[subzali]

Thought it would be fun to have a running before/after shot: so here it is before:
Crystal/Moody August 2005

Crystal/Moody August 2005

Fall 2005 (trimmed old front bumper to keep out of headlight pattern, added emblems)

Fall 2005



And Currently:
Kane Creek, Moab November 2007 (I have since moved the CB antenna and have added a ham antenna to the front bumper)

Kane Creek, Moab November 2007 (I have since replaced the rear bumper with OEM bumperettes and a 15 ton pintle, for now)

Above Georgetown CO in February 2008 (again, I have antennae mounted on the front bumper now)

At the base of Rose Garden Hill near Moab, Cruise Moab 2008 (with Ham and CB antennas on front bumper)


Trail Reports:

My first trip was with Uncle Ben, must have been before the server crashed, maybe in March of 2005, and we went up Castle Gulch in Left Hand Canyon. It was icy, but I learned about airing down tires for not only traction but for comfort. Also started learning what banging noises on the underside of my truck meant and how to work the truck through different lines to get it to climb.

My second trip, again must have been before the server crashed, maybe in April of 2005, was with Robbie, CJ7Matt, and nakman. We went to Bill Moore Lake and opened up the trail through the snow. I didn't make it though; with bald tires and no locker or chains I just lost traction.

On 5/30/2005 I went up to Slaughterhouse Gulch for the first time with my own truck. Me and CJ7 Matt had a lot of fun.

In the summer of 2005 I partook in an Argentine Pass Cleanup Run, which apparently we've lost pictures of as well. However, here are some pictures that I uploaded that show the trip:
Argentine Pass Cleanup Run 2005
Boy some of the Land Cruisers and other trucks in the club look a lot different!


Moody/Crystal 8/14/2005 - bald Sears special tires (32 x 11.50), no locker.


mid-October Mosquito Pass exploration run - I still cringe when I remember this run and how bad the windows were rattling!


Spooky Night Run 10/29/2005 - Jones Pass - bald tires + no locker + steep snow-covered hill = spinning tires + ice which had us going backward at up to 10-15 mph at times, and the people following us had a heck of a time getting up the hill after we created all the ice! Sorry!

Lamartine 12/28/2005 - same as above but with chains (I'm getting smarter)! Buddy of mine and I tried a side road up near Barbour Fork, which turned to ice. I got a run at a little rise and quickly lost momentum and soon started sliding backwards! We picked up a bunch of speed and I ended up sliding partly sideways to the side of the trail into a depression for a small creek! I ended up with two wheels basically off the ground, but somehow even without a locker I was able to drive out of it! A little shaken, we decided to continue on to check out the Lamartine area.


Slaughterhouse 1/2/2006 with CJ7 Matt - same as above


2006 Snow and Pizza Run 1/8/2006 - Yankee Hill - my first, and even with bald tires and no locker having chains on all fours really helped me keep up with the big dogs! Wish someone would have gotten a video of Dean almost tearing his truck in half while trying to extract a deeply buried 80! Here's a photo album from the trip:
Snow and Pizza Run 2006



On 5/12/2006 I put in my Lockright locker and ran Hidden Valley trail near my parent's house off Jackson Creek Road.
Here are some more pictures from that outing!
Hidden Valley Road 5/12/2006


On 5/13/2006 my dad and I took the Brahma up on Dakan Road for a little afternoon jaunt.
Here are some pictures of that little outing as well:
Dakan Road 5/13/2006


Spring Creek Father's Day Run 6/18/2006 - Lockright, MT/Rs (29/05 - June 20-24)


On 7/10/2006 I ran Devil's Canyon with an ex-coworker. It was a good afternoon of low-speed cruising with the top off, doors off, and windshield down!

Ghost Town Run 7/22-7/23/2006 - Mosquito Pass, Turquoise Lake, Hagerman Pass, Camp Hale, McAllister Gulch, Lime Creek, Ptarmigan Pass, Shrine Pass - same
Here's a link to a photo album for the trip:
Ghost Town Run 2006


Sometime around here I did Barbour Fork on a whim - and it was fun

Chinaman's Gulch 7/30/2006 - same, broken thumb - I needed a new rear driveshaft and a new exhaust after this trail (which was fine because the exhaust that was on it went UNDER the skid plate)


Rising Sun Rally 8/20/2006
Here's an album from the Rally:
Rising Sun Rally August 2006
And pictures from the Gallery:
Rising Sun Gallery pics


Triple Bypass 9/9/2006 - Italian Creek Road, Pearl Pass, Taylor Pass - a 60 hour weekend and I totalled 30 hours behind the wheel! - same





Double Triple Bypass and more 9/10/2006 - Schofield Pass, Lead King Basin, Marble/Crystal Mill, Paradise Basin, Kebler Pass, McClure Pass - icing on the cake!





