Mommas 2013 200 Series

[SergioC]

Hi All,
just picked up a 2013 200 series for the wifey. She traded in her BMW X5 after she fell in love with the 200 Series at the annual SurfNTurf in Pismo Beach this year. I have an 80’s that I absolutely love and is my favorite of all 3 vehicles that are mine. Any way, she wants me to put a lift on this bad boy so it doesn’t look like a fat Highlander. I’m looking at the EMU 2-2.5 light duty. It will not see any trail time, that’s what my other rigs are for. It’s gonna be her DD. I eventually want to end up with a 33” tire. I’ve been looking all over these forums for a detailed write up of the EMU lift install and can’t find one. I installed the heavy 3” on my 80 and found it to be pretty easy, aside from a couple of rusted bolts that snapped off, only took me 7-8 hours to include castor correction plates. So needless to say, I’m not afraid to turn a wrench on this rig. I’m currently working on loosening up the KDSS system, but am confident it won’t be that hard. Any tips, tricks or advice is absolutely welcome. TIA
- Serg

 

[Cypher]

Congrats on the 200! That’s a good looking set of rigs you have there.

 

[DPA200]

Congratulations on the new rig looks great. Yeah a mild lift like OME (or I'd recommend Tough Dog better value for the price. Jason at Trail Tailor is the guy to talk to), plus some 33" KO2s makes a big difference in the appearances. Lift with stock 31" tires might look a bit funny, the stock tires are just too small. I'd do both at same time. On the factory 18" wheels, 285/65R18 is the size you'd be looking at most likely, and that actually fits fine with no lift.

1 alternate idea that quite a few have done was to add the Toyota OEM spares to the front, gives you about an extra 1/2" and just has a better stance. The spacers with the bigger A/T tires and no lift is a subtle way to stop the Highlander look issue.

The KDSS currently frozen? If so i recently broke mine free, there is a good thread covering it:

KDSS - UNfrozen! :) How I did it...

I Was down in the area scraping rust this morning, before coating with LPS3. I noticed this cord that tucked into the frame. I then realized it was attached to nothing. Anybody know what this is? Pardon my rusty underside, I'm slowly working on improving things 1 at a time.

forum.ih8mud.com

if you do go forward with the lift, it's pretty simple, but much easier if you have a helper. 1 annoying part is the bottom of the front strut is kinda hard to get out and back in of the pocket it sits in. The other annoyance is the rear sway bar when you detach it swings down 180 degrees and is quite hard to get back to its original position after. A trick on this is to put a 2nd jack wedged against the sway bar before you detach to keep it from swinging down. As far as instructions go this Australian guy makes great videos for the majority of things you'd do to the 200:

LandCruiser 200 - Suspension kit - Project 200

Step-by-step installation of a Tough Dog suspension kit in a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, including springs, struts & shocks. Including how to fix a KDSS lean.

www.project200.com.au

 

[SergioC]

Congratulations on the new rig looks great. Yeah a mild lift like OME (or I'd recommend Tough Dog better value for the price. Jason at Trail Tailor is the guy to talk to), plus some 33" KO2s makes a big difference in the appearances. Lift with stock 31" tires might look a bit funny, the stock tires are just too small. I'd do both at same time. On the factory 18" wheels, 285/65R18 is the size you'd be looking at most likely, and that actually fits fine with no lift.

1 alternate idea that quite a few have done was to add the Toyota OEM spares to the front, gives you about an extra 1/2" and just has a better stance. The spacers with the bigger A/T tires and no lift is a subtle way to stop the Highlander look issue.

View attachment 2169198

The KDSS currently frozen? If so i recently broke mine free, there is a good thread covering it:

KDSS - UNfrozen! :) How I did it...

I Was down in the area scraping rust this morning, before coating with LPS3. I noticed this cord that tucked into the frame. I then realized it was attached to nothing. Anybody know what this is? Pardon my rusty underside, I'm slowly working on improving things 1 at a time.

forum.ih8mud.com

if you do go forward with the lift, it's pretty simple, but much easier if you have a helper. 1 annoying part is the bottom of the front strut is kinda hard to get out and back in of the pocket it sits in. The other annoyance is the rear sway bar when you detach it swings down 180 degrees and is quite hard to get back to its original position after. A trick on this is to put a 2nd jack wedged against the sway bar before you detach to keep it from swinging down. As far as instructions go this Australian guy makes great videos for the majority of things you'd do to the 200:

LandCruiser 200 - Suspension kit - Project 200

Step-by-step installation of a Tough Dog suspension kit in a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, including springs, struts & shocks. Including how to fix a KDSS lean.

www.project200.com.au

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for the insight. I am looking at the tough dog as well. And yes, I will be adding a spacer up front just to level it out. Once again, thank you.

 

[DPA200]

1 other thing you might want to check your radiator, if you hadn't already heard of the known cracking issue on the top plate. There is a very long thread covering the subject:

2008-2018 Radiator Failure and Public Service Announcement

Edited by Moderator to change date range in title Curious who else has had a failure of their radiator on their 200 of the 08-10 model years by a crack on the top next to the molded in platform. I got lucky and found mine before it was catastrophic. I notified @TexAZ because I know his truck...

forum.ih8mud.com

Since you just bought, if yours is cracked maybe you could get the dealer to pay for repair