hey guys! im new here have always lerked the fourms and been in awe of your guys rigs!!! I drive a 1999 4.7l cruiser with 432,000 miles on it. below is a picture of my current rig. Im 16 and an aspiring overlander im an avid mountain biker and love a rig that can take me to remote places. What do you guys recommend I do to my rig? As you may know at my age money can be tight! Any suggestions help. Im just skeptical putting tons of money into my rig due to its mileage. I road frequently, everything on my rig is still factory minus the head unit tires and other obvious accesories.
Budget 100 series build as a teen!!
- Thread starter hayd3ncm
- Start date
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Given the mileage I'd start stashing money away for a future engine and trans rebuild.
The first addition IMO should be a Scan Gauge or a comparable obd2 gizmo.
The first addition IMO should be a Scan Gauge or a comparable obd2 gizmo.
Yea baseline PM
I have a 98 with 100k and have replaced starter, AC compressor and TB/WP
I was in the same boat. Got mine in college. Put AT tires, new OEM shocks and OME 865 springs and rocked out. Drives amazing for what I do
I have a 98 with 100k and have replaced starter, AC compressor and TB/WP
I was in the same boat. Got mine in college. Put AT tires, new OEM shocks and OME 865 springs and rocked out. Drives amazing for what I do
Last edited:
2001LC
SILVER Star
Welcome and Kudos to for starting at 16 years of age. Keep in mind you can take parts to your next 100, if this one does not make 1,000,000 mile club. Which it can if properly maintained. If it straight & rust free it will be a pleasure to maintain, and last as long as you like.
First thing get the FSM (factory service manual) & maintenance schedule manual booklet and a set of torque wrenches.
Second base line, that is bring all maintenance items up to date. Fluid changes is most important thing we can do. I use Mobil 1 throughout & Toyota Red LL coolant.
Third is get front end set to factory spec; wheel bearings packed properly & suspension & steering bushing as needed.
Forth replace all leaky seal if any.
Do your homework before each service item, will pay dividends in the long run.
As you go through the systems, keep as much of the factory parts as you can. Just replace the part that has actually gone bad, like starter contact $35 rather than starter $200 to $450.
Find a junk yard or two in your area with 100 series on hand.
Once in tip top shape ready to drive coast to coast, start with sliders. Then bumpers & suspension. I've seen some take sliders from other vehicle's cut down and wield to fit, or find used. Be patient in your hunt for parts, it will save you big $$. Or better yet, learn to wield and build your own.
Have fun!
First thing get the FSM (factory service manual) & maintenance schedule manual booklet and a set of torque wrenches.
Second base line, that is bring all maintenance items up to date. Fluid changes is most important thing we can do. I use Mobil 1 throughout & Toyota Red LL coolant.
Third is get front end set to factory spec; wheel bearings packed properly & suspension & steering bushing as needed.
Forth replace all leaky seal if any.
Do your homework before each service item, will pay dividends in the long run.
As you go through the systems, keep as much of the factory parts as you can. Just replace the part that has actually gone bad, like starter contact $35 rather than starter $200 to $450.
Find a junk yard or two in your area with 100 series on hand.
Once in tip top shape ready to drive coast to coast, start with sliders. Then bumpers & suspension. I've seen some take sliders from other vehicle's cut down and wield to fit, or find used. Be patient in your hunt for parts, it will save you big $$. Or better yet, learn to wield and build your own.
Have fun!
Last edited:
My son started driving a 2000 LC at 16 (about 2 years ago).
As stated above start with maintenance/repairs. I'd suggest downloading or buying a factory service manual.
One of our first projects was replacing the burned out bulbs in the HVAC area with LEDs. It was cheap, relatively easy, and really made my son feel like it was his car. After that a modern stereo replaced the barely working factory unit.
As far as off-road modifications we started with sliders to protect the rocker panels, and then used the vehicle as it was intended. The order of additional modifications become obvious during use.
My suggestions:
My son's LC at spring break this year:
As stated above start with maintenance/repairs. I'd suggest downloading or buying a factory service manual.
One of our first projects was replacing the burned out bulbs in the HVAC area with LEDs. It was cheap, relatively easy, and really made my son feel like it was his car. After that a modern stereo replaced the barely working factory unit.
As far as off-road modifications we started with sliders to protect the rocker panels, and then used the vehicle as it was intended. The order of additional modifications become obvious during use.
My suggestions:
Don't waste time waiting to "finish your build" before you use it. Start by exploring the capabilities of your vehicle. Don't do "stupid stuff", but I suspect you will be surprised what a stock Land Cruiser will do.
