Builds Family Adventure 200 (1 Viewer)

[psnyman]

Hi all, after lurking and voraciously consuming all the amazing content in these forums I'm taking the plunge to do my first forum post as what I hope turns out to be a build thread

While new to MUD I'm not new to overlanding, having traveled a lot of Africa in an old Series iii 109 Landrover with a straight 4 cyl. 2L engine and manual transmission that I reconditioned and made expedition ready with long range fuel tanks, water tank, custom roof rack, RTT etc back in 2001 with my girlfriend wife. All this crazy virus talk has resurfaced our adventure urge to get out and see what others seldom do and share it with our kids.

Many spreadsheets, internet searches and emails later I'm now back in the 4x4 overland game again with a 2016 LC200 CPO I picked up for a reasonable deal with 60k which has lived all its life in California in the Sacramento area with light use and solid service history. Would have loved an Australian spec V8 diesel but the petrol is not a bad second. And for those that haven't noticed I'm now an official Landrover to Toyota convert (what took me so long

My needs: I have a family of 4, a large 90lb dog, a ton of camping equipment and a love of outdoors. While I've love to build a "rock lander" I doubt I'll be doing too much rock crawling in Moab and at most will be doing some light crawling in the Eastern Sierras and will otherwise be focused on true expedition style overlanding with the family - the more remote the better but also just making good use of BLM land and other hidden gems in state parks. I love the idea of stealthy potential; a balanced mix of DD and ready-go expedition vehicle - not an easy place to get and therein is the challenge fun.

There are some really cool build posts and I have to constantly throttle my inner geek when I see color coded Australian front bumpers or custom storage builds and I'm channeling all my observations into a spreadsheet to tame the complexity as it seems like a lot to take on when coming in cold. First up will be tires, I'm leaning towards the 285/70/18 RG on my stock 16 wheels as I've seen one popular person do without needing to trim. Next up will be to increase the load capability with a suspension upgrade. Trip planning will refine my next steps after that; I can see LRA, TrekBoxx, Dissent/Slee on my birthday list but prefer the form follows function approach.

This build thread is really my effort to give back and help others like me but I'll be taking my time so don't expect zero to hero build antics since I'm a regular Joe balancing work/family obligations and not (yet) a sponsored YouTube sensation

 

[Rigger]

Welcome to Mud! Beautiful 200!

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Welcome.

I feel this will be a good thread.

 

[Kurosawa]

Congrats on a great looking truck. I love your stated goals for the vehicle and started with a similar set of parameters myself. I'd be misleading you if I said it's easy to stay true to just what is necessary to meet those needs, there are some very tempting mods out there. The truth is you are already so much better-equipped vehicle wise than most anything else on the road few mods are actually needed while many are wanted.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing how you edit all the choices down to a few winners. Even more so given your previous experience in Africa.

 

[FerrisBueller]

I hope you keep updating this thread as you make progress. I've been lurking around here for a few weeks, and have the same goals that you've stated. Plan was to buy a 2016 (or thereabouts) LC200 next year, mostly for camping and overlanding with the family. My plan is likely changing though, since the used 2016 LC200 prices have starting dropping a ton in the past few weeks as the dealers' lots haven't been seeing any customers. Seriously considering picking one up in the next month or so to replace my old Sequoia. Silver is the best looking in my opinion for the 2016+ LC.

 

[ryanCA]

Congrats, shes a beauty

 

[bloc]

Very nice!

You’ve likely already read about the radiator cracking issue.. you would be low on the mileage spectrum to have it already, but worth a close inspection.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread for sure

 

[Bendcruiser]

And so it begins! Welcome.

 

[grinchy]

285/70r18 is nominally 34” and a good match for the truck. You will be trimming and removing some minor items and probably adding a spacer, but yes not major surgery. Probably 20 min per corner in the front or something. My truck doesn’t have kdss so I can’t speak to fitment for that, but otherwise it should go.

 

[psnyman]

Very nice!

You’ve likely already read about the radiator cracking issue.. you would be low on the mileage spectrum to have it already, but worth a close inspection.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread for sure

Thanks, wasn't aware of the radiator issue, will put on my list to check out

 

[psnyman]

I hope you keep updating this thread as you make progress. I've been lurking around here for a few weeks, and have the same goals that you've stated. Plan was to buy a 2016 (or thereabouts) LC200 next year, mostly for camping and overlanding with the family. My plan is likely changing though, since the used 2016 LC200 prices have starting dropping a ton in the past few weeks as the dealers' lots haven't been seeing any customers. Seriously considering picking one up in the next month or so to replace my old Sequoia. Silver is the best looking in my opinion for the 2016+ LC.

