06 Bone Stock Land Cruiser - First Mods to Make Question? (Mixed Use/Overland/Moab)?

[06Cruzer]

'06 Land Cruiser, 175K miles

Purchased just last week, Bone Stock.


Goal: Mixed Use - Family Hauler/Camping; Overland (when/if possible); Southern Utah/Moab

Residence: Utah


Initial Mods Considered:

1. Sliders

2. Lift (2.5" OME?)

3. Larger Tires (33"?) - Recommendations? With Lift or possibly go larger without the lift?

4. Engine Performance: It seems pretty good so far as is, but how much increase in HP/Torque could I expect if I added a Supercharger, or Turbo?


Recommendations for a shop in Utah to do the work?

Cruiser Outfitters in Sandy, or others in Utah County?


First Outing: Just took her out last weekend down to Capitol Reef area, Hwy 12 up to Fish Creek Reservoir and she did great, charged up like a champ & made it home in one piece


Jim

06Cruzer

 

[collk22]

First Mod? Tires. Lift and Tires if you can't run the size you want without going up.

Go to Cruiser Outfitters - Kurt seems to have an outstanding reputation in the LC community and is active on this forum and ExPo.

Supercharger or Turbo Charger is $$$$ and would undoubtedly give you performance gainz, but isn't necessary. As a question, in what scenario have you found the truck to be lacking where the additional power would be of benefit?

Of course, if you've got the money and the inclination, go for it.

Counterpoint: the money spent on a SC/TC can pay for things that will arguably be much more useful to you (i.e., lockers, armor, winch, fridge, dual battery set up, etc.).

 

[SmoothLC]

Congratulations. + Capitol Reef. Fun area.

1. Sliders - Bunch of options. Slee, Metal Tech, BIOR, and others.
2. Lift - ARB's OME shocks, springs, and torsion bars. Higher performance available w/ adjustable shocks, etc. Some good reviews on Iron Man.
3. Tires - 295/75/16 is the largest to fit the stock spare location. Minimal rubbing w/o a lift.
4. SC - Hard to find these now, but you may get lucky if you set up a Google alert.

Might consider working in some armor/skids into your plan. Plus a diff drop if you lift it.

Cruiser Outfitters is a great shop if they can fit you in. Otherwise, they often refer to Divinity Auto (they did the MC replacement on my rig 2 yrs. ago.)

 

[LEX]

Is the preventive maintenance kept up to date? If not do that first. That itself isn't cheap if you don't do it yourself.

 

[06Cruzer]

Congratulations. + Capitol Reef. Fun area.

1. Sliders - Bunch of options. Slee, Metal Tech, BIOR, and others.
2. Lift - ARB's OME shocks, springs, and torsion bars. Higher performance available w/ adjustable shocks, etc. Some good reviews on Iron Man.
3. Tires - 295/75/16 is the largest to fit the stock spare location. Minimal rubbing w/o a lift.
4. SC - Hard to find these now, but you may get lucky if you set up a Google alert.

Might consider working in some armor/skids into your plan. Plus a diff drop if you lift it.

Cruiser Outfitters is a great shop if they can fit you in. Otherwise, they often refer to Divinity Auto (they did the MC replacement on my rig 2 yrs. ago.)

Thx for the reply SmoothLC. I hadn't heard of Divinity Auto but will check them out.
My '06 has 18" wheels now, so do you still think 295/75's will work?
I have a buddy that did the 2" OME lift but he didn't mention torsion bars or adjustable shocks. My '06 has the automatic height adjustment which works pretty slick but have heard some people have issues(?) so do you think it's better to switch to a fixed lift setup?

 

[06Cruzer]

Is the preventive maintenance kept up to date? If not do that first. That itself isn't cheap if you don't do it yourself.

Hey Lex - Houston huh? I purchased this car down in Forth Worth last week, flew out and drove it home!
I had it checked out at a shop in SA and they said it was solid, only needed the Tranny & front & back diff fluids changed so I did that and then drove it home from there. Any other preventative maintenance you're thinking of or recommend??

 

[85x]

Tires will make the biggest bang for the buck. Heater T's are essential esp when its from a hot place. If you have all the other PM done- replace all the sway bushings and fill that bad boy up with gas. You're good.

 

[Larch Tree]

...3. Larger Tires (33"?) - Recommendations? With Lift or possibly go larger without the lift?...

I have '06 stock with AHC and 33" tires fit fine (LTX A/T2 275/70/18). Not sure how wide you can go without rubbing but there are lots of tire size threads here to search for more feedback. I don't know if 33" will fit under as a spare; mine is 32" and fits easy. I love the Michelins and would recommend, work good off-road and smooth on, but suspect most here will suggest something beefier. IMO, 33" will also fit/look good with 2.5" lift but you could certainly go bigger post-lift. Have fun!

 

[SmoothLC]

Thx for the reply SmoothLC. I hadn't heard of Divinity Auto but will check them out.
My '06 has 18" wheels now, so do you still think 295/75's will work?
I have a buddy that did the 2" OME lift but he didn't mention torsion bars or adjustable shocks. My '06 has the automatic height adjustment which works pretty slick but have heard some people have issues(?) so do you think it's better to switch to a fixed lift setup?