Don't waste money buying all sorts of mods that you don't/won't need for your use. When you encounter a limitation of your vehicle, then start exploring what modification might solve the issue.
Don't waste money buying all sorts of mods that you don't/won't need for your use. When you encounter a limitation of your vehicle, then start exploring what modification might solve the issue.
My son's LC at spring break this year:
- Thread starter
- #8
Thanks guys! today I adjusted my T-bars to level the front with the bigger A/t tires. I currently own the original owners manuel. The capability of this bad boy is insane. Havent ran into any issues so far with what I need it to do.. This was my familys car we bought it with around 220k on it. Iirc we have put 3 alternators and a timing belt. Other than that she is sound. There is a slight leak in A/C hose but i will take care of that this winter. Im looking to put a 40 inch light bar on my rack this christmas! Fluids are all replaced when needed as most issues are taken care of when they arise. Im pretty handy as im a moutain bike mechanic building and servicing bikes
The factory service manual is a little different than the owners manual.
An example of the 2 volume set with the EWD:
You might poke around here to get an idea of what's in there:
An example of the 2 volume set with the EWD:
You might poke around here to get an idea of what's in there:
re_guderian
SILVER Star
First-off, congratulation! (on starting your poverty training early!). 
These rigs aren't cheap, but if you're just overlanding, and not hard-core wheeling it, it can be fairly cheap to get where you want to go. I drove my first cruiser at 19 (SA spec'd '84 FJ60 in Peru back in 1987), so I get that the addiction starts early. Most of your money will be spent in gas, and then the basics to keep it on the road. All the petty things that go wrong, like headlights, oil (7+ quarts every change), minor repairs, etc. In not much of a particular order, here's my thoughts...
1. Tell us more about this history of the rig. Family owned? If not, how many owners? How much maintenance/repair history does it have? Where did you buy it? The answers to these will determine how much time/money/effort you put into what others are calling "baselining" it.
2. What's your mechanical aptitude? If you're into mountain biking, do you already wrench on your bike? If so, you can learn to wrench on the rig. Honestly, if you're not mechanically inclined, and have to rely on dealer/mechanic for fixes, these rigs will eat you alive financially. Repairs are infrequent on well-maintained rigs, but parts are costly - WAY above average prices. Remember, your rig sold for over $50K new almost 20 years ago. Visit the FAQ, there's a link for a downloadable FSM (Factory Service Manual). You'll want this. Your '99 will be slightly different in places, but if you need some section scans, just ask. I have a '00 FSM that's more like yours, but still with minor differences.
3. Do you have access to tools, jacks, jack stands, and a garage to do your own work? If so, you're in biz. If not, get another job to pay the mechanic. But seriously, there's lots of nice folks in the greater Phx area that would love to help you out/lend garage space if you're willing to put in the effort and learn. See #4...
4. Since your profile says you're in AZ, head on over the "clubhouse" sections and join up with Copper State Cruisers, some of the best guys and gals around. Go on a monthly run with them. They have many that are stocker friendly. My daughter drove Box Canyon by Florence with them when she still had her learners permit (with me in the passenger seat). They're patient with newbies, and a family-friendly group. My other daughters have all come on, and driven on, club runs. Don't worry that you're young. Bring a parent and come on out.
5. Since you're in AZ, get to know a user here named "murf", the service manager at Camelback Toyota at 16th street and Camelback in Phoenix. Don't bother telling us you live in Kingman, or Sierra Vista, it's still worth the drive... ;p. His guys KNOW cruisers, they work on TONS of them, of all varieties, and the CSC discount is worth it. I drive 25+ miles each way past 4 other closer dealerships for parts and service when it's something I can't (or don't have time to) tackle myself. Their website has decent prices on parts, and can ship if you live somewhere remote.
6. on to the cruiser... Don't let talk of engine/transmission rebuild scare you. The 2UZ-FE engine is one of the best Toyota's ever made. I don't think we've really found the end-of-the-useful-service-life/mileage-where-rebuild-is-necessary yet.
7. Ditch the brush guard. They're called "damage multipliers" for a reason. Especially if you're tight on funds, head on over to Camelback Toyota's website and price out some new headlight and grill assemblies and a front fender, then see if you can afford to keep it... (They're damage multipliers because they're not strong enough to ward off major impacts, and then they just bend back into parts and damage them when they otherwise might have missed the original impact.)