Yankee Hill 10/26/2006 - same with chains. Pretty much unstoppable, though later in the winter and the following spring it was a different story. I had thoughts of springover, power steering, lockers front and rear, winch, etc.


In November of 2006 (11/18/2006) I went up to Leadville and drove around Turquoise Lake. It was covered in snow and packed down by snowmobiles - I don't think they expect trucks up there in the winter, but I slapped the chains on and went anyway

Snow and Pizza Run 1/7/2007 - Yankee Hill - snow was so deep we hardly got anywhere, maybe 200 yards up the ROAD from the parking lot. Brought a friend who found out his Dana 44 front wasn't enough for his V8 and IROKs on his Jeep, so he's building it up to a Dana 60



Early spring snow run 4/15/2007 - Yankee Hill area


Here are some pics from Cruise Moab 5/2-5/6/2007, which was the first time my truck had driven back past where we bought it - Grand Junction - since we owned it! It was amazing! I rode along with Uncle Ben on Cliffhanger, then went up with nakman and did Hells Revenge and caught up with the rest of the group that was running it that day! Then Friday I tagged along with the Wipeout Hill Run and then headed up to Fins and Things to check things out that way! Then on the way home Sunday Martin and Daniel and Perry and I did a backcountry excursion to some old mine sites and we finally hit the Dewey Bridge in the early afternoon! I had good weather on the way out (by the way this is the weekend before my senior year finals at the School of Mines), but because I tempted fate and didn't have the hardtop, only the bikini top and the soft half doors we got snowed on huge on the way back! It was the most miserable 2-3 hours of driving I have ever done! But it was worth it!



Jenny Creek 7/22/2007



Somewhere in here I ran up to the Santiago Mine on Argentine Pass, which was a good time.

On 7/29/2007 my buddies and I did a Spring Creek Run, but was having overheating issues so it didn't amount to much but just getting through the trail. My 31" tires are ALMOST too small to keep working as this trail keeps getting tougher over time - got stuck on the bypass for the rock garden - that wasn't fun.

On 8/18/07 I did Red Cone, Radical Hill and Webster Pass with some friends from church - and it was fun Here is an album from that trip:
Red Cone 2007


Sometime around here I went up and did Red Elephant Hill just for fun - and it was fun

Ouray Trip over Labor Day (9/1-9/3) 2007 - Black Bear Pass, Imogene Pass, Poughkeepsie Gulch, Corkscrew Gulch, California Gulch, Hurricane Pass, Engineer Pass, Cinnamon Pass, Old Monarch Pass - debut of repaired and repainted (white) hard top! Here is a photo album from that trip:
Ouray 2007


1st Annual 40s Only Run - 9/16/2007! - Kingston Peak (I don't know why I took my hard top back off after coming back from the Ouray Trip - but I did and I dealt with it)


Spooky Night Run 10/27/2007 - had a lot of fun digging out of the deep snow and trying to bust through the big drifts on Kingston Peak! Then Uncle Ben and I ran around Yankee Hill in the middle of the night for a while!

Metberry Gulch Run 11/17/2007 with Colorado Land Cruisers in November of 2007 - trail is finally open again after being closed from the Hayman Fire in 2002! This was my first trip with my new-to-me Warn 8274 and MAF 4+ front bumper!



Moab Over Thanksgiving (11/21-11/25) 2007, which resulted in a broken pinion, see below in Projects. Trip included hiking in Arches National Park, Kane Creek Road, and the entrance ledges of Cliffhanger


Snow Run Investigation 2/17/2008 - tried out some barefoot snow bashing near Georgetown! Tried to get up Argentine Pass, but most of the day was on the Saxon Mountain Road!


Rescued a beat-up, abused, and then neglected FJ40 2/24/2008. Too bad there was not much left that was worth anything... maybe for a buggy build or something, but not worth trying to take back to any semblance of being original...


