LJ70 Build Thread!

[AndyCook]

excellent - was the newly re-commissioned front locker required on the weekends trip

 

[Ben]

Yes Andy I used it a few times.

Certainly makes the truck feel more stable when I'm lifting front wheels and I've got the front locker engaged.

 

[Ben]

OK...............................

So Thursday morning I was out at 7am working on my truck.

First job was to fill the front diff with oil. Squeezing the oil in out of the little bottle wasn't working very well as the spout was split, so I used a pump of Michaels.





I loaded the rear bumper in the back as I figured if I had enough time after doing the welding then I could also fit it.



Luckily work is only a 3 minute drive away, as driving it without a mud flap, and on 37" tyres is risky.



So at 4pm my working day was officially over so I was able to get LJ in the workshop and make a start on the repairs.



I loosened the next 2 body lift bolts to make it a bit easier to jack the rear body up off the chassis.



Managed to lever the body up off the chassis with a crowbar and then got some blocks of wood in between the 2 to hold the body up.



New body repair block in place.



Marked where the hole needed drilling by using a pencil pushed through the body lift spacer.





Hole drilled all the way through.



Back in position.



Marked the other one.







I discovered the old bolts that held the body to the chassis now weren't long enough, so I had to get some all thread and nuts instead.



Both sides bolted in place.







The next job was to weld the new blocks in the body, so I thought the easiest way to weld them would be if I lifted the back of LJ high up using the fork lift.

That worked ok until LJ swung into one of the forks.





So we re-rigged the forklift and got LJ lifted nice and high.





I got the welding done and then turned my attention to the next job.

I used my step drill to put a hole in each piece of sheet steel which was cut to cap off the bottom of the rear quater panels that I'd chopped. The holes were for rubber grommets.



Gave them a coat of primer.



Paint dry and the inside face got 2 coats of special rust proof black paint.

Before getting stuck in position with Tiger seal.



And a few tek screws.







I fitted the rear bumper and at 9.30pm I had to leave work as my boss wanted to lock up and go home. So I came home and carrier on till midnight.



With a trip the next day I needed to repair the broken window.





Sheet of plastic.



Cut and duck taped into position.







Got the swing away wheel carrier mounted next.



Followed by the spare.



And bag.





Loaded the camping gear.



Decided to thrown the pig and firewood in aswell as I was expecting a cold wet weekend.



Really need to reduce how much stuff I take with me. All this for just a weekend, dont know how I;m going to manage on my big Simpson Desert trip next year.



All loaded and ready for the trip.

 

[Maverick]

Ben, i dont understand how the fork-lift went into the rear window??

 

[Ben]

The strop which was lifting the back of the truck up was too short. So as the wheels came off the ground it swung backwards towards the forklift.

In my defence I was tired and rushing and obviously not thinking properly.

The local 4wd scrap yard is only minutes away from home and work and they have got a piece of glass, but they want $85 for it. So going to keep an eye on ebay and see if any doors come up. Theres some on there cheap now, but there too far away.

Thinking of cutting a piece of aluminium at work and using that until I get a piece of glass.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Rolled back as the braked back end was lifted?

The challenge you have with the 70 is a bit like what we had with the 73; have a look for some milk crates, as they make stacking easier, and don't forget a decent Ice Box/Fridge takes up a bit of room. (Ours is 60cm x 45 x45 or so)

We also had 2 swags and a 120 litre kit bag + a few other bags when we went on our road trip for 6 weeks last year.

 

[Ben]

Still havnt had chance to write and post the trip report.

Will get it up soon.

Just got back from the 4wd club meeting. Me and LJ made front cover.

The Jimny build is also going really well. The 37"s are now on and I took it for its first spin today.

Really love my job, cant believe I'm getting paid to build 4wd's.

 

[Shayne]

Well done getting front page I'm sat here lookin at the torrential rain and thinking my wheel spacers should be here by 3.30pm and i'm gonna get wet . You still miss home lol

 

[Ben]

Thanks.

I don't miss the uk, but I do miss all the people I left behind.

Its the price I must pay though for living in such an amazing country on the other side of the world.

 

[Ben]

So last Friday night I drove to Jamison to the camp site.

On the way I passed Big River, which I hadn't realised was so close to where we would be 4wding.



The evening was spent sat round a roaring fire beer in hand.

The next morning.









Non of the rest of the guys on the club trip actually wanted to go off road.

They just wanted to chill out at the camp site all day and go to the pub. Not what I'd driven 3 hours for on 37" tyres.

So I borrowed a map.



Aired down.



Chained my rear mud flaps up out of the way.



And hit the tracks.









Some clearer pics of the rear guard chop.





I've found that often there are tracks cutting straight up the mountain, these are usually ungraded and un-maintained and obviously a lot more challenging. So wherever the track forked I took the track that looked the roughest.

Heading up one steep rocky section.





A bit of snow on the ground as I neared the summit of Mount Terrible.