8. As far as maintenance goes, there's only a few things that will kill this truck. The biggest one is rare, but does happen not infrequently, and it's overheating. These engines run amazingly cool (especially compared to the 2F and 1FZ-FE engines in the 60 and 80 series) in our hellish summer temps. HOWEVER, there's 2 really cheap plastic OEM parts that can crack, and dump your coolant in a hurry. Start with replacing those, if not recently done. Search here for "heater T's". Many threads will pop up. You'll want a few new small hoses to make the job easier. SERIOUSLY - DON'T SKIP THIS, unless they've been done within 100K miles. I'd do it before I addressed things like tranny fluid or differential fluid replacement. Peruse this forum and see how many dead trucks there were because of old front diff fluid. Yeah, none.
9. Find out how old your radiator is. Mine cracked at just under 250K, and again, if undetected the overheat can kill your otherwise-indestructible engine. Timing belts can go significantly longer than the recommended 90K interval, but water pumps tend to go a bit sooner. I plan around 120K-ish for that service. When's the last time yours had it?
10. Then start going over the basics like oil change, flush coolant (just use the Toyota red - no need to cheap out on these fluids, I stick with OEM based on the longevity of them, not worth cheaping out here.). PS fluid, brake fluid as you can get to it.
11. Now, on to the important stuff, like how cool it looks. Lose the upper roof rack. Running it will make your abysmal MPG more abyss-like. Put it on when you need it. I know it doesn't look cool without it, but that's reality. And since your brush guard will be gone, you can loose the brush wires. We don't have brush here, we have hell-plants with spikes that will still scratch your rig regardless of the wires. But luckily, your rig is white, and they won't show. Thread over in Copper State Cruisers on getting out the Arizona pinstriping.
12. Lifting it - You can read threads until you're blue in the face here about lifting it, so I'll cut to the chase. Without a lot of new part$ (UCA, etc.) you don't really "lift" it, rather you change where in the normal suspension-travel range it rides due to the front torsion are suspension. Instead of having equal up- and down-travel, you have limited down-travel, and more up-travel. Make sense? You do this on a budget by buying rear coil spacers (~$50 from Slee or Man-a-Fre - prefer Slee due to lack of outrageous shipping charges) and put them on top of your rear springs. That lifts the rear 1 1/4". Then you crank your front torsion bars to match with a floor jack and a 30mm socket. That's it. You just "lifted" your truck.
13. If you've got the Cadillac-wallow, no need for expensive shocks. $130-ish and change from Camelback will get you all 4 corners of OEM shocks. They're fantastic for a stock rig on the road. They won't last forever off-road, but the price is right. I've blown a few of them, but they're cheap. Did I mention they're cheap???
13. Looks like you're already lost the running boards. You just gained some ground clearance. Don't do anything stupid without sliders though. Again, just peruse Camelback's website for rocker panels, doors, etc. and see if you can afford to try anything crazy. Sliders run ~$700-900, depending. Or you could just be careful...
14. There are several threads on here about what needs to be done to high-mileage cruisers. One has "200K overhaul" or something in the title. At that mileage, some of the bushings start to wear, and things get loose.
15. Speaking of loose, how's your steering? Does your rig go in random directions? Do you have a 6" dead spot in your steering wheel? The '98-'02 steering rack design is retarded. $50 in poly bushings solves A LOT of the problem.
16. Do you have any fluid leaks? Track 'em down and fix 'em.
17. There are a few killer-defects that are VERY rare, but pricey. In a '99, I'd say your biggest one would be the brake booster assembly failure. You'll know it when it happens.... Don't think there's much you can do to prevent it. Some folks have rebuilt, others just buy new at near $2K. At 400K miles, I'd just go new. Someone with a '98/'99 will chime in if I'm off the mark here. '99's are rarely affected by tranny failure. Don't sweat that either. Drain and fill tranny fluid on some kind of schedule.
18. Have you ever off roaded before? Are you familiar with how "lockers" operate? You have a center locking differential (all 100 series have them) and 99% of the '98's and '99's came with a rear differential lock. Read up on "how-stuff-works" on how these, uh... work. The biggest thing is DO NOT ENGAGE THEM ON PAVEMENT IN THE SCHOOL PARKING LOT. Or any other location with pavement. You'll end up with expensive repairs. Go out to Sycamore Creek and see how they work, and what a difference they can make.
