1126 magnetic throttle body clutch but it never affected anything. It would light up and go away but no problem. No long posts on mud about it. gently caress it I ordered a whole tundra throttle body and plan to swap it in.  I got the truck on stands for baseline. Front hubs are torn down. Cruiser Outfitters order placed. Wheel bearings, lower ball joint, arb control arm brace, drive hubs, gaskets, cone washers, brake lines, other poo poo I'm forgetting. Need to do a CV order as one of mine has wasted splines. Slee has CVJ remans that seem decent and I need to call them for bolts for the sliders that broke off when I removed them for rust repair. The truck is rusted in weird ways. Some bits are mint and some absolutely hosed. Rockers? hosed. Frame. Decent. Rear diff lock actuator? hosed. Suspension? great. Gas tank skid? hosed. Working bit by bit on the truck but need to really start pushing so I can be adventure and race ready for this year.  The front hub setup is really annoying because the rotors are buried and the CVs are buried. The later trucks seem to be less annoying and I had to buy a fish scale to deal with this bullshit. But either way with one of the front hubs assembled WRONG it still drove great, so I really like the idea that even being completely negligent the truck is built for it. Next up is rust repair, throttle body swap, base line, face book land cruiser group has a deal on Doug Thorney headers coming up I'll probably jump on. We hooked up techstream and the stupid electric hydroboost system had both high and low pressure codes so I'm not sure what the gently caress that's about as it works fine. Keep driving and monitor codes. I think I'm going to get a rewound pump and a new master and have them swapped. Finally the other stupid thing I've found is the drat ignition can break the cast rod so I need to get a spare one of those as well. Only other question mark is upper front control arms, not sure if I should reball joint stock, leaning nitro gear because they use tundra ball joints but open to other options. Ferremit where you at, what do you folks do in upsidedown land? While your posting any other 100 insight I need? I'm definitely being a butthurt and trying to build the truck to the highest level I can, wheel bearings looked fine but I'm doing them anyway, etc. I don't have the luck of negligent house wives who can drive these things until the heat death of the universe so if it's a known issue it will hit me up sooner than later. Future hits include:
Slow is Fast fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Dec 18, 2018 |
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Dec 18, 2018 02:19
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Thanks for the timely post! We’re heading up to Maine from Jersey next week and thought we might try and hit some of the other states in the Northeast - might go and check out that Air Force base while at it. So I finally managed to take our 2004 LX470 out to play last week to Rausch Creek, PA. I thought taking an off-roading 101 course would not be the worst idea, and I’d say I can recommend what Offroad Consulting are doing, despite the daft name. The group was made up of a bunch of Wranglers, 4Runners, two Grand Cherokees and my LX. I have to say, the lack of drama the Wranglers displayed was pretty impressive, while the 4Runners seemed less handy than I expected. The Grand Cherokees were the most impressive though; street tires and stock, they tended to struggle relative to the rest of us (and lost a few cheap plastic parts on the way), but managed to tackle every obstacle just the same. Anyone here frequent Rausch Creek Offroad Park?I though the trail selection was not bad, and would very much like to go back soon with the LX.
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Dec 22, 2018 02:35
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morothar posted:Thanks for the timely post! We’re heading up to Maine from Jersey next week and thought we might try and hit some of the other states in the Northeast - might go and check out that Air Force base while at it. I'm not sure if the gate will still be open. No idea when they open and close it. I got lucky. If you need recommendations for places in Maine I've got a few since thats where I went. I did a north maine woods trip this summer to the eagle lake trains + tons of other spots on the way.
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Dec 23, 2018 01:54
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Dec 23, 2018 08:30
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Beaut ute.
