Jah310 Land Cruiser Build

jah310

Adventurer
So my wife and I are expecting our third child so we upgraded to a 200 series for our new family adventure vehicle. It's going to be super hard to leave the Tacoma since that truck just rocked, but I'm pumped to start another build.

It's going to be pretty mild - start with a lift and tires and go from there. I've ordered a set of BP-51s front and rear, a new set of UCAs and a set of medium 3/4 inch OME springs for the rear. Planning on running stock rims with 1.25" spidertrax spacers and a set of LT275/70R18 BFG ATs. I eventually want to mimic the IBS dual battery set up and ARB compressor I had in the Taco.

So far all I've done is ordered and connected the 7 pin connector from eBay, removed some lug nut locks (missing key) and worked the KDSS valves free as I know I'll need to turn those during the lift.

If anyone has any additional tips for the lift & UCA install let me know. I'll be doing it myself at home so any prep / warnings / lessons learned would be super appreciated. I successfully did my Taco, so hopefully this won't be too far out of my league.

Here are a few shots of how it sits now...


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shibubba

New member
I'm excited to see how you like those bp51's. Been eyeing them for a while

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jah310

Adventurer
Anybody have thoughts on fitting 305/65R18 BFG All Terrains? Debating if I should go one size from the standard 275s I reference above.

For clarity I'm planning to use stock 18x8 rims, spidertrax spacers and the BP 51s cool overs up front and OME "3/4 inch" rear springs etc. as outlined above. Think those will fit? Will a spare fit? Thoughts?

Thanks


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jah310

Adventurer
Got some time this weekend, so put the LC on stands and got started.

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I'm going to take my time with the install so I positioned the LC in the ideal spot in the backyard driveway - that and the fact it was my first time getting it up on stands took me a bit. Managed to get all four wheels off the ground and loosened the two KDSS bolts 3 turns as instructed.

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For fun I put loosely bolted up one of the spidertrax spacers...

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To make life easier, I sprayed on the bolts / nuts that were to be removed with Kriol Penetrating Oil. This stuff is insanely good! I first used it to get those pesky KDSS bolts loose - since then I'm a total believer.

Removed the four top strut bolts...

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Didn't quite get the strut out. I'm having trouble lowering the lower control arm far enough to pop out the bottom of the coil over. I'v read a few different install instructions / methods. One suggests unbolting and disconnecting the sway bar linkage bolts and levering the arm down (OME BP 51 install directions). The other method (Icon Coil over instructions) suggest I loosen the lower control arm chassis bolts to free the lower arm bushing tension. Their instructions don't mention anything about loosening the sway bar linkage bolts or the steering arm bolts?

I ran out of time, so next I'll try the methods above to see if I can free up enough space to pop out the bottom of the coil. Any suggestions would be welcome...

Super pumped have started the build!
 
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fjrohrs

Adventurer
Sway-Bar and tie-rod where removed when I did my FJ Cruiser. When I did the Tacoma only the sway-bar was necessary.
 

jah310

Adventurer
Made some progress today - loosened the lower control arm bolts and that allowed me to pry out the coil over / strut. (Finally!) Also worked the upper control arm out and replaced it with the SPC UCA. That actually was easier than expected. Didn't get too much further as I'm watching the kiddos this weekend.




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jah310

Adventurer
Posting a few more updates from this weekend - managed to get the drivers side put back together. It's not final final assembly as I'm going to need to dial in the preload. I'm going to finish installing everything including the rear, put the truck back on the ground and see how it all measures out. I'll see how much I need to adjust the preload and then take the coils to a shop with a wall mounted spring compressor. Adjusting the rings seems to be impossible both in and out of the car. Guess that's why the directions call for putting the units on a compressor and then adjusting the preload ring...

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Working on the passenger side - got the strut and UCA removed. Working much faster the second time around...

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Slowly but surely I'm getting there...




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jah310

Adventurer
Worked on the rear...

Got the old struts and springs out. Started by spaying Kroil on those hard to reach shock bolts and held the body of the shock with some larger plumbing pliers to break that top nut loose. I honestly thought is was going to be way worse. With the shocks out I worked to free the springs. After making sure I loosened the brake lines and sway bar, I manhandled the rear axle just enough to pull the springs out. Started the installation of the new shocks... A few pics below, nothing overly exciting.


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