19. If you're going to off-road in AZ, you'll want to air down those AT tires. Ask for some Staun Deflators (or similar) for Christmas to make your life easier. Then you'll need a budget way to inflate them again. Don't blow hundreds and hundreds of dollars on super-compressors or air tanks, just google a Q Industries MV-50. It'll last 10+ years of infrequent use. It'll air up all your tires in 20 minutes of so.
20. Make sure you're spare is in good shape and inflated.
21. Check your CV boots. The CV's in these are massive, and will last a long time, unless they start slinging grease out and run dry. Look at the bellow's-like boots on the shaft going from your front wheel into the front differential. If there's grease and road grime all over, time to hunt down the offending leak and fix or replace. Only use OEM CV's, aftermarket's tend to fail pretty quickly making them uneconomical. You can reboot/re-grease if you're willing to do the work and have the tools/space for cheap. New ones are around $400 ish plus labor, IIRC.
22. So for less than a few hundred buck, you can be up and running, confident, lifted, and out doing what's most important, actually USING your Land Cruiser for what it was intended.
Good luck, man!
These rigs aren't cheap, but if you're just overlanding, and not hard-core wheeling it, it can be fairly cheap to get where you want to go. I drove my first cruiser at 19 (SA spec'd '84 FJ60 in Peru back in 1987), so I get that the addiction starts early. Most of your money will be spent in gas, and then the basics to keep it on the road. All the petty things that go wrong, like headlights, oil (7+ quarts every change), minor repairs, etc. In not much of a particular order, here's my thoughts...1. Tell us more about this history of the rig. Family owned? If not, how many owners? How much maintenance/repair history does it have? Where did you buy it? The answers to these will determine how much time/money/effort you put into what others are calling "baselining" it.
2. What's your mechanical aptitude? If you're into mountain biking, do you already wrench on your bike? If so, you can learn to wrench on the rig. Honestly, if you're not mechanically inclined, and have to rely on dealer/mechanic for fixes, these rigs will eat you alive financially. Repairs are infrequent on well-maintained rigs, but parts are costly - WAY above average prices. Remember, your rig sold for over $50K new almost 20 years ago. Visit the FAQ, there's a link for a downloadable FSM (Factory Service Manual). You'll want this. Your '99 will be slightly different in places, but if you need some section scans, just ask. I have a '00 FSM that's more like yours, but still with minor differences.
3. Do you have access to tools, jacks, jack stands, and a garage to do your own work? If so, you're in biz. If not, get another job to pay the mechanic. But seriously, there's lots of nice folks in the greater Phx area that would love to help you out/lend garage space if you're willing to put in the effort and learn. See #4...
4. Since your profile says you're in AZ, head on over the "clubhouse" sections and join up with Copper State Cruisers, some of the best guys and gals around. Go on a monthly run with them. They have many that are stocker friendly. My daughter drove Box Canyon by Florence with them when she still had her learners permit (with me in the passenger seat). They're patient with newbies, and a family-friendly group. My other daughters have all come on, and driven on, club runs. Don't worry that you're young. Bring a parent and come on out.
5. Since you're in AZ, get to know a user here named "murf", the service manager at Camelback Toyota at 16th street and Camelback in Phoenix. Don't bother telling us you live in Kingman, or Sierra Vista, it's still worth the drive... ;p. His guys KNOW cruisers, they work on TONS of them, of all varieties, and the CSC discount is worth it. I drive 25+ miles each way past 4 other closer dealerships for parts and service when it's something I can't (or don't have time to) tackle myself. Their website has decent prices on parts, and can ship if you live somewhere remote.
6. on to the cruiser... Don't let talk of engine/transmission rebuild scare you. The 2UZ-FE engine is one of the best Toyota's ever made. I don't think we've really found the end-of-the-useful-service-life/mileage-where-rebuild-is-necessary yet.
7. Ditch the brush guard. They're called "damage multipliers" for a reason. Especially if you're tight on funds, head on over to Camelback Toyota's website and price out some new headlight and grill assemblies and a front fender, then see if you can afford to keep it... (They're damage multipliers because they're not strong enough to ward off major impacts, and then they just bend back into parts and damage them when they otherwise might have missed the original impact.)
8. As far as maintenance goes, there's only a few things that will kill this truck. The biggest one is rare, but does happen not infrequently, and it's overheating. These engines run amazingly cool (especially compared to the 2F and 1FZ-FE engines in the 60 and 80 series) in our hellish summer temps. HOWEVER, there's 2 really cheap plastic OEM parts that can crack, and dump your coolant in a hurry. Start with replacing those, if not recently done. Search here for "heater T's". Many threads will pop up. You'll want a few new small hoses to make the job easier. SERIOUSLY - DON'T SKIP THIS, unless they've been done within 100K miles. I'd do it before I addressed things like tranny fluid or differential fluid replacement. Peruse this forum and see how many dead trucks there were because of old front diff fluid. Yeah, none.
