Builds EastPlnsDrifter's Llama Cruiser build (1 Viewer)

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Hello fellow 200 series enthusiasts,

I wanted to start off this thread thanking you all for the influence you've had on me these past two years and show what it has resulted in and why. I want to start off with a bit about me and how I wound up in my 200. I'll go into the actual build and those decisions as this thread moves on. Please forgive any breach of formatting as I'm not just new to Mud but new to forums in general. The title of my build will make sense as this thread progresses, but those that have seen my posts in the photo thread will already know why. The goal for this rig is for it to fit our needs and one day maybe I'll take it up to Prudhoe Bay. We're a long way from that,

First a bit about me: I'm from deepest, darkest South Texas where I grew up around farming. I now live in CO about half an hour due west of Monument, CO or 15 min south of Elbert, CO. I have the odd combination of practicing in International Corporate Tax while running my 15 acre farm. We have 15 llamas and alpacas, 3 horses, 3 shelter dogs, 2 barn cats from the mean streets of Bridgeport, CT, 26 chickens, and 3 turkeys.

I got here by spending the last 15 years wandering the globe largely due to the combined decisions to attend Texas A&M (please comeback!) and study abroad in Hong Kong. The latter in particular led to a career in international tax that resulted in a series of career and life decisions that brought me from Dallas to England to Connecticut and eventually Colorado. I met the love of my life while in England who was the one with real offroad experience in Series Land Rovers, Mitsu Shoguns, Disco Mk2s (why I wasn't allowed a 2nd hand LR), and Mitsu L200s. My experience... more 2wd Silverados and F250s.

She's been very indulging in my love for cars and when she was fairly ill while we were living in Connecticut we decided to indulge in a serious car because life gets crazy. It resulted in our first (but hopefully not last) Porsche. I loved our 991 to death and would have until mine as long story short my wife wouldn't be alive if not for that car. We drove it all over New England, I learned about detailing, I had my best tank of fuel ever (34mpg from Maine to somewhere in Mass.), and I learned how to drive the local PCA chapter insane ("You're driving a 2wd 911 convertible, top-down, in the snow and ice?!").

About a year after her last surgery she convinced me that we both needed SUVs but I attached a condition. It wouldn't be anything less than a 200 if I have to give up that car. She didn't understand why on earth I would consider getting out of a Porsche and into a Toyota or Lexus but she knew if I was that specific there was a reason. I looked at 14-16 LCs and LXs for about a month and finally settled on trading the automotive love of my life for yet another faithful companion that has been there when we needed it be. Here they are together on the day we got the LC (a black on tan 2015 with only 20k on it)

The reason I settled on a Land Cruiser was really threefold: capability, quality, and somehow through those value. They're awesome 4wds that last for years, can tow upwards of 7,000 pounds, and therefore earn their keep over the years. I knew it would last and change as our needs change.

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Rust and Fluid Film

One of the first things I learned from this forum was that rust is the enemy of each and every Toyota. I washed my 911 religiously (I didn't quite fit the diaper polish stereotype as I ran mine all winter) and knew the salt on CT's roads did horrific things. After climbing under a few 100s and 200s I knew immediately just how bad. I'd quickly figured out I didn't want anything more than two years old. I also learned about Fluid Film and Corroseal (a rust converter similar to Rustoleum). After I bought my 200 within days I had a wire brush, a tyvek suit, a respirator, a quart of corroseal, 5 cans of fluid film, and a gallon container of it. Here are three screens of where I was at the beginning and a shot of the rear diff afterwards. Nothing two years later looks any worse than in the first three shots.

I spent a Saturday afternoon brushing, prepping, and applying the corroseal. The next day I applied a 2nd coat. After letting it dry I came back with the fluid film which is what I was up to in the last shot if I remember right.

I kept up the same routine that winter and for my first winter in Colorado I did nothing. This 3rd winter I'll get back to applying fluid film when the wife isn't around (lanolin allergy) but i think I'll pass on the corroseal and wire brush treatment for now.

