This is my 1/3 introduction, 1/3 changelog, and 1/3 (light) build thread.
2001 was the first time I rode in a Land Cruiser. It was probably a 99 or 00, near new, and it was unlike anything I'd been in before. I'd grown up in the wheeling and mudding crowd, Texas being as it is, but those were just Jeeps, Broncos, and trucks. The LC was special and I immediately wanted one. In 2002 I bought a '99 Desert Bronze LC and didn't appreciate the rarity of the color, factory rear locker, or stock head unit. Two years later I traded it for a 2002 LX470. I kept that until around 2011 when I lost it in a divorce. A few year later I pulled up to my ex's to pick up the kids and saw it was gone. I immediately asked where the @$%*@& my truck was. I bought it back rather than let it get traded in. Life changes had me sell it in 2021. I missed it so much that a year later when one got traded into the dealership I worked at, I bought it. I thought I'd keep that one forever and started doing all the things I wished I'd done to my other one.
I'd eyeballed 200s but with the price hikes and people realizing how amazing they were, they always seemed like unobtanium. Plus, honestly, they didn't blow me away. Not when a fraction of the cost could buy a decent 100. Of course those were always LCs I looked at. Then a little old lady traded in her LX and I had to take a look. Okay, it blew me away. It was like someone took the interior of my LS and put it into an LX. I drove it over the weekend and I was hooked. Damn near every 'gripe' I had about my 470 was addressed. The clincher was the bigger, better seat with the thigh extension. And it was a great deal. So I did the thing. I miss my crotch A/C and back rear venting windows, but I'm learning to live without them.
I'll build this one up, slowly, as I sift through this forum. Right now I'm tinkering with the aesthetics and saving my nickels for some wheels (TRD black BBS), tires (Falken Wildpeaks), and drawers (ARB). Pretty sure I won't do swingouts on the rear bumper again. Everything else is up in the air.
2001 was the first time I rode in a Land Cruiser. It was probably a 99 or 00, near new, and it was unlike anything I'd been in before. I'd grown up in the wheeling and mudding crowd, Texas being as it is, but those were just Jeeps, Broncos, and trucks. The LC was special and I immediately wanted one. In 2002 I bought a '99 Desert Bronze LC and didn't appreciate the rarity of the color, factory rear locker, or stock head unit. Two years later I traded it for a 2002 LX470. I kept that until around 2011 when I lost it in a divorce. A few year later I pulled up to my ex's to pick up the kids and saw it was gone. I immediately asked where the @$%*@& my truck was. I bought it back rather than let it get traded in. Life changes had me sell it in 2021. I missed it so much that a year later when one got traded into the dealership I worked at, I bought it. I thought I'd keep that one forever and started doing all the things I wished I'd done to my other one.
I'd eyeballed 200s but with the price hikes and people realizing how amazing they were, they always seemed like unobtanium. Plus, honestly, they didn't blow me away. Not when a fraction of the cost could buy a decent 100. Of course those were always LCs I looked at. Then a little old lady traded in her LX and I had to take a look. Okay, it blew me away. It was like someone took the interior of my LS and put it into an LX. I drove it over the weekend and I was hooked. Damn near every 'gripe' I had about my 470 was addressed. The clincher was the bigger, better seat with the thigh extension. And it was a great deal. So I did the thing. I miss my crotch A/C and back rear venting windows, but I'm learning to live without them.
I'll build this one up, slowly, as I sift through this forum. Right now I'm tinkering with the aesthetics and saving my nickels for some wheels (TRD black BBS), tires (Falken Wildpeaks), and drawers (ARB). Pretty sure I won't do swingouts on the rear bumper again. Everything else is up in the air.
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