Midwest Land Cruiser 100 Build and Adventure Thread

[LndXrsr]

Well, we had a real adventure last weekend. I made friends with @DK4Runner here in town and we went down to the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway. Had a great time on the first day crossing some streams, and going through deeper mud than I thought possible on my all-season tires. Set up camp after dark and drank a beer called "Broke and Broke Down" from 50West Brewing (delicious, by the way). That was an omen...

On the second day we hit some more trails, and that's when things got interesting. Having a second truck and the ability to get pulled out of trouble gave me some confidence...too much confidence. I tore the sidewall of a tire, no surprise I guess given what I was running. Swapped it out and less than half a mile later tore another sidewall. So we limped to a flat spot and patched up the first tire, which had a smaller tear. It held air and got me out of there! A number of stops to repatch and refill later, we made it home 100 miles at about 60mph on the highway.

 

[LndXrsr]

So I got my new shoes today. 285/75/16 BFG KO2 and they're great. Can't wait to get back out and try again.

The truck also got a final name while we were out there. Had been calling it "The Rock" since it's Riverrock Green, but now it's officially "Dwayne" just like The Rock is called by his mother.

So here's Dwayne in his new hiking boots:

I also beat the up some under bits on the trail. Rear bumper took a solid hit. Thank god for @LandCruiserPhil's mud flap replacements, or I'd have no rear bumper at all. Straightened this mess out and it's all bolted back together solid now:

Secondary pan is toast too. In the market for some skids...

 

[LndXrsr]

Long time without updates. Been doing a fair amount of mods/maintenance over the past weeks as well as a few trips:

Land Shark Outfitter's Reef drawers are fully installed. Got impatient wanting to use them so bad that I just installed them. The drawers slide and fit with incredible precision. The wings and their fabulous hinges add incredible functionality to the side areas. Pulled them back out to do some urethane coats, aluminum guard trim, and a topper mat at some point. The system just works and the precision of putting it together is incredible. Highest recommendation!

 

[LndXrsr]

Drawers complete! Stuck the aluminum trim on with a thin coat of JB weld and it held great. Added some stickers for extra horsepower and ride height. Then took it out into the woods to try as a camping setup and it was excellent. More mods, adventures, and stickers to come!

 

[LndXrsr]

We had another adventure down in KY on the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway. After an interesting first day where a nut fell off the UCA of my friend's 4Runner, causing a wheel to splay out like crazy, we drove the nearest hardware store in my truck to get all $3 worth of nuts and washers to fix it. What we didn't notice was that the sway bar endlink was probably stressed a bit too much by that insult. Next day, some more noises from the front suspension and suddenly his sway bar link is snapped in half and the CV boot torn up something fierce. Didn't take long for that CV to go out entirely, the ABS sensor wire to get cut, and the electronic transfer case nannies to freak out. A combination of 2WD, winching, and towing from my truck got him back to pavement and at that point the CV gave out completely.

This was of course the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Yet we somehow got lucky and managed to snag a U-Haul and load it up for me to tow back home. Lots of strain on the AHC and it took us almost double the usual time to get home, but we made it. My truck never made a peep.

0/2 on the Daniel Boone, but big points for Dwayne this time around.

 

[LndXrsr]

Family got me a new Garmin GPS for my birthday last month, so I set up the hardwired mount on a RAM arm. It's great for following routes, creating tracks, checking accurate speeds, and best of all has the satellite communicator SOS function built in for emergencies. Really nice peace of mind. Definitely recommend the GPSmap over the more basic inReach devices that Garmin offers. Same SOS functions, lots more actual navigation and data tracking features.

 

[LndXrsr]

Very importantly, was finally able to get this from the BMV! Now it's official. Too subtle?