2008 JDM 200 Series - Questions & Build Thread (2 Viewers)

[UGN]

I agree with @08JDMCruiser that a similar Land Cruiser imported into Canada from United States would cost double with the current exchange rate and prices in US. Also, it would have a higher mileage and rust issues unless it was purchased in southern states like California.

 

[08JDMCruiser]

Finally took possession of the car! Few hurdles and a 16 hour day later, and it's sitting on my driveway.

Good news: It's ****ing mint. The paint is immaculate, as is the interior and the engine bay. Runs very smoothly, no creaking or strange noises, great sound deadening, quiet, comfy etc.

So-so news: There's a 'sighing' noise or small squeak (imagine the sound of squishing on a balled up wet cloth) whenever i press on the brakes. It's coming from the pedal assembly area rather than pads. Stopping power is fine, maybe brake flush.

The battery fully died - need to reset the windows, and more annoyingly, the navigation maps thing is stuck on 'check disk', except it's a HDD not DVD. Doesn't matter too much as we'll never use the japanese navi and the other functions/buttons still work, just irksome.

The car doesn't drive straight. Pulls slightly right, maybe 5 degrees, so my steering wheel is always at 11-1130 position. There's some resistance too. Most likely an alignment or tire pressure issue. Will see at the inspection.

The last guy rigged in some custom HID ballasts and HID bulbs. I want to run LEDs and googling has told me to remove the ballasts. Shouldn't be an issue, just annoying lol.

 

[08JDMCruiser]

OK.

Car still uninsured - importer dropped the ball and forgot to send the translated sales documents.

Here's what I've done so far:

TRD pro wheels and Falken AT3W's are on the car now, immediately look better. Ride quality and road noise also improved. Random $200 ebay tire on the spare, same size as the others.

Chrome eyebrows off, did a 3m headlight restore. Somewhat regret doing this at night lol. Even with garage lights and a good headlamp there's a 1x3inch blurry spot on one headlight. Won't notice if you're not looking for it but will bother me forever. Will do another headlight restore in a few years and get to it lol.

Daytime running light kit - Wired to the small 'running lights' that are already part of the headlight assembly. Lifesaver.

Highbeams and Lowbeams converted to Hikari LEDs. The lowbeams look great. The right side high beam seems way too high lol. Will need to fudge around until it looks better, currently pointing against a garage at 5 feet, it's a solid 1.5 feet higher than the left side. Not sure if intentional.

Removed the old HID ballasts and halogen bulbs.

Reset auto windows, adjusted time etc.

Purchased a Bluetti AC200P. Probably enough to run a heated blanket for a few nights.

To do:

Remove chrome handles.

Build a sleeping platform. Goal is to camp out close to a ski hill and save $500 a night on hotels.

Remove bumpers/running board. Will do the front fogs with LEDs here as well.

Figure out what the fcking switch coming out of the dash does....

 

[08JDMCruiser]

This is the switch if anyone has any ideas.

Also open to finding out what it does manually.. Just need to follow the wires? Not keen on ripping up the interior..

I've confirmed it has nothing to do with the lights, navigation, or dashcams.

 

[breyenger]

Looks good. I have a 2012 JDM ZX model. Not sure if its the same but you can change your dash screen language from Japanese to English via tech stream. The head unit is a whole nother can of worms. You can change the language to English in the settings but there is still a large amount of Japanese menus despite that.

 

[08JDMCruiser]

Looks good. I have a 2012 JDM ZX model. Not sure if its the same but you can change your dash screen language from Japanese to English via tech stream. The head unit is a whole nother can of worms. You can change the language to English in the settings but there is still a large amount of Japanese menus despite that.

Thanks for the heads up!

I'm just going to live with the japanese menus - might buy a tesla-style head unit in a year or two though.

 

[08JDMCruiser]

Hookay - Car finally insured so that's great.

I think there's some electrical gremlins I need to iron out. The door light doesn't turn off even if all doors are closed. The dash isn't displaying that any doors are ajar but I still think there's probably a door sensor that's gone bad. Not a big deal though.

Slight burning rubber smell, could be new tires but judging from everyone here that's a common issue that nobody has really tracked down.

Looking to remove the front bumper lips and side molding now. I peeled back the edge a bit, it looks like the top is just held on by some variation of 3m automotive trim tape, bottom is held by screws/bracket arms. Going to try the heat gun/fishing line, also have an 'eraser' wheel. Concern now is that the trim tape is really sandy/gritty, seems like using friction would mar the paint. We will see..

 

[breyenger]

Hookay - Car finally insured so that's great.

I think there's some electrical gremlins I need to iron out. The door light doesn't turn off even if all doors are closed. The dash isn't displaying that any doors are ajar but I still think there's probably a door sensor that's gone bad. Not a big deal though.

Slight burning rubber smell, could be new tires but judging from everyone here that's a common issue that nobody has really tracked down.

Looking to remove the front bumper lips and side molding now. I peeled back the edge a bit, it looks like the top is just held on by some variation of 3m automotive trim tape, bottom is held by screws/bracket arms. Going to try the heat gun/fishing line, also have an 'eraser' wheel. Concern now is that the trim tape is really sandy/gritty, seems like using friction would mar the paint. We will see..

Polish/Cutting compound should work pretty well once you buff off the sticky stuff. You can probably get a decent finish even hand polishing if you don't have a DA polisher. I like to use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

 

[08JDMCruiser]

Polish/Cutting compound should work pretty well once you buff off the sticky stuff. You can probably get a decent finish even hand polishing if you don't have a DA polisher. I like to use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

I own one! Plan on buffing out some scuffs on the front bumper anyways so good to know it'll get rid of the residue too. Took the front lip off, probably took 30m in total, somewhat finicky and will probably take a bit longer if you don't want to crack the lip like I did (throwing it out anyways..).

Fishing line/floss doesn't work great, hairdryer or heat gun helps a ton, as does pulling the lip away from the tape in the same direction that it's applied. The bottom is held on by 4 8mm screws and two 10mm's. The 8mm's are rusty so recommend a socket rather than screwdriver.

Only thing to note is that there's an area on the left and right of the bumper where it rubbed against the lip, as someone mentioned earlier, there's a decent sized scuff mark. Will try to buff it out, otherwise don't care much, will be a high-impact area when I start wheeling anyways.

Lift the bumper directly away - peeling at an angle makes it harder.

I think it looks better - recovered 3-4 inches of clearance in the front...

On another note, tried WD40'ing the brake pedal linkage, no luck with the squeak. Seems like it's coming from inside the master cylinder. A hydraulic wheezing noise. Will try a brake flush, I think the fluid is probably 15 years old anyways!