On 3/16/2008 a few of us Rising Sun members helped a fellow Rising Sun member install a 2F into his FJ40. Learned a lot from this experience...
Ricardo's pictures from day...




On 4/7/2008 we had the Rising Sun 5/8 wave Ham antenna building party


Here are some pictures from the weekend before Cruise Moab 2008 (4/25-4/26/2008) - I was out there for a church group camping trip. Having gotten my Ham technician and general licenses and my radio installed, I left Denver on Thursday night, we did a series of trails on Friday that ended up in the Bartlett Wash area. On Saturday we drove to the north entrance of Arches NP and did a nice hike to a big arch, and then I split off and did part of Gold Bar Rim, up to Butt Scratcher, where I decided it was best to turn around since I was by myself.


Then on Sunday 4/27/2008 I hooked up with Ige and Bill and Justin Morgan to do Porcupine Rim, where we talked to guys 40 miles away in the Dollhouse area on 5W! Monday 4/28/2008 was Fins and Things with Romer, Hatfield and the others, followed by an evening run of part of Hells Revenge with Cheeseman. Here are some pictures from those 2 days.




On Tuesday 4/29/2008 I went with Farnham and Oscar Florez to do Hells Revenge, where I got my revenge on a bathtub that I couldn't get out of in 2007, plus I did Tipover Challenge! Then I got stuff ready and headed down on the Overnight Run to do Hotel Rock and Arch Canyon with the Wasatch Cruisers 4/30-5/1/2008!




On Friday 5/2/2008 I led Porcupine Rim, then Saturday 5/3/2008 I went on the Elephant Hill run! Finally on Sunday 5/4/2008 Martin and I decided to run Onion Creek and Rose Garden Hill on our way home from Moab! Here are pictures from the remaining part of Cruise Moab 2008.





I have pretty much have done the full circuit of Moab trails that I'm interested in, excepting maybe a couple, so might focus a little more on mtb and climbing in that area for a while. Gas is $$

Coney Flats Run 6/28/2008 that was a ton of fun - deepest water I've been in yet and I learned why you NEVER use your clutch while it's submerged under water...



Argentine Pass Cleanup Run 6/29/08 - heading up the effort to keep people on the trail in the Argentine area, and build a good repertoire with the Forest Service!


Somewhere in here I took another little day trip up Argentine Pass and ended up hiking to an old tramway. Pretty cool.
Old tramway pictures
Old tramway writeup

Blow Off Work and Go Wheeling Run 7/9/2008 - Slaughterhouse Gulch - the first time I've been able to do this and it was great!



Ghost Town Run 7/18-7/20/2008 - What can I say, a great run led by Nathaniel, over Hancock Pass, Waunita Pass, Black Sage, Tomichi Pass (where there is an abandoned tub of an FJ40), Alpine Tunnel, Cumberland Pass, and Tincup Pass (including Old Tincup)!



ATV Investigation/Cleanup 8/31/2008 - We went up with Brant from the Clear Creek Ranger District of the Arapaho National Forest to locate and try to clean out as much as we could of an ATV that had been rolled off a high ridge and abandoned some years ago. Still some left that will need to be carried out.



Spooky Night Run 10/18/2008 - Kingston Peak/Yankee Hill


Switzerland Trail Snow Run 2/1/2009 - One day I got a burr in my saddle to do a snow run, and a pretty good sized group came together to go help me attack the snow drifts above Boulder!





My only 'wheeling at Cruise Moab 2009 (mountain bike trip) - Cruiser has been sitting and hasn't touched dirt in a long time!

Argentine Cleanup Run 6/28/2009 - first trip with FJ60 power steering!


Ghost Town Run 7/25-7/26/2009 - Hancock Pass, Tomichi Pass, Waunita Pass, Alpine Tunnel, then back over Hancock Pass - got some electrical issues figured out, buttoned up another couple things from the power steering conversion, and I'm back to enjoying a very well-running Cruiser to take out on the trails! Really wishing I had OBA though and my auxiliary fuel tank installed (to save space for food and camping gear); that's hopefully coming up soon enough.
Perry's pics from GTR 2009


Argentine Pass Run 8/29/2009 - did a lot of exploring on road that I've wanted to check out for a while, plus had a surprise visitor meet me on the trail about the time I was ready to leave! I was trying out the soft doors, but have since had to sell them...


