Yikes! This might be a more than a one afternoon project!

[Rzeppa]

So I was diving home from the grocery store yesterday, and as I was turning from Meyers Gulch on to Columbine in Kittredge, I heard a CLUNK followed by a sudden shift in the attitude of my 60. I immediately stopped, got out and inspected. The front spring hanger of my left rear suspension had detached from the frame. Okay, been there done that, those of you that were on the Barbour Fork Father's Day run I led in 2016 will remember I had that issue then. The trail fix is a ratchet strap to the front spring to the slider and crossmember, It got me home and I did a proper repair, welding the spring hanger back to the frame with some reinforcing steel sections.

At first I thought my repair didn't hold up, but it turns out it is still holding up fine, this was the left side, the trail damage from 8 years ago was the right side.

When ticks me off is this was a rust-free Arizona truck when I bought it in 2011, and it doesn't take too long for our mag-chloride happy CDoT to wreck our frames!

Fortunately, I was but 3 blocks from home and I limped up the hill really slow and got into the garage, and planned to tackle the project today, my day off, anticipating an afternoon repair.

So here's where it is unlikely to take more than one afternoon. The rot was way more extensive than I anticipated, and I will be cutting a substantial amount of the frame out and adding a lot of new steel. So there's cutting all that stuff out, then cutting and shaping the new pieces, of course prepping everything that's still on the rig to bare metal for welding, and prepping the spring hanger down to bare metal for welding.

Sigh.

At least the greaseable spring pin came right out, it is not too old, maybe 8-9 years or so, whenever it was I put on the OME, and didn't need too much persuasion.

My wife says I should drive something that was built in this century (that's why I'm on the LC 250 thread, I really plan to buy one of those brand new. The newest Land Cruiser I have ever owned was the 1997 HZJ75 I bought in 2000.

Oh well, back to the garage - grinder, air hammer, wire wheel, etc. Can't really sand blast inside...

Gotta love the OME anti-inversion shackles!

The spring hanger is pretty bad!

The frame is going to need a LOT of work! Glad Kevin got his taken care of before it got this bad.

Forget I hate mud, I hate rust! Look where the shape of the frame has deformed! I am going to have to weld in all new steel there.

 

[DanS]

Holy Peet that is crusty!!

I'd personally way rather we pay for more snow plows and drivers over the sheer quantity of chemical we put down, because rust is just the absolute worst.

Dan

 

[DaveInDenver]

That is crazy rot. God Speed on tackling it Jeff.

 

[Crash]

A big reason some of us 60 owners have been putting our trucks into hibernation during mag chloride season. Either that or heading straight to the car wash after an outing in snow. Sad to see how bad your frame looks, Jeff.

 

[fjc man]

Maybe you would be better off finding a good used frame?

 

[Rzeppa]

A big reason some of us 60 owners have been putting our trucks into hibernation during mag chloride season. Either that or heading straight to the car wash after an outing in snow. Sad to see how bad your frame looks, Jeff.

I go to the car wash whenever it melts and the roads are dry. And I spend more time underneath than on the body (probably to the chagrin of the j**ps waiting to wash behind me).

 

[Rzeppa]

The pile of rust after getting after it with the air hammer

 

[Rzeppa]

Making a nice, clean cut into the frame.

 

[Rzeppa]

Grinding off one of the original rivets on the spring hanger.

 

[Rzeppa]

Lots of grinding later, the spring hanger is looking better

 

[Rzeppa]

After wire wheeling with the air powered wire wheel, things are looking much better for the spring hanger. Now that's something we can weld on! Now on to the frame!

 

[Rzeppa]

Maybe you would be better off finding a good used frame?

AFAIK, there is no such thing. Plus, that would be a heck of a lot more work than this relatively simple repair. Just a bunch of grinding, wire wheeling, cutting, welding, and painting. Oh and a small amount of wrenching thrown in with undoing and redoing the suspension. Like I said, so glad the OME was relatively recent, less than 10 years. I hate working on 30+ year old suspension! LOL! (Right up there with I hate exhaust work...like I said I hate that stuff way more than I hate mud!)