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Dec 23, 2018 13:17
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Slow is Fast posted:I got the truck on stands for baseline. Front hubs are torn down. Cruiser Outfitters order placed. Wheel bearings, lower ball joint, arb control arm brace, drive hubs, gaskets, cone washers, brake lines, other poo poo I'm forgetting. Need to do a CV order as one of mine has wasted splines. Slee has CVJ remans that seem decent and I need to call them for bolts for the sliders that broke off when I removed them for rust repair. The truck is rusted in weird ways. Some bits are mint and some absolutely hosed. Rockers? hosed. Frame. Decent. Rear diff lock actuator? hosed. Suspension? great. Gas tank skid? hosed. Working bit by bit on the truck but need to really start pushing so I can be adventure and race ready for this year. That electroboost braking system is a pain in the dick, but its actually pretty drat impressive. I've driven the standard, non ABS versions of the 105 series (solid axle trucks) with only vacuum assist and you almost need to carry an anchor to heave out when you touch the brakes to get the thing to actually slow down. Put a new master cylinder through it, replace all the lines with braided lines and fit slotted DBA rotors and good 4wd pads and they will actually stop pretty drat well. Also, DOT3 brake fluid ONLY! Toyota uses some rubber that absolutely HATES anything but DOT3 and will swell all the seals inside that ABS unit and in the rotors and render em useless. And that ABS/Master/Booster assembly is $3800 here!! Make sure you use loctite on the bolts that hold the rotors to the hubs if you remove em- there was a recall a while back for 100's because they didnt from the factory and they started to back out! The control arm braces are good- It was more of an issue for the turbo Diesels with that 600kg engine up front that broke the control arms, but all they will do is hold the front end up if you crack a control arm, they dont actually add that much strength. The fix is to pull the control arms out, bolt the braces on and then fully seam weld the braces on to the arm, and then weld the internal seams of the arms as far back as you can. That actually fixes it. There is an issue with really heavy trucks (like mine) that do a lot of offroad work (like mine) breaking the torsion bar adjusters at the rear of the torsion bars (like mine!) They're a little bit undersized for application from factory, but you can just trace them out onto some 3-5mm flat bar and weld them to either side and laminate them. Mine both broke and got 5mm plate laminated to each side of the adjusters because its what I had laying around, so now its made from 8mm thick steel instead of 3mm! As for suspension, it really depends on what your planning on doing with it and how high your intending to lift it. If your going to push for a true 2" lift on the front end, you'll need aftermarket control arms with an increase in caster and camber angles built into them. The front of the 100 is really well set up, but because of the design of it, as soon as you lift it you rapidly run out of adjustment in the arms and not be able to get your alignment back in spec. Thats when they start to eat the inside shoulders of the front tyres and get skittish as hell when you nail the throttle and the nose picks up. If your going to lift it that high too fit a front diff drop kit to drop the diff down slightly as it will reduce the angle on the CV joints and stop you destroying boots quite as fast. As for that front diff, yeah, its made of glass, but you can do some things to help extend its life- First one is NEVER load it in reverse- so never do reverse recoveries and avoid pouring the power on reversing up a hill, thats a sure fire way of shattering it. The post 02 update models have a 4 pinion diff which is stronger, but still not the best. The ultimate front diff is an 02 update 4 pinion, with a 2 piece ARB air locker and a solid pinion spacer. Generally that diff is pretty much bullet proof and you'll shatter CV joints before the diff rbeaks. Also hit me up if you need access to some factory workshop manuals, I've got the manuals for the Electrical wiring diagrams, body repair manual, Electrical manual and can probably find the 2UZ workshop manual too. Also Join the LCOOL forums. They're absolute nazis bout using the search function instead of starting threads, but man there's some knowledge on there!
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Dec 23, 2018 13:43
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I'm running a 2.5 or 3 OME spring and tbar kit + koni rally raid shocks. Already has the slee diff drop kit too. Absolute awesome combo. I'm not looking to really go higher so much as maximize travel. If I have to press bushings into the front uppers... and the ball joints need to be replaced.... at what point do I just replace them with something else. It drives beautifully as is, so I'm thinking either re-balljoint and bush stock or go nitro gear arms because they use a tundra ball joint. Front diff I plan to go ARB next winter and after redoing the front end I'll have enough bits for a limp home kit. From what I understand the ARB replaces the weak carrier and bypasses the 2 vs 4 pinion issue. I"ve got a 99 so its got 4.30s which were 98-99 only. Not really looking to go 4.88s. I plan to do more softroading, towing, + recce for rally. The hydroboost poo poo works MINT. It's saved my rear end TWICE already stopping and accident avoidance. I think I'll just do a rewound pump and master while I'm doing brake lines. I also need a gas tank skid because rust and my rear diff locker actuator is toast, the case corroded and swelled, bearings are GONE. It's hosed.
