I think you are the first guy on UA-cam to do a good job explaining the radius arm setup used by LC (and others) and why this leads to the specific off-road personality that LC's demonstrate with their propensity for massive wheel lifts as the compromise for the benefits of the radius arm setup. Great video, I'm not a Motor Trend subscriber (RIP RoadKill) and I'm grateful you are doing what you are doing here for us all on UA-cam to entertain, support and educate us!
I commented a while back on a prior video and got a lot of flack from your audience that the early channel content was very easy beginner projects and I didn't feel it served an audience that had been fans for so many years before you. My opinion... This is redemption Fred! A major project but presented in the way I have always appreciated from you. Clear and concise instructions and tidbits of your knowledge sprinkled in to round out a truly educational experience. Well done I really enjoyed this video.
Such an Iconic Legend.... the Land Cruiser too! haha! Huge WIN for Kenda Tires! Hard to beat the performance and looks of a 35x10.50R17 M/T2 for a Land Cruiser, especially on those white Nomads! Looking forward to many more videos featuring this beaut! 😎🤘💯
Fred, thanks so much for making awesome content! Always appreciated for how in depth you go and how much you show things that don't always go to plan. Makes my own projects seem much more bearable! YOU ROCK!
I like all of the information and the little things that the average guy may not think of when doing these things at home. I know that you may even miss something with trying to film and narrate what you are doing, but you are providing valueable info for a bunch of us. Thanks for the content!!
I signed up for Onx off road yesterday after watching one of those big channels. Looked through the list of influencers hoping to find one of the smaller channels I enjoy that deserve more viewers and there fred was...done!
Skinny 35s! Thanks for the heads up. Ive done all of this more than once but was nice to sit through and listen to you explain stuff. I now need to find a stretch of road to adjust my dobinsons mrr's. Thanks for the episode Fred, glad to see you working safe.
I just went, "What? Nooo Waaay!" seeing you take that locking lug nut off. I had that problem in my 01 Double Cab Tacoma. I put the locking lug nuts on since they came with the wheels. I got a flat tire but I lost the key after just having it a week before to rotate the tires. A 3/4" bolt extractor will also get the job done, which is what I used.
I consider myself to be a more technical individual, I really appreciate that you break down some of the reasons for doing things! I wish you were making UA-cam videos 30 years ago when I had to just figure it out myself!!!
Most people end up with less caster correction than they need with just the bushing replacement. Caster Correction plates do a nice job of fixing the issue.
dirt head fred my boy i watched all your guys shows on dirt everyday ,you guys built some insane and fun rigs out of all the vehicles you guys built hands down clampy and tube sock take it, i am in middle of building an rock crawler in my drive way its an 1986 Nissan king cab with dana 60 axels pushing some 44s inspired by clampy ,,keep up the great work fred from Vancouver Canada
I just bought myself a 99 Land Rover discovery 2 and I’m gonna lift it 2.5” soon, thanks for showing us how to do the bushings thing. Also you are right about the suspension being invented by Land Rover. Everything is pretty much the same on mine except for the front shock towers.
Well done Fred! It’s probably a good idea to replace the rear bushing in the radius arms while they are out of the LC, especially one that 300k miles on it.
You should compare to general LT tires off-road or maybe crossclimates for wet/winter driving. There’s technology in a lot of lighter tires that should make them comparable in the right situations. I believe the crossclimates will surprise you in mud because those V grooves really shovel mud with some wheel speed!
Years back when I was operating my own off road shop, I did loads and loads of bushings like that. Fred's method was spot on in my books. The only thing they didn't show was pressing the bushing in. I would use a light film of oil on the radius arm, get the bushing started with a hammer, and then press it. And you never ever press on the center bushing. Only on the outside ring. And everything should be torqued to spec with the weight of the vehicle sitting on the tyres. When you are doing a lift it's best to loosen all the link bars and then torque them when finished. Even when you are not replacing bushings. When you lift it, the link bars will now sit at a different angle. If you don't touch the bolts and replace the springs, those bushings will be twisted just sitting at ride height. Guaranteed, they will suffer a very short, painful death.
