If I was to start all over again, I would...(100 series version) (1 Viewer)

[VidereStudios]

I am on the verge of buying my first 80 series and I ran across an awesome thread in the 80 series section started by @GW Nugget. It was quite an enlightening read and I think a 100 series version could be very useful to new owners of a UZJ100. I have quoted his initial post and just replaced 80 with 100.

Looking forward to reading all the great pieces of wisdom acquired over the years by some of the experienced 100 series owners on ih8mud. Thanks for reading and participating!

Calling all veteran 100 series owners.

If you were to start all over again fresh, how would you set your 100 up the 2nd time?

What would you change?

What costly mistakes have you made & want others to avoid?

What I'm trying to do here is give a historical record of the "I've Been There, Don't Do That.”

I'm still a noob trying to get things to work out. I have made some poor decisions that have cost me $.

I want to hear about your journey.

Please reply if you have at least owned an 100 series for over several years & have changed your set up multiple times, plus have made costly mistakes. Please give full technical details of lift, tires, shocks, CC, armour & type of off road use & post lots of pictures...

I hope this will help all the noobs out there like me to learn from your mistakes & make better choices in the future.

Thank you so much for your time & participation.

 

[NC-Grayson]

Great idea Petr! Still a newb here...but sub'd to hear what others have to say!

 

[duggy]

I would have SAS'ed sooner and saved myself a bunch of money and heartache from having to replace front end parts all the time.
Bought higher end shocks as the "off the shelf" offerings were just not on par to the type of wheeling and weight I like to carry
Identified how much weight I bring and run 864s from the get-go

 

[badlander]

I'd find a rust free one. Everything else I would do the same.

 

[maxse01]

I'd find a rust free one. Everything else I would do the same.

Same here, I'd have gotten a Texas or west coast truck.

I grabbed mine from Michigan (I know, I know), and while I have 0 body rust, the underneath is pretty rusty. It's about on par with my other 100 that's been in NJ for 11 years, so all in all not too bad.

 

[ihadmail]

I would have gotten one that didn't have a cracked driver side exhaust manifold. I didn't think it would be a big deal to replace. It's my only vehicle so I can't have it down for 2-3 days while I work on it a few hours at a time. Friend who owns a shop will loan me his personal Tundra while its there, but I can't bite the bullet on 14 hours labor that AllData calls for on the replacement.

So I live with the tick tick tick tick almost constantly. Sounds like I'm driving a sewing machine

 

[Julian Stead]

I wouldn't of fitted cheap lower ball joints, they didn't last more than a couple of months, I ended up putting oem arms on in the end.
Would of fitted BFG KO2's instead of Cooper discoverer AT3's. Not sure if they are any better but I'm not a great fan of the AT3's.

 

[Dobie]

I second the SAS front end. If I would have done it first prior to replacing the shocks, torsion bars and adding high end shocks, air locker,skid plates and gears, The cost difference would have been close enough to justify. I have too much "invested" now to cosider a SAS.

 

[gunit470]

I would have gotten one that didn't have a cracked driver side exhaust manifold. I didn't think it would be a big deal to replace. It's my only vehicle so I can't have it down for 2-3 days while I work on it a few hours at a time. Friend who owns a shop will loan me his personal Tundra while its there, but I can't bite the bullet on 14 hours labor that AllData calls for on the replacement.

So I live with the tick tick tick tick almost constantly. Sounds like I'm driving a sewing machine

I agree! I had a cracked passenger side exhaust manifold that didn't show itself until I had the truck for a month. Tried living with it but it irritated me so bad I paid to have it replaced. That was an unpleasant surprise right after I had the timing belt changed.

 

[aaronrules]

This is a great idea for a thread as I am going to building mine up very soon!

 

[labcab]

I would have bought it sooner. I had a Land Rover Discovery before the 100 series...I could have been driving all those times it was in the shop.

 

[jmaclaug]

I would have gotten the similarly priced LC instead of the LX back when I bought in 2004, so I wouldn't have to lay awake at night worrying about AHC failure.

 

[92LXAZ]

I would have gotten the similarly priced LC instead of the LX back when I bought in 2004, so I wouldn't have to lay awake at night worrying about AHC failure.

So you haven't slept in 12 years and have been worrying about the whole time? Or was this sarcasm? Honest question. The AHC system is actually pretty good if maintained.

For thread purposes, no regrets here yet except that I can't do everything I'd like to it.

 

[montegofd3s]

I would have bought it sooner. I had a Land Rover Discovery before the 100 series...I could have been driving all those times it was in the shop.

I feel ya on that one. Quick story on that...... I had a 98 disco that i love/hated. One day I get the christmas tree dash and the truck goes into limp mode. It won't rev past 2krpms and 10mph. So I tow it to the dealer, which is like a pretty common way for it to travel, and a few days later they come back with a 2500 dollar estimate for new cats, some sensors, blah blah blah. The truck is probably worth 2500 bucks so I am like yeahhhhhh no. I start doing research and digging under the hood in my garage. Come to find out the crank angle sensor wire lost its shielding and melted itself to the back of the block....grounding out and throwing the timing all off. I took the wire lose from the sensor and put some heat shrink on it then added a zip tie to keep it away from the engine. Ran fine.....for a while, but what do you expect from a Disco. Some dealers are such a scam.

Any who, back on topic.....I think I would have taken more time on some wiring for lights and stuff. Not that I did things bad, but I wish I would have planned adding future stuff better. Now I am going back adding a bigger fuse block and just generally cleaning it up.

 

[DirtDawg]

Not something I did wrong, but just to add advice. As mentioned above, plan your mods in advance, that way you don't get down the road having to redo stuff.

 

[Kofoed]

I am pretty happy with my 99.

I built it up in fairly short order. I knew what I wanted to do with it, knew what I wanted to put on it (from experience with other Toyotas) and got a pile of parts in the garage and attacked last winter. What I would do different is NOT miss out on Metaltech's 20% off Cyber Monday sale lol. The Benc stuff wasn't available when I did my build lol.....

 

[yeti in ga]

I would have skipped the second swing out and ladder. never seem to use those...

 

[duggy]

I second the SAS front end. If I would have done it first prior to replacing the shocks, torsion bars and adding high end shocks, air locker,skid plates and gears, The cost difference would have been close enough to justify. I have too much "invested" now to cosider a SAS.

You know, I funded about 75% of my SAS from selling all of my front end parts including the lift and skids. It doesn't seem like you can get much out, but there is definitely a market out there for used aftermarket parts.

I would have skipped the second swing out and ladder. never seem to use those...

But it looks super cool!

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Purchased a 2003+ for the 5 speed transmission. But then I would miss out on my after market Nav & factory rear locker... Hmm

 

[jmaclaug]

Sarcasm. No worries with my AHC, flushed it once, keep torsion bars in spec, and I replaced rear springs after a few years of boat towing.