Golden Spike in an unlocked Land Cruiser. Part 3
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- In Part 3 of our attempt to cross Moab's Trifecta in an unlocked Land Cruiser we take a break at the Golden Crack before tackling the most technical portion of the trail yet, including the Golden Crack, Golden Stairs and the Waterfall before descending Gold Bar Rim and out Gemini Bridges road.
Part 1:
• Golden Spike in an unl...
Part 2:
• Golden Spike in an unl...
0:00 Introduction
0:19 The Golden Crack
2:54 March to the Golden Stairs
5:28 The Golden Stairs
8:37 Racing the sun down Gold Bar Rim
10:57 The Waterfall
5:03 Zuki Hill
14:08 Sunset - Авто та транспорт
Not everyone’s lx has 10k modification. You pushed the lx to its limit and did so well, it’ll inspire all the other owners. Keep these videos coming!
Awesome video. I was literally squirming in my seat waiting for something to snap…. Great Job!!
So did I! We brought enough food/water for a few extra days. I totally expected a trail repair. But even after my poor line on the waterfall and slamming the tire, it held up.
After an alignment, it was revealed the A-arm is bent. Not cracked, but just enough a perfect alignment is impossible. I'm still driving on it!
If you knew me and my FJ Cruiser you would know, i welcome darkness😊... Atrac only is an award winning run!
I love FJs! If only I could find one in a manual that won’t break the bank!!
Damn those OEM CVs can take a beating
No joke!!! I'm sold on them, they owe me nothing!
I’ve seen someone swap out 100 series CVs in 15 minutes. And they need no maintenance. You should get 175k on them even wheeling them hard. I think RCV makes some replacements that go for $175 and are supposedly lifetime. The Nitros are good too. Of course OEM. Larry Miller owned Toyota dealerships will give you “enthusiast” pricing if you just ask the parts manager. My 80 needs the Birfs tore down and rebuilt every 60k. The 80 has a laundry list of maintenance items the 100 simply doesn’t. I have a Toyota 03 CV boot kit if you want it. Venmo me shipping and I’ll send it.
Thanks so much for doing this series. I just got an 06 cruiser and am looking to really baseline it before I attempt any of this with some buddies. Now I know what to look out for when I get out there
Thanks! I want to get out and try it again with my locker and with the front end lowered a bit (regain some front articulation).
Enjoy your cruiser!
Definitely the best offroad video ever. Good naration. Especially for me that never visited utah. And you got the best spotter there! Love the way your dad leading through the trails and the way you drive!
Greetings from South East Asia.
Thanks! Now that I have a rear locker, I want to try it again. More finesse and less brute force!
Nice. Always cool to see what these cruisers can do despite how big they seem
I'm actually surprised how well it did despite a torsion bar front end.
I'm looking into a rear locker for next year though. Thanks for watching!
Amazing video. Its a story rather i would say. loved your family. Especially the way your dad was guiding. Proud to be a LX 470 owner
Thanks! I can't wait to get a rear locker!
awesome series, just subscribed, came across the first episode searching around for land cruiser builds and been engrossed in it for the past hour. very well-produced videos, your kids make an excellent camera crew and really seem to know their stuff for their ages!
Thanks! They have a ton fun with the cameras, and that's good for me when I'm busy driving!
I have to remind them to keep the camera steady though....on long trips they can naturally get a big bored of technical filming. Still, all of them seem to enjoy it to varying degrees, and as long as they want to film, I'll keep letting them!
Thanks for watching.
Excellent video and exciting to watch ! The LX470 did well and so did you as a driver. Congrats.
I think dropping to 15 psi would have solved a lot of that. I had Toyo MTs on my 80 for a while and couldn’t get those things to deflect at all over 12. Get a rear locker on that thing and you’re good to go. Those things are tanks. You’ll learn to love it.
That was an excellent video. Thanks for sharing.
Nice series of videos. Makes me even more excited for the trips I can take my ‘99 100 series on with its rear locker. I don’t have near the skills or experience you do though. Thanks for documenting this and all the other trail vids on your channel.
Really impressive!
I was surprised how good the LX did.
I was too, I thought I'd brake something on the trail! My torsion bar preload was too high, I lowered 1-1.5" and it's even better now.
Outstanding video and amazing what just ATRAC can do.
Wow! Despite already knowing the outcome I am super impressed! Loved the narration, cinematography and on the edge of my seat feel wondering if things were going to hold up.
Thanks! This part was kind of stressful to put together as we were all getting tired and so we either didn't take video (like that obstacle I had to diagram....I wish we'd have caught that one) or the video we had was shaky.
I can't wait for the relaxing white rim run.
Great videos👍
Learned a lot from your videos. Just purchased 2004 LX470 with 110K miles will love cruiser more 👍
Yeah, they are great! Enjoy your ride!!
I'm shocked that no CV's exploded, great driving!
