About Me;
Hey everyone, long time lurker first time poster so I apologize if this goes a little off rails at times. I am going to try and explain everything I am going through with my 100series and show picturesI bought a 03 LC from a family friend who had it for many years, but most of the work/parts was from the owner before him so he isn't 100% on some of the questions I had. He maintained it very well, used it for long trips and some off roading but nothing extreme, and got most of the work done by my father who has been helping me. Browsing this forum has helped me so much with learning how to fix a lot of my issues by myself, and I thank all of you for that so much. We've replaced the front axles and bearings, and driver side control arm so far. It is currently down for the moment, but more on that later.
Overall I'm paying $6,500 and I love the crap out of it. Years ago I had bought his land rover discovery and fully understand why people prefer the cruiser. My other not-currently-but-normally-running vehicle is a 03 Kia Spectra I acquired from helping my brother move that I have dropped quite some time into. Eventually, I plan on putting an LS engine into the 75or7 J10 Jeep pick up my father gave me years ago. It's a bit in pieces, has been for years, and doesn't have an engine or tranny but I already know I can get an LS in exchange for some trade work, but would like to have a shop built in the yard before I go about doing anything.
I used to worked at Bi*chin auto parts making firewalls for a short time, spent almost a year at a Midas in Colorado, my father and I custom make headlight adjuster for Jeeps that are for sale on eBay and I would have to make a whole new thread to talk about everything my father has, vehicle and skill wise. What I'm trying to get at by telling you this is, we have built some crazy crap before and are not scared of a challenge. We have quite a lot of tools and the means to make the tools we don't, so if I say something about trying to make it, I'm really giving it a lot of thought. I am blessed with knowing, yet not knowing much about vehicles
My Cruiser;
I forgot to get some of the front... but the inside is real clean and stock, the map doesn't work and I'm having issues with the maintenance log but I'm still happy with it. I have all three rows of seats but don't use the very back. other then the power outlet being out, everything is pretty nice. Bit dirty, but niceI need to find tires, I have a buddy trying to get me some 6 lug 185/65? 17s (Long story there) that I'll end up either reselling or try to find 5 lug 17" rims to slap the tires on. Also, there is some sort of lift on it (nothing apparently obvious to me or my friend, and it was done before the last owner had it) and I seriously need to buy or build a diff drop kit, but thankfully have "lifetime" axles from O'Rilleys from the last owner so I'm looking at options
292,514 is uh... up there. For sure. I think I got her around 280-ish. Mostly small city driving, around Prescott and surrounding cities. Towed various weight multiple times and she's done great.
K&N Cold Air Intake came installed, battery tests just below good and I have a few electric issues but just need to remember next time I'm in Costco, Just recently had all my power steering fluid leak from out from one of the hoses but haven't looked any closer yet, and the infamous coolant T looks like a weird Halloween decoration. Popped the cap today, it's not leaking from there thankfully. Transfer case seals are leaking, same with axle seals. I have/want to tear into the front diff to make sure everything's good, replace all seals, clean and repack front bearings (did passenger once), probably switch out axles once I get the diff drop in, and if that's not enough to do at once I'd like to do gaskets throughout the engine, new batt of course. If I had the money I'd like to throw all new gear under her, but calipers and disc/drums are first, I need new bushings EVERYWHERE, and I'm probably forgetting at least one other thing
Now, this is from when I really started to drive it myself and started to chase noises and clunks. There was a clip nut floating around inside the rear passenger drum, so I'm not sure if maybe it was someone using the wrong hardware or what, but the spring, pin, and two washer-things were no where to be found. The inside of the rotor was pretty beat up but not bad enough it couldn't be cut, got new hardware to button it up better and made sure the parking break was solid and the other side was good. Still squeaks when stopping but know I either need to rebuild or buy new calipers for a couple reasons.
And finally, the Thorton performance chip, third tier. As far as putting in a link, I think it'd be easier to google it real quick, Thortonchiptuning is the website but being a new user I don't want to throw any flags by linking anything. Now, I have purchased one for my Kia, but this chip came with the cruiser when I bought it. You all have now seen the ODO and bad pic of the engine bay, and I can attest to 16-20 MPG town/highway. normally about 18 to and from the town next to me. Towing and weighed down, I still sat at 16 once I hit highway. I don't watch it (the screen showing MPG since last fill up that is) as often as I should, and I think sometimes it's very wrong because I've seen it at 22 MPG, but after a full fill up I know I have roughly 250 miles before next fill up. The last owner bought it and said it bumped the MPG up from 12/16mpg to 14/18, and up until I started having diff/axle problems, I haven't seen anything under 14 on some big hills. I also have not driven without it plugged in, mostly because if it ain't broke... My father has one and has kinda mixed reviews, it did help things a little, but he also built a monster so it isn't the same as throwing one into a stock vehicle. As for my Kia, even with a bad cat, I can tell a noticeable difference in the way she runs and shifts, and I haven't been blowing through spark plugs like normal. The Kia is a real beater with issues but this chip made a great impression to me and I truly feel like it's worth at least checking out. I bought the one for the Kia during a huge sale and got the third version/tier for $100
Thank you all for reading! I look forward to many great conversations and new friendships with all of you. I try to hop on my computer in the evenings but what I do that day dictates if I have the energy or not. I tried being as thorough as I could, I've been working on this draft most of the day haha, but I will try to answer anything as quickly as I can. Right now I have quite a bit of work to do, and I can't think of any real questions about what I'm doing, but does anyone have a OBD2 chip like this? anyone seen, or tried making your own diff drop?
