Want to make an update and keep this build thread going mostly as a reference to modifications and maintenance on this 2003 LC. I love this build and enjoy traveling all over with it. I take my dogs, kids, wife, friends all over to places new and old. It has been a great truck and will probably have it forever. Some of the random people you see on road trips comment and give me compliments on how it looks. I joke sometimes saying it is a Subaru Forrester or that old thing, but really enjoy the classic style more now than I did 10 years ago. This Land Cruiser has been like family and is one of my passions to keep going.
The modifications list at this point is a good one for my purposes.
Exterior: painted body moldings and polished this year (2024), LX 470 factory roof rack with Harbor freight rifle case bolted to it. Stubby GMRS antenna mounted to the roof above driver. Emu Wing gull wing rear windows. ARB front bumper with baja design squadron pro fog lights and LED turn signals with 9-inch round LED driving lights I believe I found on Amazon. Slee rear bumper (2nd gen) with tire swing. Custom made rectangular tube step sliders I fabricated. they are powder coated and have a small kickout. Asfir aluminum engine and transmission skid plates. Rotopax gas cans mounted in the spare tire location to keep center of gravity low but I rarely use them. Exhaust resonator cut off for clearance.
Suspension: Old Man Emu springs all around and medium weight in the rear. Icon 2.5 IR shocks on all four corners have been a big improvement. it is only about 1.5 inch lift in the front and probably 2 inch in the rear. SPC upper control arms. Eimkeith rear panhard correction kit.
Drivetrain: ARB rear air locker and 4.88 gears, 3.1:1 low range transfer case gears. 5 speed transmission from the factory makes first gear a slow crawl. OEM CV axles. OEM or Akebono brakes. 285/75R18 tires are about 35x11.5 and full size spare.
Interior: Ram mount in cassette tape hole (the perfect mount!) GMRS comms that i usually put in the glovebox when not in use. landshark outfitters KISS DIY rear drawers, sleeping platform. factory floor mats. 4 switch auxiliary panel around the driver left knee. fridge/freezer plug in the middle for a modular setup either in the back or middle row. I also use a battery pack inside for charging camera gear and running other appliances. the CD changer still works. the leather in original. the windows are ceramic tinted all around including the windshield. I added a reverse camera that has a screen on the dash. It isn't great or pretty but gives enough visual when backing up to be safe.
Recent maintenance has been fairly basic as most know how reliable the 2UZ-FE can be. Oil changes every 5,000 miles with 5w-30 and I use an extended performance filter that is oversize that gets replaced every year. During my trip to the first Cruisers on the Rockies in Silverton, CO I found out that the steering rack bushing were really bad. Gone and blown out so much that the rack would move up and down and the wheels had a lot of play side to side. It did make the whole trip without breaking but was sloppy on the road back to Texas. The next month I replaced them with super pro urethane bushings and had to remove the rack and pinion to do it. while I was working on the front, the differential fluid on the front diff got changed, the frame had some oil and grease on it so I washed it with a gas rag and looked at everything closely. After getting the alignment adjusted I has some silicone grease and decided to put it on all the weather strips in the doors and windows.
I will be and COTR in Tennessee this year and hope to see some familiar faces and meet new people. check back later for some more pictures. I plan on posting some poser and action shots later.
. Found the replacement on rock auto for a whopping $250.
