The Dudelux Story

[dudelux]

Cab Swap is officially finished, as of Saturday, had a mate come round and help out with the last little job.

Then I drove it, for the 1st time in about 2months, down the street and back, just to check it all works as it should.

I have missed it so much, it felt great to be sitting in my Hilux again after doing so much work to get it to where it is now.

I actually still a bit surprised that it all came together so well, and I managed to get it done by myself.


Now, I can start concentrating on getting real mods done to it. Im thinking turbo kit 1st, then lockers and 4.88s, then suspension/steering, then whatever else I have here waiting to go on it, then exo last.

Im still waiting to hear back from the engineer, if anyone here knows Athol, and will be talking to him over the next week, please tell him to check his emails.
Ill ring him today aswell, just to let him that I sent him an email.

But at least 1 big job can be crossed off the list now.

[to_easy]

good stuff and the best part is you done it all buy yourself

[dudelux]

Not too much to add here.
The injector pump has sprung a leak, so when the engine is running, the pump drips diesel, I dont think its a dangerous thing, just annoying. So the plan is to get my other pump rebuilt before the turbo goes on, so the turbo is a while away now.
The radiator was leaking aswell, but I got that sorted out.
The Lux isnt getting used too much currently, due to the leaking diesel pump.
So I really want to do some of the planned suspension mods while its not getting used, but my welding skills arent up to the job, I am getting better, but Im teaching myself to weld, so Im progressing slowly, lots of practice, but I need lots more before I take on some real jobs. I do have a few mates that weld for work, so ill ask them to come around and help me.

I also have some new pics of how the Lux sits now, since the last pic of it here, is when it was almost back together after the new cab went on.

[dudelux]

Ok, finally have something good to add here.

If youve read the above post, youll know that my welding skills arent up to the job of burning on some of the goodies I have here.
I was in the shed yesterday, and I was really motivated to do something, I didnt care what, I just needed to do something to the Lux.

So I had a look at all the parts sitting in the corner of the shed waiting to go on, and dragged out some bits that I could put on without the need to weld.

I then went and bought some new bushes, and new centre pins for the rear springs, got a local fab shop to cut down the load leaves for me(3inches off the front, and 4inches off the rear of each, they are about 300mm long now). The reason for cutting down the load leaves as opposed to just removing them all together was so I didnt loose too much height, and so the springs dont invert too much under flex.

I backed the Lux into the shed, and got to work.
About 3-4hrs later, I drove the Lux out of the shed after Id had a play under the back.

I fitted the IFS rear springs, the 200mm extended shackles, new greasable pins, and I ended up fitting the flipped U-bolts to the rear aswell.
The stock U-bolt plate wouldnt reach the bottom of the axle housing due to the standard, short rear shocks, so I ended up just removing the rear shocks altogether, and I just fitted the flipped U-bolts instead.

So now, theres no rear shocks, and no rear bumpstops. Saturday, a mate is coming round to give me some tips on welding, so while hes here, Im going to ask him to burn on the inverted rear shock crossmember and lower shock mounts, then I can bolt on the 10inch Bilsteins.
After that, the track bar will need to be made, so I dont break any axle/shock/spring bits with axle wrap.
As for the bumpstops, Im trying to figure out what to do with them, some say to just weld a bit of RHS to the bumpstop, and then weld that to the U-bolt plate. Im researching my options with the bumpstops at the moment.

I didnt get any pics of it yesty, because it was dark when I finished, but I got some today.

Im pretty happy with how it turned out, shackle angle looks good, springs look like they will move a bit, flipped U-bolts look good too.

Heres some pics.
New greasable pins.


The rear setup now(no shocks or bumpstops).


The cut down load leaf and flipped U-bolts.


IFS rear springs and ext shackle. Shackle angle looks good.

[dudelux]

Another good update, great actually.

My mate came round yesterday to give me some welding tips, Im really glad he did, because he found that one of my welding leads werent plugged in properly, meaning that no gas was getting through to my mig gun, so I was basically welding gasless, with gas wire, and wasting gas too, which was producing shitty welds.
We got it sorted out, and he showed me a few tips, and gave me some advice, and immediately, my welds were 1000 times better. He was impressed by my welding, I was very happy with my welding too.
He didnt end up welding in my rear shock mounts, as he was stuffed from working night shift. He was going to come around Monday to weld them in.
But, today, after yesterdays efforts, I was still full of confidence in my welding skills, that I put in the rear shock mounts myself. Did an ok job too.

