Ok, went up into the mountains this weekend to take the family camping. Just happened to have a few trails up there that were a lot of fun! Here are some of my observations, and questions:
1) The factory roof rack had to go. I opted for a Yakima MegaWarrior rack as it was readily available and I can do many things with it. MUCH better than factory. Used the trick from this forum and put some screws with special metal/rubber washers to seal up the holes. Thinking I may put to more bars and the extension on there, but not sure. Anybody had any bad experiences with Yakima stuff? Probably not as rugged as the ARB or Safari stuff, but at less than half the cost......
2) Factory spare tire position IS a problem. I need to either move it higher, or put a new bumper on the back and mount it back there. Could mount it in the Yakima MegaWarrior basket (has anyone done this?).
3) Factory tow bracket is way TOO low. Maybe with a higher lift thiis might be ok, but I scraped it numerous times. Even lost my Toyota cover for the hitch mount hole.
4) Stock suspension is not really setup for a load on top, 2 adults, 4 kids and a dog!!! At least the rear. My LC was doing quite a bit of squatting on the way there. And even after the load was removed and it was just the family and the dog, it still was squatting a bit. Could be 7 year old springs/shocks, could be it wasn't meant to handle that. Either way, I have to do something.
5) Suspension height is too low for the "fun" stuff, specifically in the back because of #3 and #4. Did ok for the most part, but had several scrapes that concerned me. Almost all were the rear end (probably the hitch mount).
6) Michelin's did fine for the stuff that I was on, but I would have preferred something a little more agressive (and taller).
7) LC has some serious "umph" for an inline 6 pulling/pushing 5000 lbs! I had no problems with anything, except of course with it was too steep because the rear end was dragging.
8) There are some squeaks underneath that I need to figure out. Probably nothing, and I may be expecting too much for a 4x4 suspension to not squeak when being taxed, but I would rather know....
9) Running boards faired well. Heard some things catch them every once in a while, but no big bangs or such. I'll keep an eye on them for now. My wife (5'1") says that if I lift the truck, put on bigger tires and remove the boards, she won't be able to get in. Ummmmmm, I think I will leave that one alone!
10) Only casualties were the cover mentioned in #3, and the factory antenna that used to go up and down now only goes up about 2 inches and then back down. Not sure if dirt/mud got in there or what. Will clean and see what happens. Did have a large loud clank in the rear going in/through one big puddle. Could have been the hitch again, but I will be checking everything underneath today as I clean it up.
11) Brakes. Seemed to do ok, but on the down hill parts, I am sure they heat up quite a bit. Drilled rotors would be helpful, but I understand the downside with rocks and mud. Need to read some more about this. Any input is welcomed!
I was/am VERY impressed with the LC and certainly am glad I bought it. I had always wanted one, hearing and thinking they were work-horses, but never knew for sure. It's not indestructible and at 5000# there are things I am sure it cannot do, but for what I need it to do, it certainly out performed what I thought! My wife was even making comments about the trail ahead and how it looked to be too much, but the LC didn't even hesitate or bog down at all!! She had fun, but did get a bit tired of all the bouncing around after awhile. But my 4 boys LOVED it and kept saying "MORE!". I think we will be going back.
So, my plan of attack looks like this:
1) SUSPENSION!!! I need to do something here. I am thinking either OME low-lift with larger tires, or the 2 in lift with larger tires. Since I have to do it anyway, I am probably going to go 2 in. But I need to figure out what do to about the load. Not sure I want to go all the way to J springs as they seem to make the thing set WAY up in the rear with no load. And since this will be a DD 80-90% of the time, that might be too much. Decisions, decisions......
2) Gotta move the spare tire. At least raise it up a bit. Might think about the Yakima rack. But I need to get some others feedback on this one.
3) Tow hitch has gotta go. Creates too much of a rear drag problem. Saw a cool double swing rear bumper with a hitch built in at Man-A-Fre that seemed like a good option. Anyone have any experience with this one?
4) Tires. Although the Michelin 275/70-16s did fine, a little larger would help with clearance (some) and a little more agressive tire would help in other areas too. Just not sure how big. 285 or 305? I think 33" size is proabably big enough for me. Don't want to completely kill the already bad gas mileage.
5) Interior protection. Even though leather cleans up fine, it would be nice to have some sort of slip covers that could just be thrown in the wash when done. Anything to minimize the clean up time when done. I have a Husky fitted mat in the back, and fairly generic ones in the front. I might get the fitted ones for the front and middle so that they are easier to clean as well. With the kids and dog, MUCH tracking of stuff. Not a problem as that is part of the fun, until you have to clean the DD to go to work. Anybody have any input on seat covers, etc.? Or am I being too anal here?
6) Brakes. Need something here. I think the rotors are original, so they will be replaced. And 100 series pads in the front. Just need to figure out the rotor type (stock, drilled, slotted, drilled and slotted).
7) Tie rod ends. Also original, I think. But for $100 or so, better to know than to wonder and find out the hard way.
8) Birfields. Not sure of the condition. I just changed the oil in the front diff to synthetic and it was a bit dark. Also put in some more grease in birfields, but it wasn't "soupy" as I would have expected. Probably need to replace them, but not in a rush on this one. I will try to plan it so it makes sense with other changes.
Anything else anyone would suggest? Anyone volunteering to come over and help me install all of this stuff???
Final thought: Passed a guy in a Jeep Wrangler (or the like) that was lifted and had Interco 35" tires. Not sure exactly which ones, but WOW! They looked like they could handle just about anything. He said they were kind of soft so it kept noise down. But I would suspect that would cut tread life as well. I guess that is why you have two sets of tires and rims...
