Hello! New to the forum and a new 100 owner

[Ivan Agerton]

Dear Penthouse..

Oops, wrong forum!

Hello 100 owners! Im new to this world, 6 days new to be exact. Already packed some miles on Lois, our 2006 LX 470. Picked her up in Sacramento and drove her back to Seattle via the Jungo road and others..Picture attached! I had my wife and two children join me on the trip.. Lois did amazing and the family had a great time.

Im a cinematographer/photographer so I plan on outfitting Lois accordingly. Plan is a Safari snorkel, Slee rear bumper with tire mount and ladder, Slee sliders, roof rack ? and tent ?. I do a lot of shooting in the desert. Not planning on rock crawling or any off-roading for sport. Just long trips into the back country chasing light.

Questions:

1. I need a lot of backup power to charge large cinema camera batteries/run a laptop and iMAC plus external hard drives. My thought is to have a mount on the rack to support a small honda generator.. Any alternative recommendations would be great.

2. I need a sturdy rack that will support a tent, misc gear (fuel, water etc) and me (195lbs) with a camera (30lbs). what should I get?

3. From what Ive read I should upgrade tires.. What tires are recommended that will be good on road as well as off and that keep road noise to a minimum? I have limited hearing in my left ear (sustained machine gun fire 2 feet from my left ear, thanks machine gunner so a quiet cabin is needed in order to hear my children ask if we're there yet

4. I have a limited amount of tools so any recommendations for a seattle area LC shop or friendly/extremely knowledgeable mech with tools would be great.

5. More to come, Im sure!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Ivan

 

[2000UZJ]

I would look into dual battery systems, it may even be possible to add a third. Contact Shane at LabRak (www.labrak.com) and inquire about the roof racks he has for the 100. It's by far the nicest roof rack I have ever seen for a vehicle, and can hold a RTT, awning, and many many more things all at once The . Michelin AT2 and the Nitto Terra Grapler are both excellent tires that are no louder than a street tire and provide a increase in traction off road.


Welcome

 

[Pork Soda]

Congrats!

IMO the silver, late model LX is the best looking 100. Tons of info on here, look forward to seeing your build.

 

[marshotel]

Thanks for the picture; that is a sweet looking Lexus.

I have also been entertaining the idea of buying a 100 series in California and driving it to Seattle, then putting it on the boat for shipment to Alaska. All of the LCs here in Alaska are either hammered from the harsh conditions, or uber-expensive due to short-supply. Seems like I could do better in California.

My question is not really a technical one, but: Did you have to pay California sales tax on your used vehicle even though the vehicle is not registered in California?

I know Washington has a reciprocal tax agreement with Alaska, so I would not need to pay tax on a vehicle purchased in Washington, but those I've spoken with say that California collects their tax on vehicle sales no matter where you register the rig.

Just wondering if you had to pay the Cali tax, or if you know of anyway around this. (8.75% of $30k is a lot of money).

Regarding the tires, what do you have on there now?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[El Cid]

Ivan,

I just bought another vehicle from the son of Russell Klika. Does that name ring a bell. I thought it might

In regards to your questions, while I think a dual battery is still a good idea for a lot of reasons, a small generator just rocks. The only drawback will be that electronics equipment will be the bottleneck from a power delivery standpoint. Just have lots of power storage and batter backups, in addition to the generator. Not only will you need to power the equipment, but you'll have some lighting to work with. With a generator, it will keep you from taxing a car battery more than was ever intended, should you decide to power the laptop, photo equipment and lighting all at once.

Interesting question. This site is certainly excellent for mechanical advice, but like you, I'm hesitant to throw too much onto the cars electrical system. Just makes me nervous.

Keep shopping on the rack. Baja Rack and Gobi Racks are nice too, just search this site away, the more I look the more undecided I am. There are a lot of options, and I can see value in just about all of them. It's a matter of taste at some level. In fact, that applies to just about every modification, but I completely agree with your slee rear bumper choice, I think that's a great product, will serve you well.

I'm not mechanical either, but I think you'd be surprised at how much of this you can do yourself.

 

[El Cid]

Just wondering if you had to pay the Cali tax, or if you know of anyway around this. (8.75% of $30k is a lot of money).

.

Quite a bit indeed.

One other suggestion: Find an auto auction place. Call them and ask who they use to ship vehicles. Get quoted a price. I know it costs me about $500 to ship a vehicle to Texas from NY.

Now, with that in mind, you might be able to use Craigslist and a few other more broad venues to find a Land Cruiser that you can buy in say Phoenix and have shipped to a location nearer you, AND from a state with a lower tax rate. WIth that lower tax rate in mind, you might still save having it shipped from a cheaper tax state.

The states sometimes have exclusions on their tax situations, so a little research might go a long way..

Good luck, either way!

 

[Ivan Agerton]

Thanks for the feedback gentleman!

Hey Marshotel, the way around the Cali tax issue is easy but a little bit of a hassle.. If you buy the car at a Cali dealer you will have to take delivery at a bordering state in order to bypass sales tax.. Buy the car, the dealer will have you drive a loaner and follow him. Once you have crossed state lines you sign the paper work which includes an agreement that you will not drive the car in the state until you have registered in your home state.. Its all on the up and up. They do it all the time..

Russell Klika! Great shooter! Hope you got one of his prints with your purchase I think a geni is the way to go.. I may add a second aux battery for basic devices.. I use a generator all the time but I was hoping that I might be able to make a clean and simple set up. Plug and play!

2000UZJ, Im liking the labrack! He's close to Seattle as well.. Ill definitely call him and see how flexible he is on mods.. Having a little box made for a geni in the corner may allow me to just run it on the rack..

 

[El Cid]

Russell Klika! Great shooter! Hope you got one of his prints with your purchase I think a geni is the way to go.. I may add a second aux battery for basic devices.. I use a generator all the time but I was hoping that I might be able to make a clean and simple set up. Plug and play!

Typically, if I have to go to a dealership, I simply send them a fax 'offer letter' with the specs and price I will pay. No negotiation. I avoid car dealers like one would IRS agents. Russell's son was such a good/honest guy, I actually dealt with a car dealer for the first time in over a decade, and bought a car from him no less. Apple didn't fall far from the tree.

His Dad is hanging out here in Dallas for the time being, but I'm sure he's off someplace else, soon

 

[Thundercloud Cruiser]

Good All around Tire

I just bought an 06 LC and put 265/60-18 Michelin A/T 2's on it for the best all around road and trail performance and I love them, super quiet, ride smooth and have an aggressive pattern. You can't get the stock size but I went down from a 275 to the 265 to maintain good peppiness and handling on the road. They have been great!