Featured 100: Zane

[Zane]

I first have to say that I have learned a ton from this site and i have a long way to go to get to the high standards of some of you guys on this board. That's what makes this so much fun. There is always something you can learn or do with your truck if you want.



In November of 2007 I started my search for a UZJ100 LandCruiser. I was fairly particular in what I was wanting and was hoping to find a well maintained one owner truck that would be a solid foundation for a new project. I was willing to travel to get what I wanted and I took my time looking. My patients paid off and I found a one owner, fully serviced (with all records), 2000 UZJ100 with 110K out of St Louis Missouri. It was of course bone stock but I had spent several month reading and learning from this forum and had pulled together a list of “I want to’s” and so it began. Over time my vision has shifted to fit my needs, but that’s half the fun of building up a truck.

Attached is what my rig looked like the day I purchased it:

 

[Zane]

Tires:
My first mod was to upgrade the tires. I considered going with an MT, but knowing that I would be driving the truck on the road to and from work, I went with the BFG AT/KO’s in 285/75/16.

Running Boards:
I also removed the running boards the same day. This was one of the cheapest mods you can do that will transform your truck from mall wagon back to its indented function. NOTE: My Wife never noticed… J The sooner you remove them after purchasing a 100 the least likely she will ever notice!!!

 

[Zane]

Suspension:
After the instillation of the new tires and the removal of my running boards, I purchased my OME suspension kit. I went with the OME 866 (heavy) rear coils, OME torsion bars, N133 & N101 Shocks along with Slee’s diff drop kit. I chose this kit because I knew at some point I was going to add a rear bumper, front bumper, sliders, drawers, etc… Even without all of that weight I found the ride to be VERY nice.

Attached are pictures of the rig after the lift was installed

 

[Zane]

Bumpers:
A few months after I installed my lift, I ordered a front ARB Sahara Bar and a Slee rear bumper (w/o tire carrier). I had a hard time choosing the front bumper I wanted, but I liked how the Sahara Bar looked. I now wish I would have gone with the ARB Combination Bar as I believe they are stronger, as well as have a better approach angle, but I’m not losing any sleep over my choice. The rear bumper was an easy decision for me. Christo was running a sweet deal on his rear bumper w/o tire carrier for a short period of time and it was too good of a deal to pass up. Plus the quality of work is second to none. I also decided on ordering one without a rear tire carrier because I wanted to build my own down the road. More to come on that!!!

Lights:
I added a set of Hella 4000’s that I pulled from my sold 80 and added them to the new ARB Sarah Bar

 

[Zane]

My efforts now started to move into fabrication mode!

Sliders:
I had built my first set of sliders for my 80 and knew that I wanted to do the same for my 100. I took what I liked best from different sliders that are out in the marketplace and came up with how I wanted to build them. See link for build up here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/199439-100-series-slider-build-w-pics.html#post3124891 Attached are a few pictures of the sliders post build up:

 

[Zane]

Wheelin:
Now that I had tires, a lift, front/rear bumpers and sliders I decided it was time to test her out! Went with our local TLCA club “Tornado Alley Cruisers” down to Disney Oklahoma and played on the rocks for a few days of fun. My experience wheeling with a big landcruiser was previously in my old 80 that was fully locked and questioned how well the ATRAC would do. I was very impressed with its capabilities.

See link to YouTube for a quick video of ATRAC in action while at Disney OK: YouTube - UZJ100 Toyota LandCruiser Wheel Lift Disney Oklahoma

 

[Zane]

TENT:
As you can see in the above pictures I added my rooftop tent to the 100. I used the Thule load bars that attached to the factory roof rack. My tent is a Car-top-tent that I purchased when I owned my 80. I modified the tent as well. The rain fly that it came with was useless so I sewed up a new one (yes, I used a sewing machine and no I’m not a pansy J ) 7th Grade Home Living Class came into use! You can see my write up on that mod here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/camping-outdoor-gear/163643-mombasa-rain-fly-project.html

