A Year of Hunting, a Cross-Country Flight, and My First 100 Series (1 Viewer)

[winestonecowboy]

After lurking around on Mud for a couple of years or so, I finally decided it was time to dive in and buy myself a Land Cruiser. After much deliberation, I decided that with my budget and needs, a 100 was going to be the way to go. Deciding was the easy part. Then came the search. As everyone knows, everything up here in the NE that's affordable is rusted and rotted out. The amount of $10k+ trucks I saw that were absolutely torched is wild. So I spent the better part of the year scouring the nation on FB marketplace, craigslist, and the classifieds here. Finally, in August I found a 1999 that appeared to be in decent condition and (mostly) rust free with 298k on the clock. I chatted with the seller, who seemed to be an all around good guy, and flew out there to grab it. I did a basic PPI, test drove it, had a beer with the seller, and bought the damn thing. Couldn't be happier about the purchase (RIP to my 3rd gen 4runner I had to sell to help pay for it). Plenty of work to do - I'll outline the nitty gritty below - but overall I think I got a decent deal, and the truck is exactly what I want.

I figured since I was out west, I might as well take advantage of the situation and make a trip out of it. So I hung out around CO and WY for a bit, climbed a mountain, did some fishing - all the things you want to do in that part of the country. I was really excited to get back, make this post, and get to work on the Land Cruiser. Unfortunately life got a little turned upside down and everything had to be put on hold for a few months while I got recalibrated, so I'm just now getting to it all.

Here's the truck the day I bought it:

And a couple more from the backroads on my trip:

 

[winestonecowboy]

So now to the meat of things. There wasn't a lot of info from the seller on previous maintenance, but I was able to glean some stuff from a carfax and from my inspection.

Here's the good:

• Frame is pretty much rust free. There's some surface rust in a few areas mostly near the wheel wells and shocks in the front, but should all be able to be mitigated with a little wire brush action. I did a little DIY undercoating with some fluid film, and she seems to have made it through the winter without any real damage. Whew. I'll get a professional undercoating done next season, but had to do it on a budget this time.
• As far as maintenance goes, carfax shows that valve cover gasket, timing belt, and water pump were done less than 100k miles ago. Under the hood looks good and clean. Heater T's appear new as well.
• All power windows and sunroof work.
• Truck was partially reupholstered at some point, so the leather seats and rear carpeting are in solid condition, though not perfect.
• Rear and center locker appear to work fine.

Things worth noting:

• There is an aftermarket head unit installed. Nothing fancy - only has an AUX for playing your own music.. which I kind of like. However I'll swap this out at some point
• The torsion bars appear to be cranked in the front, as you can probably tell. I like the way this looks, as it's a nice middle ground between the stock height and lifted look. I may lift in the future, but I'm happy with this for now.
• To my dismay, the truck came de-badged in the rear. The only thing remaining is the Toyota emblem, which seems to be missing the pin in the top, so it sometimes falls out and to the side - need to figure out if this is fixable or if I need to replace the emblem in it's entirety. I plan to fully rebadge it in the future.
• New aftermarket radiator under the hood.
• Some small dings/dents/chips around the truck. Not really noticeable unless you're looking for them IMO.
• Under the truck, the only noticeable work that I can tell had been done was aftermarket Napa CV's.

And the not so good/bad:

• The rain gutter trim on the drivers side is starting to come loose a little bit. I'm able to shove it back in place as a temporary fix, but this will need to be replaced at some point.
• There seems to be an issue with the window tracks or regulator alignment on the drivers side window. It would get stuck and unable to return to fully closed position, and when I pulled the door panel off to check it out, it seemed that about 50% of the time the window was coming out of the track about 3/4 of the way down. Will investigate further. Not a huge deal
• Driveline clunk - need to get down and get some grease in it, but from my research, it seems like I might need to plan on replacing all of the differential mount bushings. It can be a seriously big clunk sometimes. There is also a slight amount of play in the U-Joints.
• Suspension - this could be it's own section, but I'll outline the major points. There is definitely a rotational clunking/thumping sound on the drivers side when going at slow speeds that is slightly concerning.
  • Ball joints: upper and lower are torched. I ordered 555 lowers from Cruiser Outfitters, and am about to order the uppers as well. Not sure why I didn't order the pack. Oh well
  • Tie Rods. Haven't gotten down and tested these, but I'm just going to go ahead and get them done. Also order from 555 Cruiser Outfitters.
  • Shocks are totally blown front and rear. Ordered all four OEM from Ourisman Toyota of Richmond.
  • Sway bar end links were practically disintegrated. Ordered OEM from Ourisman Toyota and replaced.
• Tweeter cover on the passenger side seems to always be falling out. Need to get that fixed.
• E-Brake is completely stuck in the down position. There is also a pretty annoying squeak coming from the rear when going over bumps. From what I've read on the subject, I suspect the bell cranks are completely frozen.
• There is a vibration between ~50-70mph. More in the front end - not the steering wheel. From my research it could likely be the torsion bars.

I'm hoping once I knock out the suspension work, the rotational clunking and vibration will go away. We will see.

