Builds Dissent offroad lc250 rock crawler build!

[joseywales]

that it is! Can’t let frame and body panels get in the way of my vision for this build. All the guys in my shop think I’m crazy as well .

I am certainly bummed how difficult Toyota made these for a good looking after market set of bumpers! They gave us good provisions for rack and sliders but it is clear that replacing the bumpers was not a consideration when they were designing.

My motto is “unless it’s a rare classic” game on. I modify brand new rifles regularly (shortening barrels etc) and some people are horrified. My response is that if I can buy another stock one without much difficulty, who cares if I cut something up?

You would think they should know that any LC (especially a “world market” unit) would be designed for an ARB or similar to be fitted. I did see a post with what looked like a factory bull bar on an Aussie spec 250.

 

[haulin auss]

that it is! Can’t let frame and body panels get in the way of my vision for this build. All the guys in my shop think I’m crazy as well .

I am certainly bummed how difficult Toyota made these for a good looking after market set of bumpers! They gave us good provisions for rack and sliders but it is clear that replacing the bumpers was not a consideration when they were designing.

Given the positioning of everything up front, do you think it will be possible to build a classic-styled front bumper like your FJ62 bar for it?

Obviously not the goal of this crawler build, but from the second I first saw the 250 I immediately thought your 60 series bar styling would look great with the round headlights. Honestly might be enough to push me 250 instead of 200 haha

 

[benc]

Given the positioning of everything up front, do you think it will be possible to build a classic-styled front bumper like your FJ62 bar for it?

Obviously not the goal of this crawler build, but from the second I first saw the 250 I immediately thought your 60 series bar styling would look great with the round headlights. Honestly might be enough to push me 250 instead of 200 haha

Similar style with a lot of cutting yes. Unfortunately there is lots of radiator to cover in the middle. The full build will be unveiled in a couple weeks at overland expo. Can’t wait to share the full build with you all!

 

[benc]

Update. The bulk of the body work is done and it is back on the ground and fitting the 38s at stock height. Drives and rides great. This will be the last of the photos until the big unveiling at overland expo PNW on the 28th.

 

[matzell]

How is the power with the 38's? I imagine you are going to have to regear so the tranny does not freak out with all those gears. I look forward to what you do with this. I also like the idea of no lift.

 

[benc]

How is the power with the 38's? I imagine you are going to have to regear so the tranny does not freak out with all those gears. I look forward to what you do with this. I also like the idea of no lift.

I don’t have much time on the 38s yet but did get on the freeway for a bit and honestly hardly noticed the 38s which was surprising. That being said I have a lot of weight removed in its stripped down state.

 

[Franken470]

How much more design work do you think will be necessary to adapt the 250 front end to the 550, given completely different grill and headlight structures along with the different power plants. Im actually more interested in rear bumpers too for a tire carrier etc. how much extra room is underneath for an oversized spare? The long term plan would be to move it out for an AUX tank but I feel like that’s at least a year out from now.

 

[ryanjl]

Dissent front and rear bumper look pretty good.

 

[OwnerCS]

Hotshot Offroad post.

 

[Heckraiser]

Subscribed

My wife is already talking about getting a LC250 because I've never properly bonded with the LX

 

[1NTRANSIT]

The bumpers look amazing! Eager to see what mods have to be done for fitting.

Im a sucker for those Turbo graphics…

 

[SNLC]

That’s the best looking 250 I have seen yet.

Cheers

 

[benc]

Sorry for
The delay in updates. It’s been a crazy couple weeks! I did the first real trail today after the build! Nothing crazy but here are some take aways. Overall I’m loving the platform!
1. Today was hot! 100-110 and I did feel a bit of power loss on the hwy passes. Ultimately a regear will be needed for the 38s.

2. The steering is amazing! Turns the 38s with ease on the trail even when aired down.

3. Trans temps do tend to get up there when crawling. Hopefully this will get better with a regear.

4. Crawl and traction controls work extremely well! This has certainly come a long way since the lc200 series.

5. First gear is not low enough! 38s definitely don’t help but I think even stock it is fairly tall on the first gear. My sequoia with the 10sp has a very low first gear and I do wish this one was lower. Hopefully a regear will be enough. I am planning on possibly putting on 74Weld’s portals which is a 22% reduction so that will certainly be an improvement.

6. The ride from the prototype icon suspension on this platform is amazing! I have removed the front sway bar all together and it rides extremely smooth and controlled in both low and high speed.
I am planning on running a little bit more difficult trail tomorrow so will report back more on the crawl performance.

