Hey guys - I'm Derek; down in Richardson, TX. I've been lurking around here for a little while - harvesting a lot of really great content. Thank you all for your contributions. Hopefully I can pay it forward at some point.
I searched and searched and finally found a 2004 Land Cruiser in my price range with what I considered acceptably low miles. It has 127k and it's in pretty good overall shape. The previous owner is/was an aircraft mechanic. As such, there's a stunning lack of maintenance records (DIYer). This was okay with me after checking the rig out pretty thoroughly. No rust; just a few rock dings that were touched up (poorly) and a love dent or two. Timing belt and water pump 5k miles back.
I quickly developed a pretty good list of things that needed attention.
So far I've:
- replaced all brake pads (OEM)
- replaced rear rotors, turned the fronts
- replaced shocks (OEM)
- replaced rear coils (OME)
- rebuilt my CVs (boots were shot)
- packed the front wheel bearings
- removed running boards
- wetsanded and polished fog light lenses
The next up items are:
- currently working on the instrument cluster. The speedometer and fuel gauge are perfect. The others are intermittent (at best). After some investigation, I've ventured a guess that the problem lies in the "stepper motors" for the gauges. I've taken the cluster out and apart. I'm awaiting the motors in the mail and will desolder the existing and solder in the replacements. I'll report back with pictures if this solves the problem. I think it will. I will probably create a new thread to illustrate the how-to.
- replace heater Ts (I have them and need to install)
- front and rear diff fluid
- new tires (and maybe FN wheels)
- address worn out seats - they aren't terrible but they're somewhat baked out from sitting in the Texas sun.
- see if I can find a rear wind deflector(/diffuser?)
All in all, it's a really solid truck and I'm thrilled with it. And, of course, an obligatory picture:
I searched and searched and finally found a 2004 Land Cruiser in my price range with what I considered acceptably low miles. It has 127k and it's in pretty good overall shape. The previous owner is/was an aircraft mechanic. As such, there's a stunning lack of maintenance records (DIYer). This was okay with me after checking the rig out pretty thoroughly. No rust; just a few rock dings that were touched up (poorly) and a love dent or two. Timing belt and water pump 5k miles back.
I quickly developed a pretty good list of things that needed attention.
So far I've:
- replaced all brake pads (OEM)
- replaced rear rotors, turned the fronts
- replaced shocks (OEM)
- replaced rear coils (OME)
- rebuilt my CVs (boots were shot)
- packed the front wheel bearings
- removed running boards
- wetsanded and polished fog light lenses
The next up items are:
- currently working on the instrument cluster. The speedometer and fuel gauge are perfect. The others are intermittent (at best). After some investigation, I've ventured a guess that the problem lies in the "stepper motors" for the gauges. I've taken the cluster out and apart. I'm awaiting the motors in the mail and will desolder the existing and solder in the replacements. I'll report back with pictures if this solves the problem. I think it will. I will probably create a new thread to illustrate the how-to.
- replace heater Ts (I have them and need to install)
- front and rear diff fluid
- new tires (and maybe FN wheels)
- address worn out seats - they aren't terrible but they're somewhat baked out from sitting in the Texas sun.
- see if I can find a rear wind deflector(/diffuser?)
All in all, it's a really solid truck and I'm thrilled with it. And, of course, an obligatory picture:
