Family War Wagon Build (1 Viewer)

[gblakley]

Thought that I would start my own build thread here to keep track of my mods. I have been researching on this site and have got some great ideas from everyone. I am coming from an 03 Tacoma, which I loved but just couldn't fit the family in comfortably for our adventures. I strongly considered the Tundra, but then stumbled across this site and was immediately convinced that a Land Cruiser was for me!

I am married with 2 kids and a dog, and we love going camping and road trips. The Cruiser seemed like the perfect rig to take us wherever we wanted to go comfortably. I was then faced with the decision of going with an 80 series or 100 series?

Honestly, I like the looks of the looks of the 80's better and was drawn to straight axles and off-road ability, but the refinement of the 100 got me (and the V8). I figured the Hundy would be much more comfy for our family road trips.

I spent about two months searching the Northwest for the 100 that I could not live without. I really wanted to get an 03-04 with the updated tranny, but those fell slightly out of my price range. I ended up picking up a 99 LC from a guy east of Seattle with 140k miles and super clean. It had been an extra vehicle for the last 6 years garage kept and in great shape. I had found my new hooptie!

The day I brought her home!

• gblakley
• Aug 19, 2016

I am using the profits from my Tacoma to a few necessities:

-New Tires (done)
-Bluetooth aftermarket radio (done)
-New suspension (done)
-Sliders (done)
-Fresh fluids (done)
-Roof Rack (Postponed $)

Future Mods
-Slee diff drop kit (done)
-bumpers

I am really looking forward to getting in to Overlanding and exploring with this thing and meeting new people to explore with! If anyone is near Bellingham, WA and would like to show me the ropes, hit me up!

I would really like to do the WABDR in the next year, I also can't wait to take the hundy to one of my favorite places in the world, Moab!

 

[gblakley]

The first thing she needed were some new shoes!

After extensive research here I decided on BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2s (285 75 R16). I wanted a good balance of on road comfort, and off-road capability and thread after thread of research, these seemed to be the ticket! The local Discount Tire didn't have any in stock, So I ordered them up and patiently awaited......

New shoes

• gblakley
• Aug 19, 2016

Baby got a new pair of shoes! BFG AT KO2s in 285 75 16

I love them and believe that I made the right choice for sure! To me they are the perfect size and will still look great when I throw the lift on.

On that note, I ordered the OME 2.5 medium duty lift the other day from Rocky Road Outfitters. Seemed like the prices for the OME lifts were pretty consistent across the board, but Rocky Road offered free shipping on their OME kits so I jumped on it. Now I patiently await its arrival....

 

[gblakley]

As you can tell in the above picture, I also cranked the torsion bars to even out the front and took off the running boards. The wasn't overly excited about the running boards being gone, but she accepted my reasoning that it looked so much cooler without them and used it as reasoning to start hunting for some sliders!

I went back and forth between the Slee, Metaltech, White Knuckles that most people go with, but really didn't want to pay to ship them to Bellingham(I am a cheap a$$). Things would have been much easier if I lived in Utah or Colorado, but I don't so I went on a hunt for something local. In my search I stumbled across Cruisin Off Road right across the border in Chilliwack, B.C. I liked what I saw and decided to send them an email. Jason (the owner) emailed me back almost right away and said that he was actually working on some and could have them within a couple of weeks. I decided to go for it, and as a bonus I got to take advantage of the sweet Canadian exchange rate (Again, I am a cheap a$$)! I have a deposit down and am patiently waiting to get these as well....

 

[stough77]

Sweet Truck! I really dig the color. I was in the same boat as you searching for an 03'-04', but found and 01' with only 140k mi. and an impeccable service history with all the documentation. It took me a while to find mine as the options were somewhat limited down in Southern California at the time I was hunting.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I'd be interested to hear how you feel about the ride of the LC since you leveled it out - after I added the Slee rear bumper I lost my ~1" of rake and the truck felt a lot more squirrely driving around. Installed some 1" spacers in the rear and now it feels nice and solid again.

 

[gblakley]

@crimsonaudio, I honestly haven't noticed a difference in the ride. But it rides so much nicer than my Tacoma, I am still on cloud 9 about how nice this thing drives!

We will see how it is after I throw my lift on within the next couple of weeks.

 

[UZJ1OONGA]

nice rig, looks solid, looking forward to your build.

 

[gblakley]

Got a couple new additions!

Got some Weathertech mats for the front and back seats. I was reluctant to spend that much on some floor mats, but I think I made the right decision. Gotta protect that pretty carpet from the whirlwind that is my kids!

Weathertech mats

• gblakley
• Aug 24, 2016

I also put a new stereo head unit in that has Bluetooth, pretty much a necessity these days. I was shopping around looking at the high tech double-din units, but wasn't really satisfied with what they offered. I figured that I could do all of that stuff through my phone or a tablet and just connect it via Bluetooth.

New radio

• gblakley
• Aug 24, 2016
• 1

Now I got Bluetooth!

I also got a Bluetooth OBD2 reader to throw in. Does anybody have any recommendations for Android based OBD2 reader apps?

Also got word that my lift is on back order from the manufacturer and am still about 3 weeks out on it. Hard to be patient, but it is what it is.