Spooky Night Run 10/24/2009 - Got home at 3:53 AM because we had to do a trail fix on a broken pinion (not mine) - my winch etc. worked flawlessly, we had the tools we needed, and everybody was in a pretty good mood! This trip, however, brought to light the fact that I have had the stupid tube rear bumper for WAY too long, and it really ain't that great of a recovery point. This realization was finally strong enough to prompt me to buy a 15 ton pintle hook and replace the bumper with OEM bumperettes; that'll do for now until I can afford a fancy schmancy everything included rear bumper!
Here are some more pictures from the Spooky Night Run 2009


Projects:
From January 2005 to summer 2006, I was trying to concentrate on school as much as I could, and since I didn't really have any money there wasn't much I could do as far as mods were concerned. I did a tuneup, basic maintenance, and started learning about how the Land Cruiser was designed and what it needed to keep it running. Turns out mine was missing some parts here and there and needed some upkeep, so that was a good starting point for me! Things I've replaced/issues I've dealt with:
-new heater core (I broke the lever on the one that was in it, the day I bought it)
-new apron emblems (missing)
-new 4wd and Toyota emblems on rear (missing)
-new mirrors (missing)
-new windshield hooks (missing)
-new defroster vents (missing)
-new sunvisors (missing)
-painted Toyota emblem in grille (painted over when truck was painted silver)
-painted bezel white (it was painted black)
-painted some miscellaneous plates and brackets
-painted shifter levers and instrument cluster bezel/glove box/ash tray from purple to silver (close approximation to stock color)
-radiator boiled/brazed
-tie rod ends replaced (trying to search for steering slop)
-center arm rebuilt (trying to search for steering slop) - turns out it was the steering box - power steering is on the way!
-new corner window glass (broke out one day for no apparent reason)
-remove grab bar that had been installed, two new dashboard pads were bought and installed (they were missing)
-added roll bar light (original light didn't work - I might wire it up some day and get it working)
-replaced a bunch of hardware with JIS hardware
-new voltage regulator (had the bouncing needle syndrome)
-new battery
-new speedometer cable (broke)
-secure Tuffy console so it doesn't move as much
-install CB radio
-new seat belts (to replace scary driver side seat belt and aftermarket passenger side seat belt)
-installed stainless steel brake lines to replace the scary cracked rubber hoses!
-new brake booster (leaking, upgraded to FJ60 booster)
-new brake master cylinder (pitted)
-new fuel pump (old one leaked)
-new fuel lines from fuel pump (had soft hoses with insulation on them - must have had a vapor lock issue that I no longer have)
-fixed a lot of wiring
-new windshield washer reservoir (missing)
-new rear heater (missing)
-new weatherstrip at top of windshield (so it doesn't snow in the cab)

In the summer of 2005 I did my first front axle service - pretty major exercise for me at that point in my life, but it really is easy now that I'm past the first one (done it 3 times since then)! Now I have all the tools to make it very easy (seal puller, 1 1/2" Sch. 40 pipe, TRE puller - not the pickle fork type)!

Turn Signal Problems in the fall of 2005

More turn signal problems in the spring of 2006

Trying to kick the turn signal problem in April of 2006

Plans for the summer of 2006 for things to be done!

Interior Paint summer 2006 vs. this ugly interior - I had forgotten about this!

Brake booster replacement May of 2006

Brake issues June 2006

Lockright install and poser pics from summer 2006

My summer internship for 2006 gave me enough money in one paycheck so that I could buy new tires to replace the bald Sears specials that were on it - I had gotten a set of matching rims from Ige previously. The wheels that were on the truck were black, which I didn't like, and they were non-matching, which I really didn't like.

New Shoes for the Brahma

Stainless Steel brake hoses July 2006

Beginning of my instrument cluster problems July 2006

Had to replace the exhaust from the muffler back after Chinaman's, now it has a good tone and sits up above the frame rail rather than under the skid plate!

Trying to figure out my charcoal canister

More turn signal stuff January 2007 - just the bulbs this time!

Head problems from the Brake Booster replacement above (in May, this happened in February) - good learning experience (yeah, right - that's looking at the glass half full), finished in mid-April 2007 just in time for Moab!




Oil pan and carb questions - and pictures of valves during the teardown process!