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Colorado happens and towing

While I loved my time in Connecticut and my neighbors, it was time to leave in the spring of 2017. The company I'd spent the last 9 years working at wasn't doing great, the ticks were horrible (CT would give my wife Lyme as a going away present), and I'd been told by my wife to find somewhere new to work. We decided why not open the possibilities. The only requirements I had were an international tax job and somewhere we could have our horses and six chickens. That narrowed things considerably. The previous summer my wife and I took a vacation through AZ and Southern Utah which made me think "that's a market that could work." After a few phone calls I had an interview and house hunting to do. I was limited to living out east of Denver out towards Brighton or south of Parker. Getting caught in a blizzard at the end of April with my rented Kia on all seasons nearly convinced me to give up on the south, but I got the job and a place south of Elbert, CO just a few miles into El Paso County. It was time to move and I had to start immediately. My wife's car was the 200 while mine at the time was our diesel ML350 when we moved to the States from England (a Tahoe costs that much and get's that bad of mileage was something that resulted in that decision and of course she loved it but loved the 200 more once we had it).

I got a 6 inch drop hitch for the 200 as that's what worked with the height to our Featherlite stock trailer. It was going to have to move a fat, English Shetland pony (~500 lbs), a Gypsy Cobb (Gypsy Vanner in US speak and ~1600 lbs), and my Tennesse Walker (~1400 lbs). It also had to carry the chickens and the horses' feed and hay (~700 lbs). With our trailer weighing in empy at ~2500 lbs, that meant somewhere around 6700 lbs of stuff not including what my wife packed into the back. There was squat and one day I'll get the pictures from her. It handled the job fine but I don't think those springs were ever quite the same when it came to load.

Edit: I also installed a Tekonsha brake controller before heading out. Neat way to celebrate a new job

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

The First Mod - Duratracs on Rock Warriors

Living in the rural north of El Paso county on dirt roads and the stock Dunlops basically done I knew it was time for new tires. After ages spent on here and making a spreadsheet comparing weights of various tires and wheels, I settled on Rock Warriors for their weight and offset. Evo Corsas came in a close second but ultimately were more expensive than Craigslist RWs. I hadn't run anything other than a stock size before so the 285/70/17s that frequently came with RWs seemed like a nice way to dip my toes in. Duratracs offered me the traction I was looking for in an area that has nasty snow and ice. They were lighter than the same size KO2s on paper and about the same price so I was sold. Here they are mounted with the baby of our three shelter dogs

They've proven to be awesome for the dirt roads and the ice that seems to accumulate in Black Forest, CO which I often commute through. I've been really impressed with them. A year and ~30k miles later (Centennial where I work is a long way from here) they've been holding up great. I religiously rotate every 5k and they still have 14/32" tread from the 18 they started at. If it weren't for the impression the Ridge Grapplers on my wife's Tundra they'd have no peer in my mind. They worked better than the Nokians on our ML350 though to be fair those R2s did have only 6/32" of tread left. They also did great getting us through Medano Pass this June on 30 psi (started from the dunes and made for Westcliffe without a compressor. stupid and something I knew was risky but at least I knew I'd fail early if I was going to).

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Suspension

I think it took the I25 construction to finally get my wife to agree to this. I felt vindicated about two weeks ago when the truck really squatted with my wife and I on the tailgate. I had read thread after thread on the subject of suspension around here. I knew I wanted better springs as the factory ones struggled during the move and I knew I wanted something to deal with my washboard roads that I use to commute sometimes. I decided I was willing to go as far as 5k and that was it. I was sorely tempted to go Nitrochargers plowing the rest into sliders and drawers now. My wife has been big on dipping into this hobby in baby steps (you don't NEED Maxtracks yet. You can do what we did with our Rovers and use firewood). I decided to just go for it. Budget wise I thought I'd struggle to get CDCV Icons fitted and I wasn't sure about digressive damping. Poorly maintained dirt roads and broken pavement are what I frequent when I'm not on a highway and with as many washboards as I see I thought progressive or linear was the way forward. So that left Kings or BP51s. I knew I wouldn't be going wrong either way, but the construction of the BPs impressed me. I figured I would need to do something more to the Kings for them to stay in shape given the way the Tacos and Canyon with them at work look after a year. I needed a tie breaker and there was that and the cost of Kings with clickers and extra protection.