Next stop should be the sliders, hoping to hear that they are ready sometime next week!

 

[benjawi4]

The first thing she needed were some new shoes!

After extensive research here I decided on BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2s. I wanted a good balance of on road comfort, and off-road capability and thread after thread of research, these seemed to be the ticket! The local Discount Tire didn't have any in stock, So I ordered them up and patiently awaited......

New shoes

• gblakley
• Aug 19, 2016

Baby got a new pair of shoes! BFG AT KO2s in 285 75 16

I love them and believe that I made the right choice for sure! To me they are the perfect size and will still look great when I throw the lift on.

On that note, I ordered the OME 2.5 medium duty lift the other day from Rocky Road Outfitters. Seemed like the prices for the OME lifts were pretty consistent across the board, but Rocky Road offered free shipping on their OME kits so I jumped on it. Now I patiently await its arrival....

Size of the ko2s?

 

[gblakley]

@benjawi4, I can't believe I didn't put the size!

I went with the 285/75R16

 

[HaiiroKuma]

I'm 0.0 watching this thread. Sounds like it's going to be an awesome setup!

 

[RootMeanSqr]

Torque is a good ODB II app for Android. The free version probably does everything you'll need.

 

[JonD]

sub'd

 

[gblakley]

Couple of updates. I took the Cruiser out on our first camping trip and it did great! we headed east of the Cascades and camped near Winthrop, WA. Got a chance to test it out on some 4WD roads and it amazed me at how comfortable it crawled up rugged, uneven terrain! This was before I put the new tires on and with a cartop box I got 16 MPG (probably the best that I will see).

First camping trip

• gblakley
• Aug 19, 2016

Took the hundy to Winthrop, WA for a family adventure.

The 's Rav4 needs some new tires which is cutting into my funny money for mods, so I am going to have to hold off on getting a roof rack for now. I had gotten a quote for the perfect setup from Gamiviti, but sadly it is going to have to wait. I will just run my Inno crossbars off of the factory rack for now. The factory crossbars are horrible! the amount of flex on them had my box dancing down the freeway. I was worried that it was going to go sailing away!

with the remaining money from my Tacoma here is what I plan:

-Transfer case, front & rear diff fluid change. Planning on using 75w-90 for all. Going back and forth on whether to use Mobil1 or traditional.

-Pfran interior LED's and reverse lights

-Heater T replace and coolant flush

-Transmission flush or fluid change. Not sure which route to go on this either, as there are differing opinions among the forums

-Slee diff drop kit

-As stated above, My OME med. duty lift is ordered and I got word from Rocky Road that I should have it mid September. Also my Sliders are being made by Cruisin Offroad and I hope to hear from him within the week!

After these I should have about $300 in the Cruiser fund and am curious as to suggestions of what to use it on? Any must-dos that I have failed to address? Thanks for the suggestions in advance!

Greg

 

[Lacalusa]

Congrats n can't wait for your orders to b installed

 

[primeral]

Torque is a good ODB II app for Android. The free version probably does everything you'll need.

I don't mean to thread hijack, but this could be good info for the OP. I'm having trouble connecting to my 01 LX using Torque. Is there a preferred ELM device that you guys use or is there a custom protocol prefix that I haven't yet learned about?

The ELM327 I'm using is the generic one off of Amazon and it has worked on other vehicles.

 

[gblakley]

I got this one from ebay for less than $4.

ELM327 OBD2 II Bluetooth Auto Car OBD2 Diagnostic Interface Scanner Tool BG

I had trouble finding where to connect on the Torque app. You have to go to settings-OBD2 Adapter Settings- Connection- select Bluetooth.

You also have to connect to the OBD2 from your phone/tablet via bluetooth.

after doing both of those I was good to go!

 

[primeral]

thanks for the response, gblakley. The one I have looks exactly like yours. I guess it's luck of the draw when it comes to parts from China.

 

[gblakley]

After 4 months of inactivity, I thought that I would update some progress. In the process of changing out my fluids I hit my first snag with my front differential fluid swap. The top fill plug on the differential would not come off, to the point that the bolt head started to round with a 6 point socket!

After about 5 hours of cussing up a storm, and using every Internet suggested method that I could think of, I finally got it. Ended up using a dremel to cut a slot in the head and got the biggest screwdriver I could find to break it loose.

After that, the rest of the fluids were a breeze. The only fluids I haven't done are brakes (done shortly before I purchased) and coolant (waiting until I change out the Ts).

Next stop, suspension.

 

[gblakley]

After about a month after my order, I received my OME 2.5 medium duty lift and immediately got after it. Following the Directions from Slee, and these forums it went off without a hitch.

I started with the rear and after looking at my upper shock bolt and wondering how in the heck I was supposed to get that off, I went to the forums and stumbled across this:
10 Minute Rear Shock Install

If you are not opposed to cutting a couple of holes in your floor, I highly recommend this method. It saved me hours of cussing and banging up my knuckles. You can also get a torque wrench in there and tighten the nut to spec with this method.

The front went really smooth as well, first I installed the Slee diff drop kit, and then shocks and T bars. Using Slee's instructions for indexing the Torsion Bars worked great and after just a few adjustments I was good to go!