They look like this.....
Inverted rear shock mounting kit(from BudsCustoms), the bottom pieces are my shock hoops for the front.


The Bilstein shockies(from Locktup4x4), the 10inch set are the shorter of the 2 sets here.


And heres the pics of them on the back of the Lux, as of this arvo.
The inverted upper mounts..


The lower mounts..


Drivers side..


Passenger side..


My welds are ok, not great, but they are plenty strong enough to hold the shocks in.

Tomorrow, or the next sunny day we have here, I will flex up the rears as far as I can with the engine crane, to work out my bumpstops extensions. Add a track bar, and the rear end is done.

[bludgerswife]

Nice... love the shocks

[dudelux]

Been a while since my last confession, so Ill update how things have been going, now.
They have been going slowly, as usual for me.
The Lux is getting used everyday to get kids off the school, and preschool, and home at the end of the day too, as well as after school activities. Im a bit of a housebitch.

I did take my 3 youngest kiddies up to Blacksmiths Beach a couple of weeks ago, first time Ive locked the hubs in on this thing for about 6months, and first time wheeling in the yellow Lux. I had the Swampers on, and they dont bag out that great, I had them running at 15psi, so next time I head up to the beach, Ill either run 31s, or run the Swampers between 10-12psi and see how that goes.
The sand on Blacksmiths is very soft though, so maybe lower pressures is better.

And now for my latest headache.....
Ive been meaning to sort out my rear bumpstops since I put in the IFS rear springs, but Im not sure how to measure up for the extensions, so Ive been putting it off, until yesterday.
I lifted up the passenger side rear wheel with my trusty engine crane, and got the wheel 600mm off the ground when the other side started lifting up. I couldnt get the shocks to compress fully. And I was told to go a flex up both front and rear ends of the Lux in a ditch or some ruts, Ill get a better measurement.

Today, I went hunting for a set of ruts, or a ditch. Eventually I found one, I drove into it from both directions, so I could get measurements on both sides.
The rear shocks still arent fully compressing, and the rear tyres were hitting the chassis rails.
Heres some pics from today, I was on the side of the main road through Ourimbah State Forest, flexing up the suspension and doing maths, probably not the best way to spend sometime in the bush with a 4wd.









As you can see in the pics, the rear tyres were hitting the chassis rail on uptravel. But the shocks were still about an inch off full compression.

Im still not sure how to make my bumpstop extensions, I want to get maximum travel from the shocks, but still have them bumpstopped properly so they are protected.

Heres the numbers I got today.
With the passenger side rear wheel up, the gap between the top of the Ubolt plate and the bottom of the chassis rail was 220mm.
With the drivers side rear wheel up, the gap between the top of the Ubolt plate and the bottom of the chassis rail was 215mm.

My bumpstops are 95mm high.

Anyone very knowledgeable in the art of sorting out bumpstops??
Please let me know how I should do mine.

Cheers.

[dudelux]

Well, I re-did the maths for my bumpstop extensions, and figured it all out(I think). So the rear bumpstops are done now.

In other news......
My brother has just swapped his Crumpledore for a 4runner, mid 90s model, 3lt V6, 5sp, 4inch lift, and 33inch MTZs.
Hes never owned a 4x4 before, and Ive been pestering him for years to get one.

So today he asked me to take him out and show him somewhere easy for him to drive around and learn how it works, and build up his confidence.
I took him to the quarry at Freemans Waterhole, then out to the Watagans for the arvo. I also took the kidlets with me, just to get them out of the house.

I/we got a few pics....






This is my brothers new ride, if anyone knows its history, please send me a PM. It used to be owned by a biker, from somewhere in the Newy area.



The kids took their own yellow trucks out with them, and did some driving too....



And they had a crack at 5ways out at The Wattos too....







I didnt get to do as much driving as I wouldve liked to, somehow the 2 load leaves on the drivers side rear moved sideways, almost hitting the tyre. I had to smash them back a few times with the tow bar off the 4runner(the towbar comes out of the hitch).
Hopefully its just a loose Ubolt, or something, Ill give it a good clean tomorrow and pull the wheel off and have a looksee.

