It is and my expectations are low. Hopes are high. 
Realized when I got home that the front wheels had no balance weights on the outside, owing to PO sandblasting the wheels. So that oughta make a difference?
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Updates… My M101CDN2 trailer had been retrofitted with 12v bulbs, so of course I had to switch them back. Thankfully some of the spares that came with my truck had the right combo of bulbs. Job done. But that is only half the battle. I am in the process of wiring a trailer harness. Got a 24v unit, and have the rhs indicator left to run a longer wire to, and I’ll be ready to tow. Well, electrically, anyways. Still need to get some safety chain eyelets.
One more win: Replaced the front “no-profile” bumpstops with new OEM snubbers. All four bolts came out with no drama. Yay!
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Haha. No wheel weights? That’ll do it!
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Trailer wiring is done. 24v control box, hidden in the floor compartment and trailer now has 24 volt bulbs again, like it did when new.
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Just had a week off for Easter. Got lots done, which I’m sure I’ll detail, but it culminated with ordering a bumper this evening. I probably don’t need to tell you which one.
As we sink into the third wave here and numbers continue to climb, I am very thankful to have a project. My vax is still a ways off, despite my profession, and it’s definitely a source of stress, so being able to throw myself headlong into a build that can potentially last forever is shielding me with calm, in this sea of crazy…
Yes. ARB. And by George, brand spanker: my first one not cobbled together, dragged north by friends across borders, and adjusted to fit through sheer force of will. Well, assuming it actually is in stock, or at the very least, can be actually located in a dusty Australian warehouse somewhere?
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That’s awesome, can’t wait to see it! I love the ARB bumpers on everything.
A guy just posted his diesel swapped 94 isuzu trooper with lots of ARB kit including air lockers, bumpers, and more, up for sale on the isuzu trader page with no price, just “make an offer” and I SO sorely wish I could make him an offer 
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Busy weekend and details to add but here’s end result…
And all steering links got replaced. Even managed a toe and go…
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Well now. Isn’t that looking beefy these days. Crazy how that bumper changes the look. (Does it stick out as far as the original?)
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Well Brian, can you see it from your house? Because the original one, I’m pretty sure, went at least as far as southern Utah when I turned the nose south. I betcha the arb is still a good foot shorter. LOL. It’s downright svelte in comparison.
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I am super behind on this… life’s been busy.
Rebuilt the front end. As in the tierod and drag link ends. The boots were all torn, and I believe that was contributing to the sloppy handling. But wow, getting those bad boys apart? Ouch. Wade and I each took a turn on the pipe wrench, link in vice, and still… only got one of four cracked loose.
Ended up having to use TWO pipe wrenches at the same time, at 180 degrees from each other, propane, penetrating fluid, and a bigger vice.
At that point they started to yield, and suddenly everything was apart, and sitting on my bench.
Next up? The “TOE AND GO”.
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I centered the wheel, bolted everything in place, torqued the nuts, inserted cotter pins, and then set to work figuring out a system to check my toe. I started off by using a large drywall T-square ruler, to mark the edge of the tire at 90 degree intervals, on both wheels, as well as the floor position of the t-square, so I could replicate after moving the square.
Then I put a piece of tape across each tire at a measured spot, and marked a line on each side. At this point it was simply a matter of measuring across (using my marks to line up) and then rotating 180 degrees and remeasuring.
My measurement was 1/8 of an inch less on the front side than the back side, so toed in 1/8", which was exactly what I was going for. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it’s pretty darn close, and would let me drive it to the alignment shop. And now that the entire steering system is rejuvenated, the alignment shop should have an easy time of fine-tuning it.
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That’s really clever. Toe is pretty easy to adjust, right? Just a couple nuts on the tie rod ends?
Reminds me of conversations I had years ago with an OG about trammel bars. Pretty interesting stuff. I was amazed at how they can be used. Here’s an interesting writeup for making your own trammel bar for wheel alignments.
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So on mine it is a matter of loosening the clamps and turning the sleeves. One sleeve affects the position of the wheel, the other adjusts toe.
I’ll have to check out the trammel bar.
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Okay, let’s get to the fun stuff!
Ordered my ARB 3412130 on a Sunday, was ready on a Monday, and my wife picked it up on a Thursday.
(As an aside, a 70 Series ARB WILL fit in the back of a 100 Series, if you take it out of the box. )
I’ve installed many bullbars over the years. This one was the easiest. Tanya and I took a side each, and simply slid it onto the frame rails. Insert two vertical bolts/nuts/washers. Then two outboard and one inboard bolt through the frame horns on each side, and THAT’s IT! Align, tighten, DONE.
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SO my alignment shop was able to turn the tubes by hand after loosening the clamps… so good, after all my work to get those bad boys freed up. Alignment and wheel balance transformed the way it drives. So much more stable, esp at speed. 120kmh down the gravel was zero drama. Or at least in theory (Cough cough).
So I drove it to work a few times.
Cooling system parts order just arrived. And I went on a shakedown run yesterday, pulling my little trailer! Woohoo! More to come…
Meanwhile… First fuel returns are in! 11.8L/100kms, and that is not adjusted for odo accuracy, so likely a little better than that. This was mixed driving, suburban/highway, but mostly the latter, on 33x1250 ATs at around 3000 feet. And that was NOT while towing. LOL
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Is that good for a big, heavy diesel like that? I mean, I never seem to get better than 15mpg (16l/100km) with Fezzik. (Starting to wonder if a tired TPS could be inefficiently changing gears or something.)
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I think that’s pretty good, on 33s.
My 2800 Pajero on 33s got around 12 per 100, my 3200 and 2500 Pajero each got around 10.5, and my Prado gets about 10. So same ballpark.
16 per 100 is definitely high in my experience. Are you correcting the odo fr tire size, or no…? Or are you running stock tire size?
Even the green Montero with 3800 V6 averaged 13L/100 or under…
The V8 Landcruiser is getting 15.5/100kms and I call it a thirsty pig. 
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I hadn’t thought about correcting for the re-gear. Hmmm. I’m 4.90s on 31s, so the numbers are probably 8-12% high, depending on actual wheel speed. Food for thought!
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Did my first container of liqimoly diesel purge today, IV style directly into the veins of the 1hz.
Might be placebo effect but it seems quieter. And there is definitely more pull going up the hill of my usual test run. Smoke might be a touch less, but I can still produce it at WOT. I’m going to give it another dose soon just to be thorough. This truck sat a long time before I got my mitts on it, so a good cleaning of the fuel system is good practice methinks.
Took about 15 mins or so to burn all the diesel purge… I set it up gravity feed style into the pump through the bottom of my container, with the return coming back in over the side. Pretty easy to set up. And this method enabled me to keep an eye on the level and use up almost every drop.
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Did another can of DP last night. Test drive seemed to indicate even less smoke, more power? Once my egt gauge comes I’m going to turn DOWN the fuel just a hair. I think it’s overfuelled at this altitude. Pyrometer will tell the tale empirically… AFR would be useful too but $$!
Meanwhile, thermocure flush is the next step. Cooling system will be getting much needed attention finally.
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