9. Find out how old your radiator is. Mine cracked at just under 250K, and again, if undetected the overheat can kill your otherwise-indestructible engine. Timing belts can go significantly longer than the recommended 90K interval, but water pumps tend to go a bit sooner. I plan around 120K-ish for that service. When's the last time yours had it?
10. Then start going over the basics like oil change, flush coolant (just use the Toyota red - no need to cheap out on these fluids, I stick with OEM based on the longevity of them, not worth cheaping out here.). PS fluid, brake fluid as you can get to it.
11. Now, on to the important stuff, like how cool it looks. Lose the upper roof rack. Running it will make your abysmal MPG more abyss-like. Put it on when you need it. I know it doesn't look cool without it, but that's reality. And since your brush guard will be gone, you can loose the brush wires. We don't have brush here, we have hell-plants with spikes that will still scratch your rig regardless of the wires. But luckily, your rig is white, and they won't show. Thread over in Copper State Cruisers on getting out the Arizona pinstriping.
12. Lifting it - You can read threads until you're blue in the face here about lifting it, so I'll cut to the chase. Without a lot of new part$ (UCA, etc.) you don't really "lift" it, rather you change where in the normal suspension-travel range it rides due to the front torsion are suspension. Instead of having equal up- and down-travel, you have limited down-travel, and more up-travel. Make sense? You do this on a budget by buying rear coil spacers (~$50 from Slee or Man-a-Fre - prefer Slee due to lack of outrageous shipping charges) and put them on top of your rear springs. That lifts the rear 1 1/4". Then you crank your front torsion bars to match with a floor jack and a 30mm socket. That's it. You just "lifted" your truck.
13. If you've got the Cadillac-wallow, no need for expensive shocks. $130-ish and change from Camelback will get you all 4 corners of OEM shocks. They're fantastic for a stock rig on the road. They won't last forever off-road, but the price is right. I've blown a few of them, but they're cheap. Did I mention they're cheap???
13. Looks like you're already lost the running boards. You just gained some ground clearance. Don't do anything stupid without sliders though. Again, just peruse Camelback's website for rocker panels, doors, etc. and see if you can afford to try anything crazy. Sliders run ~$700-900, depending. Or you could just be careful...
14. There are several threads on here about what needs to be done to high-mileage cruisers. One has "200K overhaul" or something in the title. At that mileage, some of the bushings start to wear, and things get loose.
15. Speaking of loose, how's your steering? Does your rig go in random directions? Do you have a 6" dead spot in your steering wheel? The '98-'02 steering rack design is retarded. $50 in poly bushings solves A LOT of the problem.
16. Do you have any fluid leaks? Track 'em down and fix 'em.
17. There are a few killer-defects that are VERY rare, but pricey. In a '99, I'd say your biggest one would be the brake booster assembly failure. You'll know it when it happens.... Don't think there's much you can do to prevent it. Some folks have rebuilt, others just buy new at near $2K. At 400K miles, I'd just go new. Someone with a '98/'99 will chime in if I'm off the mark here. '99's are rarely affected by tranny failure. Don't sweat that either. Drain and fill tranny fluid on some kind of schedule.
18. Have you ever off roaded before? Are you familiar with how "lockers" operate? You have a center locking differential (all 100 series have them) and 99% of the '98's and '99's came with a rear differential lock. Read up on "how-stuff-works" on how these, uh... work. The biggest thing is DO NOT ENGAGE THEM ON PAVEMENT IN THE SCHOOL PARKING LOT. Or any other location with pavement. You'll end up with expensive repairs. Go out to Sycamore Creek and see how they work, and what a difference they can make.
19. If you're going to off-road in AZ, you'll want to air down those AT tires. Ask for some Staun Deflators (or similar) for Christmas to make your life easier. Then you'll need a budget way to inflate them again. Don't blow hundreds and hundreds of dollars on super-compressors or air tanks, just google a Q Industries MV-50. It'll last 10+ years of infrequent use. It'll air up all your tires in 20 minutes of so.
