1995 Land Cruiser JDM - Just bought my first LC...now where do I start? (1 Viewer)

[Torque576]

Hey guys,

I just secured my first Land Cruiser and I'm really pumped. It hasn't been delivered yet, but I was so paranoid about buying it out of state (through a JDM importer) that I had two PPIs done before pulling the trigger. This is a RHD 1995 VX Limited with ~65k miles. Once it's delivered I'll be throwing on some 285/75/16s and adding a 2" Ironman lift. After that I'll just be chipping away at the "wants" list.

What are the first things, maintenance aside, that you did as soon as you got your LC? I'll be building a custom drawer system in the third row, adding a roof rack at some point, stereo, and changing the wheels. Probably get a tint done as well. Any dos and don'ts?

One thing that will get done shortly after its arrival on the maintenance side is a knuckle rebuild. It does leak, but it's not horrendous. Also, the cruise control isn't working, allegedly. I'll have to look into that. Any common causes for that? Thanks guys. Looking to get more active on this site upon delivery!

 

[efjayatee]

Great looking rig.

Baselining...fluids and Rock sliders.

 

[FZJ80inWI]

Looks nice. I believe it’s the same importer I bought my 94 VX limited from 2 years ago January. I needed a thermostat but first order was the radio. Japanese FM only goes to 98.9 and the local NPR wasn’t cutting it. I put a Garmin on the dash to get MPH’s and a dash cam just in case. Driving on the right side can cause suspicion in the event of a mishap. Besides everyone thinking you’re a mailman, it’s fun to drive. Curious, what’s on the roof with the wire back in the cab?

 

[Torque576]

Looks nice. I believe it’s the same importer I bought my 94 VX limited from 2 years ago January. I needed a thermostat but first order was the radio. Japanese FM only goes to 98.9 and the local NPR wasn’t cutting it. I put a Garmin on the dash to get MPH’s and a dash cam just in case. Driving on the right side can cause suspicion in the event of a mishap. Besides everyone thinking you’re a mailman, it’s fun to drive. Curious, what’s on the roof with the wire back in the cab?

Yeah I’ve been trying to decide what unit to go with radio-wise. Any suggestions?

The wires are actually the antenna to the Nav system that it has. It’s got the Toyota fold out navigation screen. That’ll be coming out, along with the 6-disc CD changer.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

What engine has she got? That will help with maintenance recommendations.

 

[Torque576]

What engine has she got? That will help with maintenance recommendations.

1FZ-FE

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Change fluids, don't use a Wix or NAPA gold oil folter, replace all coolant hoses and vacuum lines. Install genuine dissy cap and rotor, spark plug leads and spark plugs.
Drive it and she'll show you what she needs

 

[FZJ80inWI]

I went with the Kenwood DMX47 but there are some great threads from the audiophiles in the forum with some cool installs. It's funny, I had a CD cassette base in the back and lots of wires running all over. Took a few weeks to clean up the "accessories".
2x on the baselining. Mine had 134K KM so I got a Blackstone Labs Report on the oil for a starting point on the engine.

 

[Torque576]

I went with the Kenwood DMX47 but there are some great threads from the audiophiles in the forum with some cool installs. It's funny, I had a CD cassette base in the back and lots of wires running all over. Took a few weeks to clean up the "accessories".
2x on the baselining. Mine had 134K KM so I got a Blackstone Labs Report on the oil for a starting point on the engine.

I'll have to really dig in and figure something out. This thing doesn't seem to have many accessories minus those two (nav and cd player), luckily. However, where the nav system is in the trunk, screen is in the dash, and there are two antennas on the front of the roof, it'll be an adventure tracking all of that down and removing it.

I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I did see a cool thread about installing the Blaupunkt Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB Radio with Bluetooth. Very nostalgic looking unit with all of the modern hook ups. Your system seems pretty great after looking into it. Did you hook it all up yourself? I'm not savvy on electronics, so this will all be a big learning process.