duggy's build thread: 1998 Land Cruiser #SAS100

[yotasavg]

Yup, I just taped off the clear section and the black plastic border that surrounds the whole tail light and went to town. I'd much rather pull apart the tail lights to take out the orange filter but knowing me, I'd overcook them and end up with some melted tail lights

Haha ya that would be my concern too... so no sanding? Thanks for the response, btw!

 

[duggy]

Well it's definitely been quite a while since I've updated this thread. The usual maintenance has been performed and I've done quite a few things such as replace the front, tcase and rear diff fluids with full synthetic along with a full transmission fluid swap to Mobil1 full synthetic.

It gets quite hot here in Texas and my A/C performance was very poor in city traffic so I decided to clean out the fins on my radiator and perform a fan clutch hub service. I went with 20K CST fluid from Amazon and added two electric fans. I can't comment on the performance in city traffic just yet but judging from the air it sucked in last night to the radiator I can definitely tell a difference already. I've read that the early model 100 series had an auxiliary fan built in but I've asked a few hundy owners if they had them on their early models and the answers I received were all no.

I am gearing up for the arrival of my Bump It offroad rear bumper today. I had Mike make some customizations to it so I could carry a few large items in the rear instead of stuffing it in my cargo area. We agreed to make a larger 3-jerry can cooler carrier instead of the standard 2. This involves moving a few things around such as the tire carrier, hi-lift mount to accommodate the larger carrier. I also wanted this carrier to act as a dual purpose cube cooler carrier also since those 60qt cube coolers are very useful, but take up a bunch of space. Mike was very easy to work with and did a great job on the cooler. I'm really impressed with how he could take my very vague instructions and turn them into reality.

Onto some recent pictures of the cruiser as it stands today.

More pictures to come when the rear bumper is installed this weekend

 

[newbtrayback]

Looks great! Dog too......

 

[duggy]

Looks great! Dog too......

Thanks for the comments. We need to meetup when you get into Houston (if not already)

I finally got the bumper installed last night. I have to give it up to Mike and commend him on the great work he did on the bumper and the customizations we talked about. The cooler basket is a bit large but it will serve as a dual purpose to hold my jerry cans, cube cooler or a muddy strap tossed into it when we are on the trails. Everything bolted up correctly and is nice and tight. I may move the tire carrier up since the tire that's on there now is a 33". Since I opted for the adjustable tire carrier I adjust the depth of the carrier to be as close as I could to the hi-lift.

Enough words, some pics now.

Hitch receiver off, stock bumper off

I prepped the bumper by installing all of the hardware such as latches, isolators, stoppers, etc off the truck. I also prepped the captured nuts in the frame by blowing any dirt out and applying WD-40 liberally in the holes. This made install much easier as the nuts just slipped right in without any drama. Pics of the bumper installed:

I think I'll leave the CB antenna where it's at for now unless I have another reason to move it. It's not causing me any harm at the moment.

Call me weird, but I'm excited to start using my Trasharoo again. That thing was a life-saver on the trails and beach.

 

[REZARF]

Great build man, is that a portable stereo of some sort?

 

[duggy]

Yeah, it has a a 12v battery and head unit which powers the speakers. I use it for almost everything including the garage, beach, camp and float radio.

 

[duggy]

I've definitely been slacking on getting this thread updated with pictures and mod updates.

Nothing major since August other than some finishing touches on the truck. I'd been preparing for a trip to Amarillo, Texas to see the Grand Canyon of Texas so I was pretty busy the last couple of months. I added more lights to the rear of the truck and finally welded up a solution for a camping table. I always found that the camping table was the first thing you need to unpack and the last thing to pack up which typically sat in the truck so I came up with a solution for that.

The clearances are pretty tight but I got it to fit by welding up some angle iron and using u-bolts to attach to the rack. Perfect solution for something that is such a pain.

A buddy found some lights to put into his fogs and I figured that at $17/light, they were cheap enough to try out as some camping lights. These things will light up a dark camping spot awesome! They allow us to cook and also provide ambient lighting when digging into the fridge late at night for some beer. These are attached to Gamiviti light tabs welded onto the rack

Onto some trip pictures. You can see the whole trip report here:

Playing in the Panhandle trip report


I definitely need more lift in the back because I carry way too much crap when wheeling. I have 863s in the rear now, but even those are not enough. Any thoughts on using 863J springs to deal with the weight, or should I just go with some 25mm trim packers?

 

[perrobravo]

I definitely need more lift in the back because I carry way too much crap when wheeling. I have 863s in the rear now, but even those are not enough. Any thoughts on using 863J springs to deal with the weight, or should I just go with some 25mm trim packers?

Nice truck and great pictures!

