Featured 100 - Morty

[Morty]

My '98 100 is my wife's daily driver and has been for over seven years. We bought it in early 2000 with 18k miles on the ticker and it now has 122k. It has been very reliable. I have performed routine maintenance as recommended in the owner's manual either at a Toyota dealership or the work has been done at home by my good buddy who is a Toyota mechanic. I have had no major unjustified repairs to speak of. I have replaced brake pads only twice in 122k miles. Overall, I am beyond impressed with this rig. It has served us very well. We have three boys (6 year old and 3 year old twins) and the rig has held its own against their unyielding abuse. Here's the story of my 100's evolution:

We drove the 100 in basically stock form for the first four years we owned it. We enjoyed taking it offroad and did some fun trails with it while stock including Elephant Hill in Moab. The only serious trail damage was to the stock running boards, which I beat back into shape with a hammer after every trip offroad. In early 2004 I was headed home to Salt Lake from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon. The car had four adult passengers in it, all of whom were wearing seatbelts. As we were headed up and over a mild mountain pass on the interstate, a Subaru Forester that was about 100 yards ahead of us and in the next lane over started spinning out of control. After doing several 360s, the Subaru appeared to be headed off the right shoulder and over the embankment. Because I assumed the road was icy, I did not want to apply the brake so I took my foot off the accelerator and moved all the way to the left emergency lane. We were traveling about 70 mph as we approached the Subaru, which was about 40 feet to the right of us. At the last second, the spinning Subaru caught traction with its driver's side tires and shot backwards straight across all of the freeway lanes and ended up right in front of us. We nailed the right rear of the Subaru doing about 70 and basically tore the back half off of the Subaru. The front half of the Subaru swung around 270 degrees and hit us again in the right rear quarter panel. Fortunately, the Subaru had only a driver (19 year old girl headed back to college after being home for the weekend) and no other passengers, and she was seatbelted and survived with a few minor scrapes and bruises. Everyone in my car was fine. The resulting damage to the 100 cost about 18k to repair and started me on the road to many great modifications. Amazingly, we drove it home from the accident, about 200 more miles.

[Morty]

After the crash we added an ARB Sahara bumper up front, Slee Slider Steps, and a Slee rear bumper. All three have been great, although the Slee stuff is definitely more stout than the ARB up front. We also opted to replace the bumper trim all the way around the vehicle and we had it painted to match the white body color. It has held up very well since that time.

At that time (or nearly thereafter) we switched over to Nitto Terra Grapplers and ran those for about 30k with no modifications to the suspension. The rig in this configuration was nice, although the added weight of the rear bumper was not very compatible with the tired springs and shocks on the rear end. For the following few years, I began compiling a list of mods I wanted to do based mostly on recommendations and ideas from this forum.

In late 2006, I finally decided it was time to pull the trigger. The tires were worn out, the shocks were shot, the springs were tired, and the CD player was full of quarters. The rest of the rig was in really good condition and we had grown attached to it, so we decided to send it to Slee off road in Colorado for an extensive list of modifications.

Christo has featured it on his website and he has lots of pics:

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/project_v...ZJ100_main.htm

[Snook]

Morty,

Ha, so that truck on Slee's link is yours!

I have been using your UZJ100 as a model!

Well done!

Cheers,

[Morty]

Recent modifications by Slee Off Road include:

• ARB Sahara bumper with foglight kit
• Lightforce 240 Lights wired with Toyota OE switch
• Warn 9.5 XP winch with MasterPull Plasma rope
• Front ARB Air Locker with full functioning dash lights
• Toyota OE 2nd Fuel Tank with redundant fuel system.
• Slee Step Sliders
• Slee Rear bumper with tire carrier. Hella work light. Backup camera and CB antenna
• African Outback full rack
• Dual battery system using two red-top Optimate batteries. Switching done by solenoid. Battery mounted using Slee battery tray. Interior fuse holder.
• On-Board shower with Sure-Flo pump and quick connects
• Pioneer on board navigation/stereo, bluetooth phone, custom Ipod socket and backup camera
• Visualogic 2nd row headrest Video system.
• Mark's Speedo Calibration unit.
• Cobra CB with external speakers mounted in overhead console.
• Custom lift using Slee Diff Drop, OME spring and torsion bars with Bilstein shocks.
• Adjustable rear panhard rod.
• Nitto Terragrapler 285/65/18's on Toyota 18" Wheels.