 

[winestonecowboy]

As far as what I've done so far - not too much. I'm very new to wrenching and on the tighter end of the budget spectrum at the moment, and also live in NYC, so the only place I'm able to work on the truck is the Home Depot or Lowes parking lot. I'm still acquiring tools as well. I replaced an upstream O2 sensor, however the threads stripped out of the manifold and I had to take it to my shop so they could tap some new threads. Annoying outcome for such an easy job on paper. I also refreshed the brake pads - my first brake job! Surprisingly easy aside from one piston that was a little stubborn. The Geolandar's that were on it were almost completely worn out. I replaced with some stock size KO2's. Might go bigger for the next round of tires, but I'm happy with these for the time being.

I'm trying to figure out how I want to handle the suspension work. I rented to the tools and went to work on it the other day, but only got as far as the sway bar end links. Turns out the shocks currently on it are not OEM (the OEM ones I received are surprisingly much beefier), and I did not have the correct size wrench for the top bolt. I also will likely need to order some new retainers, as I assume the ones on the current shocks will not fit the OEM ones. For the tie rods and ball joints, I was feeling really good about everything until I got the wheel off and started looking into things. I decided that I wasn't confident or equipped enough to tackle that job at the moment. Not that I couldn't have figured it out given enough time, but it's a little tough doing these things in a parking lot miles from home with limited tools. It's also my only vehicle, so I'd be in a pickle if I screwed something up. I don't want to pay a shop to do it (I was quoted $1500 for labor), and would love to do these things myself, but I may have to pay up for the time being as I don't know anyone who's into wrenching or has space to lend.

Of course in addition to the suspension work, there's plenty of baselining to be done.. we'll get there! Really wishing I had a garage and a place to store some tools lately. Everything I use is in the back of the cruiser at the moment. No room left in the apartment! Gotta love NYC.

As for my future plans for it? I do about one or two month-long road trips across the country each year, typically out to UT, WY, MT, CO, TX, etc/ to hit the backroads and trails, and I camp exclusively the whole time. The 4runner was great for this, but it was only 2wd and while I pushed it to it's (surprisingly far) limits, I needed to upgrade to something a little more capable, as I hate not being able to get to where I really want to go! I guess the goal is to build this into a go-anywhere vehicle.

Well I'm planning a little roadtrip back out west next month. Will need to get the suspension work done by then. I'll likely try to snag a secondhand rooftop tent off of marketplace for the trip. That may or may not be a permanent addition depending on how I like it. Historically I've slept in the back of my 3rd gen 4runner, and on my trip back with the Land Cruiser that's what I did as will. I'm curious if I'll like the RTT - being able to use the entirety of the truck for storage rather than sleeping is really exciting. I've already got some Plano's and a Pelican cooler back there taking up space - if I could leave them there that would be ideal. Some bigger tires, a winch, and some armor would be nice too - all the classics. I would like to remove the running boards soon, but don't know exactly where I'd put them... anybody nearby interested?

I think that's about it for now. Here's a couple more recent images of the 100 with the new tires out at Breezy Point in glorious 35mm:

 

[97 AZ LC]

Congratulations. You're at least as brave as Lewis and Clark. Can you rent a garage up north somewhere on the Hudson line?

 

[LXfromTX]

Nice write-up. You've got a journey ahead of you. Why not just relocate out West, seems to be where your passion is. You only live once, get the most joy you can because someone once said "In this life there will be troubles". I have to agree, there have been more than a few for me but I still consider myself fortunate. After all, I currently have an LX and an LC

 

[Exiled]

Congratulations, this is a great start to your Land Cruiser story! A couple of observations:

1. I would stick to Fluid Film or something similar vs. the "professional" undercoating. It's easier to see (and treat) any rust creeping up than having everything covered up and letting rust form beneath it. If the truck was brand new maybe it would be different, but given that there's bound to be at least a little bit of corrosion already, I wouldn't cover it up. Lots of people here have had great experience with Fluid Film and comparable products over long periods of time, and there's several threads on the topic.

2. Your window regulator. I recently had the same issue on one of my '99s. I bought a new OEM regulator and used the FSM to replace it. It wasn't too hard a job, just be careful removing the door cards and electricals. I added sound deadening while I was in there, which made a world of difference.

3. Given the truck's spotty maintenance history, I would suspect that vibration you feel to be front-bearing related. Cruiser Outfitters sells a comprehensive kit and it's not a difficult job if you follow the FSM procedure. It is a messy job, however, so be prepared! There's several excellent YT videos detailing the procedure as well.

Finally, if your travels out West bring you to the Austin, TX area, gives up a heads up and we'll get together! Austin has a huge, vibrant Cruiserhead community and we love to host out-of-towners!

Cheers and keep posting!

Henry

 

[excessive]

Welcome to the forum. The issues you're experiencing are not anything out of the ordinary for the age of the truck. It sounds like you've got a good handle on what you need to do, and prioritization. If you need an OEM e-brake rebuild kit, i have one for sale in the classifieds section

 

[nissanh]

Welcome to the forum!
I too have a 3rd gen 4runner (purchased 2009) and is a keeper
I went to see a 99 100 today.. asking $11500 with 325K miles. I love those era LC's.. they have everything that I look for. Wonder should I get it too.. I bought an Armada just a month ago..