Once I figure out linking usernames I'll make sure this finds its way to @Markuson. His "pre-beast mode" build really inspired me. I knew I wanted better compliance on dirt and springs that could deal with towing. @Taco2Cruiser's breakdown of the various OME springs convinced me for sure I wanted 2721s. So when Amory at Slee asked me what I wanted, it took no time to override his suggestion of 2722s and tell him the 2721s. Height and rake? Just set me at 5mm preload. I don't plan on a front bumper and I don't want to be level. So there we were. Here are the boxes left over from the fun:

They set me front at C1 R6 and rear at C1 R4. It as some on here describes feels a bit floaty or Lexus-like and that's about the best I can do. That said they also let me take my washboards tonight as fast as I would with the center diff engaged. It felt like I had better compliance and the 4wd system didn't have to work as hard to keep me going straight. Long story short I love it! I can't wait to begin playing with the settings to find what I like that handles the balance of my commute, but I plan on keeping things here for a week or so before I begin adjusting (probably 2 clicks up on everything). Here they are on board.

And here we are tonight on these dirt roads coming home

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Llama Cruising

So here we are for now. This truck's primary function aside from being a DD is to take us on adventures. Our llamas in addition to providing fiber also serve as our packers. While they prefer our Tundra for travel (yes they ride inside and like it), the young ones fit in the LC. We plan using these trucks to not only get to trail heads but to bring our off trail gear haulers with us. I'd originally thought up this username because of where I live in CO and where I often go explore on weekends. It occurred to me that I had something else to share that people on this forum may not be familiar with. So Llama Cruiser it is for this truck. We'll see how much of that it does other than trips into town as they really like the Tundra. For now that is it for this truck but drawers are next as well as sliders. We'll take the 2nd row out at some point if we get serious about using it for the llamas (the Tundra has fold up rear seats if you're not familiar with them). I can't wait to share more details of what this truck does next and the adventures these guys have in it. Thank you all for so much information over the years that have led to these decisions.

View attachment 1801870

View attachment 1801871

View attachment 1801872

 

[gentimmy]

Man...that was a great story. Cheers to your wife's (and your) health.

I'm fairly certain that no one here would be upset if you were to upload weekly pictures of llamas in your LC.

 

[TexAZ]

Got to figure out how to modify this for your theme song...

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

While I was driving home from work today I was thinking about this... Is a llama domesticated enough that it won't relieve itself inside the vehicle?

Serious question.

 

[grinchy]

That was unexpected.

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

While I was driving home from work today I was thinking about this... Is a llama domesticated enough that it won't relieve itself inside the vehicle?

Serious question.

We've gone as far with them as Florissant in the truck. They've never been any real distance beyond that. The fella in my profile pic one of these days is going up to the llama races in Fairplay and I bet we can get away with it. They don't want to do that sort of thing when traveling in my experience with them. They're fairly easy to clean up after too.

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Got to figure out how to modify this for your theme song...

I hear so much about llama llama red pajama at work. If work wasn't about 60 miles away I'm certain we'd have a team building event down here where my coworkers bring their kids down. Given that they do want to do an offsite global team meeting down in CO Springs this summer I'm certain they're plotting it. Not offended at all by it. I'm still wondering how my life took this turn.

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

That was unexpected.

Not as unexpected as when you roll down the windows for one of them at a traffic light. We may have caused someone to lose their coffee when they had a llama leaning out the window staring them down.

 

[mcgaskins]

Cool story and cool truck - welcome!

 

[EastPlnsDrifter]

Cool story and cool truck - welcome!

Thanks. I've learned so much from this place. It has definitely given me all sorts of ideas. I'm fairly certain I have a screenshot on my phone of one of your builds that I showed my wife before we went to Great Sand Dunes this summer. "This is where I want things to go. Sliders, Ridge Grapplers, and maybe a rack with an awning." I'm still not convinced on whether I want to do a front bumper. There are so many deer out here though that I feel I'll come to regret that thinking one evening driving back. I think LCDC will be a good thing for us to try out before doing anything else.