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Dec 24, 2018 00:31
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Yeah for us using anything that runs tundra or taco parts is a massive pain in the dick because supply is a problem. The Blackhawk arms I use run stock toyota ball joints because you can get em anywhere. 4.3:1 was the stock ratio for the early 2UZ trucks (pre 02 update) with the 4 speed auto, once they went 5 speed they dropped it to 3.9:1. All the manuals, both TD and V8 were 4.1:1
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Dec 24, 2018 08:32
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Finally had the GX470 somewhere other than the city for a photo (even if it is just a gravel road with snow): Does anyone have experience with corrosion on aluminum rims? I know its a problem with these GX470 rims and I'm trying to get an idea whether this is just gonna be cosmetic or if I should start saving for new wheels: 
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Jan 14, 2019 23:36
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My friend who got me into toyota has a GX and we do have experience with the stock wheels corroding. Our solution was to drunkenly buy the HF sandblast cabinet for the shop. Set it up and it cleans them off great. Then self etch primer and a color and clear and you're good. I've done plenty of subaru wheels in it now and they come out way better than a drill wire wheel and sending it with the rattle can. Either find a local shop or invest in the bits to sandblast them, or a cheap drill, wire wheel, rattle can, its up to you how involved you want to get, but the effort scales pretty good.
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Jan 15, 2019 00:25
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Toyota truck take offs are dime a dozen out here. Are those not the standard bolt pattern?
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Jan 15, 2019 00:48
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Nah, it’s the same bolt pattern. I was looking at the 17” fjc steel wheels (or whatever I can find) if these wound up losing air on me or something.
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Jan 15, 2019 00:57
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They wont lose air, just flake and look like poo poo. A DIY fix is fine or slam on some 4 runner or fj poo poo its not my money.
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Jan 15, 2019 01:11
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I'll probably just let it look like poo poo then I vaguely remember someone somewhere posting about losing air on their GX470 wheels from corrosion but if that's more of a fluke situation I'm not gonna worry about it.
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Jan 15, 2019 21:08
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Some of you may remember my whinging about Australian 4x4. Reminder: I'm  now moved to  (Armidale, NSW) and I'm pondering buying a 4x4 for exploring around these parts (i.e. weekly trips out to about a 250km radius of home, plus a few longer trips each year). We'll be using the vehicle for general around-town stuff (Armidale is small) and highway trips to Queensland, other parts of NSW, etc., but with a fair number of trips specifically to get to more out-of-the-way places featuring unsealed roads and a few rocky / muddy / sandy parts.My 1. Toyota Landcruiser Prado, 90 series, from the late 1990's/early 2000's. With advice to look for one that was a "farm wife" car, without modifications like suspension lift, snorkel, etc. They are apparently quite good 4x4s, but if they've been messed with they've been bashed on and are more likely to have problems. 2. Suzuki Grand Vitara, without specific advice about model year. Yesterday my DFS found a couple of 3-door Grand Vitaras for sale not too far away and told me she's starting to really like the little GV trucklets. "Tell me what's wrong with them", she said. The pair she found are a MY 2009 for a little under $10K and a MY 1999 for about half that. We're thinking of taking the bus to Port Macquarie to test-drive both of them soon, maybe this weekend. They look good to me, anybody got any opinions on Suzuki Grand Vitaras?
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Jan 23, 2019 23:37
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Suzukis are alright but round these parts the gen 3 4runner (1996 to 200...2?) is the best suv in that bracket for actual offroading (not rock crawling, but overlanding and accessing the wilderness) and general reliability. The 4runner is our version of the Prado platform, so you definitely want the former suggestion, the Prado. Mine has 250,000 miles and runs like it's got 20,000 miles. There are no vehicles whose reliability surpasses a 90s-early 2000's toyota 4x4, as long as it's been having its routine maintenance done. Also, you don't want one with the 3.0l gas engine, you want the 96+ with the 3.4l - that said, you should get a diesel since it's probably available there in Aus. If you want larger, go with a full sized land cruiser. wilfredmerriweathr fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Jan 24, 2019 |
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Jan 24, 2019 01:00
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There was a guy here in Adelaide who just rolled his 90 series 3.4L V6 prado to the dealership for its million km service!
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Jan 24, 2019 01:55
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We were looking to buy a grand vitara in the 90s, went with something else cos they felt pretty chintzy. From memory there's a fair bit more space in the prado too.
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Jan 24, 2019 02:30
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