A.J.'s Runner - "Please Stand-by"...Product Review

[crawlerdan]

damn man???!!! GOT RUST?

[CTENG in KS]

damn man???!!! GOT RUST?

Welcome to the northeast, everything rusts within hours...I plan to have a paint party when the truck is ready to go. 

The exhaust  is by a company called walker. It is a turbo style replacement muffler, fully surrounded with fiberglass matt.  It is maybe 5 dB louder than stock.

[crawlerdan]

i put a flowmaster hushpower on my 87 runner, a little louder than stock, but nice and grumbely

[CTENG in KS]

I am an old man in young mans skin, no likey loud.      

[crawlerdan]

eh? what? speak up ya lill bastid...time for my nap

[bluerunner]

lookin good bro cant wait to see some rollin shots!

and thanks for the pics! 

[jscarrozzo]

looks awesome...i am from Berlin, CT..about 20-25 minutes from you.  www.ctyotas.com is the site me and 85xtracab are putting together. drop me an email at [email protected] if u want to go wheelin sometime. I just got done with a headgasket job, and just makin some last minute adjustments...ready to wheel..

[Matty]

heyyy J you made it here....glad to see that

yea we all gotta get out wheelin soon.....

you should start a thread and post some pics of your truck im sure everyone here would love to see it.

[CTENG in KS]

Ahh, good people of CT.  I got about 2 hours of must do work before she is ready to go, just have to figure out how to get myself down there so I can drive it back up to Manchester.   

[Matty]

not sure where we are gonna go out yet.   I dont know if you know any good spots because all of the ones around here and short and easy.  Im having the same problem drving around on my swampers isnt very fun....

[CTENG in KS]

No I have a daily driver, I have the truck down in Danbury...I gotta figure out how to get down there so I can drive the truck back up here.  I just signed up for the Sept. 4th run with JonFund to Mabell in North Hampden Mass.

[Matty]

Do you have to be a member to sign up for that, and do you know requirements on Vechicles for that trip?

think if i could go i would be able to make it?

[CTENG in KS]

From JonFund site:

Rig Requirements

For safe wheeling the JonFund expects that your truck will have a minimum amount of safety equipment. Our sport can sometimes be dangerous. While the main reason for these requirements is your safety a secondary reason is consideration of others.

We strongly recommend that your rig is properly equipped with the following equipment and that the equipment is securely mounted in your vehicle. JonFund maintains the right to disallow any vehicle not considered properly equipped for a run.

Seatbelts for all occupants
A spare tire within 10% of your rig's tire size securely attached to the vehicle
Jack capable of lifting your truck (HiLift preferred)
Jack board, foot or base to support jack on soft ground
Lug Wrench
Front AND Rear tow hooks, tow shackles, or tow rings rated for 1.5 times the weight of your vehicle
Tow strap (20' min.)
Properly secured battery
Shovel
Fire extinguisher
Extra fluids (oil, water and gas)
CB radio
First Aid kit
The following list includes items that are of less importance but might get you out of a jam one day when you need them the most. You know your vehicle and its reliability so please pack accordingly.

Tool Kit
Spare Parts (hubs, ignition, belts, axels, assorted hardware)
Garbage bags (for packing out more than you pack in)
Ax or saw
Air pump or compressor
Tireplug kit
Transfercase fluids & differential fluids
Winch
Survival kit
Lunch
Camera
When wheeling with the JonFund you will need to wheel responsibly. Please control your vehicle in such a way that it shows your respect for the environment. Airing down your tires is an excellent example of this. In addition to helping your vehicle perform better off road, low air pressure in your tires will help the landscape maintain it's integrity.

Always keep the truck behind you in your rear view mirror. If they disappear then you should stop. This keeps everyone together in one safe group.

Headlights should be on low beam at all times during a run in the interest of additional safety.

Pack out MORE than you pack in. We know you will be exemplary in making sure that all of your food wrappings and so forth are brought back out of the woods but what about that soda can that someone left there three months ago? Ideally we will pick those up, too. (A note on cigarette butts - please make sure that they make it back to your truck and not on the ground.)