My bad! I missed that.

I think many feel that if the AHC isn't broke, then don't replace it.

I'd stick w/ the 18s in a 33" too. Should fit the stock location unless you're going to get a rear bumper. Then you put it on that and go bigger.

 

[LEX]

Hey Lex - Houston huh? I purchased this car down in Forth Worth last week, flew out and drove it home!
I had it checked out at a shop in SA and they said it was solid, only needed the Tranny & front & back diff fluids changed so I did that and then drove it home from there. Any other preventative maintenance you're thinking of or recommend??

Good for you coming down here for a good one and driving it back. The fluids were something I was going to mention and the heater Ts would be another thing I'd check. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the timing belt. Toyota recommends it to be replaced at ~90k miles. Try and find out when was the last time that was done.

 

[jahawk]

Go 275/70's, maybe adjust the AHC for a tiny bit of lift, remove the running boards, and call it a day for awhile.

More than once I've spent many thousands setting up a truck the way I thought it needed to be, before I really used it.

Try the truck out first, and slowly build it to meet your needs.

Jim

 

[screendoor]

Jim, I have similar mixed use as you. I have gone on a few medium rated trails in Moab (see book link below) in the past 10 months that I have had my stock '01 and the immediate problem I have had is dragging the rear hitch. I am in the process of getting a new rear bumper to (hopefully) avoid the dragging in the future.

If you aren't familiar with Moab trails, check out the Guide to Moab Backroads book. I am always going through it looking up places to go.

 

[mattafact]

We took our 100% stock LX and did Imogene pass and Fins and Things at Moab last month. The stock Michelins really surprised me.

I did a ton of trails in my last hundred which was a stock 06 with nothing but a set of BFG ATs on it. Go wheel it before you spend any money.

At this point I think I'm just going to do a small AHC lift and call it a day for a while. Maybe get some sliders.

 

[06Cruzer]

Good for you coming down here for a good one and driving it back. The fluids were something I was going to mention and the heater Ts would be another thing I'd check. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the timing belt. Toyota recommends it to be replaced at ~90k miles. Try and find out when was the last time that was done.

Question - not familiar with "Heater T's", what is that?
Jim

 

[06Cruzer]

We took our 100% stock LX and did Imogene pass and Fins and Things at Moab last month. The stock Michelins really surprised me.

I did a ton of trails in my last hundred which was a stock 06 with nothing but a set of BFG ATs on it. Go wheel it before you spend any money.

At this point I think I'm just going to do a small AHC lift and call it a day for a while. Maybe get some sliders.

Thx Mattafact - i was looking at BFG KO2's today and they looks pretty good as compared to pure Rock/MT's (Nitto Trail Grapplers, or General Grabbers) but agree that it's pretty darned capable as-is without many mods.

 

[06Cruzer]

We took our 100% stock LX and did Imogene pass and Fins and Things at Moab last month. The stock Michelins really surprised me.

I did a ton of trails in my last hundred which was a stock 06 with nothing but a set of BFG ATs on it. Go wheel it before you spend any money.

At this point I think I'm just going to do a small AHC lift and call it a day for a while. Maybe get some sliders.

How do you do the "small AHC lift" you mentioned? I definitely need sliders, they're first on the list as well as tires.

 

[06Cruzer]

Jim, I have similar mixed use as you. I have gone on a few medium rated trails in Moab (see book link below) in the past 10 months that I have had my stock '01 and the immediate problem I have had is dragging the rear hitch. I am in the process of getting a new rear bumper to (hopefully) avoid the dragging in the future.

If you aren't familiar with Moab trails, check out the Guide to Moab Backroads book. I am always going through it looking up places to go.

Jim, I have similar mixed use as you. I have gone on a few medium rated trails in Moab (see book link below) in the past 10 months that I have had my stock '01 and the immediate problem I have had is dragging the rear hitch. I am in the process of getting a new rear bumper to (hopefully) avoid the dragging in the future.

If you aren't familiar with Moab trails, check out the Guide to Moab Backroads book. I am always going through it looking up places to go.

Thanks Screendoor - I totally want to get down to Moab with this baby and have some fun, will check out that Guide you mentioned - thanks!

 

[Dwight S]

Question - not familiar with "Heater T's", what is that?
Jim

The heater "T's" are two plastic pipe unions located against the firewall, behind the intake cover. Remove the cover and you will see them. They may look good on the outside, but chances are they are brittle from old age and heat. About $10 each for Toyota parts, IIRC...

do a forum search in the 100 series and look at the FAQ. Read the "horror stories" and you will be placing an order before bedtime.. .

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Congrats on the new Cruiser!

We (Cruiser Outfitters) would love to help get your mods going. Let us know!

 

[jahawk]

How do you do the "small AHC lift" you mentioned? I definitely need sliders, they're first on the list as well as tires.

AHC Sensor Adjustment for Lift