I don't quite know where to start in explaining the modifications. The suspension setup has been very nice. The ride is better than stock, and I went with the Australian Bilstien shocks which have worked really well. My shocks were so worn out before that the difference has been amazing.

I bought a set of 18" wheels from an '06 LC on ebay because I like the look of the 18s for street use. I have an older set of 16's that I use off road with 34x10.50/16 TLSs on them. Those tires have been really great off road, although they suck on the street and they wear down really fast.

Christo mounted a CB speaker in front of the overhead console which is really slick and totally stock looking.

I replaced the stock stereo with a Pioneer AVIC-Z1, new amps, new larger subwoofer, new speakers in the doors, and rear 9" headrest DVD player. I am really happy with the setup, and the kids are even more pleased than I am.

[Morty]

The AOB roof rack is sweet. I initially intended to take it on and off the truck as needed but decided it's too much work to do so and I don't really have a good place to store it, so I just leave it on. I opted for the rack with moonroof hatch, and initially I didn't like the noise and turbulence created by the rack with the moonroof open, so I found an older model Yakima windscreen (42" wide) and mounted it to the front of the AOB rack with the stock Yakima hardware. That has worked out perfectly. There is less noise and turbulence now than when I had the moonroof open in the stock configuration with no rack at all.

My favorite mod is the OEM subtank. It holds just over 15 gallons if I fill it right to the top of the filler hose, which gives me about 190 miles of extra highway range in this truck as it is currently set up. I also really like the idea of having a second fuel pump in case something goes wrong. The tank itself is small so it stays up and out of the way where it won't get damaged. Christo sourced an OEM subtank switch from overseas to complete the package.

[Morty]

We have used this truck a lot for family expedition travel in Utah and Colorado. We have a 3 week long trip planned this July/August along the California coast. I cannot say enough how much I have loved this rig. I have owned other cars that were completely worn out with the same number of miles I have on my 100 right now, and this one is just getting broken in.

I opted to stay with 33 inch tires (34 off road) and not to do the 4.88 gear swap based mainly on the number of highway vs. offroad miles I do and the recommendations of forum members, including and especially Christo. I don't regret the decision I made at the time, but now that Christo has come up with his killer SAS I may rethink everything and go to 35's with a 4" lift sometime down the road. I'd really like to take this truck to Alaska for the Alaska Cruiser Trek someday, and the SAS may be the way to go for a trip like that.

I recently bought a Eezi-Awn Family (2200) rooftop tent, which fits perfectly on the AOB rack and is a nice addition for our crew. It is a well built and comfortable tent. We've only had the chance to use it once, but that will change very soon.

I have to thank the forum members for all the help and ideas. I am not a frequent poster but I have followed the forum for a few years and most of my ideas for the rig have come from you. This is a great forum.

[Morty]

Two more photos...

[e9999]

Another great rig!
Man, the idea of sending one to Christo and telling him "do your thing with it" is enough to make a grown man woozy...

[KathmanduCruiser]

Thanks for sharing your stories and pictures.

[anthonycds]

That's awesome, and inspiring as well!

[davegonz]

That's one sweet ass rig! Great job.

