Divider's Prado "Build"

[greatdivider]

After careful deliberation, I've joined the 120 series club. I picked up my Prado yesterday freshly imported from Japan. I purchased it at auction a few months ago. The vehicle is a 2008 Land Cruiser Prado TX. I went with the 4.0L so it will be easier to find engine related parts. This thing only has 22,500km on it. Definitely one of the cleanest JDMs I've seen.

So a bit about me and the vehicle use. I'm a mechanic who worked at a Lexus dealer for years and now working in a independent shop. I was a Toyota fan boy before working on all makes but it's even worse now . The vehicle will be used for work commutes (yawn) and mountain biking + camping trips. I'm not really into off-roading much besides fire roads so no crazy big tires or lifts here.

I've got some maintenance stuff planned since it's 16 years old and some fairly basic mods happening too. Here's the list.

Mods:
Cooper Discovery Road and Trail in factory size - done
RA Motorsports roof rack - waiting for this to arrive
Wild Land Desert Cruiser RTT
Sony android auto double din
Husky Uni-Fit floor mats
Weathertech cargo liner with bumper protector
Weathertech seat cover
Adding cruise control
Trailer hitch - waiting for this to arrive
6ft Princess Auto vehicle awning

Maintenance:
Oil change
Brake fluid
Coolant
Wheel alignment
Brake service
Fuel filter
Fluid film the undercarriage

 

[dovetails]

man what a KILLER find. stupid clean. how's the undercarriage look? keeping up with this one for sure.

 

[greatdivider]

man what a KILLER find. stupid clean. how's the undercarriage look? keeping up with this one for sure.

I just got back from inspecting it and doing a bit of work. There is a bit of surface rust around the ends of the rear axle but otherwise it basically looks new. I forgot to take pictures..... Next time I'll grab some. There is a tiny amount of dried coolant on one of the water pump bolts which is odd. I'm going to pressure test the system next week. The RF inner CV boot has a tiny amount of grease leaking out of the small clamp which is annoying... I really don't want to re-boot them already so I'm going to try replacing the clamp first.

I did my oil change, installed floor mats, seat cover, cargo liner, fuel filter.

I attempted to install the new head unit but ran into issues. Basically I didn't do enough research on the differences between the Prado trims and the GX. I purchased a install kit for a non-nav GX and it isn't even close. I'll return it but need to research what will work.... probably buying something from overseas. JDM life

 

[dovetails]

I just got back from inspecting it and doing a bit of work. There is a bit of surface rust around the ends of the rear axle but otherwise it basically looks new. I forgot to take pictures..... Next time I'll grab some. There is a tiny amount of dried coolant on one of the water pump bolts which is odd. I'm going to pressure test the system next week. The RF inner CV boot has a tiny amount of grease leaking out of the small clamp which is annoying... I really don't want to re-boot them already so I'm going to try replacing the clamp first.

I did my oil change, installed floor mats, seat cover, cargo liner, fuel filter.

I attempted to install the new head unit but ran into issues. Basically I didn't do enough research on the differences between the Prado trims and the GX. I purchased a install kit for a non-nav GX and it isn't even close. I'll return it but need to research what will work.... probably buying something from overseas. JDM life

Dried coolant on anything may indicate a radiator that is going... do you see any coolant leaking on the bottom brackets holding up the radiator? It's a notorious issue with the platform, but not crazy hard/expensive to fix (replace radiator).

 

[greatdivider]

Mods:
Cooper Discovery Road and Trail in factory size - done
RA Motorsports roof rack - waiting for this to arrive
Wild Land Desert Cruiser RTT
Sony android auto double din
Husky Uni-Fit floor mats
Weathertech cargo liner with bumper protector
Weathertech seat cover
Adding cruise control
Trailer hitch - waiting for this to arrive
6ft Princess Auto vehicle awning

Maintenance:
Oil change
Brake fluid
Coolant
Wheel alignment
Brake service
Fuel filter
Fluid film the undercarriage

The last month has flown by, forgot to update this

I've installed all of the listed mods now. Just finished installing the roof rack, awning, RTT an hour ago. Maintenance is all done until shortly before snow flies and I'll do an alignment + fluid film.

Went camping once, shuttled some mountain bikes on rough fsr, close to 2000km of highway driving... This vehicle is awesome. My old vehicle was a 21 4Runner TRD Off Road and I honestly prefer driving the 120. The 4Runner is noticeably slower and has worse highway gear hunting/excessive downshifts. 120 uses less fuel as a result. The interior is nicer in the 4Runner, so many cupholders and storage areas. I really find the 120 lacking in that regard. Anyways, here are some pictures

 

[buggyboy7]

Hi greatdivider.
How's the 120 working out for you? Looks like you got a jem.
I'm just waiting for the exact same Prado (2008 TX) to come over. It has 49000 KM on it.The only difference is mine has the 2.7L 2TR-FE 4cyl engine.
Just wondering where you sourced the LHD headlights for it? Did you install GX470 ones?
Cheers
K.

 

[buggyboy7]

Hi again greatdivider
Also wondering what trailer hitch you put on? Is it a gx470 class 3?
Thx K.