 

[Zane]

Snorkel:
My next mod was the addition of the Safari Snorkel. Warning: if you add a snorkel be prepared to answer the “What is that thing?” question EVERY DAY! Instillation was very straight forward. Trust the template, it is correct

 

[Zane]

Rear Storage:
I then decided that I needed storage drawers for the back of my truck so I spent a weekend building a custom set of drawers. This was a fun mod for me, really enjoyed the outcome. You can find the build up here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/245995-100-series-rear-drawer-system-build-w-picks.html

 

[Zane]

Winch:
I got tired of people making fun of me for having a fairlead and no winch so I was lucky enough to trade a fellow Mud member a winch that I had from my 80, that wouldn’t fit in my 100 for a Warn 9.5XP. It is not the largest winch, but with a snatch block it will get me out of most anything I would get myself into (I hope).

 

[Zane]

More Wheelin:

Took the truck out to FlatNasty 08’ and had a real good time:

 

[Zane]

Fuse Block & Electronics:

I added an additional fuse block inside the truck to accommodate current and future electronics; Satellite radio, CB, Brake Controller, extra power outlets, etc.. Future mod that I have yet to do is a duel battery setup. I have yet to decide on what duel battery set up I want to do. I have spent the past 2 months reading up on what others have done and I am LOST… Hope to look at some while at Cruise Moab this year to get a better feel for what I want to do. I hope that is in my near future!

 

[Zane]

Rear Tire Carrier:

As mentioned above I planned to build a rear tire carrier for my Slee rear bumper. I spent quite a bit of time deciding what I wanted then spending some time in the garage pulling it all together. This was the most challenging fabrication work I have done to date. Not that it was that “hard” to do, but stressful in the fact that I was drilling, chopping, etc into a perfectly good rear bumper and I didn’t want to mess it up! J You can find the detailed write up here on the build: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/234311-rear-tire-carrier-build-w-picks.html

Attached are a few of the finished product:

 

[Zane]

CB:
I couldn’t find a good place for my CB so I placed it under the driver’s side armrest. Works perfect as long as your seat is up all the way. I also added a fire stick antenna with at Wilson gumdrop mount to the front of my ARB bumper.

OEM Manual Antenna:

After months of poor radio reception with my aftermarket antenna, I did some digging and was able to order a factory OEM manual antenna out of Kuwait with the help of a cruiser friend living in that part of the world. This was a direct plug-n-play into my factory radio. It had to do some modifications to my snorkel neck within the fender well to get it to fit, but it now sits exactly as it should and works perfectly. You can see both the CB antenna and the OEM radio antenna below.

 

[Zane]

Satellite Radio:
I added a satellite radio to my truck and placed the controller in the roof console. I have also seen guys use this “pocket” to place a HAM radio’s in.

 

[Zane]

Rear Control Arm Mod:

In preparing for Cruise Moab 09’ and knowing that the rear control arms would drag on rocks, I decided I need to beef up my rear control arms and control arm hanger. You can see the write up here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/270027-rear-control-arm-mod-2.html

 

[Zane]

I have done quite a few more things like removing of port installed accessories like of the rear wing, factory roof rack, etc but continue to think of more things I want to do. My short list of things I would like to do next is:

* Swap from 866 rear coils to 863 rear coils: All the added weight as put my truck in a reverse stink bug stance and need to gain back a bit more height in the back end.
*Custom stand/mount for ARB Fridge (in the works as I type this)
* Skid Plates (belly pan will be delivered to Moab and installed at camp! J )
* Duel Battery set up
* ARB Lockers (way off in the future): I have ATRAC and have been very happy with it, but I’m a fan of lockers.



From November of 07 to March of 09, my truck has transformed its self from this:

 

[Morty]

Very nice truck. Like your custom sliders.

 

[e9999]

Great write up!

 

[spressomon]

Nice work Zane!