Builds 2016 LC Build - DFW TX (1 Viewer)

[Kurosawa]

Hey IH8MUD folks, I guess now that I finally have a Cruiser in the drive it's time to introduce myself.

Snapped a couple pics of my new to me 2016 below.

@mcgaskins, I got one, thanks for the purchasing advice you were so generous with a month or so back.

It's use case is that of a long distance tourer with increasingly off road and remote campsites as my confidence and skill progress. To be clear though I see moderate rated trails and above as only an aspiration at the moment. Coming from an e46 M3 I'm new to off road adventure and not afraid to admit I've got a lot to learn. In fact if you have a favorite resource for basic overland vehicle skills you would like to recommend I would appreciate the advice.

Truck is already equipped with:

ICON Stage 5 Suspension
Total Chaos Panhard Bar
Method 305 NV 17"x8.5" 0 offset wheels
Toyo Open Country 285/75R17 (33.9") (37psi F&R - thanks @gaijin) @Markuson actual measured height of tire on truck 33" tall, 34" across.
ARB 2722 coil springs

What it needs & questions:

A serviceable spare - currently only has a OEM wheel and tire in the spare location. Edit, with the aggressive offset I just need to get a matching wheel and tire and be done with it. Update: Full-sized spare and matching wheel now in a five tire rotation.

Rebuild front ICON shocks - sitting at 39k miles and both are exhibiting some moisture leak so sending to SDHQ and attempting the removal/install myself, I do know about the KDSS valve. How involved otherwise is this swap in and out? Done and working great.

Fridge power - single fused power run to the rear? Portable power? Solar? Dual Battery? Immediate needs will involve 2 to 3 night stays in single locations off grid with only short drives daily. Installed.


Given my use case first priority mods include:

Trekboxx Alpha Drawers - since installed and fantastic
Dometic CFX 75 Fridge - also done and loving it
Perhaps RTT (hard shell) - still under consideration

I would like to keep the mods centered on making our family (of three) overlanding comfortable and frequent but limiting them to a few high quality, high return items. By high return I mean if it's unlikely to make me smile nearly every day by making things easier or be vital to preserving operability and safety then it's not a priority for me at this time. Suggestions welcome from those who through experience have defined the most valuable mods for long distance travel and remote camping.

Two month trip planned for this summer from North Texas to New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

 

[Itsky]

Your truck looks amazing!

I would recommend getting a matching spare wheel and tire, and then doing a 5 tire rotation (if your current tires are relatively new). I recommend this as if your on a trip, and you need to use your spare, you are not handicapped by it.

Additionally, a garmin inreach provides some piece of mind when rolling with the family. I also like a HAM radio and license for rolling with buddies.

 

[tbisaacs]

Will those zero offset wheels tuck in the fenders?

 

[Kurosawa]

Will those zero offset wheels tuck in the fenders?

This is a great question, the original owner built this but never took it further than the Neiman Marcus valet from the looks of it. I have slight rubbing in reverse turning situations on the frame directly behind the front tires. There is a folded weld there that rubs the corner of the tire lugs. I'll post up some pictures of that and down the side to see what you think about the offset. All work was done by 4 Wheel Parts in Plano including wheels and tires.

 

[Kurosawa]

@tbisaacs, two pics of the frame rub. Beyond this the only other contact is some slight polishing of the plastic inner fender in front of both front tires but this is inconsequential, the frame rub on the other hand would be nice to rectify.

Second two pics are down the side of the truck, not sure if someone can guess if I'll tuck properly running these offsets? My rather uninformed guess is that a 20 or 25 offset wheel would have been perfect, but if these work the stance does look pretty nice.

 

[fireball]

You have plans to take a two month long trip with the family, so speed and ease of set up and gear management will be your top priorities. That said, your plan for a trexxbox cargo system and fridge is great.

I would suggest looking at the alucab rooftop tent and shadow awning. Both of those are super quick and easy to deploy and set up, and for your use the increased weight and higher center of gravity are not big issues as you won’t be doing highly technical tough trails.

