Featured 100 - Tom B

[Tom B]

My goal with purchasing a 100 series Land Cruiser was to build a reliable family vehicle for moderate trails and eventually expo type trips. I started looking for the 100 several months before I finally purchased what I thought was the right one. My goal was to find a clean white 2000-2001 Cruiser (ATRAC/VSC) that had spent its life in the west. I had previously purchased a trail rig from Florida to pilfer some parts from, fix-up, and sell. Working with the rust was obviously a headache; drilling and tapping gets old real quick. Fortunately I found a one-owner 100 that had spent its entire life in Colorado, had some records, and cosmetically looked better than most of the 100's I had seen. My only partial regret is passing on a "like new" Bronze 2000. I really enjoyed the color. But, knowing that I was going to mod and keep the 100 for awhile, I did not want to buy what could have been a fad color for me (the fad hasn't worn off yet).


The following are my current vehicle specs.

Vehicle: 2000 100 Series Land Cruiser, 104k mi

• Suspension
  • 2.75" front and 3" rear
  • OME torsion bars
  • Slee diff drop
  • 863 coils in the rear
  • Rear sway bar removed temporarily
  • OME N133/N101 shocks
  • 2" rear bumpstop extensions
  • Trimmed front fenders

• Drivetrain
  • 4.88 gear conversion
  • ARB Air Lockers front and rear
    • 80 series locker switch with Toyota DAC switch for air compressor
    • Switch wired to factory in dash lights (tire carrier open and air filter)
    • Braided stainless steel air lines

• Tires
  • 315/75R16 BFG AT's

• Armor
  • 2003+ ARB combo bar
  • Slee rear bumper and tire carrier
  • Slee step sliders

• Misc
  • Warn 9.5XP winch
  • Drilled and slotted rotors from Slee
  • Trimmed tail pipe
  • IPF lights in ARB
  • Lightforce 240 Blitz 9.5" lights
    • Wired to Toyota factory light switch
  • Odyssey PC1700 battery mounted with spacers and and stock tie downs
  • Cobra WXT CB

• Problems/issues since purchase (less than year of ownership)
  • Broke front 4-pinion R&P
    • 4.3 R&P's were hard to get, so I went with 4.88 R&P's, ARB air lockers, and subsequently with 315's..heheheh
    • The stock front 4-pinion diff is arguably junk
  • Blown tranny (many thanks to Slee and Ben for towing me back to Denver from CM2007!)
    • Thrust washer failure
  • CV boots leaked after lifting front above 1.75" (NAPA bands stopped leak)
    • I went through 3 lift heights before stopping at 2.75" in the front. I had Slee reboot the CVs anyway during the locker install.
  • Lower arm ball joint boot split. Fortunately Toyota sells just the boot.
  • Upper arm boots leaking - common.
  • Drivers door came loose at locking mechanism while driving at night - good fun!
  • Exhaust manifold started to leak
  • Overheated ATRAC
  • It's missing a solid-axle up front and the breakover angle is lacking

• Potential items for the "To-Do List"
  • 2M radio (next on the list)
  • On-board air
  • Real recovery hooks in the front
  • T-case skid plates
  • Extend breathers
  • Dual batteries
  • Lower front bump stops
    • Rubbing on most of the wheel arch on fast track compressions
  • Maybe longer front shocks/uniball UCA's
  • Drawers
  • Fridge
  • Aux fuel tank
  • Bushranger X-Jack seems neat and may be useful since the 100 gets stuck more than I would like.
  • Build-up spare parts box

So far I have run the 100 around CO and UT at CM2007. My future trips include a multi-day route covering Beef/Lockhart Basin, Baja, and maybe the Rubicon.

 

[Tom B]

Some trail pics. I will follow-up with a few more details in the following days.


One of my few shots on level ground,

 

[Tom B]

Wheeler Lake,

Up and over,

 

[Tom B]

 

[Tom B]

CM2007,

Tranny dead. Time to go home. Again, thanks to Ben and Slee for the tow.

 

[Tom B]

Close to stock. This is a few weeks after I got it - still has temp plates. Telluride and Left Hand Canyon.

Telluride/Ouray,

LHC,

 

[spressomon]

Nice! 4.88 + 315's are da bomb eh?! I also set about trying to find a white 100...then the Bronze...er espresso brown...fell into my lap. And I empathize with you regarding rust, broken bolts and drilling/tapping...lesson learned!

