My introduction is way overdue. I should have paid attention to this long ago.
I've been here for a while. My truck is just a bit famous here, even if I am not.
Several members saw it roll over, and helped it back onto its feet. It hurt folks to see a good truck go wrong. I could not allow it to go to salvage, so I did my best. That was a bit of work. To make the rebuild happen, I had to give up another very solid truck that had served me well for more than 10 years. As it turned out, a good friend of mine wanted that truck, and bought it. I still wheel with my old truck, and two others like it, very often.
The old rolled 80 looks good now, as seen in the avatar on the left. There is even a thread on the repair, thanks to my bro and his camera.
So here I am.
Brian Patterson, Prescott Valley. 96 locked 80. John Deere Green with 3" lift and 315 Nittos. It even has the leaping Deere on the fenders!
Both bumpers, the tire mount and winch placement are custom and hand-built. It has running water on the tire gate to wash our hands and dishes, and a power inverter in the back that can run a microwave, toaster or table saw. (Or a blender if anyone needs a margarita!) We can do that!
The John Deere Green was the result of my brothers and I growing up in a forest green 40, mining tiny amounts of gold from creeks with Dad, and having a good time on the backroads. Kevin, the eldest bro, still has that old 40. It is now a sideyard ornament. We three brothers all now drive factory locked 80 series LC's. The addiction runs in families. I suspect that it may be genetic. Even our Dad had the Cruiser sickness!
Having a rolled over green truck, I looked for some chip-resistant paint in a similar color to the old truck that we all loved growing up. The color is just a few shades brighter than the old Toyota forest green. After I had painted the rig, I drove it up here to Prescott. When I parked it near a tractor, I realized why that color looked so familiar! I ordered heavy-duty tractor paint, and that is exactly what I got! So I asked my brother's sticker lady to commission a yellow stripe package to include the Deere emblem as a tongue-in-cheek gaff. It is the only John Deere Edition 80-series Land Cruiser in existence! I have actually had people ask me if the edition is still available! (It is not!) People stop me often to say that they love the truck. It is a tractor with AC, that can run at highway speed.
In a small metro area that includes a lot of ranches, the truck is well-known. It gets attention, which I like, except for the times that the sherrif takes notice. I do have to mind my manners on the road. That is the price that I pay for having a well-known rig. I don't mind very much.