Bringing the LJ back to life

k2blazen · Nov 13, 2011

WILLIAMS OIL FILTER ON PUYALLYUP AVE MY FRIENDS GRANDPA OWNS IT GOOD GUY, OWES ME SUM $$$ WHAT YA NEED"LARRY HAYDEN":awesomework:

Fordzuki · Nov 17, 2011

I got off work a little early tonight, so I finished up the fuel cell mount and got it painted.

That means I'm wheeling the backyard this weekend. :cheer:

:redneck:

GRW · Nov 17, 2011

All this LJ talk makes me want to get back to work on mine

NotSoPC · Nov 17, 2011

Man its good to see this going.g back together. Bummed me out driving by and seeing it sitting on blocks. We will have to meet up when mine gets done for a run. Btw I got your rubber wheel. Found it in one of my garage boxes a few weeks ago. Should meet up so I can get it back to you.

Fordzuki · Nov 18, 2011

GRW said:
All this LJ talk makes me want to get back to work on mine

Dooo eeeet. :awesomework: Do you have any pics of yours? :corn:

NotSoPC said:
Man its good to see this going.g back together. Bummed me out driving by and seeing it sitting on blocks. We will have to meet up when mine gets done for a run. Btw I got your rubber wheel. Found it in one of my garage boxes a few weeks ago. Should meet up so I can get it back to you.

Sounds good. What's left on yours? The rubber wheel is an extra, so it's no hurry. (obviously :fawkdancesmiley

GRW · Nov 18, 2011

See if this works......

Finishing up my Toy right now, not sure if I want to stay stock or ???

NotSoPC · Nov 18, 2011

Fordzuki said:
Sounds good. What's left on yours? The rubber wheel is an extra, so it's no hurry. (obviously :fawkdancesmiley

Once its back: brakes, front drive line, top, heater, front axle seals, replace fluids. Its going be a DD for a while as well as a wheeler.

Fordzuki · Nov 20, 2011

GRW said:
See if this works......

Finishing up my Toy right now, not sure if I want to stay stock or ???

If I had it to do again, I would stay completely stock (or very close to it), but it is what it is... I'd still like to get another LJ10 or 20 some day and keep it stock.

Well. It drove. :cheer: I got a little crazy in the back yard and broke the pitman arm though.

:redneck:
I'm kindof surprised it's lasted this long, it's half toy, half sami, and I preheated/weld/post heated it. It's taken quite a few hard hits and bound up situations with the 34s, but cried like a bitch with 36s. :haha: Anyways, I'm working on a solution to that, so meanwhile, here's some pics.

The finished fuel system.

A little rubbing in the rear at full bump, I've got some taller bumpstops I'll try out.

Fordzuki · Nov 20, 2011

I got the pitman arm off and all fixed up for now. If I remember right, this was done pre-220v welder the last time, so I ground it all back down and gave myself a nice big groove to weld up, cranked the 211 up to "meltshit" and went to town. After that I cut and bent up a couple reinforcement plates and welded them on.

I think eventually I will get an a/m toy arm and swap the tre in the draglink to match.

I also tested out 2-lo both in the driveway and garage. :redneck: click for vid

Edit: I just swapped out the rear bumpstops for some tj? ones I scrounged up somewhere.
OLD

NEW

We'll see how they work out, if I have to I'll shave them down a little...

skinny_pedal · Nov 21, 2011

Fordzuki said:
gave myself a nice big groove to weld up, cranked the 211 up to "meltshit" and went to town. After that I cut and bent up a couple reinforcement plates and welded them on.

Is that the proper term for that heat setting:fawkdancesmiley:

Fordzuki · Nov 24, 2011

skinny_pedal said:
Fordzuki said:

gave myself a nice big groove to weld up, cranked the 211 up to "meltshit" and went to town. After that I cut and bent up a couple reinforcement plates and welded them on.

Is that the proper term for that heat setting:fawkdancesmiley:

Click to expand...

Yeah. It's that new autoset. It has settings like "rusty ****", "fillthegap" and "weldthinair" I've been pretty happy with it.

So today, between eating thanksgiving noms, and catching up with the family, I got the fender supports designed, cut out, and welded on. Not much, but it's one of those last "little things" that I've been putting off.

I've got a decent list of "other mods" that I'd like to make along the way, but for now, the last thing I need is an alternator. Once I've got that, I'm going to switch gears and start work on the bronco and trailer so I can get this thing out for a shakedown.

zukkev · Nov 25, 2011

Fordzuki said:
skinny_pedal said:

Yeah. It's that new autoset. It has settings like "rusty ****", "fillthegap" and "weldthinair"... I've been pretty happy with it.

Click to expand...