[CTENG in KS]

85, I asked over on the website...they are only taking 15 rigs...I'll let you know if non members are allowed when they get back to me.

[Matty]

sweet thanks man, if not i will keep in touch with you and try to get out sometime soon

[CTENG in KS]

She's home!!!
60 miles later my baby is back at my apartment.  Did my own alighnment, spot on perfect.  Got my tow oints set up, I am almost ready for next weekend!
WOOHOOO!   

[CTENG in KS]

It's been months since i have had an update.  I am working on some legality stuff, my rear fenders.  I welded in some new sheetmetal inner wells and toped them with some flexible flares for coverage.  Welding the thin yota sheetmetal was a pregnant dog as I have not really got the settings on my little welder right for it, but they are on their and with the big ol tractor mudflaps I am putting on next, that should keep the pokey off me back.

[CTENG in KS]

nother...not the prettiest things, but they are camo in all black and they get the job done, after all, with my funky front fenders, who will even be looing at the rears. 

[shad]

How strict is CT about state inspection? I know in VT we can just throw some rollers under it for state inspection and they pass it .
After that throw your old tires back on and they don't really hassle you about it.

[CTENG in KS]

CT no longer does inspection for vehicles inder 18K lbs gross.  But I care not, my baby is going on the carrier to Kansas.

[CTENG in KS]

holy mother of love...i got set up in my garage and i'm getting work done! got the dr side frt axle pulled apart and have begun cleaning and painting...bad pics camera phone blows, sorry. 

[CTENG in KS]

I am calling my axle rebuild progect, "Ode to Simp."  I figure if he can clean and paint, so can I. Hrrruuummmpppphhhh.  This here is the knuckle, I never realized it was so small.  Must have been the nearly inch of sludge I chiseled off of it.  I am using Gloss Black Tractor Enamel from TSC.  I am brushing it on nice and thick...this stuff coats really well...

[whiteman]

Your build is looking great.  I am going to rebuild my knuckles when i brake my axles, wich will be right after it gets out of the garage.

[CTENG in KS]

This whole deal would have been done and over in a weekend if it wasn't for the sludge.  Years of the seals being blown have created meatballs of mud around the knuckles.  I am happy to say that both ends are cleaned and panted and the next step...maybe tonight...is to pull the third and find out what went BOOM! in there.   

[CTENG in KS]

6 months later I have finally delved into why my front third is kaput.  I expected to find catastrophe, what I got was  .  It appears that what happened was one of the cap bolts worked itself loose.  Now, the last time I went wheeling, this third was functioning perfectly.  This leads me to believe that the bolt came out as a result of vibration and shock while driving on the road.  This despite the loctite and proper torque specs.  The good news is that, other than some minor scarring on the ring and pinion, all the internals are still go for launch.  I have an extra set of bearings, races, and seals, so I will replace those and reassemble.  I got the housing cleaned and painted last night, hopefully tonight I will have the third assembled and ready for install.  I have a brand new bottle of red loctite, but anyone have any thoughts on prevention of this happening again? 

[CTENG in KS]

Got the 3rd all back together.  Isn't the case perty and clean?  I believe I am on shedule for axle reassembly this weekend. 

[CTENG in KS]

Now this looks MUCH better than before.  I would like to thoroughly appologize to Marlin for allowing his beautiful billet steering arms to rust and get generally yucky.  I offer this photo as proof that the problem is being rectified and I will not do such things ever again...promise...  

[toybuilt]

      

[CTENG in KS]

She'as back on all fours and rollin... front axle is functioning properly!  Yeah!      

Anybody out there got some tube steps or a tube bumper they wanna get rid of for cheap.  I want some of that nice 3 inch tubing with the bends already in it that I can cut up....anyone???

I got bad axle wrap. 

[CTENG in KS]

What do you think about the new thread name, huh??

Went to this nice place and got some steel and they have ammo cans up the wazoo and everything else under the sun...I was in heaven...

...This is for replacing my rusted rocker panels...