 

[bluecruiser]

Why the trimmed front fenders? Any close ups of the trimming?

Nice looking rig..

 

[Tom B]

Nice! 4.88 + 315's are da bomb eh?! I also set about trying to find a white 100...then the Bronze...er espresso brown...fell into my lap. And I empathize with you regarding rust, broken bolts and drilling/tapping...lesson learned!

Yep, I really like the 4.88's and 315's. The 100 with the 4spd felt slightly undergeared when stock (only had stock tires on one day), and it was a bit of dog in the mountains with the 295's (33's) on. I was running 295's when I had the 4.88 conversion done and the 100 very peppy with acceleration on tap - I dare say almost sporty. In addition, the RPM's were still in a comfortable range at 75mph highway cruising. I would hate to run the 315's with stock gearing as a DD. 315's w/ 4.88's is much better than 295's and the 4.3's. In fact, I would have liked a little more gearing over the 4.88's.

Before I put my bumpers on, I really wanted a little more room for the 315's with a small body lift. Other than some references to a BL on Podvin's 100, I could not find anyone that had done it in the states. It's nice to see that you are blazing the trail. What are you going to do about your rear Slee bumper with the BL? Slee was recommending putting a rubber seal above the bumper to mask the gap. For my front bumper, I had to drill the mounting position into the ARB crush cans, so I am stuck at that height unless I can procure some new crush cans. Are you going to move your front bumper up?

 

[Tom B]

Why the trimmed front fenders? Any close ups of the trimming?

Nice looking rig..

I had to trim the inner part of the fender next to the door when I was running a 2.5" lift, else I rubbed even going up my driveway. Although, I think you took my opaque fender trimming line item as trimming the outer part of the fender.

Basically I did this, but with a dremmel tool and a sledge hammer. The sledge hammer made it very easy to bend the body seam back. I bent a little at a time and then tried it out.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=106769

Even after this mod, I rubbed most of the upper wheel arch on very hard compressions and anytime I had weight on the front offroad. In fact, my inner fender has started to crack. I am surprised other people running 315's and a 2.5" lift have not had this problem. When I lifted the front to 2.75", all of the rubbing went away. But, I have not done any fast trail running since then. Either way, I plan on trying to lower the front bump stops unless I go with a body lift.

 

[spressomon]

Yep, I really like the 4.88's and 315's. The 100 with the 4spd felt slightly undergeared when stock (only had stock tires on one day), and it was a bit of dog in the mountains with the 295's (33's) on. I was running 295's when I had the 4.88 conversion done and the 100 very peppy with acceleration on tap - I dare say almost sporty. In addition, the RPM's were still in a comfortable range at 75mph highway cruising. I would hate to run the 315's with stock gearing as a DD. 315's w/ 4.88's is much better than 295's and the 4.3's. In fact, I would have liked a little more gearing over the 4.88's.

Before I put my bumpers on, I really wanted a little more room for the 315's with a small body lift. Other than some references to a BL on Podvin's 100, I could not find anyone that had done it in the states. It's nice to see that you are blazing the trail. What are you going to do about your rear Slee bumper with the BL? Slee was recommending putting a rubber seal above the bumper to mask the gap. For my front bumper, I had to drill the mounting position into the ARB crush cans, so I am stuck at that height unless I can procure some new crush cans. Are you going to move your front bumper up?

I am just lifting the body 10-12mm (haven't decided yet whether 10 or 12mm)...just to get the extra little bit of room for the 315's (per Darren @ ATS4x4.com). The TJM front bumper has a nice rubber bulb type gasket between the bumper and the body. It is currently bottomed out...so the 10-12mm should still be OK. As for the rear: I'll just have to wait until the lift has been completed to see if I need to do anything there. Are you on the West coast?

 

[spressomon]

Even after this mod, I rubbed most of the upper wheel arch on very hard compressions and anytime I had weight on the front offroad. In fact, my inner fender has started to crack. I am surprised other people running 315's and a 2.5" lift have not had this problem. When I lifted the front to 2.75", all of the rubbing went away. But, I have not done any fast trail running since then. Either way, I plan on trying to lower the front bump stops unless I go with a body lift.

Both my inner fender skirts are torn...and I have taken a couple hard hits up front to start pulling the fender out a little. That's why I really want to get the BL done (but I'll need to completely remove my AO drawers to get at the rear bolts...so it's not a job I am really looking forward to doing ).

 

[farinvail]

Very nice and clean.

