First thread and wanted to chronicle the changes made. Purchased the 1999 LX470 with 177k on the odometer. Plans are to make this wheeling-lite so the wife and I can drive all the places the Subi couldn't make it. First Land Cruiser for me (wife drove some kick ass ones in Africa) and very excited to get out in the mountains on hiking and biking trips.
First came new Toyo Open Country AT II tires in 285/75R16. Fits stock suspension AHC well and looks much better. But not as good as when we removed the running boards. Artificial lift works. With the bike rack installed we are ready for our first trip.
Next we are looking at sliders to replace the running boards and maybe a radio. Would be nice to have phone connectivity for the trip to Arizona next month. Any recommendations?
//EDIT//
Keeping track of various items done in the truck and times
Been enjoying the LX over the last few months. Wife and I have been using a borrowed ground tent while our Big Agnes is being repaired (broken tent pole which they fixed for $3!!). After a cold evening in Sierra snow it was time to pull the trigger on a RTT. Being so close to Santa Cruz we took advantage of the used/rented Tepui offering and purchased an older model Autana Ruggedized in green. Also ordered the Rhino Rack Pioneer platform rack 84" x 56".
Over the past weekend the tent stayed in the back while I waited for the rack to arrive. In preparation I cleaned, clay bared, and waxed the whole truck. I gave particular attention to the roof figuring that once the rack was on I'd be unlikely to remove it.
Gave the driver and passenger seats a quick clean and condition. And put a little bit of company price on the side window.
Rack arrived this week and set aside the time to assemble and install the rack and Tepui Autana Ruggedized RTT. I ordered the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform in the unassembled version so save about $80 on shipping. I purchased:
Pioneer Platform 84" x 56" Black Unassembled - 42104BF
100 series leg kit - RLCP02
Box was a little banged up from shipping but opening it up showed the care that Rhino Rack took to package and protect the items. Everything was individually wrapped with a mixer of foam and plastic.
Unpackaged all the bits and organized the bolts and nuts into piles. It may be considered OCD but I like to know I have all the parts organized before assembling something with this much hardware.
Trusty deadblow hammer makes quick work of installing the plastic end caps. I paid particular attention to the orientation as I can't see how these plastic caps could easily be removed. They double as the holder for nylock nuts so more than just cosmetic.
Long pieces installed with front and rear end rails.
Its a small thing but I sure to love having a JIS driver. A Philips head was working fine but these just engage so much better. This is one of the plastic corner pieces.
The front and back rails where mounted with bolts into Nylock nuts. I've heard varying opinions about threadlock and nylon nuts but generally I trust the nut to hold rattle free. The side rail hardware includes split locking washers but I still prefer to supplement this mechanical lock with a medium strength threadlocker. Stuff I had at the moment is nearly identical to Loctite 242. This will give me peace of mind when on rough trails and washboard.
By far the most difficult part for me. My fingers just barley fit under the nut inside the load bar channel. The bolt isn't long enough to reach the nut when the nut sits at the bottom of the channel so holding it up is necessary.
All rails installed per the fit directions provided on Rhino Rack's website.
Time to install the feet onto the rack. This is another metal on metal thread but this time there wasn't a locking washer. Same medium strength threadlock to ensure everything stays snug.
Feet installed but bolts are only hand tight at this point. Final torque will be applied when the rack is on the LX.
Rack flipped over and final brackets installed. Used threadlock on this hardware too. The final hardware takes a security 5mm allen wrench. Rhino Rack provides this tool which is nice but like some many "free" supplied tools the quality leaves much to be desired. I don't own a set of security allen wrenches but will certainly be tracking some down. At least a set of Wiha security bits.
Time to remove the factory rack. Thanks to all on Mud who have shown how easy this is, your guidance made this process a snap. Posting more pictures of how to just to help any who are curious.
Take a plastic trim removal tool and insert it from the outside corner. You are aiming to leverage off the location of bolt farthest from the truck center. With your free hand wiggle the cap left and right in relation to the truck. The cap does NOT come straight up but rather at an angle away from the truck center.
Here you can see the two friction fit holes the cap fits into. Notice they are angled outward.
A better pic of where the removal tool should be for best leverage.
A couple of bolts removed using a T40 torx wrench and the factory rack comes right off.
Factory rack dwarfed by the Pioneer Platform. Whole process at this point has been about 2.5 hours. That did include a 10 minute break to refill the adult beverage.
Where the factory rack came off you can see the two threaded mounts the Pioneer will mount to. There are ultimately three on each side of the vehicle although the factory LX rack only uses two per side. Seeing the dirt and paint wear, I really wish I had pulled the factory rack before waxing the roof. Oh well, not going to address that now.
On the LX the center mount isn't used by the factory rack but instead has a plastic cover. Very simple to pull this up.
The plastic cover is removed and three nuts are exposed.
Using the supplied instructions and very clear markings on the Rhino Rack mounting feet, I selected the Middle Left Mounting Pad. Notice the arrow on the pad which, per instructions, points to the front of the truck.
Mocking up the position of the middle mounting pad you can see the forward most two bolts need to be removed. A 12mm socket is needed to remove these bolts. I left the third, rear factory bolt in place. This will help ensure no water enters the truck.