 

[winestonecowboy]

Congratulations. You're at least as brave as Lewis and Clark. Can you rent a garage up north somewhere on the Hudson line?

I've looked into it but nothing solid yet. I'm currently asking friends and acquaintances to see if anyone knows of anything or has a space to lend.

 

[winestonecowboy]

Nice write-up. You've got a journey ahead of you. Why not just relocate out West, seems to be where your passion is. You only live once, get the most joy you can because someone once said "In this life there will be troubles". I have to agree, there have been more than a few for me but I still consider myself fortunate. After all, I currently have an LX and an LC

That's the goal one day. All my work is currently here at the moment though. Gotta pay for these projects somehow!

 

[winestonecowboy]

Congratulations, this is a great start to your Land Cruiser story! A couple of observations:

1. I would stick to Fluid Film or something similar vs. the "professional" undercoating. It's easier to see (and treat) any rust creeping up than having everything covered up and letting rust form beneath it. If the truck was brand new maybe it would be different, but given that there's bound to be at least a little bit of corrosion already, I wouldn't cover it up. Lots of people here have had great experience with Fluid Film and comparable products over long periods of time, and there's several threads on the topic.

2. Your window regulator. I recently had the same issue on one of my '99s. I bought a new OEM regulator and used the FSM to replace it. It wasn't too hard a job, just be careful removing the door cards and electricals. I added sound deadening while I was in there, which made a world of difference.

3. Given the truck's spotty maintenance history, I would suspect that vibration you feel to be front-bearing related. Cruiser Outfitters sells a comprehensive kit and it's not a difficult job if you follow the FSM procedure. It is a messy job, however, so be prepared! There's several excellent YT videos detailing the procedure as well.

Finally, if your travels out West bring you to the Austin, TX area, gives up a heads up and we'll get together! Austin has a huge, vibrant Cruiserhead community and we love to host out-of-towners!

Cheers and keep posting!

Henry

Copy that - I hadn't considered the bearings but it's now on my list of things to check out! Will also look into the regulator as well. I'll drop a line if I ever come through - I appreciate the offer!

 

[bcarbs]

Congrats my man and welcome! Nice to see another enthusiast in the NYC area making it work with no garage. I'm fortunate to at least have a driveway out here on the island. I'm 1 day too late to remind you but if you have a NY state parks 4x4 permit I'm sure I'll see you out this summer. I also have a roofnest falcon 2 xl RTT I've been meaning to get around posting up for sale. Served me well past few years. Here's a photo on my old rig -

You've also inspired me to finally post up an intro of my own - stay tuned!

 

[excessive]

thats so cool, i wish you could drive on the beaches here

 

[squidmotion]

Welcome to the club!

Can you describe the vibration you are feeling between 50-70mph?

Since you mentioned the u-joints look worn, or have play, i thought i’d chime in. I had an oscillating low roar and vibration on mine when i got it.

I would replace those u-joints first. It’s what fixed mine. I would almost guarantee it isn’t the torsion bars, unless something is broken somewhere.

 

[cwmoser]

"I chatted with the seller, who seemed to be an all around good guy, and flew out there to grab it. I did a basic PPI, test drove it, had a beer with the seller, and bought the damn thing."

That's the way I usually buy my vehicles!!!

 

[winestonecowboy]

Congrats my man and welcome! Nice to see another enthusiast in the NYC area making it work with no garage. I'm fortunate to at least have a driveway out here on the island. I'm 1 day too late to remind you but if you have a NY state parks 4x4 permit I'm sure I'll see you out this summer. I also have a roofnest falcon 2 xl RTT I've been meaning to get around posting up for sale. Served me well past few years. Here's a photo on my old rig -

View attachment 3875331
You've also inspired me to finally post up an intro of my own - stay tuned!

Looking good! Yeah unfortunately I just got the Breezy Point permit this year. Not sure what I was thinking.. there's always next year though

 

[winestonecowboy]

Welcome to the club!

Can you describe the vibration you are feeling between 50-70mph?

Since you mentioned the u-joints look worn, or have play, i thought i’d chime in. I had an oscillating low roar and vibration on mine when i got it.

I would replace those u-joints first. It’s what fixed mine. I would almost guarantee it isn’t the torsion bars, unless something is broken somewhere.

Copy. No noise or anything - it really is just a vibration. Funnily enough I had the same issue with my 4runner. U joints are officially added to the list!

 

[winestonecowboy]

Anybody near NYC want a pair of 100 series running boards?

 

[Jack90210]

At that age the rear control arm bushing are bound to be toast, especially the uppers. Wandering at highway speeds is the most obvious symptom, and you might not realize how bad it is until you replace them, FWIW.

 

[winestonecowboy]

At that age the rear control arm bushing are bound to be toast, especially the uppers. Wandering at highway speeds is the most obvious symptom, and you might not realize how bad it is until you replace them, FWIW.

On the list!