It was great to lock the hubs and hit some tracks and some rocks. My brother learnt alot too, at the start he was using way too much go pedal, but after I explained to him how much of a PITA it is to replace broken axles and CVs on the side of a track, he learnt to use a bit more control in his right foot. He did ok for a first timer.
Everyone had a good day, and we all came home dirty.

[to_easy]

nice pics looks like you's had fun and looks like the kids enjoyed it to.

[dudelux]

I went wheeling with my brother again, out to the quarry for some fun. My brother is getting better and more confident, which is good.
He did get stuck in a hole though, it is quite a big hole though, and it has deep ruts in it too. Last time we went out there, the water went over the bonnet of my Lux. The hole was dry this time, so he thought hed have a crack at it, only to get hung up on the front diff crossmember of his 4runner.
He spent a good 20minutes digging through the mud to get to the tow hook on the front of his car.
After laughing at him for a while, and after chucking rocks into the mud so he got splashed with even more mud for a while, I dragged him out and we got to have a play on the rocks.
Heres a few pics.

My brother stuck.


My brother digging in the mud to find his front recovery hook. This was pretty funny to watch.


The rescue vehicle.


And a few action pics.

[dudelux]

Its been a while since I updated this thread.
Since the last post, and pics from the quarry, this is whats been going on in the DL story......

The mud out at the quarry killed my alternator, so I had to replace that, and get my 750cca Cat battery recharged. so thats all sorted out.

Ive fitted some very comfy bucket seats from the front of a wrecked Nissan NX Coupe, the seats were freebies from a guy I used to live next to, he wrote his car off, and I got the seats before the wreck went to scrap.
They bolted in easily, 3 of the mount lined up sweet, only had to modify 1 mount to make them bolt in, just need to get a longer bolt to get the seats sitting straight on the floorpan(who wouldve though that there is a difference in the floorpans, between a mid 90s Nissan sports coupe, and a mid 80s Hilux??)
Seats are very comfy, and have great support on the sides, no more sliding out of the seats on the tracks.

The engine is on its last legs, starting to use alot of water now, so Im going to get another 2L engine, and have it rebuilt, and my turbo bolted on, then Ill have a pretty much new 2.4 turbo diesel in the Lux.

Ive also started on my rock sliders/side steps, Ive got 1 finished and in primer. Will make a start on the other one probably next weekend. the one Ive done came up pretty good.
Im using some 75x8mm flatbar for the mounts, some 75x50x4mm RHS for the slider, and some 40x4nb medium tube for the step part, and the bits to join the mounts to the RHS.
Ive never notched tube before, and I did an ok job, with a template made from a toilet roll.

Ill get some pics up of the seats, and the sliders sometime soon.

[to_easy]

shame about your motor.

[dudelux]

Yeah I know, its been a great donk to me, lots of torque, next to bugger all power. Wants to run and hide whenever it sees a hill coming up the road.
But it only has to last a couple more weeks.

I bought another 2L diesel engine, great price too, new alternator, new Exedy clutch(3 trips old), injector pump doesnt seem to be leaking, it even has a power steering pump(which will come in handy soon with my Histeer).
Its currently being pulled apart by the diesel mechanics across from where I work, I find out tomorrow what condition its in.

The plan is to get it rebuilt, and bolt my CT20 turbo to it.

So hopefully, my current engine will last that long.

[dudelux]

As posted just above, I bought another 2L engine, it has a new alternator, and a near new Exedy HD clutch kit on it.
I dropped it off at the diesel mechanics near my work to be rebuilt. It got dropped off there at the end of April.
Mid June, I was told the engine was done, and I told him that he would be fitting the engine, then the turbo kit, exhaust, and tuning it for me.
He said no worries, itll take 3 days. I dropped the Lux off for the work to be done.......

Fast forward to now, well, a week ago.
9weeks since the Lux was dropped off at his workshop for an engine swap, and to fit the turbo, I took the Lux back, engine has been swapped, but turbo wasnt fitted, for one reason or another.
But Ive got it back, new donk seems good so far.
Ill fit the turbo in a couple of weeks, with the help of a mate. I have everything here for the turbo fit(turbo, manifold, hoses and pipes, 3in dumppipe, 3in exhaust, EGT and Boost gauges, intercooler, etc), so it should only take us a day or 2 to have it all on and tuned.