Putting together the hardware to install the mounting pads. The instructions say to use a split locking washer, then larger washer, then rubber o-ring. I did not receive any locking washers although I imagine it matters little. The o-ring should serve the same functionality as well as provide a level of sealing.
I cleaned where the mounting pads interface with the truck using a paper towel and aerosol degreaser. Nothing too fancy, just removing a little dirt.
Again, thanks to all the great advise found throughout Mud. Per many many peoples recommendations I grabbed some 100% RTV Silicon from Home Depot. I liberally applied it to the threads of the hardware before installing on the truck. Also not shown here but installed were the supplied sealing washers that mount between the mounting feet and the truck. These washers and Silicon should eliminate any worry of water entering the truck.
Instructions say us 15Nm torque for installation. I followed instructions.
The mounting feet sit solidly in the gutter of the truck but the look seems a bit unrefined. At first I thought it would be nicer to have a rubber boot that conformed to the roof but upon further reflection I figured anything like that would serve only to hold more dirt in. And if I'm looking too closely at how the mounting feet line up with the truck gutter, I should be ashamed of myself and spend more time using the LX for what its made for.
Because I installed the rack without help I found it beneficial to have a packing blanket on the roof as I placed the Pioneer Platform on the roof. This let me get the thing up there without stressing about the paint. Minor adjustments to get the rack feet into the mounting pads as I pulled the blanket away from the roof.
Threadlock on the mounting hardware that holds the rack to the mounting pads. These use the same 5mm security allen that the Pioneer Platform used. Nice to have two of these "free" tools now. At least the wrench used for the final assembly was only used times so it is still in good shape.
Adjust the rack left and right, then tighten down the large hex bolts that hold the feet to the platform. I was grateful I applied threadlock earlier as the clearance under the rack was very tight and no way I'd be pulling those bolts without removing the whole platform.
As you can see my LX doesn't have a spoiler of any kind. I've read that LC/LX with the spoiler have interference problems with the Pioneer Platform when using the stock mounting holes. And now I can see why. Close for me but not touching.
At this point I'm about 3 - 3.5 hours into the night.
The mounting pads included two extra sealing washers which is nice. Put these in the extra parts bin. They also provided caps for the mounting pads in the case that I remove the platform. I don't plan on doing this but it is nice to know I can leave the mounting pads on and retain the water proof mounting.
Installing the tent...solo...well...not advised. I did it and I have pictures to show the results but the process requires four hands and my two were tied up so no pictures of what I'm sure was quite funny to witness.
I was intending to mount the tent so that it extended off the passenger side. The Tepui mounting rails don't line up with the Pioneer Platform very well so that when one rail was in between the front-to-back planks, the other mounting rail was squarely in the center of another front-to-back plank. I take some pictures once I determine a long term fix.
But because it is late and I'm determined to have this tent mounted I improvised. I ran to Home Depot right as they closed and purchased some Simpson Strong Tie plates. They are about 22" long with a width of 2". I cut these in half so I have four 2" wide strips. Drilled some holes in the ends to accept the Tepui hardware.
Rotate the tent 90 degrees so the overhang is off the back. At this point the Tepui mounting rails are running left to right. The improvised plates are wider than the platform planks so the tent mounts to those. Not sure how long this will last. Pushing on it all it feels as solid as any other RTT setup I've felt. Ultimately I've have to figure something else out since I want to change the orientation.
Struggling to put the tent up, figuring out the fail, running to Home Depot, and bolting everything down took another 2.5 hours. Most of that could have been avoided by planning and having help lifting a 180 pound tent.
I live in RWC and also have a Green 99LX.
PM me if you ever need a hand.
Have you done a stereo install yet? Cant seem to find a good shop to do mine and was thiinking about tackling that myself soon.
I live in RWC and also have a Green 99LX.
PM me if you ever need a hand.
Have you done a stereo install yet? Cant seem to find a good shop to do mine and was thiinking about tackling that myself soon.
I was asked by one person but thought I should post as well. Clearance on the rack at the back is just shy of 2 3/4 inches from the roof to the bottom of the platform. Measuring from just inside the rear bar of the platform the distance from the roof to the top of the rack is just under 4 inches.
After nearly a year I'm finally getting around to updating this thread. It's been almost as much fun going through the pictures as it was living the land cruiser dream, almost. Anyways, the chronicle continues.
After installing the rack and RTT we immediately enjoyed some much more comfortable camping. Our 2017 goal was twenty camping nights, something the LX and the RTT made enormously easier and more fun. Early on the tent was setup to open towards the back. This is due to the mounting design of the Tepui and how the mounting rails lined up with the Rhino Rack platform planks. It worked fine but would eventually change.
Time for the ebay snorkel install. It has been well documented else on MUD so just a couple of shots for prep, drill, and installation. I did opt to install M5 rivnuts into the A column and bolt the bracket into place. These are the same size as a bicycle water bottle cage mount so I had the rivnuts and tool already.
One note, double check the template. The hole farthest back and lowest was a little off on the template. All worked out fine in the end.