Sadly arsonists burnt down the historic refuge hut on the top of the mountain a few years ago.







The views and scenery truly are spectacular in the high country. Mountains on every side stretch for as far as the eye can see.









I soon got to one particularly rough section of track.





I managed to drive it OK but I needed both lockers and LJ had a wheel in the air for most of the way up. I would later see that even long wheel base 90 series cruisers lift wheels on it.









Safely up the top.



And a quick lunch break.



The next section of track which dropped down was really cut up with lots of big loose boulders and rocks.

I was a bit nervous about driving it as obviously I was on my own and so needed to be careful.



Safely down I carried on.



So the camp site is at the top of the map (Skipworth Reserve), So I travelled West along Polletti Track, and then headed South down Mount Terrible Track, then North East along Moonlight Spur Track and then finally North along Flourbag Track.



Still beautiful views.



Nice 40 series I saw on Simex's.



Nice little creek crossing.













At the end of the track I discovered why it is called Flourbag Track. After the Creek at the start of the track.





I headed North along the dirt road towards the campsite. On the way I was flagged down by the others who were at the pub I was driving past.



I stopped and had a couple of pots which are basically tiny little half pint glasses, which is what everyone was drinking.

The others chose to have dinner at the pub, but I'd bought some really good steak from my local butcher, so I returned to camp.







Steak and mash potato for dinner, with an ice cold beer of course.



I ate my dinner around the camp fire.



And read the latest magazine I got given at work.



The others soon returned and the huge log on the fire dried out and burnt really well all night.



After a great nights sleep I cooked sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches washed down with a nice mug of tea.







As there had been a lot of rain in the week the Golbourn River which we were camped next to was very high. There are a number of tracks that ford the river, but anyone would be foolish to even contemplate it with the river that fast and high.



I saw a trip report in the magazine I was reading the previous evening about a trip in the area we were in. In it they headed back to Melbourne over Mount Terrible and down through Big River and back to Melbourne. So I decided to follow their route.

One of the other guys was keen to come with me. In fact he had wanted to come with me the previous day but I didn't realize and hadn't got my CB radio on when I drove off the previous day.

So Keith packed up his tent and got ready. Nice 90 series.



Aired down.



And we hit the tracks.





Very foggy as we neared the top of the mountain.









We drove up the challenging section I found the previous day and Keith lifted a wheel.





Love this pic.



















We rounded a corner and found a camp fire that some one had left burning in the middle of the track.

It might be the middle of winter but its still really irresponsible to leave a fire burning.



Fortunately I still had loads of water left and we were quickly able to douse the flames.







We stopped for a lunch break.





And then hit the tracks again.



I rounded a bend and found the track blocked by a fallen tree.





As neither of us were carrying a chainsaw we had to turn around and head down the mountain using a different track.











A nice little creek crossing as we made our way back towards Melbourne.















We stopped and aired up and said our good byes.







I got back and put LJ on the garden to give her a wash. Saves having to clean mud off the drive/road.





I've started a new project on LJ.

More on that soon.

 

[Leopard]

Nice trip report, Ben. Looks like a good weekend!

 

[AndyCook]

Nice one
Shame the others spent day in pub though

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

My suspension has needed replacing for a while, in fact I'm not sure its ever really been right. I guess Ironman suspension is cheap for a reason.

Michael mentioned that he had got a load of different 80 series springs in standard height, +2" and +4" that I could try on LJ.

My rear springs were particularly bad and were almost coil bound.





So Thursday after work (I can use the workshop for 5 hours after work every Thursday. ) We got LJ on the hoist.



And removed the rear springs.



The Old Man Emu +2" 80 series front springs looked perfect.





Springs fitted and with LJ back on the ground the height looked perfect.





And the springs had loads of space between the coils.



With the rear done we turned our attention to the front.

Michael removed the bottom shock nut so that when we lifted LJ up the axle would drop and we could pull the springs out.





After hunting round 2 factories we found some Old Man Emu springs that looked perfect. They are +2" springs off the front of my boss's 79 series cruiser.



One end of the springs fitted perfectly with the spring perch on both the axle and the chassis, but the other end of the new spring tapered in and became too narrow.

So we put my old springs back in for now.

I really wanted to use the 79 series springs as like the back they are virtually brand new in that they were fitted used for a few weeks and then they were changed for taller ones to give more lift.

Also 79 and 80 series springs will be easy to source pretty much any where in Australia, where as LJ70 ones wont.

Not a problem I had a cunning plan!

Cardboard, masking tape, scissors, pen, tape measure and a short time later we have a working prototype of a spring adaptor!





It follows the contour of the spring perfectly.



I drew around a suitably worn angle grinding disc and then cut it roughly to shape on the guillotine.



Marked, centre punched and drilled a hole in each.



Marked and cut 2 slightly smaller discs.



And again, marked, centre punched and drilled a hole in each.



Found and cut some suitable tube.