I have been looking for one of these for a daily/crawler project. But dang, they are getting expensive! My 80 CJ7 isn't the best road jeep I've ever had. But I'd like something my wife can just jump in and go but also be my support rig for when the jeep goes down.
I think you may have realized this later, but you should probably have broke loose all the link bars (factory bushings) so the axle could droop, then re-torqued them at the new ride height.
Exactly my initial thought. Could see it when he removed the track bar. All the vulcanized bushings prevent it from moving freely. He will probably wear out those bushings prematurely not because they were not loosened and then retightened under load.
If you want to dramatically reduce the need for a steering stabilizer, crank in as much caster as possible. This will really improve the return to center when driving on the highway. It will increase the steering effort, but you can always plumb in a ram assist into your steering system if your power steering gear isn't up to the task. It won't affect tire wear. I'd double check the front spring locations, when they use different spring rates/size on one side versus the other, it is usually (but not always) because the the weight of the driver, steering column, dash board, etc. are taken account for in the spring rate. If you swap driers position from right to left, the springs should usually also swap to follow the driver.
Nicely done Fred. I have been using OME suspension since 1984 first up on my Mitsubishi Pajero this was before ARB bought it, my 1986 Four Runner, HJ 60 , HZJ 75 ,HZJ 80, FZJ 80, HDJ 100 and now on my 300 which has BP51 shocks they are brilliant. I have never had a failure or problem. They make great suspension products.🇦🇺🦘🍺
Stoked to see some wrenching but I have one criticism about the editing. The sound levels when you impact things spikes like crazy (ex: 20:15). Its either I barely hear you talking, or I get the occasional impact blast outta nowhere
This is the way i like videos! No music or special effects. Straight to the bone. Well explained, as always. You got 43 minutes of my full attention. And a new subscriber.
Was eagerly anticipating this video! Cruiser looks great Fred, I’ve been eyeing those Nomad Convoys in white myself! Excited to see what else you have in store for the 80!
Pretty sure Landrover "borrowed" the radius arm idea from the Ford bronco of that era. I remember reading, they had a Bronco and other vehicles at Eastnor Castle for evaluation years ago, during Range Rover development.
Looks like a Land Cruiser should Fred, nice job and great example of how to do the front bushings, lots of people are intimidated about changing them out and they do make a huge difference on how it rides and behaves on the road, does this Land Cruiser have lockers front/back just curious myself, when its done are you going to make a video of its first off road adventure 👍
Don't feel like you need build "content" for every upload mate. Alot of us would appreciate your stories, experience and advice on things as its clearly not your first rodeo. Putting in my official request for a story about your time spent in Australia
Fred, I know you've been doing this like forever, but my experience with the straight axle is if you jack a little on the opposite side it forces the side you are removing/replacing with larger new spring down enough that the old one drops right out and leaves enough room to position the new spring. Once the new spring is in, move the jack to that side and do the same, essentially compressing the new spring a little and then it droops the other side out. This is all with out removing the track bar. This action is exactly why solid axles are better for articulation. When one side goes up, it pushes the other side down. Anyway, learned that by trial and error. Always trying to work smart and not hard.
This is what I was thinking - it's awesome and safe that he had that trans jack with the axle brace, but it would have made his life easier if it were lower to the ground and allowed to droop/manipulate with another jack.
Thanks for not having a loud stupid intro. I enjoy your ingenuity ....NJ
I think you are the first guy on UA-cam to do a good job explaining the radius arm setup used by LC (and others) and why this leads to the specific off-road personality that LC's demonstrate with their propensity for massive wheel lifts as the compromise for the benefits of the radius arm setup. Great video, I'm not a Motor Trend subscriber (RIP RoadKill) and I'm grateful you are doing what you are doing here for us all on UA-cam to entertain, support and educate us!
Looks awesome...nothing better than an 80 series Land Cruiser.
Really like that setup.
Good choice.