...."Meltshit" .......:haha: :haha:
.... "rusty ****", and "weldthinair" ....:redneck:

Fordzuki · Nov 25, 2011

The new bumps worked out perfect. There's a ton of compression to them, so I think they'll be just what I needed.

Tire clearance at full stuff.

I was able to get a little more flex than the other day...

The front tires rub the springs a little, I'm thinking I'll get some 2" spacers for the front, and move the 1.5" ones to the rear. But aside from the springs, it looks like everything else (ie the shock hoops and fender supports) clear just fine.

Fordzuki · Dec 16, 2011

I haven't gotten much done lately, but I did manage to get my in-cab winch control wired in. Simple on/off, then in/off/out, and I just mounted them in the dash under the ashtray. I was able to fill two existing holes rather than drill new ones.

The other reason for getting the LJ back together, aside from wheeling it, is to assist in cleaning up my junkyard out back :redneck: in preperation to sell the house.
Previously, I had built a stinger for the front, that was operated by winch. It worked, but was pretty hokey, and something I had just thrown together one day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7LXVOh3s5k&list=UUmmSx2ZHaoCVu0_0tDlKXkw&index=24&feature=plcp

I decided to take a slightly different approach this time, and build a forklift...er...forkloader. :redneck: It hangs from the original LJ shackle hangers, with sami poly bushings.

The dropdowns are 2.5" square tube, with a 1.5" pipe crossmember, and the forks are 1.5" x 3" 3/16" wall. The heaviest I will likely be lifting with it is a tintop sami tub. (yeah, there's a whole lot of :redneck: in this post.)

SO, on to some pics.
Welding the hanger tabs on the dropdowns

Tabs on and crossmember in.

Dropdown hanging from oe shackle hanger.

Forks attached.

Assembly attached to the LJ. The overall angle of the forks was found after a little messing around with a clamp and straightedge, to be sort of a happy medium between being flat at ground height, and being vertical at max lift. If I'd have made them flat at ground level, they'd be sticking straight up at max lift, which would dump whatever I'm lifting on the hood... So I went with level being at about trailer height, to aid in loading axles and such on my trailer when it comes time to store things elsewhere. I can alway run a strap around the backboard to get things lifted from the ground. Ideally, I would have liked to build some scissor folding contraption to keep the forks level at all heights, but time is running out, so this will work.

I still have a bit more to do to it. I'm going to add a couple more crossmembers, one at the joint, and one at the base of the forks. The furthest one forward will be the attachment for the winch hook. I'm also thinking of ideas for the mounting of a moveable backstop, which will keep things from sliding back on the forks when lifted.
I also may recut the tips of the forks, I cut them with the tops short, and planned on capping them, but I'm thinking to cut the bottoms short would provide a better chance of slipping under things.

Ty. · Dec 16, 2011

Seriously, I love what you got going there.. You could even add a small bucket on the front for light dirt moving. Years ago I used a crowbar, homemade square tubing trailer hitch, and a rope running through the back window of my suburban to make a ripper that I could lift, and set as needed.
Nothin' wrong with hillbilly, if your good at it.:redneck:

zukkev · Dec 16, 2011

I ****in love it! Redneckery at it's best!!!
It should officially be called the zuklift! :redneck:

WA-Wheeler · Dec 16, 2011

This work deserves the prestigious awarded word:

Ghettonecked

Fordzuki · Dec 16, 2011

Ty. said:
Seriously, I love what you got going there.. You could even add a small bucket on the front for light dirt moving. Years ago I used a crowbar, homemade square tubing trailer hitch, and a rope running through the back window of my suburban to make a ripper that I could lift, and set as needed.
Nothin' wrong with hillbilly, if your good at it.:redneck:

That's part of the reason I went with forks this time, I had wanted to make attachments for the old stinger, but knowing it wasn't up to the task, I never bothered. With the forks, I can have two attachment points rather than just one on the stinger.
I had planned to build a blade scraper for snow, gravel,and light dirtwork, but I like the idea of the bucket. I've been watching alot of youtube videos on homemade mini excavators, log loaders, and such, and getting ideas for future attachments as well.

NotSoPC · Dec 17, 2011

Love the fork lift set up! That could come in handy alot. I think cutting the fork tips from the bottom would help for things on the ground but cutting from the top would help with picking things up off a trailer. The backstop idea is good and I would set it to keep things from sliding into the winch cable.

Dogboy · Dec 21, 2011

:kissmybutt:

NotSoPC said:
Love the fork lift set up! That could come in handy alot. I think cutting the fork tips from the bottom would help for things on the ground but cutting from the top would help with picking things up off a trailer. The backstop idea is good and I would set it to keep things from sliding into the winch cable.

That was my first thought with the angle. The forks wouldnt want to dig in as much if the were cut the other way, from my logic.