You may want to try OME 864s. I was in the same situation...too much crap brought along on trips...and so went from the Slee heavies with spacers and air bags to 864s (without spacers) and have been happy with the results. No more sagging rear, even when fully loaded and I haven't used my airbags once since installing the new springs.

 

[duggy]

Nice truck and great pictures!

You may want to try OME 864s. I was in the same situation...too much crap brought along on trips...and so went from the Slee heavies with spacers and air bags to 864s (without spacers) and have been happy with the results. No more sagging rear, even when fully loaded and I haven't used my airbags once since installing the new springs.

I found some 863J springs and installed them over the vacation weekend. The taller height works well for me and I think when I'm loaded down, it will sit just right.

The big difference in the 864s and 863Js is that the J's sit about an inch higher with a lower spring rate than the 864s. The 864s are also a thicker bar at 20mm vs the J's at 19mm. How is the ride with the 864s? I didn't notice any vibrations or issues on my drive in to work today so I suspect that the drive shaft is still content with it's angles at the moment.

 

[bctlex]

Dual 10" Electric fans for radiator and condenser

Is this plug and play? Any chance you remember the model number? I have a 98 without a fan, and probably could use this mod. Appreciate any advice.

Thanks
Chris

 

[duggy]

Dual 10" Electric fans for radiator and condenser

Is this plug and play? Any chance you remember the model number? I have a 98 without a fan, and probably could use this mod. Appreciate any advice.

Thanks
Chris

Unfortunately not plug and play but the wiring is a simple relay kit hooked up to a switch. I have to turn it on and off manually, but it does help when crawling.

 

[GhostZodick]

You live in Houston but picked this truck from Fort Worth? I thought Houston has more Land Cruisers. There aren't many LCs for sale in DFW area.

 

[JohnnyUtah]

Thats funny because I too live in Houston and had to drive up to Dallas to get my Land Cruiser...sure, there are some here in Houston but the mileage and condition were the major factors that made up my mind to go to Dallas.

 

[RS6tofj80]

Ditto Hereon the 100 series..... and bought my 80 series in New Braunfels....once I have a truck I see lots avail it seems...

 

[duggy]

I've been so bad at updating this thread. The truck has gone through plenty of mods and now will go through another transformation soon.

I installed some Slee Skids about 6 months ago that are still holding strong

I buttoned up the rear bumper with a full sized spare, swapped lights around until I found the combo that I liked. Swapped to a LabRak roof rack also with 40" LED bar up top

Purchased an offroad trailer from a buddy and finished it up. It tows well behind the 100

I wheeled with that combo for a good while but there were some unsightly dents and dings that I wanted to go ahead and take care of

Dent in quarter panel, dents in front fender, mis-aligned hood and ARB bumper is tweaked.


Above is probably the worse shape the Cruiser has ever been and I was neglecting it for a while. It served it's purpose so well but did not look good. I have devoted time into bringing back this 100 series to it's former glory by planning a complete rebuild of anything that needs attention.

Currently as it sits here is the build list that will occur in the next couple of months:

Hood
Fender
Lower valance
New Depo headlights
New Dissent offroad bumper
Fixed quarter panel
Monstaline the whole truck
Replace rack and pinion

Here are some pictures as it sits currently in a state of surgery. It should be back on the road soon. I still need to decide on a Monstaline color.

 

[klinetime574]

I like the dark gray (4th from right) but the lighter gray (2nd from right) isn't bad either. Could be better for Texas heat. Maybe a two-tone 100 series? Dark on bottom lighter up top?

 

[LEX]

I like the 6th or 9th from the left. Kind of looks like the "Sandstorm" color the FJ Cruisers had. I've always thought that color would look killer on a Hundy.

 

[duggy]

@klinetime574 you gotta get out of my head man. I'm pondering the same idea!

I JUST came across @spressomon 's truck (I think it's his) and I think the two tone looks killer. If I go two tone, I could theoretically go with a crazier color like that turquoise color.

Check out this 100 that was Rhino Lined from the molding down.

@LEX I agree, "Killer Beej" looks so good on this 4runner

 

[klinetime574]

@duggy Great minds think alike!

How would you set up the two tone with turquoise? Gray beneath it? I like simple. What's more simple than two grays lol

 

[spressomon]

@duggy, yes that is my metallic bronze ("brown" ) 100 photo...taken on the way into Eureka Dunes quite a few years ago. Anyhoo...@1loudLX IIRC was probably the first to the Line-X/?...I merely copied him. Sort of.

I got tired, living and wheeling in the land of all things sage plants ("trees" in some places) ripping the side moulding off the truck. I had a local LineX shop lay down several coats where the recess is for the side moulding...to try to even it out without spending $$$ to bondo it, etc. Still like it although in retrospect I would have paid the extra $ to have gotten the UV proof grade as it does chalk and has gotten lighter...