Not every rig needs tons and 40's.
This format really suits the hands on, show and tell style projects you're great at. I dig it, keep up the good work Fred!
So nice we can see this and its not behind a MT paywall. Thanks man.
I commented a while back on a prior video and got a lot of flack from your audience that the early channel content was very easy beginner projects and I didn't feel it served an audience that had been fans for so many years before you. My opinion... This is redemption Fred! A major project but presented in the way I have always appreciated from you. Clear and concise instructions and tidbits of your knowledge sprinkled in to round out a truly educational experience. Well done I really enjoyed this video.
I love how the old tire rolled away right on cue, perfect accidental timing
Such an Iconic Legend.... the Land Cruiser too! haha! Huge WIN for Kenda Tires! Hard to beat the performance and looks of a 35x10.50R17 M/T2 for a Land Cruiser, especially on those white Nomads! Looking forward to many more videos featuring this beaut! 😎🤘💯
I put 33x10.5 Kenda rough terrain tires on my 1990 4runner with stock wheels, they've been pretty decent
@@miatalife94 I also run the 33x10.5 on my 07 4Runner. Great size for everything I use my 4Runner for! ~Josh~ 😎👊
Fred, thanks so much for making awesome content! Always appreciated for how in depth you go and how much you show things that don't always go to plan. Makes my own projects seem much more bearable! YOU ROCK!
Thanks for doing UA-cam again!
Been missing you Fred. Glad I found you again.
Thanks Fred. Great segment for an 80 year old that drives a minivan. But…… 50 years ago, I had a 72 GMC Jimmy and
1961 Willys FC170.
I like all of the information and the little things that the average guy may not think of when doing these things at home. I know that you may even miss something with trying to film and narrate what you are doing, but you are providing valueable info for a bunch of us. Thanks for the content!!
Oh yeah, much better! Wasn't sure on the wheel choice at first but once on there and on the ground definatly looks sharp. 👌
Fred ive missed you and Dirt everday! Im sorry it took this long to find your site. It feels good to be back!
I signed up for Onx off road yesterday after watching one of those big channels. Looked through the list of influencers hoping to find one of the smaller channels I enjoy that deserve more viewers and there fred was...done!
Skinny 35s! Thanks for the heads up. Ive done all of this more than once but was nice to sit through and listen to you explain stuff. I now need to find a stretch of road to adjust my dobinsons mrr's. Thanks for the episode Fred, glad to see you working safe.
So glad you have a youtube fred...miss dirt everyday
I just went, "What? Nooo Waaay!" seeing you take that locking lug nut off. I had that problem in my 01 Double Cab Tacoma. I put the locking lug nuts on since they came with the wheels. I got a flat tire but I lost the key after just having it a week before to rotate the tires. A 3/4" bolt extractor will also get the job done, which is what I used.
Nice Fred! Glad to see you doing your own thing.
I consider myself to be a more technical individual, I really appreciate that you break down some of the reasons for doing things! I wish you were making UA-cam videos 30 years ago when I had to just figure it out myself!!!
The Nomad wheels look great. Thanks for going through the lift install and specs.
Great tips for the bushing installs! It’s fun watching you do an actual technical video Fred.
Most people end up with less caster correction than they need with just the bushing replacement. Caster Correction plates do a nice job of fixing the issue.
dirt head fred my boy i watched all your guys shows on dirt everyday ,you guys built some insane and fun rigs out of all the vehicles you guys built hands down clampy and tube sock take it, i am in middle of building an rock crawler in my drive way its an 1986 Nissan king cab with dana 60 axels pushing some 44s inspired by clampy ,,keep up the great work fred from Vancouver Canada
Love that Kenda makes 10.5” wide 35” tires!
tall skinny's are the way! nice to see those tires. there ats in that size are also really nice
Old school SUV best way to go especially for what you want it for... Great job.
Fred, more of this 80, please!
Fred it looks sweet. Thanks for sharing this one with us.