Found a hole saw the same size as the tube, and cut the centre out of each disc on the pillar drill.





I cut some 20mm x 3mm flat to length and tack welded, and bent it around the 2 larger discs.





Before fully welding it.







I then welded the tube through the middle.



On Monday I will finish them after work.

Once the new springs are fitted we will lift a wheel on LJ and when the spring(s) are fully compressed measure and work out what length shocks I need.

Buying all new shocks I'm tempted to get Old Man Emu so they match the coils.

I mentioned to my boss that all my bushes on my radius and trailing arms are stuffed and I asked what he thought of Super Pro.

He said there too hard really and that Old Man Emu would be a lot better as there much softer.

There also dirt cheap, like £20 to change every bush on the truck!

I guess there the sort of discounts you get with suppliers like ARB when your spending thousands with them every month.

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

As I left work at 5pm on Friday I got a call from one of the guys from the 4wd club, asking if I wanted to do a night drive. My response........................... Shit yeah!!

So we met up at 8.30pm and drove some of the extreme tracks around Telangi until 3.30am

Was a great night and LJ performed faultlessly!

I made it up Rocky Track without the waffles this time, even though its a lot more washed out and the rocks and boulders are getting bigger.

The front locker made a huge difference but it was still a huge challenge.

Rick was ahead of me and when he got to the top and was watching me come up he said it looked mad as my headlights were bouncing all over the places backwards and forwards as I had to keep trying different lines, as I fought my way up and over some of the huge steps.

Doing it in the dark definitely made things more interesting.

The new rear springs have made such a difference!

Didn't get many pics as it was dark and raining. But I did get a couple when the track was blocked by a fallen tree. Melbourne has been having some terrible winter weather lately and lots of trees have come down.

Michael got his chainsaw and we soon had the track cleared.









Was a great night, but a branch jumped out in front of me and cracked my windscreen.

Oh well the risk I take doing what I do and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Were away for the next 2 weekends in a row on snow trips in the High Country.

I think this 4wd obsession has taken over my life!

I spend all week getting paid to work on and make things for 4wd's, then spend nearly all my spare time driving them or working on them.

Great fun!

Fellow club member Paul dropped in for a cuppa yesterday.

Great to finally meet you Paul.

Oh and I've remembered what wood the deck is made of, Merbau.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Did wonder if you got through the weekend unscathed!

I've got the joy of changing my water pump in the 4Runner this week; thankfully I've got a 2 reading weeks at Uni, so that gives me some time to do it. Taking it to a friends place where there is a flat yard and garage, as opposed to our sloping driveway and car port.


Have you picked up Callinan's mag this month? He's done some trails out the back of sMelbourne, and the Oodanatta Track.

Have to say I definitely prefer his stuff to the EMG (oh and the fact it comes out every other month, so I don't spend as much on magazines!) as it's a bit more mature and thought provoking.

 

[Ben]

Yeah Pat Callinan's magazine is very good.

I love the quality of the pics and the articles.

We get a lot of the different magazines delivered to work as we advertise in a few of them. I had a flick through Pat's latest magazine the other day on my lunch break. Spotted the High Country trip he did, really good.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Just watched the DVD... it's only 2,000km to the Oodanatta track (William Creek) from Armidale...

Now looking at getting some of the subscription packs, as on one option you can get the NSW tracks DVD's and a years subscription... very tempting...

 

[warrenpfo]

Great update Ben and glad to see you enjoying life to the max.

Out of interest what was outcome of the article in the mag you read.. 200 series vs landrover discovery??

 

[Victor]

Ben, regarding the bushes, think of going stock, and make new plates for the front axle instead, which allows you to rotate it down to compensate for your lift, that's what i have planned for my 70.. That way i wont have a problem with stiffer bushings, and still compensates my lift

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Worth considering the Pedders bushes as they are rubber rather than urethane and designed to give more flex?

 

[Ben]

Just watched the DVD... it's only 2,000km to the Oodanatta track (William Creek) from Armidale...

Now looking at getting some of the subscription packs, as on one option you can get the NSW tracks DVD's and a years subscription... very tempting...

You said your changing your water pump Ed..............................

On the 2.4td its worth also changing the cambelt and front main seal at the same time.

Great update Ben and glad to see you enjoying life to the max.

Out of interest what was outcome of the article in the mag you read.. 200 series vs landrover discovery??

Thanks Warren.

Not sure, when/where did I read about that.

Its bound to have said the 200 is better though!

Ben, regarding the bushes, think of going stock, and make new plates for the front axle instead, which allows you to rotate it down to compensate for your lift, that's what i have planned for my 70.. That way i wont have a problem with stiffer bushings, and still compensates my lift

Interesting idea, thanks.

I will get a price from Toyota and see how much they want.

Worth considering the Pedders bushes as they are rubber rather than urethane and designed to give more flex?

Thanks Dave, didn't know that.

We've got a big Pedders suspension place just up the road in Lillydale.