At the end, that final impact bent the lower control arm. No cracks, but I can't get a perfect alignment (still drives good).
The steering rack bushings, which tend to fail, actually saved my tie-rods...both rack bushings were completely torn and the rack would lift itself over 1/2" every time I turned. The noise is what tipped me off. I've since installed poly bushings and re-did the inner tie-rods as they were toast too, and she's back on the roads.
Between parts and alignment, it cost somewhere around $300 in damage and a weekend or two, but none of it was a trail repair!
@@ForgottenWaypoints Hey 300$ isn't too bad! I'm glad yall were able to continue, and thanks for these videos they are great!
Great video! It’s awesome to see what you tackled with the minimal mods! I have the same setup on my LX and hope to be able to tackle this one day. Maybe I can hire your dad as my spotter!? Lol he’s awesome!
Yeah, he's great!
That looks like a very tough trail to run without lockers. You've got guts a friend! But it did look like a whole lot of fun
It's one of our favorites. And yeah, lockers are definitely highly recommended.
It was a great experience, I installed a rear locker in the LX and probably will do a front by next year. Originally, I figured I'd do bumpers first, but the trail showed me I'd get more out of a locker.
@@ForgottenWaypoints nice! Rear locker plus center locked will get you through 90% of obstacles. There's very little out would need to be tripled locked for. If you have rear locker situated I would go for armor next. Bumpers/sliders
@@NKPGarage , not a bad idea. I may go locker up front just to strengthen that front diff a bit more. I also dropped the front 1" by going back 3 rotations on the tbar. Hopefully that gets me some droop back.
I'm rubbing a bit now, just the liner...so back with the heat gun I go!
Great video, excellent voice over and very good driving. Looks like your dad is a first class spotter with some experience!
I have an 02 LX (had a 98 previously) and IMO the A-TRAC works best with steady throttle. In a couple of spots, it felt that A-TRAC was about to kick in when you let go of the gas. But it is hard to tell from the video alone, I am sure the situation on the ground is a lot more stressful and it can be counter-intuitive to stay on throttle when you are not making forward progress.
You are 100% on all points, especially ATRAC. I stress that "constant throttle" to newcomers all time.
In this trail, I had a few problems. One of which is 5 psi less would have probably helped. The biggest was that when ATRAC hit on the incline, it would bounce the front suspension. The greatest fear was a busted CV, so if I felt the front start to hop, I'd let off. In a few instances (as you noticed) I probably should have given it just a second or two longer. I didn't dare. 2-3 bounces and I was done with "slow and steady".
This led to a "sending it" approach. I would hit the obstacle with a bit of momentum, then give it enough throttle to prevent bouncing, but allowing enough slip to ATRAC the opposite side. This is really a bad idea, as there is potential for the tires to grab toruqe and then BOOM! snapped CV. But in practice, I could control my loud spinning on the slick rock which didn't stress the drivetrain (my BFGs didn't like the rubber being burned off though!) and I could allow ATRAC to spin the opposite side in a controlled fashion. Risky. Not a recommended approach AT ALL. I was lucky, but it worked on some obstacles that technically outclass ATRAC-only vehicles.
It was suggested that two-pedaling it might have helped, as you keep velocity down, but engine RPMs and torque up. The downside is you are working against the torque converter in this case. I'm not as faimilar with this method and played with it on Elephant Hill last week and I wasn't quite sold as I thought I'd be. It seems that slow and steady (as you suggested) is best for ATRAC. This is my preferred approach to crawling in the Cruiser.
In the end, I'm not proud of a lot of my driving style in the video, but as my dad said "You made it over, unlocked, without breaking or assistance, so that says something." Yes it does, and I couldn't have done it without him as a spotter.
In the end, I really want to get a rear locker. That would help a TON and would be less stressful on the drivetrain. So hopefully next spring I can afford a locker install.
Thanks for watching!
Great video! Would be comforting having the Jeep’s along with experts like your Dad.
Any thoughts on how a 99 LC would do there? No ATRAC but does have the rear locker.
Thanks
A rear locker would have helped. It may have done better, we used to hit this trail all the time in Jeeps with a single locker. With a 99, your biggest issue is the weaker front diff.
Great video series, it inspires me to do this trail in my LX. I haven't blown any CVs yet, but I did blow up the front diff on a tough climb with wheel hopping. Now locked front and rear so that's less of a worry. I'm curious, were all the rigs running the same tires? BFG KM3s? I was surprised how much more wheel spin the LX was getting vs the Jeeps, but I guess they were probably locked on most of the tough climbs.
Good eye! A few things going on here:
1) The JL had KM3s the JK and LX were on KO2s. I can't remember the pressures, but they were all similar. I started with a higher pressure as I wanted to see how the LX performed. Then forgot to drop it. After reviewing the footage, I clearly had room on the sidewall to drop pressure and it definitely would have helped. I'd probably run 18-20psi next time, depending on how much overland gear I'm carrying.
