I'll back track a little. To like last year.
I came back from Afghanistan and took some time off. Had a nice weekend with Jillian in Breckenridge, but didn't take any leave until Christmas time.
But I spent lots of time tearing down my 1992 Land Cruiser that I bought the month before I deployed. Jillian had the privilege to deal with many parts that I had shipped to the house for the truck that I found on sale/clearance throughout my deployment.
Here he is. Ugly red. Needs some love. But with 260k miles on it, still runs strong, albeit really slow.
First thing I did was pull the rear differential out so I could get it up to Slee Offroad in Golden, CO. They are the Land Cruiser experts, so I trusted them to install new gears, an air activated locking differential, as well as anything else that needed to be replaced. (The round hole in the center section is where the differential came out of).
Next I rebuilt the front axle and put in all new seals. This job was particularly messy as almost everything is packed with grease. I also put in a new differential with gears and an air locker.
Once that was complete, I started putting on the new springs and shocks on all four corners to lift the truck. After all was said and done, the truck was about 4 inches higher. The new springs are bright yellow, and greatly improved the ride and handling of the old truck.
And here it is after all of that was complete. It not sits on 35" tires, and is ready to hit some of the toughest trails in Colorado. But it's not done yet. It might not ever be done!
This truck is a bit on the big side. A whale of sorts. So he's been named fittingly: Willy the Trail Whale.
To be continued...