1) The factory roof rack had to go. I opted for a Yakima MegaWarrior rack as it was readily available and I can do many things with it. MUCH better than factory. Used the trick from this forum and put some screws with special metal/rubber washers to seal up the holes. Thinking I may put to more bars and the extension on there, but not sure. Anybody had any bad experiences with Yakima stuff? Probably not as rugged as the ARB or Safari stuff, but at less than half the cost......
2) Factory spare tire position IS a problem. I need to either move it higher, or put a new bumper on the back and mount it back there. Could mount it in the Yakima MegaWarrior basket (has anyone done this?).
3) Factory tow bracket is way TOO low. Maybe with a higher lift thiis might be ok, but I scraped it numerous times. Even lost my Toyota cover for the hitch mount hole.
4) Stock suspension is not really setup for a load on top, 2 adults, 4 kids and a dog!!! At least the rear. My LC was doing quite a bit of squatting on the way there. And even after the load was removed and it was just the family and the dog, it still was squatting a bit. Could be 7 year old springs/shocks, could be it wasn't meant to handle that. Either way, I have to do something.
5) Suspension height is too low for the "fun" stuff, specifically in the back because of #3 and #4. Did ok for the most part, but had several scrapes that concerned me. Almost all were the rear end (probably the hitch mount).
6) Michelin's did fine for the stuff that I was on, but I would have preferred something a little more agressive (and taller).
7) LC has some serious "umph" for an inline 6 pulling/pushing 5000 lbs! I had no problems with anything, except of course with it was too steep because the rear end was dragging.
8) There are some squeaks underneath that I need to figure out. Probably nothing, and I may be expecting too much for a 4x4 suspension to not squeak when being taxed, but I would rather know....
9) Running boards faired well. Heard some things catch them every once in a while, but no big bangs or such. I'll keep an eye on them for now. My wife (5'1") says that if I lift the truck, put on bigger tires and remove the boards, she won't be able to get in. Ummmmmm, I think I will leave that one alone!
10) Only casualties were the cover mentioned in #3, and the factory antenna that used to go up and down now only goes up about 2 inches and then back down. Not sure if dirt/mud got in there or what. Will clean and see what happens. Did have a large loud clank in the rear going in/through one big puddle. Could have been the hitch again, but I will be checking everything underneath today as I clean it up.
11) Brakes. Seemed to do ok, but on the down hill parts, I am sure they heat up quite a bit. Drilled rotors would be helpful, but I understand the downside with rocks and mud. Need to read some more about this. Any input is welcomed!
I was/am VERY impressed with the LC and certainly am glad I bought it. I had always wanted one, hearing and thinking they were work-horses, but never knew for sure. It's not indestructible and at 5000# there are things I am sure it cannot do, but for what I need it to do, it certainly out performed what I thought! My wife was even making comments about the trail ahead and how it looked to be too much, but the LC didn't even hesitate or bog down at all!! She had fun, but did get a bit tired of all the bouncing around after awhile. But my 4 boys LOVED it and kept saying "MORE!". I think we will be going back.
So, my plan of attack looks like this:
1) SUSPENSION!!! I need to do something here. I am thinking either OME low-lift with larger tires, or the 2 in lift with larger tires. Since I have to do it anyway, I am probably going to go 2 in. But I need to figure out what do to about the load. Not sure I want to go all the way to J springs as they seem to make the thing set WAY up in the rear with no load. And since this will be a DD 80-90% of the time, that might be too much. Decisions, decisions......
2) Gotta move the spare tire. At least raise it up a bit. Might think about the Yakima rack. But I need to get some others feedback on this one.
3) Tow hitch has gotta go. Creates too much of a rear drag problem. Saw a cool double swing rear bumper with a hitch built in at Man-A-Fre that seemed like a good option. Anyone have any experience with this one?
4) Tires. Although the Michelin 275/70-16s did fine, a little larger would help with clearance (some) and a little more agressive tire would help in other areas too. Just not sure how big. 285 or 305? I think 33" size is proabably big enough for me. Don't want to completely kill the already bad gas mileage.
5) Interior protection. Even though leather cleans up fine, it would be nice to have some sort of slip covers that could just be thrown in the wash when done. Anything to minimize the clean up time when done. I have a Husky fitted mat in the back, and fairly generic ones in the front. I might get the fitted ones for the front and middle so that they are easier to clean as well. With the kids and dog, MUCH tracking of stuff. Not a problem as that is part of the fun, until you have to clean the DD to go to work. Anybody have any input on seat covers, etc.? Or am I being too anal here?
6) Brakes. Need something here. I think the rotors are original, so they will be replaced. And 100 series pads in the front. Just need to figure out the rotor type (stock, drilled, slotted, drilled and slotted).
7) Tie rod ends. Also original, I think. But for $100 or so, better to know than to wonder and find out the hard way.
8) Birfields. Not sure of the condition. I just changed the oil in the front diff to synthetic and it was a bit dark. Also put in some more grease in birfields, but it wasn't "soupy" as I would have expected. Probably need to replace them, but not in a rush on this one. I will try to plan it so it makes sense with other changes.
Anything else anyone would suggest? Anyone volunteering to come over and help me install all of this stuff???
Final thought: Passed a guy in a Jeep Wrangler (or the like) that was lifted and had Interco 35" tires. Not sure exactly which ones, but WOW! They looked like they could handle just about anything. He said they were kind of soft so it kept noise down. But I would suspect that would cut tread life as well. I guess that is why you have two sets of tires and rims...
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I need to take her wheelin' again so I can find more ways to justify upgrades!!!! 