2) The Jeeps were locked front and rear, and this video crystal clearly shows why mechanical lockers are superior to electronic traction control in technical rock crawling terrain once you jump past the 5 rated trails. I've since added a rear locker to the LX and am dying to go back.
3) I'm a solid axle guy. The T-bars on the LX were cranked too high with too-much preload. I'm confident this caused some of the porposing too as I had no droop. I've since dropped the front of the LX by 1-1.5" and it's much better.
4) I've had a lot of comments that my driving "sucks". That's ok, but those familiar with the trail know I"m purposely outclassed and the video footage of the LX was indeed ugly. I've done the trail multiple times, including an unlocked ZJ grand Cherokee (shown in the golden crack section), so I know how it should "look". Which is one reason I'm itching to go back, even if I don't have the front locker yet.
5) The trail did prove the durability of the LX. I was pretty sure I'd snap a CV, or worse strip the front diff. Either were a possibility. I got lucky. Maybe when I go back, I won't be so lucky?
Thanks for watching!! It was so much fun to make that short series.
@@ForgottenWaypoints Thanks for the thoughtful response. There will always be someone posting snarky comments. Usually someone who has never attempted something similar in a rig like yours. I wonder if the grippier compound on the KM3s also helped vs the KO2s? That said, I run KO2s and love them. I do go down to 15 psi offroad which has worked well for me. I just swapped out the AHC for an Ironman lift and I am worried about the T-bars being quite stiff. I know some folks just run the stock ones which I might do if the beefier Ironman ones end up being too stiff on the trails. I have yet to try them though.
@@etb4272 , you will definitely have better grip than me at 15psi. I can't speak for the KM3s, but my brother-in-law absolutely loves them.
I think the performance is really close. Check out my Rose Garden Hill video for more comparisons of my dad's (JK, KO2) and my BIL (JL, KM3) in action. We were learning the JL at this time and didn't realize if you were in Drive in 4Lo it won't use 1st gear, so you aren't at max crawl ratio. My dad did know this on his JK, which in my opinion is the edge (gearing, not tires) in the difference in climbing up the hill.
Both rigs did well, I would put the edge on KM3s, personally, but they are $$!
Good series! I'll never, ever, take mine to this extreme (on purpose) but it's good to see that if necessary I could get through it.
Yeah, I won't be doing it again without at least a rear locker, that's for sure. But it sure was a fun adventure!
what high is your lift? amazing video, I'm so pumped to bought a LX470
Heavy OME lift with HD torsion bars and slee diff drop. I called up cruiser outfitters and they hooked me up. The LX rocks!
That's pretty amazing for being stock with a lift. What's your fuel consumption?
I estimate around the high side of 15mpg on the freeway. I haven't done the full calculation because the speedometer is wrong due to the tire size. Still, it's not very good, and I anticipate even worse with the new base rack.
Impressive! Thanks for taking the time and effort to film that. Did you upgrade the headlights/corner lights?
Yes! It's so much better than the green tinted stock lights
@@ForgottenWaypoints You got a link to them? I've got a White LX470 too and think they look great.
Yeah, I think I got them off Amazon, I'll check my orders and post a link
@@ricko.4639 , they are AmeriLite Chrome Projector Headlights, they were just over $200. They also have a chrome LED halo, but I haven't wired it up. haven't decided if I did, I just tucked the wires under the bumper and tied them up.
@@ForgottenWaypoints thanks for looking that up!
This July I will be attempting these trails in my '99 LX with an LSD in the back. It will be very interesting to see just how much ATRAC was helping your truck out there. I predict I will be using a lot of throttle and may need a new front diff after it's all said and done haha
I put on a rear locker after this trail, and won't do it again until I have a front.
I'd air down to 18 if your tires can handle it and try some 3-pedal crawling to see if you can keep the wheel speed down. Also, in the summer heat, traction should theoretically be better.
Have fun, and report back! Good luck! Bring lots of water and a friend's rig!!
What wheel does the lx470 have? Link if possible, thanks
Check out my LX470 review post, I believe the pinned post has that info. Thanks for watching!
So good from Australia #phils_offroad
What size tires were you running?
285/75r17 on icon wheels, no spacers
What did you air down to?
I was only at 20. Clearly should have been lower. Ah well, hindsight is 50/50
@@ForgottenWaypoints All good. Great wheeling regardless. I always air down to 15-17 PSI depending on the trails
.
Not bad for a "mall cruiser"
"Gemminy" Bridges? It's "Gem-in-eye".
Just following NASAs lead. Honestly, I use both ways.
www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/movies/first-man-gemini-nasa.html
A jeep driver disliked this video.
Hahah, that made me laugh
I'll wheel with you once but that's it cuz I'll see how bad of a driver you are and don't want to be always waiting on your broke rig lol.