 

[Tom B]

Both my inner fender skirts are torn...and I have taken a couple hard hits up front to start pulling the fender out a little. That's why I really want to get the BL done (but I'll need to completely remove my AO drawers to get at the rear bolts...so it's not a job I am really looking forward to doing ).

I am in Colorado.

Sounds like you are in a similar predicament to me. Have you thought about lowering the front bumpstops? I was hoping they would unscrew and I could add some washers to lower them. I would like to run spacers up front for tire chain clearance and better cornering, but it looks like I would get some damage on the outer fender lips with the stock compression range and bigger tires. The BL idea is better though, since you can add more uptravel to the rear and keep the front compression.

 

[Tom B]

Very nice and clean.

Thanks, I am pretty sure I have seen your 100 around (I'm in CO), and it's nice as well. Have you ever tried to go up Holy Cross with your 100? It's a bad idea that's tempting me.

 

[Tom B]

Front bumper choices

When looking for a front bumper for my 100 series I had several ideal criteria. First, it has to be air bag compatible. Safety is one of the reasons I purchased the 100 to begin with. Second, I wanted the top bars for added protection. In addition, after I saw a Sahara bar in person, I didn't like the looks - just not proportioned right. Thirdly, I wanted a bumper with high-lift mounts. Given that >50% of my trips are solo with my family, I want all the options available to get unstuck. So far rock stacking and winching has sufficed. The approach angle is not great on the ARB's vs some TJM's (T-15), but neither is the IFS 100's breakover angle which is more of a limiter and would need to be addressed first, IMHO, before looking at high clearance bumpers. Every time I have been trouble so far, it's the undercarriage.

This narrowed my decision down to the +03 ARB deluxe and the TJM T-13. I liked that the +03 ARB deluxe was a one-piece design unlike their Sahara and earlier model year ARB deluxe which where two piece designs with the winched mounted to a separate plate. I also liked the additional light the ARB offered even if it was marginal.

I found the TJM T-13 on TJM's Oz website, and I have no idea why the T-13 is not advertised in the US. It's TJM's most robust design for the 100, and seems to closely match ARB's deluxe in terms of functionality. Christo said he could procure one for me, and the pricing was similar. I was interested in finding out whether the approach angle was better, but could not find any data from a preliminary search.

Here's a link that shows the T-15,
http://www.tjm.com.au/Portals/0/Brochures/100_series2.pdf

After seeing someone on the site mount the +03 ARB to an earlier model year 100, I took the plunge and decided to give the ARB a try. I followed the supplied instructions and the steps worked precisely for my 2000. The instructions called for trimming the lower frame horns, and that was also needed on my 2000. For the Warn 9.5XP winch install, I had to open up the control box and fit longer wires that were supplied by ARB, and rotate part of the winch assembly to get the clutch engagement switch in an accessible position. An ARB rep at CM2007 noticed my fitment of the +03 deluxe and was surprised that it worked.

The only fitting difference I have noticed so far is that the gap between the bumper and the trim below the headlights is greater with the +03 Deluxe compared the Sahara or earlier deluxe bar. I am guessing the trim on the +03's goes out farther. It does not bother me much. In fact, I do not plan on putting a seal for body/bumper gap anytime soon.

 

[Tom B]

Front bumper choices

Testing the high-lift mount. There was minimal bumper deflection measured from the bumper/body gap. The 100 is one heavy truck to use the high-lift on!

 

[ats4x4dotcom]

I am in Colorado.

Sounds like you are in a similar predicament to me. Have you thought about lowering the front bumpstops? I was hoping they would unscrew and I could add some washers to lower them. I would like to run spacers up front for tire chain clearance and better cornering, but it looks like I would get some damage on the outer fender lips with the stock compression range and bigger tires. The BL idea is better though, since you can add more uptravel to the rear and keep the front compression.

Or trim the fenders, and add the flares from FRP?

 

[ckkone]

Awesome! Can you show a picture of how you mounted those 240's, I just picked up a set and was thinking of building riser out of aluminum.

 

[spressomon]

I am in Colorado.

Sounds like you are in a similar predicament to me. Have you thought about lowering the front bumpstops? I was hoping they would unscrew and I could add some washers to lower them. I would like to run spacers up front for tire chain clearance and better cornering, but it looks like I would get some damage on the outer fender lips with the stock compression range and bigger tires. The BL idea is better though, since you can add more uptravel to the rear and keep the front compression.

It pains me to limit the already limited front travel...hence the BL.