Most regrettable mods

[goldwater58]

Seems like this could be an entertaining and informative thread subject. My 200 is mostly stock, but I think if I could go back in time, I would've gone with all aluminum skid plates vs the stainless steel pieces that I have given my "soft roading" tendencies.

Your turn!

 

[1Maverick]

ARB front bumper. It never cornered or drove the same again and the fact it did not replace the whole bumper was not to my liking.
Rigid roof light bar. Looked cool but not practical for my use. Should have put in the grille section. Also, the newer 200 LED brights are great for throwing light.

 

[kossykoss]

Getting an Ironman front bumper instead of a dissent for my LX because it was cheaper. I finally bit the bullet and swapped and now I’m stuck trying to sell this thing.

 

[Artie]

Should have put in the grille section.

Mine is built into the grill and I’m not sure it’s as bright as it would be if not hidden in there. It’s bright though and far better there than on the roof, I think roof mount is always rethought the first time you power it up.

 

[RandyDaytona]

Only “regrettable” for the time I spent building it, and the materials didn’t cost me much.

The fridge slider.

They seemed to be such a common mod that I figured they must be the way to go. That said, with a rear bumper and two swing outs, it was a PITA to get anything out of it, and I get into my fridge quite frequently.

For my most recent trip, I removed the slider, turned the fridge around and moved it about a foot or so back towards the driver seat (I have no second row). Now I can simply open the rear driver’s side door and access it, yet I still have plenty of room to enter there and get into bed.

Another mod which didn’t cost much is a light bar. It basically came with my bumper. The choice was either some big goofy round lights or a light bar, which I chose for the lower profile. But I never use it. The high beams are more than bright enough.

One note: before switching the fridge around, I decided to do a longer test of the infamous “cool box,” of which I had previously been a fairly vocal critic. It worked better than I expected.

 

[skrypj]

I bought an AFe intake. It sounds great. gives the engine a nice deep growl, which is great when ripping around town, but it’s annoying while towing. Since 3500 of the ~5000 miles I’ve driven the truck so far have been towing, it’s annoying more than it’s not

 

[grinchy]

Ditch Lights (mounted to hood hinges). - I just never use them, and when I do use them, they don't add that much.
AL Front Skid - I was trying to save weight and figured it would be ok. One cross road ditch at a speed a little more than was prudent and it was toast. Coulda been the design, coulda been unlucky, but I haven't had the same issue with the steel replacement. On the plus side, it did it's job. On the downside, it's a lot to spend for a one time use part.

I have a lot of other mods. I guess I don't regret those . . . build it up!

 

[NYC570]

Most regrettable mod would be the 285/70R17 toyo open country AT3s. There's nothing wrong with the tires. I just should've gone straight to 35s. To a lesser degree I also regret the rock warriors and spacers. I should've gone with a wheel with an offset that I liked from the beginning. I went conservative at the beginning because I was afraid of how much work it would take to run the 35s with a 25mm offset wheel. As it turned out, it wasn't much.

 

[tbisaacs]

Weboost

 

[Tennessee80]

I daily drive my truck, and for the first time ever with any Land Cruiser I have ever owned, I have been very careful to modify this 200,

That being said, I currently only have OME coil in the rear and a spacer to level out the front, and then a 33 inch tire on the stock wheel.

I have a big trip to Colorado that we may do next year, and I’m thinking about what mods I want to do before the trip.

I may just be doing a drawer system in the back and just leaving it as is.

The last thing I want to do is bolt a bunch of stuff to it and then regret it

 

[DallasTide]

Weboost

Oh really?

 

[skrypj]

Oh really?

Seriously. Mines been solid I’ve been 30+ miles from the nearest town and been on MS Teams call using video. You have to be pretty far out there for it to not do anything at all and I have a Garmin Inreach if I am

 

[daneo]

Vinyl roof top tent. Heavier and more work than a ground tent. Hard shell RTT provides actual benefits where the vinyl tent did not.

 

[lx200inAR]

On the weboost, be interesting to know if the problem is that you don't think you used it often enough to justify installation, or did it not work when you needed on occasions?

 

[RandyDaytona]

Another mod I regret which I was just reminded of as I looked at the truck this morning: the Kaymar rear bumper. I’ve had it about 3 years, but it’s been peeling/shedding paint for over a year and a half. Kaymar considers this to be “normal wear and tear.”

Apparently the company was sold and quality has dropped to the point that some vendors are no longer carrying their stuff. If Fosters is “Australian for ‘beer…’” then Kaymar must now be “Australian for ‘POS…’”

On the plus side, at the rate that it’s disintegrating, I may be able to justify getting a Slee replacement in a day or two.

 

[goldwater58]

Weboost

I have one of those too. For the price, I would've expected better performance. I did notice about a 9-10db gain in signal, but it didn't translate to much real world improvement.

 

[skrypj]

The power output of a cell booster is controlled by the FCC. They can’t just make it broadcast at 1000 Watts

 

[McDuff123]

Weboost

If you could, please shed some light on this…
We’re considering one.
Thanks

 

[40Man]

Ejector seat. Never even used it.

 

[skrypj]

If you could, please shed some light on this…
We’re considering one.
Thanks

The Weboost needs to have at least some level of cell signal to function. If you are in an area that has no cell service and it will not do anything for you. It cannot make cell service materialize if it isn’t there in the first place.

What it can do is boost the cell service you do have. So say you were right at the edge of service and can’t send a text, having the Weboost will enable you to send texts and possibly get Internet access.

If you have moderate service, then we boost can bump that moderate service to be excellent. For example, when my wife and I have been Boondocking at remote campsites while working, it can be the difference between getting 3 mbps Internet speed on my cell phone hotspot versus 40 or 50 mbps. At 40 or 50 Mb per second. we can work from our camper and be on video conferences and all sorts of stuff that requires decent Internet speed.

The other thing is antenna height. If your antenna is low to the ground and its line of sight view is obstructed to the cell tower and it’s not going to work as effectively. when I use my boost in my camper, I have it on a 6 foot tall mask that is mounted to the roof of my camper so it sits about 14 or 15 feet in the air, and it makes a huge difference

Last but not least your cell phone needs to be near the inside antenna. You can’t walk 20 feet away from the antenna and expect it to work. You need to be within a foot or two of the antenna.

So as long as you understand the limitations of a cell booster, and it fits your needs they work very well.