I just bought myself a 99 Land Rover discovery 2 and I’m gonna lift it 2.5” soon, thanks for showing us how to do the bushings thing. Also you are right about the suspension being invented by Land Rover. Everything is pretty much the same on mine except for the front shock towers.
Land Cruisers are pretty similar to Land Rover except the whole breaking down constantly thing
It looks a lot better than it did before the build!
VERY COOL!!! Changed the entire look of the truck. I wasn't sure bout the white wheels but, they look awesome with the body.
Just had my new Method’s wheels delivered yesterday, thanks to OnX elite!
Looks better. Had some 33x9.50 Big O XT’s on a FJ40, those pizza cutters slice through the snow.
Looks sharp, Fred! We love us a trusty 80 series.
Spectacular choice on the white wheels
I've been waiting for 35 10.50's forever!
Looking sharp Fred. I always wanted one of those. And OnX is badass.
Dave must have your spring compressors
Fred, you shouldn't have installed Silent blocks with an offset center, you'll have to tear the bridge fastening!
Well done Fred! It’s probably a good idea to replace the rear bushing in the radius arms while they are out of the LC, especially one that 300k miles on it.
Nice!
Looks fantastic!!! Loving the detail of the install as well…awesome video👍🏻👍🏻
Patience my man got like 20yrs of love out there just be u...
I like how the old wheel/tire just slowly rolled off screen almost out of shame compared to the new ones.
dude 35x10.5, WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I so wish every one made that size.
Great stuff, Fred! Hope Red & the pups are all well.
They also make extractor sockets. They aren't too expensive and they make the job of pulling wheel locks off much easier.
You should compare to general LT tires off-road or maybe crossclimates for wet/winter driving. There’s technology in a lot of lighter tires that should make them comparable in the right situations. I believe the crossclimates will surprise you in mud because those V grooves really shovel mud with some wheel speed!
Looks good Fred. Nice tip on getting those offset bushings aligned!
Years back when I was operating my own off road shop, I did loads and loads of bushings like that.
Fred's method was spot on in my books. The only thing they didn't show was pressing the bushing in. I would use a light film of oil on the radius arm, get the bushing started with a hammer, and then press it. And you never ever press on the center bushing. Only on the outside ring. And everything should be torqued to spec with the weight of the vehicle sitting on the tyres. When you are doing a lift it's best to loosen all the link bars and then torque them when finished. Even when you are not replacing bushings. When you lift it, the link bars will now sit at a different angle. If you don't touch the bolts and replace the springs, those bushings will be twisted just sitting at ride height. Guaranteed, they will suffer a very short, painful death.
I have been looking for one of these for a daily/crawler project. But dang, they are getting expensive! My 80 CJ7 isn't the best road jeep I've ever had. But I'd like something my wife can just jump in and go but also be my support rig for when the jeep goes down.
Looks way better!
Hell yeah brother, looks good. Cant wait to see it wheel
I think you may have realized this later, but you should probably have broke loose all the link bars (factory bushings) so the axle could droop, then re-torqued them at the new ride height.
Exactly my initial thought. Could see it when he removed the track bar. All the vulcanized bushings prevent it from moving freely. He will probably wear out those bushings prematurely not because they were not loosened and then retightened under load.
Nice job! First time seeing you on you tube. Looking forward to more videos
Those rims look 100% legit on there.
Watched several vids on this subject.yours is by far the best .Good work ! New sub for me !
If you want to dramatically reduce the need for a steering stabilizer, crank in as much caster as possible. This will really improve the return to center when driving on the highway. It will increase the steering effort, but you can always plumb in a ram assist into your steering system if your power steering gear isn't up to the task. It won't affect tire wear. I'd double check the front spring locations, when they use different spring rates/size on one side versus the other, it is usually (but not always) because the the weight of the driver, steering column, dash board, etc. are taken account for in the spring rate. If you swap driers position from right to left, the springs should usually also swap to follow the driver.
I like 4x4s with white wheels and knobby tires. Hope it doesn't become trendy, though!
