a_traut_man
SILVER Star
Well I figured I should go ahead and put together a build thread capturing all that I am doing to my 2003 Land Cruiser. Over the last few months a lot has already happened (while prepping for HIH6) so some of this will be going back a little bit.
So the end goal is for a set up that is reliable (of course) and capable of handing at least a few days of comfortable overlanding without needing anything. My wife and I have discussed taking a break from everything for a few months in the next couple years and roaming around North America so a set up that would allow that is the target. In the meantime weekend camping and skibumming will be the use of the set up.
The truck is my daily driver so that is an aspect that is still kept in consideration for my building and modifications so no 35s for me (yet?). Locking will be considered if I tear something up or just get to that point.
This forum has been great and was my go to reference for the 4ish months I looked for a 100 so any experience based feedback would be greatly appreciated.
The Beginning
So I found my 100 on AutoTrader about 2 hours after a dealer in Seattle posted it (I was in Colorado). She was really dirty, had some deep parking lot damage on the passenger side (which wasn't fully disclosed), and about 132k miles. By the end of the day I told them that pending a check out by a local Toyota dealer I wanted to buy. Got all of the paperwork taken care of and next thing you know I am the proud owner of a sight unseen 2003 LC. For shipping I found a fellow mudder ( Aaron @Riverrunner with Summit Auto Transport) who did an awesome job and I would recommend him any day of the week and after a couple weeks of waiting there she was.
(of course already at a gas station)
A week or so later with body damage repaired, 33s, and no running boards she was starting to look like something other than a beat up mall cruiser.
So the end goal is for a set up that is reliable (of course) and capable of handing at least a few days of comfortable overlanding without needing anything. My wife and I have discussed taking a break from everything for a few months in the next couple years and roaming around North America so a set up that would allow that is the target. In the meantime weekend camping and skibumming will be the use of the set up.
The truck is my daily driver so that is an aspect that is still kept in consideration for my building and modifications so no 35s for me (yet?). Locking will be considered if I tear something up or just get to that point.
This forum has been great and was my go to reference for the 4ish months I looked for a 100 so any experience based feedback would be greatly appreciated.
The Beginning
So I found my 100 on AutoTrader about 2 hours after a dealer in Seattle posted it (I was in Colorado). She was really dirty, had some deep parking lot damage on the passenger side (which wasn't fully disclosed), and about 132k miles. By the end of the day I told them that pending a check out by a local Toyota dealer I wanted to buy. Got all of the paperwork taken care of and next thing you know I am the proud owner of a sight unseen 2003 LC. For shipping I found a fellow mudder ( Aaron @Riverrunner with Summit Auto Transport) who did an awesome job and I would recommend him any day of the week and after a couple weeks of waiting there she was.
(of course already at a gas station)
A week or so later with body damage repaired, 33s, and no running boards she was starting to look like something other than a beat up mall cruiser.
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