The day before going to Moab I had my alternator rebuilt and put a new belt on.

Summer 2007 - Tried to rebuild my transfer case e-brake, but it still doesn't hold like it should.

de-diamond plate and paint project summer/fall 2007
Questions about stripping paint off of fiberglass
Starting the fiberglass repair/painting project - see my writeup in Toyota Trails for what I did and how it turned out!

Engine dies problem - cleaning the carb fixed it all![/url]

Brake light stays on problems September 2007

finding out about winch bumpers
found a new winch bumper to fit my new winch, just in time for Moab!

Some random questions just before the ill-fated Thanksgiving Run to Moab!

Some more questions - and a prophecy!

Pinion Breakage from Cliffhanger - back together as of early February 2008! I think I also installed new wheel cylinders in the rear brakes and replaced the rear axle seals at this time.





More discussion about what to do while I was broken - Good advice in this thread!

Low Gearing options - almost off the deep end!

Brake adjustment questions

Centering the Front Axle

Sometime before Cruise Moab 2008 I re-installed my CB and mounted my antenna, along with a new Ham radio and antenna.

I also had acquired (for free) some OEM seats and some extra springs along with an early FJ40 front axle that had a 4.11 diff to help me fix my broken pinion, so in the spring of 2008 I put those in (the seats to replace the Corolla seats on funky brackets that had been installed, and the springs to replace the flattened stock springs I was dealing with and worrying about breaking (actually one was S-shaped). At the same time I put new seat belts in, because the ones I had been using were hard to deal with. Also my gas tank started leaking at CM '08 so I bought a new gas tank and installed that. I had tried to use POR-15 on the old tank, and it worked for a little while but then it just leaked through so it was time for a new one. At some point along in through here I decided that my windshield wipers needed some updating, so I got some new ones and had to modify the arms a little bit to accept the new blades. Wipers work great now!

some charging problems that led to me finding some wonderful corroded FJ40 wiring during the summer/fall of 2008. I think I ended up replacing the alternator and battery as a result of this as well, before I found the wiring. These problems killed both anyway. I had to get a new voltage regulator around this time too, because I was charging at somewhere around 17V going down the highway

The summer/fall of 2008 I began a project to repaint my doors and put new weatherstripping on - my driver's door is pretty rusty, but I figured the experience would be beneficial. I also needed to get my passenger door to latch properly, so I wouldn't keep breaking door handles! Also getting new felts in the windows should keep the rattling down! I finished my driver door in 2008, and the felts and weatherstripping helped a lot though my door has other issues that keep me from doing a permanent fix to the problem until I get a welder or something and weld some new metal in where the bolt that holds the lower part of the track pulled through the door skin.

some issues with the engine temp. and heater in preparation for winter 2008

Felt like my headlights needed upgrading, so in December 2008 I put in some Roundeyes

On 4/26/09 I began my Saginaw/FJ60 power steering/Sanden OBA project - "finished" the power steering as of 5/24/09 (meaning it was safe to drive).


In August '09 I decided that I would freshen up my dash knobs which was then followed by hooking up the dash knob illumination light and installing LED bulbs from superbrightleds.com in my instrument cluster, as well as the backlight for my light switch. Voila - I now have two new lights that I never had before.

I also acquired a heater control illumination light to help me complete my interior lighting. I still have the dome/courtesy light and maybe someday I'll be able to find an OEM 12V glove box light.

A couple weeks before getting married in September of 2009, I started the process of doing a light refinish on my passenger side door to match my driver's side door. New weatherstrip, window felts, inside paint and door handle. Finished that project in October 2009. First time in 4 1/2 years that I've been able to use the passenger side door from the outside!

I did, however, in October 2009, get a pair of OEM bumperettes and a 15 ton pintle hook to replace my rear bumper for the long short-term...happy with that decision so far, though I haven't had the chance to give it a good tug yet

At some point I bought an OEM bottle jack that was green, and after doing some research got some rattle can paint from NAPA that's a dead match to the OEM yellow and repainted it. Finally got that done in the spring/summer of 2010. Now I just have to find some OEM mounting brackets (for the jack) and I will be good to go.

The OBA will have to wait for another season. I had to get rid of the auxiliary fuel tank that I had, but someday I would like to install one of the same or similar design to increase my range on some of the longer trips. Always some new project to do, something new to learn...