TroutRunners ROTW
My story begins in August of 2004, oddly enough, with that of a brand new ’04 Runner. My wife and I decided to buy a safer, more family friendly vehicle for the birth of our first daughter. We picked it up in Boston (living in Maine at the time) with daughter in tow, when she was 4 days old. I had always appreciated Toyota’s and loved the 4Runner. It was very capable with the ATRAC but I was soon on other web pages looking for ways to make it better offroad. I ended up putting an OME lift on it after seeing the results FirstToy had with his.
I wheeled it in a minor way and was soon chastised for a very long scratch I placed on it after a single outing. It buffed out, but I was told by the wife to avoid screwing up the new vehicle. I had seen FirstToy and others discuss the 80 series TLC’s and had been perusing over here on MUD. I started searching 80’s online and was hooked. Beowulf was kind enough to have me over to look at his and there was no turning back. I even went back, later that same day, with my wife for a drive by so she could see what it was all about. My wife and I talked it over and I was given the go ahead to get one. The search was on.
I searched for both TLC’s and LX450’s for 6 months and found a nice condition LX450 in Scottsdale, AZ. Mine was LOCKED and this has proven to be a real bonus. I passed on other good LC’s b/c they didn’t have lockers. I’m glad I waited. The vehicle was born in Albuquerque, raised in Tuscon, educated in Scottsdale, and now resides with me back in ABQ to work. It had 126K on the odometer and was last owned by a Toyota mechanic who bought it for his wife and maybe to wheel, but she balked at the gas mileage. It now has about 145K on the odometer. It was in good shape.
My story begins in August of 2004, oddly enough, with that of a brand new ’04 Runner. My wife and I decided to buy a safer, more family friendly vehicle for the birth of our first daughter. We picked it up in Boston (living in Maine at the time) with daughter in tow, when she was 4 days old. I had always appreciated Toyota’s and loved the 4Runner. It was very capable with the ATRAC but I was soon on other web pages looking for ways to make it better offroad. I ended up putting an OME lift on it after seeing the results FirstToy had with his.
I wheeled it in a minor way and was soon chastised for a very long scratch I placed on it after a single outing. It buffed out, but I was told by the wife to avoid screwing up the new vehicle. I had seen FirstToy and others discuss the 80 series TLC’s and had been perusing over here on MUD. I started searching 80’s online and was hooked. Beowulf was kind enough to have me over to look at his and there was no turning back. I even went back, later that same day, with my wife for a drive by so she could see what it was all about. My wife and I talked it over and I was given the go ahead to get one. The search was on.
I searched for both TLC’s and LX450’s for 6 months and found a nice condition LX450 in Scottsdale, AZ. Mine was LOCKED and this has proven to be a real bonus. I passed on other good LC’s b/c they didn’t have lockers. I’m glad I waited. The vehicle was born in Albuquerque, raised in Tuscon, educated in Scottsdale, and now resides with me back in ABQ to work. It had 126K on the odometer and was last owned by a Toyota mechanic who bought it for his wife and maybe to wheel, but she balked at the gas mileage. It now has about 145K on the odometer. It was in good shape.