Miss my 97 LX450 deer did it in😒 Had 410,000 miles
I like the tires, but what I really like are those wheels!!!
Awesome. I’m also stoked to find you again after years following Motortrend’s move behind a paywall.
love the wheel tire combo....good choice
Nicely done Fred. I have been using OME suspension since 1984 first up on my Mitsubishi Pajero this was before ARB bought it, my 1986 Four Runner, HJ 60 , HZJ 75 ,HZJ 80, FZJ 80, HDJ 100 and now on my 300 which has BP51 shocks they are brilliant. I have never had a failure or problem. They make great suspension products.🇦🇺🦘🍺
Those wheels are beautiful.. I want them. I also want the rest of the truck.
Great video, actually shows how-to to it.
Stoked to see some wrenching but I have one criticism about the editing. The sound levels when you impact things spikes like crazy (ex: 20:15). Its either I barely hear you talking, or I get the occasional impact blast outta nowhere
Might have checked the spare tire toolkit for that wheel lock key.
Just replaced the stock shocks in my 05 ram 1500 for rough country Mseries. Now I just gotta replace the upper/lower ball joints.
That is sweet love the look of the wheels
Bad ass 80 series Fred!
Looks Much better !
This is the way i like videos! No music or special effects. Straight to the bone. Well explained, as always. You got 43 minutes of my full attention. And a new subscriber.
Check out the dirthead shed if you haven't already. Fred and Dave are buddies, both good and down to earth dudes. 🤙
Was eagerly anticipating this video! Cruiser looks great Fred, I’ve been eyeing those Nomad Convoys in white myself! Excited to see what else you have in store for the 80!
Looks awesome 👏
Gotta continue on with this one Fred. She's bada**
Hope yall are well outside of MTOD! great content
Pizza cutters ftw! Lol when the old wheel slunk away to stage right
Fred, love the videos as always man, as well as the FC shirt!
Cool rig.
I really like your Jeep Cherokee Land cruiser
Pretty sure Landrover "borrowed" the radius arm idea from the Ford bronco of that era. I remember reading, they had a Bronco and other vehicles at Eastnor Castle for evaluation years ago, during Range Rover development.
That is a great tire and wheel combo!! Those Nomads are the coolest on the market right now and I love love skinny tires.
Just use that nice snap on socket.... get a new one when your done.
I'm from the northeast and I'm jealous of the non-existence of rust.
Super cool!
Looks like a Land Cruiser should Fred, nice job and great example of how to do the front bushings, lots of people are intimidated about changing them out and they do make a huge difference on how it rides and behaves on the road, does this Land Cruiser have lockers front/back just curious myself, when its done are you going to make a video of its first off road adventure 👍
Fred, its time to get back on TV with your own show!! When is the non-compete with DED over? When will we be seeing you back on a 4x4 show?
Don't feel like you need build "content" for every upload mate. Alot of us would appreciate your stories, experience and advice on things as its clearly not your first rodeo. Putting in my official request for a story about your time spent in Australia
Just FYI, the security lug nut is from the factory. Came with the truck.
I would look into extending your brake lines. If you haven’t already, that is.
BANGIN!
I dig it!
Fred, I know you've been doing this like forever, but my experience with the straight axle is if you jack a little on the opposite side it forces the side you are removing/replacing with larger new spring down enough that the old one drops right out and leaves enough room to position the new spring. Once the new spring is in, move the jack to that side and do the same, essentially compressing the new spring a little and then it droops the other side out. This is all with out removing the track bar. This action is exactly why solid axles are better for articulation. When one side goes up, it pushes the other side down. Anyway, learned that by trial and error. Always trying to work smart and not hard.
This is what I was thinking - it's awesome and safe that he had that trans jack with the axle brace, but it would have made his life easier if it were lower to the ground and allowed to droop/manipulate with another jack.
Did you think to look for the wheel lock tool in the same place as the tire iron?
looks great
Woo Dirt Daily!
DUDE SICK!!
Same pig, different lipstick. Looks good Fred 🇺🇸