20. Make sure you're spare is in good shape and inflated.
21. Check your CV boots. The CV's in these are massive, and will last a long time, unless they start slinging grease out and run dry. Look at the bellow's-like boots on the shaft going from your front wheel into the front differential. If there's grease and road grime all over, time to hunt down the offending leak and fix or replace. Only use OEM CV's, aftermarket's tend to fail pretty quickly making them uneconomical. You can reboot/re-grease if you're willing to do the work and have the tools/space for cheap. New ones are around $400 ish plus labor, IIRC.
22. So for less than a few hundred buck, you can be up and running, confident, lifted, and out doing what's most important, actually USING your Land Cruiser for what it was intended.
Good luck, man!
- Thread starter
- #11
First-off, congratulation! (on starting your poverty training early!).
1. Tell us more about this history of the rig. Family owned? If not, how many owners? How much maintenance/repair history does it have? Where did you buy it? The answers to these will determine how much time/money/effort you put into what others are calling "baselining" it.
2. What's your mechanical aptitude? If you're into mountain biking, do you already wrench on your bike? If so, you can learn to wrench on the rig. Honestly, if you're not mechanically inclined, and have to rely on dealer/mechanic for fixes, these rigs will eat you alive financially. Repairs are infrequent on well-maintained rigs, but parts are costly - WAY above average prices. Remember, your rig sold for over $50K new almost 20 years ago. Visit the FAQ, there's a link for a downloadable FSM (Factory Service Manual). You'll want this. Your '99 will be slightly different in places, but if you need some section scans, just ask. I have a '00 FSM that's more like yours, but still with minor differences.
3. Do you have access to tools, jacks, jack stands, and a garage to do your own work? If so, you're in biz. If not, get another job to pay the mechanic. But seriously, there's lots of nice folks in the greater Phx area that would love to help you out/lend garage space if you're willing to put in the effort and learn. See #4...
4. Since your profile says you're in AZ, head on over the "clubhouse" sections and join up with Copper State Cruisers, some of the best guys and gals around. Go on a monthly run with them. They have many that are stocker friendly. My daughter drove Box Canyon by Florence with them when she still had her learners permit (with me in the passenger seat). They're patient with newbies, and a family-friendly group. My other daughters have all come on, and driven on, club runs. Don't worry that you're young. Bring a parent and come on out.
5. Since you're in AZ, get to know a user here named "murf", the service manager at Camelback Toyota at 16th street and Camelback in Phoenix. Don't bother telling us you live in Kingman, or Sierra Vista, it's still worth the drive... ;p. His guys KNOW cruisers, they work on TONS of them, of all varieties, and the CSC discount is worth it. I drive 25+ miles each way past 4 other closer dealerships for parts and service when it's something I can't (or don't have time to) tackle myself. Their website has decent prices on parts, and can ship if you live somewhere remote.
6. on to the cruiser... Don't let talk of engine/transmission rebuild scare you. The 2UZ-FE engine is one of the best Toyota's ever made. I don't think we've really found the end-of-the-useful-service-life/mileage-where-rebuild-is-necessary yet.
7. Ditch the brush guard. They're called "damage multipliers" for a reason. Especially if you're tight on funds, head on over to Camelback Toyota's website and price out some new headlight and grill assemblies and a front fender, then see if you can afford to keep it... (They're damage multipliers because they're not strong enough to ward off major impacts, and then they just bend back into parts and damage them when they otherwise might have missed the original impact.)
8. As far as maintenance goes, there's only a few things that will kill this truck. The biggest one is rare, but does happen not infrequently, and it's overheating. These engines run amazingly cool (especially compared to the 2F and 1FZ-FE engines in the 60 and 80 series) in our hellish summer temps. HOWEVER, there's 2 really cheap plastic OEM parts that can crack, and dump your coolant in a hurry. Start with replacing those, if not recently done. Search here for "heater T's". Many threads will pop up. You'll want a few new small hoses to make the job easier. SERIOUSLY - DON'T SKIP THIS, unless they've been done within 100K miles. I'd do it before I addressed things like tranny fluid or differential fluid replacement. Peruse this forum and see how many dead trucks there were because of old front diff fluid. Yeah, none.
9. Find out how old your radiator is. Mine cracked at just under 250K, and again, if undetected the overheat can kill your otherwise-indestructible engine. Timing belts can go significantly longer than the recommended 90K interval, but water pumps tend to go a bit sooner. I plan around 120K-ish for that service. When's the last time yours had it?
10. Then start going over the basics like oil change, flush coolant (just use the Toyota red - no need to cheap out on these fluids, I stick with OEM based on the longevity of them, not worth cheaping out here.). PS fluid, brake fluid as you can get to it.