Keep your single battery, upgrade it to a group 31, slap a solar panel and a set of max tracks on top of the tent and you sir will be good to go.

 

[Kurosawa]

Will those zero offset wheels tuck in the fenders?

 

[timjax]

View attachment 1969837

Love it. Thank you for trying it out and proving the functionality, my 0 offset brother, haha. Really wishing I had a lift and adjustable UCA's. I'm also in DFW, saw your exact LC for sale in Fort Worth and that's what convinced me to buy the 0 offset wheels for my LC200 I bought a few months prior.

After driving it more, do you have any issues to report? More rubbing spots at any angles? Rock chips on the sides? Handling detriments? I haven't experienced much but maybe you have some feedback on things to watch out for/prevent.

 

[Kurosawa]

Love it. Thank you for trying it out and proving the functionality, my 0 offset brother, haha. Really wishing I had a lift and adjustable UCA's. I'm also in DFW, saw your exact LC for sale in Fort Worth and that's what convinced me to buy the 0 offset wheels for my LC200 I bought a few months prior.

After driving it more, do you have any issues to report? More rubbing spots at any angles? Rock chips on the sides? Handling detriments? I haven't experienced much but maybe you have some feedback on things to watch out for/prevent.

Thanks, love the pics of your setup as well. No issues other than the very slight frame rub described above and that is only experienced at 3/4 lock in reversing situations. Even then its just the very corner of the outside lugs on the front tires that rub and this could be quite variable depending on the brand/make tire you run and how aggressive and wide the lugs are. These tires at 285/75 are a full 34" off the truck and 33" underweight, I honestly can't think of any reason to go bigger than 34's as they seem to be the largest one would need (within reason) and yet without any real compromises.

I took it on some urban off roading last night through some construction excavation to get to a piece of land I own, it was difficult enough that I had to engage the locker to climb it and there was some off camber as well, no rubbing at all. You will throw some chunks of mud once out of the dirt as the lugs clear but under normal circumstances I don't believe the tread extends far enough for rock chips and such, it's more the sidewall that stands proud of the fender rather than the tread.

@timjax do you attend any local LC meet ups where there are other 200s? I would be interested in going if you know of any.

 

[timjax]

Thanks, love the pics of your setup as well. No issues other than the very slight frame rub described above and that is only experienced at 3/4 lock in reversing situations. Even then its just the very corner of the outside lugs on the front tires that rub and this could be quite variable depending on the brand/make tire you run and how aggressive and wide the lugs are. These tires at 285/75 are a full 34" off the truck and 33" underweight, I honestly can't think of any reason to go bigger than 34's as they seem to be the largest one would need (within reason) and yet without any real compromises.

I took it on some urban off roading last night through some construction excavation to get to a piece of land I own, it was difficult enough that I had to engage the locker to climb it and there was some off camber as well, no rubbing at all. You will throw some chunks of mud once out of the dirt as the lugs clear but under normal circumstances I don't believe the tread extends far enough for rock chips and such, it's more the sidewall that stands proud of the fender rather than the tread.

@timjax do you attend any local LC meet ups where there are other 200s? I would be interested in going if you know of any.

Thanks. Ah gotcha, yeah I only had frame rub behind the rocker panel corner behind where the front mud flaps used to be. I'm running 285/70 on stock suspension with the 17x8.5+0.

Haha awesome, I also work in real estate in the area. I've taken the LC on some dirt roads and woody trails, and no rubbing except once when I think I went too quickly into a rough dip at about 1/2-3/4 lock. Haven't noticed any new rock chips yet.

I haven't attended it, but there's a group on facebook called Texas Overland (immense directory for trails in Texas), and they have a monthly meet I believe at the Cabela's in Allen. A handful of LC's, various Toyota/Lexus trucks, Land Rovers, Jeeps, etc show up. Also, the Lone Star Toyota Jamboree was just last week! That's an enormous showing of Land Cruisers and other Toyota trucks. Lots of off roading to be had out there at Barnwell Mountain.

 

[TXBruiser]

When are you headed to New England? Ill be hitting the road from DFW May 31st enroute to RI and Maine in June for a 1 month trip.