Side note about mud. About 20 years ago I was leading Gold Bar Rim at Cruise Moab. Anyone who has done that trail knows that there is a fair amount of regular dirt road before you get the trail head. Also, anyone who knows Moab, knows that the Moab mud is, shall we say, crustacious. It had been raining that week, and there were a bunch of large puddles on that dirt road (those who are familiar with that stretch of road before Gold Bar Rim, (or alternatively coming off of Golden Spike) raise your hand.

So I was leading my group along this stretch of road, and a radioed back (with an actual CB!) that I was going to avoid the puddles. I saw in my rear view mirror that some were gleefully splashing through them, making photo-worthy images.

A week or so later, one of the members of my group posted up on the Land Cruiser Mailing List (this was before IH8Mud was even around) that "When your trail leader says to avoid the mud puddles, you should listen to him. I have been trying to get this dried mud off my Land Cruiser for a week now, and it is like adobe. It doesn't come off!"

He says to this day he still has that adobe mud under his Land Cruiser.

Back to my rust.....

 

[Crash]

AFAIK, there is no such thing. Plus, that would be a heck of a lot more work than this relatively simple repair. Just a bunch of grinding, wire wheeling, cutting, welding, and painting. Oh and a small amount of wrenching thrown in with undoing and redoing the suspension. Like I said, so glad the OME was relatively recent, less than 10 years. I hate working on 30+ year old suspension! LOL! (Right up there with I hate exhaust work...like I said I hate that stuff way more than I hate mud!)

Side note about mud. About 20 years ago I was leading Gold Bar Rim at Cruise Moab. Anyone who has done that trail knows that there is a fair amount of regular dirt road before you get the trail head. Also, anyone who knows Moab, knows that the Moab mud is, shall we say, crustacious. It had been raining that week, and there were a bunch of large puddles on that dirt road (those who are familiar with that stretch of road before Gold Bar Rim, (or alternatively coming off of Golden Spike) raise your hand.

So I was leading my group along this stretch of road, and a radioed back (with an actual CB!) that I was going to avoid the puddles. I saw in my rear view mirror that some were gleefully splashing through them, making photo-worthy images.

A week or so later, one of the members of my group posted up on the Land Cruiser Mailing List (this was before IH8Mud was even around) that "When your trail leader says to avoid the mud puddles, you should listen to him. I have been trying to get this dried mud off my Land Cruiser for a week now, and it is like adobe. It doesn't come off!"

He says to this day he still has that adobe mud under his Land Cruiser.

Back to my rust.....

Probably a good coating that helps prevent rust. Maybe you should have gone through the puddles too!

 

[Rzeppa]

Probably a good coating that helps prevent rust. Maybe you should have gone through the puddles too!

My understanding of the rust coating is that you need the Land Rover oil leak coating to prevent rust, and probably help to keep the mud from caking too.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Great write up Jeff! Sorry to see all this rust on your 60.

A big reason some of us 60 owners have been putting our trucks into hibernation during mag chloride season. Either that or heading straight to the car wash after an outing in snow. Sad to see how bad your frame looks, Jeff.

IH8MAGCHLORIDE IH8RUST!!!
I won’t drive the 80 in the winter unless it’s completely dry. I just can’t stand the thought of getting that crap everywhere underneath in the cracks and crevices.

My understanding of the rust coating is that you need the Land Rover oil leak coating to prevent rust, and probably help to keep the mud from caking too.

Hmm, So maybe I shouldn’t fix my oil leaks on my 1FZ… I joke that it’s my external lubrication system, but maybe it’s actually rust abatement!

 

[tancruiser]

You've got this Jeff. Nice work.

 

[AimCOTaco]

Whelp I'm off to the carwash, NOW!
I hate that salty stuff,
You got this!

 

[Rzeppa]

So I bought this piece of 3/16 steel at Home Depot several years ago without a specific project in mind, but yeah, this is what I'm gonna use it on.

 

[Rzeppa]

Tonight was more grinding and wire wheeling. I figure I need to get all that stuff cut/ground to some kind of dimension before I start cutting pieces to weld in there. Laying on my back (where all the cutting/grinding dust goes on my face, yee ha, this is working on the inside, next to the muffler. Besides the electric angle grinder, I have been using a cup wire wheel on an air powered die grinder, and a thin cutting wheel on an air powered die grinder.

 

[Rzeppa]

Outboard side of the frame.