Indeed, I was hunting since February and only recently pulled the trigger. The supply will get cheaper for sure but I've picked up that other like minded people are also watching closely, I've seen some good deals snapped up very quickly in a few hours once posted. Good luck with your next steps

 

[psnyman]

285/70r18 is nominally 34” and a good match for the truck. You will be trimming and removing some minor items and probably adding a spacer, but yes not major surgery. Probably 20 min per corner in the front or something. My truck doesn’t have kdss so I can’t speak to fitment for that, but otherwise it should go.

Thanks for the feedback - I was hoping not to trim or mess with spacers and have spent a lot of time in the tire size database where I saw the KO2s reported as working on stock vehicle. I also saw @mcgaskins rolling with the RGs on stock from his Ruby build thread which is what intrigued me. Will let you know how it goes

 

[grinchy]

Thanks for the feedback - I was hoping not to trim or mess with spacers and have spent a lot of time in the tire size database where I saw the KO2s reported as working on stock vehicle. I also saw @mcgaskins rolling with the RGs on stock from his Ruby build thread which is what intrigued me. Will let you know how it goes

I don’t think you can clear the top uca mount in a tall 285. It might squeak by. If you are on stock 285 you can go out and look. A 34 will be a bit more than an inch to 1 1/2 higher than the current tread.
If you don’t space it your tire angles “scrub radius” will also be off some.
I’m partial to this calculator

Rim & Tire Size Calculator. Custom Offsets

Tire Tech Information - The Wheel Fitment, Tyre Stretch, Rolling Radius and Speedometer Error Calculator. Play with specs, try different settings, compare results

www.wheel-size.com

 

[grinchy]

Also k02 run famously small. And front bumpers remove the foreground zone

 

[bloc]

Thanks, wasn't aware of the radiator issue, will put on my list to check out

Very long thread on the issue. Originally says only the early trucks but that was years ago before later models attained enough miles. Just keep digging in here til you see pictures of the early crack signs around the raised part number area on your top tank.

2008-2018 Radiator Failure and Public Service Announcement

Edited by Moderator to change date range in title Curious who else has had a failure of their radiator on their 200 of the 08-10 model years by a crack on the top next to the molded in platform. I got lucky and found mine before it was catastrophic. I notified @TexAZ because I know his truck...

forum.ih8mud.com

An updated and improved part has been released so if you do end up having to do it, go OEM and you shouldn’t have to worry about it again.

 

[texas]

Welcome! That's the cleanest 60K mile engine bay ever!

 

[psnyman]

Very long thread on the issue. Originally says only the early trucks but that was years ago before later models attained enough miles. Just keep digging in here til you see pictures of the early crack signs around the raised part number area on your top tank.

2008-2018 Radiator Failure and Public Service Announcement

Edited by Moderator to change date range in title Curious who else has had a failure of their radiator on their 200 of the 08-10 model years by a crack on the top next to the molded in platform. I got lucky and found mine before it was catastrophic. I notified @TexAZ because I know his truck...

forum.ih8mud.com

An updated and improved part has been released so if you do end up having to do it, go OEM and you shouldn’t have to worry about it again.

thanks @bloc - awesome community strikes again

 

[psnyman]

I don’t think you can clear the top uca mount in a tall 285. It might squeak by. If you are on stock 285 you can go out and look. A 34 will be a bit more than an inch to 1 1/2 higher than the current tread.
If you don’t space it your tire angles “scrub radius” will also be off some.
I’m partial to this calculator

Rim & Tire Size Calculator. Custom Offsets

Tire Tech Information - The Wheel Fitment, Tyre Stretch, Rolling Radius and Speedometer Error Calculator. Play with specs, try different settings, compare results

www.wheel-size.com

Thanks for the link @grinchy - just the kind of Saturday night reading I look forward to. A lot of the popular Australian touring builds run 33" which seem close to my needs, got some thinking to do.

 

[D21FJ60]

Any pics of the rover?

 

[psnyman]

Any pics of the rover?

Too many, don't get me started Here are a few glamour shots and one shot showing some of the mods inside for securing the fridge where the 2nd row used to be and the small inverter box on the rear wheel arch where I stored the 2nd battery. I bought the rover from the original owner who had named her "old white lion" and I kept the name. I kept the vehicle stored on a friend's farm long after I left South Africa for the States and eventually sold it to a wildlife photographer who modified the rear passenger doors for camera rigs and she lives in/around the Kruger National Park area.

Gorilla tracking on the border of Uganda, Rwanda, Congo

Lake Bogoria, Kenya

Border of Eastern Zimbabwe overlooking Mozambique

Camping in Cape McClear overlooking Lake Malawi

The rear unpacked showing some of the mods.