 

[haulin auss]

yes portals

 

[Phillyd2]

Sorry for
The delay in updates. It’s been a crazy couple weeks! I did the first real trail today after the build! Nothing crazy but here are some take aways. Overall I’m loving the platform!
1. Today was hot! 100-110 and I did feel a bit of power loss on the hwy passes. Ultimately a regear will be needed for the 38s.

2. The steering is amazing! Turns the 38s with ease on the trail even when aired down.

3. Trans temps do tend to get up there when crawling. Hopefully this will get better with a regear.

4. Crawl and traction controls work extremely well! This has certainly come a long way since the lc200 series.

5. First gear is not low enough! 38s definitely don’t help but I think even stock it is fairly tall on the first gear. My sequoia with the 10sp has a very low first gear and I do wish this one was lower. Hopefully a regear will be enough. I am planning on possibly putting on 74Weld’s portals which is a 22% reduction so that will certainly be an improvement.

6. The ride from the prototype icon suspension on this platform is amazing! I have removed the front sway bar all together and it rides extremely smooth and controlled in both low and high speed.
I am planning on running a little bit more difficult trail tomorrow so will report back more on the crawl performance.

How did you wire the winch?

 

[benc]

How did you wire the winch?

I’m going to play with a few different ways. I believe winch manufactures play it safe on the amp draw ratings. Comeup for instance says the solo 12.5 can draw 400-500 amps at full load, most vehicles are not capable of providing 400-500 amps. There is a factory 300amp fuse and cable running to the fuse box under the hood. The problem is I do not know the factory load on the circuit so I’m not sure how many amps I have to spare there. There is also a blank 200 amp fuse at the battery but that will require running the cable all the way to the back. This is definitely the safest method. My first method is to run to the 300 amp circuit under the hood at the fuse box and I will install a separate 175 amp fuse in line for the winch on the positive and chassis ground the negative. Typically you would not want to chassis ground the winch but the entire electrical system on these are reliant on chassis and body grounds so I don’t see that being an issue. If that blows I will bump to a 200amp, if that doesn’t work I will end up running cable all the way back to the battery but that opens up another can of worms unfortunately. There is a current draw sensor on the negative terminal that we are not sure will handle the amp draw. If we hook directly to the battery on both negative and positive we are bypassing the current draw sensor because the winch is grounded, this could potentially confuse the charging system. The solution for this is running a solenoid disconnect on both positive and negative winch connections. We did this on our sequoia and it works great. The problem with this is it is costly and time consuming.

It definitely shouldn’t be this difficult but this is what we have to work with. Hopefully all that makes a little sense!

 

[SNLC]

yes portals

Agree but no to backpacking stroganoff!

Cheers

 

[benc]

Agree but no to backpacking stroganoff!

Cheers

What! That stuff is freaking delicious!.

 

[Phillyd2]

I’m going to play with a few different ways. I believe winch manufactures play it safe on the amp draw ratings. Comeup for instance says the solo 12.5 can draw 400-500 amps at full load, most vehicles are not capable of providing 400-500 amps. There is a factory 300amp fuse and cable running to the fuse box under the hood. The problem is I do not know the factory load on the circuit so I’m not sure how many amps I have to spare there. There is also a blank 200 amp fuse at the battery but that will require running the cable all the way to the back. This is definitely the safest method. My first method is to run to the 300 amp circuit under the hood at the fuse box and I will install a separate 175 amp fuse in line for the winch on the positive and chassis ground the negative. Typically you would not want to chassis ground the winch but the entire electrical system on these are reliant on chassis and body grounds so I don’t see that being an issue. If that blows I will bump to a 200amp, if that doesn’t work I will end up running cable all the way back to the battery but that opens up another can of worms unfortunately. There is a current draw sensor on the negative terminal that we are not sure will handle the amp draw. If we hook directly to the battery on both negative and positive we are bypassing the current draw sensor because the winch is grounded, this could potentially confuse the charging system. The solution for this is running a solenoid disconnect on both positive and negative winch connections. We did this on our sequoia and it works great. The problem with this is it is costly and time consuming.

It definitely shouldn’t be this difficult but this is what we have to work with. Hopefully all that makes a little sense!

Ah, sounds like as it sits now it's not wired yet. Fair enough and look forward to how it ends up.

 

[benc]

Ah, sounds like as it sits now it's not wired yet. Fair enough and look forward to how it ends up.

It’s wired but to the 300 amp circuit under the hood. I do not have the fuse installed yet so I don’t want to chance a pull until I get a fuse in line.