Black Hills Builds

Black Hills Builds 📍 Black Hills dad | ⚙️ Collects expensive hobbies
🚚 SC’d 80 series on 40s
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Outnumbered by mini off‑roaders
🧠 Founder

06/10/2026

Part 1: Tier tank list … random items you guys suggested.

06/08/2026

Quick walk through of some of the work Higgys put in on the FJ40. These guys are working on and restoring Landcruisers and Toyotas all day every day. I love what they did with some of the little details on this thing.

06/06/2026

The new Terra Grappler G3 tires have been on the F250 for close to a month now with almost 3,000 miles. These are a brand new size: 37x12.5R17.

They have have seen mud, snow, rain, and plenty of highway towing the Landcruiser. They’re probably one do the quietest ATs I’ve ever ran and the fact they’re snow rated is an added bonus.

Don’t kid yourself, you don’t need the MTs on the daily 😉

The 40 was on some busted fox 2.0s when I got it. It needed an upgrade bad. Now it’s sitting on 14” coilivers which ar...
06/04/2026

The 40 was on some busted fox 2.0s when I got it. It needed an upgrade bad. Now it’s sitting on 14” coilivers which are a 2.6” diameter. The overall length of these is quite a bit longer than the fox.. which made packaging a bit of a challenge.

I wanted to lower the ride height on the 40 as much as we could so we dropped spring rates and then the guys at worked their magic and fabbed new upper mounts for the extra length. I think it’s sitting around 2-3” lower than it did on the 2.0s right now.

Since it’s an original FJ40 frame and triangulated 4 link.. the limiting factor is clearance for going any lower. Right now there’s a couple inches of up travel up front wasted from link clearance. I think it’s something I can eventually fix just will require more chopping.

For 14s and 42” tires she stretches out pretty well and stays pretty balanced doing it. Can’t wait to get it in the rocks to see how it feels 🫡 Before I can do that these diffs need sealed and the brake/gas pedal cut off and re-fabbed.

Well, stage one of the FJ40 build is complete. I purchased this thing sight unseen with the help of (see last picture ...
05/28/2026

Well, stage one of the FJ40 build is complete. I purchased this thing sight unseen with the help of (see last picture of the carousel for how it sat when I got it).

Basic specs: It’s a 1970 Fj40. Dana 60 front 14 bolt rear. Triangulated 4 link front and rear. Full hydro steer. Rear fuel cell. Chevy 383 stroker with Howell tbi. TH350 trans and atlas t case. It’s definitely a “old school” crawler build. But with some TLC I’ll make it into a modern crawler. I wanted a capable crawler on tons that still looked like a classic Toyota that I could register (vin and frame).

It went straight to and got a fresh paint job, rerouted brake lines (across the housings), fresh suspension, some 42” Mts, some sexy , a .winch, and a setup. Higgys also added some finishing touches like OEM lights all around and cruiser badges.

I have a list of other things I want to do but for now she’s ready to start wheeling. This thing will be a unit in the Black hills where the 80 can’t fit without body damage.

Welcome to the family 🍻 not a bad birthday present to myself 😆

05/16/2026

It’s a good day when the Black Hills trail system opens back up for the summer 🪨

04/29/2026

That’s a sweet 4runner.. 🫡

Sun’s down ⬇️, flex is up ⬆️. Counting the days down to sit behind the wheel of the FJ40 and get on the buggy trails ...
04/25/2026

Sun’s down ⬇️, flex is up ⬆️. Counting the days down to sit behind the wheel of the FJ40 and get on the buggy trails in the hills.

As long as you’re having fun with it 🫡.
04/22/2026

As long as you’re having fun with it 🫡.

Address

1851 Discovery Circle
Rapid City, SD
57701

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