11. Now, on to the important stuff, like how cool it looks. Lose the upper roof rack. Running it will make your abysmal MPG more abyss-like. Put it on when you need it. I know it doesn't look cool without it, but that's reality. And since your brush guard will be gone, you can loose the brush wires. We don't have brush here, we have hell-plants with spikes that will still scratch your rig regardless of the wires. But luckily, your rig is white, and they won't show. Thread over in Copper State Cruisers on getting out the Arizona pinstriping.
12. Lifting it - You can read threads until you're blue in the face here about lifting it, so I'll cut to the chase. Without a lot of new part$ (UCA, etc.) you don't really "lift" it, rather you change where in the normal suspension-travel range it rides due to the front torsion are suspension. Instead of having equal up- and down-travel, you have limited down-travel, and more up-travel. Make sense? You do this on a budget by buying rear coil spacers (~$50 from Slee or Man-a-Fre - prefer Slee due to lack of outrageous shipping charges) and put them on top of your rear springs. That lifts the rear 1 1/4". Then you crank your front torsion bars to match with a floor jack and a 30mm socket. That's it. You just "lifted" your truck.
13. If you've got the Cadillac-wallow, no need for expensive shocks. $130-ish and change from Camelback will get you all 4 corners of OEM shocks. They're fantastic for a stock rig on the road. They won't last forever off-road, but the price is right. I've blown a few of them, but they're cheap. Did I mention they're cheap???
13. Looks like you're already lost the running boards. You just gained some ground clearance. Don't do anything stupid without sliders though. Again, just peruse Camelback's website for rocker panels, doors, etc. and see if you can afford to try anything crazy. Sliders run ~$700-900, depending. Or you could just be careful...
14. There are several threads on here about what needs to be done to high-mileage cruisers. One has "200K overhaul" or something in the title. At that mileage, some of the bushings start to wear, and things get loose.
15. Speaking of loose, how's your steering? Does your rig go in random directions? Do you have a 6" dead spot in your steering wheel? The '98-'02 steering rack design is retarded. $50 in poly bushings solves A LOT of the problem.
16. Do you have any fluid leaks? Track 'em down and fix 'em.
17. There are a few killer-defects that are VERY rare, but pricey. In a '99, I'd say your biggest one would be the brake booster assembly failure. You'll know it when it happens.... Don't think there's much you can do to prevent it. Some folks have rebuilt, others just buy new at near $2K. At 400K miles, I'd just go new. Someone with a '98/'99 will chime in if I'm off the mark here. '99's are rarely affected by tranny failure. Don't sweat that either. Drain and fill tranny fluid on some kind of schedule.
18. Have you ever off roaded before? Are you familiar with how "lockers" operate? You have a center locking differential (all 100 series have them) and 99% of the '98's and '99's came with a rear differential lock. Read up on "how-stuff-works" on how these, uh... work. The biggest thing is DO NOT ENGAGE THEM ON PAVEMENT IN THE SCHOOL PARKING LOT. Or any other location with pavement. You'll end up with expensive repairs. Go out to Sycamore Creek and see how they work, and what a difference they can make.
19. If you're going to off-road in AZ, you'll want to air down those AT tires. Ask for some Staun Deflators (or similar) for Christmas to make your life easier. Then you'll need a budget way to inflate them again. Don't blow hundreds and hundreds of dollars on super-compressors or air tanks, just google a Q Industries MV-50. It'll last 10+ years of infrequent use. It'll air up all your tires in 20 minutes of so.
20. Make sure you're spare is in good shape and inflated.
21. Check your CV boots. The CV's in these are massive, and will last a long time, unless they start slinging grease out and run dry. Look at the bellow's-like boots on the shaft going from your front wheel into the front differential. If there's grease and road grime all over, time to hunt down the offending leak and fix or replace. Only use OEM CV's, aftermarket's tend to fail pretty quickly making them uneconomical. You can reboot/re-grease if you're willing to do the work and have the tools/space for cheap. New ones are around $400 ish plus labor, IIRC.
22. So for less than a few hundred buck, you can be up and running, confident, lifted, and out doing what's most important, actually USING your Land Cruiser for what it was intended.
Good luck, man!