As for your spare, im not sure on the math behind the physics, but ive always run a 5th matching spare wheel and tire. I figure the rotational weight of a rim/tire combo doesnt have to be very far off to possibly cause problems on the highway... although after just typing that, a properly balanced rim/tire of different weights possibly would have no effect.

 

[gentimmy]

If you ever want to meet up and talk shop let me know. I leave for a few trips a quarter from the Park Cities area.

 

[Kurosawa]

Thanks. Ah gotcha, yeah I only had frame rub behind the rocker panel corner behind where the front mud flaps used to be. I'm running 285/70 on stock suspension with the 17x8.5+0.

Haha awesome, I also work in real estate in the area. I've taken the LC on some dirt roads and woody trails, and no rubbing except once when I think I went too quickly into a rough dip at about 1/2-3/4 lock. Haven't noticed any new rock chips yet.

I haven't attended it, but there's a group on facebook called Texas Overland (immense directory for trails in Texas), and they have a monthly meet I believe at the Cabela's in Allen. A handful of LC's, various Toyota/Lexus trucks, Land Rovers, Jeeps, etc show up. Also, the Lone Star Toyota Jamboree was just last week! That's an enormous showing of Land Cruisers and other Toyota trucks. Lots of off roading to be had out there at Barnwell Mountain.

Yep, that's the area where I have my minor rubbing as well. It's quite minor for others thinking about this setup. I think the 0 offset likely eliminates all the normal rub locations (on KDSS for instance) that most experience with a big tire and introduces this small one. Disappointing I didn't know about the Jamboree last week but thanks for the info on what's happening around DFW, I'll look up the TX Overland group. If you find yourself planing to be over by the TCU/Colonial Golf area of FW shoot me a message I live right by there.

 

[Kurosawa]

When are you headed to New England? Ill be hitting the road from DFW May 31st enroute to RI and Maine in June for a 1 month trip.

As for your spare, im not sure on the math behind the physics, but ive always run a 5th matching spare wheel and tire. I figure the rotational weight of a rim/tire combo doesnt have to be very far off to possibly cause problems on the highway... although after just typing that, a properly balanced rim/tire of different weights possibly would have no effect.

The plan is third week of June, and to be up there until late August. Shame I can't go earlier and caravan because it's iffy whether my wife will be in NYC working and won't be able to go with. Playing it by ear at the moment but it might be worth touching base late June to see if we're in the same vicinity up north.

I appreciate the advice on the wheel and I'm sure you're right, makes sense just to get another matching spare setup and rotate it in especially due to the big difference in offset between what I'm running and stock.

 

[Kurosawa]

This was back in June but I did remove/rebuild/replace the Icons, this included the building of a wooden crate to send them off to Arizona for the rebuild + new shafts. All in all it wasn't a big deal and turn around on the rebuild was less than a week including shipping time.

 

[Kurosawa]

Also this summer my Trekboxx arrived and was installed minutes later.

 

[Kurosawa]

Ran power to the rear for the fridge and aux outlets 6ga +/-, a baby could do it.

 

[Kurosawa]

Made my own coiled fridge power cord using the 12v Dometic cord supplied with the unit merged with coiled cord from Amazon so it retracts automatically and doesn't get stuck behind the drawer when pushing the fridge slide back in. Works like a charm.

Note to those that might try this, be sure to check your polarity when mixing and matching cords.

 

[Kurosawa]

Added a Victron solar controller next to my Blue Sea six circuit fuse box w/neg. I wired the fuse box off the load side of the solar controller so I can see all my draws on the Victron bluetooth app, learned this from other members here and it works great.

Under hood I did a Blue Sea whole house circuit breaker that kills all non stock electric loads so I can isolate the user installed items if I choose.

 

[Kurosawa]

Added aux charging ports to the drawer system, USB-C, USB Q3.0, two 45amp Anderson plugs one of which is for the portable 120W Renogy folding solar panel and one for future use. Also a standard 12v outlet just for fun, I need one more screw.... Thats the Dometic CFX 75 and it's a beast fridge freezer dual zone.