I finally did it | Journey of コナマ (KoNaMa) the 97 LX450

[mcg]

I finally did it, well I guess it was a month or two ago but got around to posting about it. I decided to buy a 1997 LX450 unlocked here in Vancouver, BC. It was originally a US truck that spent most of its life in Tacoma, Washington. It has 146k miles on it, just starting out life! It is my daily driver so it will go up but I luckily don't have to drive to commute to work everyday. My plans are to keep it mostly stock, maybe one day triple lock it, but since it's already got a snorkel on it, who knows might go for a full build. I will most likely live in apartment complexes for the foreseeable future, cries in Vancouver cost of living, so can't go crazy on the lift. It's sitting on a stock lift height with 33s on it and think its more than capable for what I do on the weekends.

Ended up naming it KoNaMa since my wife is Japanese and we named our 90 series prado after her using a similar style of naming, sadly it is being sold since we bought the 80...

Mods:

• Ebay special snorkel
• 33 BFG KO2
• Pin 7 CDL

Things needed to be done:

• Oil changed: 147,500mi 09/07/2025
• Knuckle rebuild and birfields: 147,000mi 08/26/2025
• Slight rust on bottom of tailgate: 09/07/2025

Will expand the list as things add on.

 

[mcg]

This weekend I ended up addressing the rust that was forming on the bottom of the upper hatch. It hadn't gotten too bad, ended up grinding it down to bare metal and recoating it. Took longer than I expected for the paint to dry, yes I sat there staring at it lol.

That was my first coat after using rust reformer as a primer. Did 3 coats and 2 coats of clear. Well see how it holds up over the years.

 

[efjayatee]

My stock white 96 LX450 is at 297k miles. Love the blk color btw.

 

[mcg]

My stock white 96 LX450 is at 297k miles. Love the blk color btw.

View attachment 3988329

Thanks I love the black but difficult to keep clean, the white looks gorgeous

 

[efjayatee]

Trade

 

[mcg]

Come up to Vancouver and we can talk business