Thanks for the kind words!! Ive been driving this rig for about a year now. She has been on multiple wheelings trips when I was younger. Since ive been the owner ive taken it down to reddington pass and down the back side of mt lemmon multiple times to oracle. Im familiar with the lockers, what they do and when to and not to use them. My steering is a little wonky just replaced the fluid and seems to be back to normal. Alternator was replaced at about 350k. Yes, I have acess to hydrolic jacks and just about every tool i need. I am pretty mechanically smart as i said I buy sell build and referbish bikes. loosing the rack limb risers and brush guard were my next move that was in my " aesthetic" phase. I really want a new bumper with more clearance. My spare is aired up and ready to rock and roll. A good buddy lives in his garage building sand rails and fabing anything under the sun so hes happy to help me out. Only thing ive had a issue with was my radio going out while on a bumpy trail i just solved that with a newer single din radio with blue tooth. We are the second owners. Previous owner is a close family friend that worked at the yota dealership. I hope this helps!!!
re_guderian
SILVER Star
See how it drives after cranking the t-bars. "Technically" you have changed the front-end alignment, and "should" get it aligned, depending on how far you cranked them. Then also know that the font is supposed to be close to an inch lower than the rear. Strange handling results from having the front and rear perfectly level, even though it looks better that way. The standard way to measure is from the center of the hub to the fender. This takes out variation in tires size/inflation etc. If you romp on the gas, and the truck pulls to the right, the front is too high and you'll have to lower it. Find the sweet spot, drive it around for a week, then go get an alignment. You'll save your tires that way.
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re_guderian
SILVER Star
Sounds like you're well on the way!! And if you're down in Tucson, there's a contingent of Copper State guys down there, too. We did Chiva falls a few years ago. 100's can go some pretty amazing places!
Agree with @jLB, try not to spend money on mods you won't use or need. If the maintenance items are in check, I'd start with a set of all-terrains and a few cranks of the torsion bars and it sounds like you've already done those things.
Outside of that, go have fun with it and see how many miles you can rack up before it gives up the ghost.
Outside of that, go have fun with it and see how many miles you can rack up before it gives up the ghost.
This.
I shouldn't be surprised at this point, but I am always impressed with how welcoming people generally are on this forum. The time that several of you have taken to answer serious questions on this thread is really great. As an aside, I think that you are really lucky to have an LC as a first vehicle, my first "car" was an '82 Chevy S-10 2WD that would stall when it rained because mice had built nests in the air filter box! Have a great time with it, and don't worry what other people are doing with theirs, we can all get a bit too envious and worry too much about what other people are up to. Drive safely and have fun!
I'm way off the norm here...
1.
I don't worry about miles and really only fix stuff as it breaks, Nothing wrong with changing all the fluids and greasing everything that needs lube... properly lubed anything will last a very long time...
2.
I buy ebay online cheap parts many many times... if you have to buy from anyone advanceauto.com buy online pickup at the store anything under $100 TRT30 coupon code will get you 30% off and over $100 TRT41 will get you 40% off
3. there are cheap things you can do to make it drive better and be safer... steering rack bushings are a good start $40 online and I think that is high for what you get
4. anything that breaks on yours has broken on others and most have documented the fix on this forum...
5. there is no ONE thing on this truck that you can't fix for less than $1000 if you can do the labor yourself and that includes replacing the engine...
your truck looks damn nice to me... mine has 325k on it and I'd take it anywhere
1.
I don't worry about miles and really only fix stuff as it breaks, Nothing wrong with changing all the fluids and greasing everything that needs lube... properly lubed anything will last a very long time...
2.
I buy ebay online cheap parts many many times... if you have to buy from anyone advanceauto.com buy online pickup at the store anything under $100 TRT30 coupon code will get you 30% off and over $100 TRT41 will get you 40% off
3. there are cheap things you can do to make it drive better and be safer... steering rack bushings are a good start $40 online and I think that is high for what you get
4. anything that breaks on yours has broken on others and most have documented the fix on this forum...
5. there is no ONE thing on this truck that you can't fix for less than $1000 if you can do the labor yourself and that includes replacing the engine...
your truck looks damn nice to me... mine has 325k on it and I'd take it anywhere
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Will lifting a LC this way without a diff drop cause issues in the long run? Or is it too mild of a lift to be a concern?
re_guderian
SILVER Star
The only potential issue alleviated by a diff drop is CV angle. At 30mm (rear spacer + t-bar crank) I would say that most are successful without diff drop, but it really depends on the age/condition of your CV boots. The main problem that shows up is leaky CV boots, which can hasten wear. The secondary one is increased stress on the CV's themselves, though the OEM CV's are pretty stout.
Also new here, replying so I can find these nuggets in the future.
