Build Krice Build Thread- “The Bird”

[krice118]

I want to track progress. This is a very slow build as I just Graduated from Ole Miss. I am moving to Denver this fall with a job at an accounting firm.

I was driving my grandma's 2005 RAV4 2wd for years and when my sister became 16 my dad started to ask me what I wanted. At first I thought there is no way he will go for something that gets 12 mpg so I was settling on a 3rd-4thgen 4runner. Finally I told him I want a 98-99 LAnd Cruiser with rear locker. He replied, " well i dont know what a rear locker means but I like the price of those years!"

It took me a year and a half of casual looking then about 3-4 months of hard core looking to find my 100.

I found this 1998 on cars.com and immediately emailed the salesmen. My 100 was in Coral Springs FL at an Audi dealer who had no idea what they had.

1998 Black
Gold Trim
Rear Locker
69,000 miles! now 2.5 years later at 103,000 miles
Bought it January of 2014 for $14k out the door.
Shipped it from FL to STL
Did all fluids and TB/WP, rebooted a CV i think at dealer for around $1,500


"10/4/22 Update - 22 year old me would be very impressed while 29 year old me reminisces on the stock days..
Rig is as follows:
OME TBs, OME 1.5 Medium coils with 1in spacer in rear
Ironman Foam Cell Pro Shocks up front
Tough Dog Adjustable Shocks rear
DT Cat Back Exhaust
275 70 R 18 Nitto Exo Grapplers on TRD Tundra wheels
Gamiviti Tapered Expo ++ Rack
Victory 4x4 Front Bumper with Comeup Winch
ASFIR SKIDS
Scanguage"

Very little surface rust underneath, Exterior had fair share of scratches but the interior was IMMACULATE.

This might be the only picture I have when she was 100% stock. Now it is only 97% stock

 

[grampswrx]

My gosh they really were clueless at that price. Around here they ask $20k+ if it has less than 100k miles.

 

[krice118]

First Mods: Tinted windows
30% fronts
5% over the factory mirrored.

HID Headlights
Had some KCs laying around so I put them on front bumper.

Added LEDs in the factory front bumper grills.

General Grabber AT2 285s
Before HIH5 I replaced the saggy rear springs with OME 865s 1.5" Medium load I think and replaced all 4 shocks.

The front bumper was torn up from previous owner so I plastidipped it black. works for me until I can get Blueberry or Benc or BIOR front bumper. Actually am thinking of doing front locker before bumper.... Thoughts?

I added a new Head Unit and CB radio

Another FREE mod that I love was the removal of the cheap fake wood trim! Updated the interior a bit I think. Also added the little change holder to left of gear shifter

 

[krice118]

Here is a pic from HIH5
Windows are tinted in this pic

Added PFRAN LED reverse lights and Cabin lights. Reverse lights were not enough for me after tinting the windows so dark so I mounted cheap amazon 2x6s cubes and wired them into the reverse lights. This is my favorite mod so far- Cheap, Simple, extremely effective- people know when I am backing out and wait for me.
Reverse lights :

Here are the LEDs in the front bumper at Sardis Lake Clear Creek boat ramp.

My first 4wd in snow and the LC + AT2s were flawless!

 

[bucfl]

How do you like the 865's? Had the LC loaded with family in all rows and kept hitting bump stops.

I need mediums but not sure which? Getting OEM shocks Father's Day. Then rear springs and cranking TB after.

Nice ride!

 

[krice118]

Thanks @bucfl I just added some 1in spacers to the rear because it sagged alot with gear and people. I also added Fox 2.0s in the rear which helped with sag alot over the OEM shocks!

 

[krice118]

this past spring I went to Mardi Krawl Fun event definitely put the 100 through its paces!
these trails were meant for much narrower vehicles! But I got through with only a little damage to the front driver wheel well.
My cousin made me some sliders but took forver to get them to me he is in GA and I in MS

Finally mounted the sliders and installed Fox 2.0 rear shocks and 30mm coil spacers.
Cranked the T bars

Wheel Lift action on Luckys at Hawk Pride offroad park

custom Sliders Rattle canned:

Next to a stocker after new shocks, spacer and TBar crank:

 

[krice118]

Went to get an alignment today and the shop told me it needed to replace both front U joints because the lower ball joints need replacement and that the driver tie rod end needs ot be replaced..... $811 is the estimate.

I was only getting an alignment because I cranked the T bars, There is no play in steering and everything looks normal to my untrained eye. How can I tell if the ball joints need to be replaced? I searched and saw that others who replaced their only did because of noise or vibrations. MY truck drives straight and normal.

 

[TheForger]

THIS thread shows what a torn one looks like. And THIS one has a lot of helpful info on them. You can always snap a photo of yours and post it to get some opinions from this forum.

 

[krice118]

Thanks @TheForger

Driver:

Not really sure what to get a pic of so I took a lot of photos on both sides. Mech said Lower and uppers need replaced and driver side tie rod end... opinions? Thanks!

 

[krice118]

Additional pics My mechanic said that my lower ball joints need replacing? Opinions?

 

[krice118]

Opinions on my lower/upper ball joints?

 

[chickenknob]

HYDR!!

 

[ranma21]

Opinions on my lower/upper ball joints?

If you need to replace the upper and lower ball joints I carry them as well as the genuine toyota TRE with great pricing

98-07 100 Series Front Upper & Lower Control Arms Ball Joints Set

 

[labcab]

The rubber looks fine from the pics. Jack up the front and put a pry bar between the control arm and the knuckle and apply some pressure. If they're good, you won't get any play or separation.

 

[krice118]

So, since I have owned the truck in 2.5 years, I have had the AC recharged 3 times. Finally it would not keep a charge. Had to replace the Evaporator Core.

Sourced the Core from Camelback Toyota for around $375 + shipping then had MT Schiele (Big time toyota guys) in St. Louis do the job. they did 3 hours of labor plus had to refill all the freon so the bill came to ~$450.

Total cost: $825

The original quote they gave me was for $1,200 the job was quoted as having 6 hours of labor!

 

[bucfl]

I was told I may need to buy a key when cracking the TB. Do LC's have keys?

 

[krice118]

@bucfl Sorry for the late response. I think all it took was a 14mm ratchet or something like that!

 

[krice118]

Been in Denver for about a Month! have ran Red Cone Pass twice, Radical Hill one, and Kingston Peak twice. I cant get enough of it!

 

[krice118]

Shout out to the Rising Sun 4x4 Club for being so welcoming and showing me around! They are a great group of people!