[ChuckB]

Originally Posted by Morty

Recent modifications by Slee Off Road include:

• ARB Sahara bumper with foglight kit
• Lightforce 240 Lights wired with Toyota OE switch
• Warn 9.5 XP winch with MasterPull Plasma rope
• Front ARB Air Locker with full functioning dash lights
• Toyota OE 2nd Fuel Tank with redundant fuel system.
• Slee Step Sliders
• Slee Rear bumper with tire carrier. Hella work light. Backup camera and CB antenna
• African Outback full rack
• Dual battery system using two red-top Optimate batteries. Switching done by solenoid. Battery mounted using Slee battery tray. Interior fuse holder.
• On-Board shower with Sure-Flo pump and quick connects
• Pioneer on board navigation/stereo, bluetooth phone, custom Ipod socket and backup camera
• Visualogic 2nd row headrest Video system.
• Mark's Speedo Calibration unit.
• Cobra CB with external speakers mounted in overhead console.
• Custom lift using Slee Diff Drop, OME spring and torsion bars with Bilstein shocks.
• Adjustable rear panhard rod.
• Nitto Terragrapler 285/65/18's on Toyota 18" Wheels.

I don't quite know where to start in explaining the modifications. The suspension setup has been very nice. The ride is better than stock, and I went with the Australian Bilstien shocks which have worked really well. My shocks were so worn out before that the difference has been amazing.

I bought a set of 18" wheels from on '06 LC off ebay because I like the look of the 18s. I have an older set of 16's that I use off road with 34x10.50/16 TLSs on them. Those tires have been really great off road, although they suck on the street and they wear down really fast.

Christo mounted a CB speaker in front of the overhead console which is really slick and totally stock looking.

I replaced the stock stereo with a Pioneer AVIC-Z1, new amps, new larger subwoofer, new speakers in the doors, and rear 9" headrest DVD player. I am really happy with the setup, and the kids are even more pleased than I am.

Wow!!! I was just checking out your rig (didn't know it at the time) on slee's site the other day and thought it was SWEET!!! VERY NICE

[Jerome3]

WOW great lookin rig

love the 18s

christo did a great job with that cb, so clean

[susilocr]

Great Rig!
What hardware are you using w/ the AO roof rack to secure your bikes?

[Morty]

Actually, the bike photo is from before I had the AOB rack. It was a Yakima I used with the stock rack. If anybody has a good solution for carrying bikes on the AOB, I'd love to hear about it.

[spressomon]

Nice job! Lots of nice details. What's the Marks adapter switch in your glove box?

[hoser]

It's a nicely installed speedo correction box with two tire size settings.

[Morty]

Its just as Hoser says. The Mark's speedo box is a speedo correction unit with a switch so that you can calibrate it to two different sized sets of tires. The way Christo mounted this right inside the glove box is super clean.

By the way Spressmon, forgot to mention the front recovery points you provided. They are great. Thanks.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by Morty

Its just as Hoser says. The Mark's speedo box is a speedo correction unit with a switch so that you can calibrate it to two different sized sets of tires. The way Christo mounted this right inside the glove box is super clean.

By the way Spressmon, forgot to mention the front recovery points you provided. They are great. Thanks.

Glad you like them! Hopefully you'll never need 'em .

[spressomon]

Oh yeah...I like the 'camo'd' speaker...I think mobi-arc put his 2m speaker there...but with the cloth it looks quicksilver.

[1loudLX]

sick truck...i saw that on slees site. Enjoy it!

[Greg B]

Morty,
Great 100; I love it! That tent is massive. Do you find that you can sleep four comfortably in it? I also have two kids and have always loved the idea of the roof top tent but always dismissed them because they don't seem big enough for a family of four. However, after seeing yours, I'm going to have to look into this idea more.

Thanks for a great write up!
Cheers,
Greg

[BMWSTOY]

Great Truck set up - love it.
Can you elaborate on the Bilsteins. Which model number, size compared to the OME's. Are there pictures on Slee's site, not sure I saw any. After having Bilsteins on another rig, I would love to have them on my Cruiser when I get ready to pull the trigger.

Thanks,

[ckkone]

Very nice, I hope to get there some day....I'm sure at some point in time I will see you around SLC!

[macneill]

Wow, great truck! Love the 18s.

[pint]

Amazing truck! I hope to get to that point someday!

[bluecruiser]

Sweet looking truck..awesome mods..