My "New" 2000 Cruiser!

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1

12guns

10 Year
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Threads
36
Messages
395
I've been shopping for a while and found a very clean 2000 White Cruiser thanks to Texas993, a fellow Mud member. He inspected and I bought it sight unseen. Flew down to Dallas and drove it home Saturday!
My initial feelings on it were that it was the cleanest 12 year old vehicle I have seen in a long time. I'm still not sure if it's been painted or not, but even if it has, they did such a good job I couldn't care less. I LOVE it and enjoyed the 5.5 hour drive home.
MPG going 77-78 with 50 miles in town was 15.8, I expect 16 all highway.
I slowed down to 70 for the rest of the trip (after topping off the tank) and got 17.1. That's better than my 4runner ever did!
Today I changed the oil to Mobil 1 and noticed the PO had a Mobile 1 filter, so maybe it has been taken care of.
I dropped the transmission pan and changed the filter and gasket with a kit from the local parts store. After two drain and fills I ran out of Mobile 1 ATF so I had to call it a day.
As you see, I did manage to get the running boards off. Looks better for now and will look even better with the 285 Kelly TSR's I'm ordering tomorrow.
Small lift will come next!!
Cruiser 003.webp
Cruiser 004.webp
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Congrats to you on the purchase. Does look extremely clean!
 
Good going! I am glad that you had the same positive feeling about it as when I saw it. I am 99.9% sure it is all original paint - as well as every VIN sticker being in place.

Good buy and have fun with it. It looks good without the running boards.
 
There was a small oil "seepage" on the plastic skid plate the Texas993 sent me a pic of. I was worried it could be something major, but turned out the oil drain plug was not very tight! I cleaned it and seems to not be anymore leakage. Tranny feels strong, although coming from a 5 speed bullet proof 4runner transmission, it's hard to say. It pulls strong so with the Mobile 1 ATF, I'll hope she holds out for a few years. That was the only thing that I didn't like about the 2000's, but was willing to take a chance. The fluid I drained out seemed fresh and clean, so again, maybe I got lucky and the motor/trans was taken care of as well as the rest of the vehicle. No record of the TB being done, but some of the bolt heads look like they have been turned. I don't guess there is a way to tell w/o tearing into it, so that will be on my to do list soon.
 
152k. Drives strong and smooth. Let's hope it lasts 300k and then some.
Oh, and did I mention transmission fluid is NOT easy to get out of your hair?? It was a messy job yesterday!
 
Very nice, where are you? You changed the transmission filter? I didn't think you could do that?
 
12guns said:
152k. Drives strong and smooth. Let's hope it lasts 300k and then some.
Oh, and did I mention transmission fluid is NOT easy to get out of your hair?? It was a messy job yesterday!
Click to expand...

152k on original tranny? It's likely you'll never have an issue then. I think the issues others were having usually creep up between 70-130k, I don't know of too many documented failures beyond that point.

Question... Transmission filter? I didn't know that was even an option to change. When you dropped the pan, was it right there in front of you? Anyone else know about this?
 
The filter is a screen that can and usually is cleaned and reused. I called around looking for a precut gasket so I would not have to mess with the RTV sealant and found that Autozone had a kit in stock that had a silicone gasket and a new filter. The filter bolts on and has a simple fine metal screen inside that you can rinse out. Since my gasket came with a filter I figure what the heck, may as well have a new one. I am NOT a big fan of the duralast parts quality, however for a simple metal screen and metal body with holes cut, there's not much to go wrong. I kept the old one in case I even have to clean/re use it. Hope that clears up the confusion!
And man I LOVE this Cruiser! Tires are going to be a little over $1k, but it sure will look good when they get put on!
 
Congrats, she is a beauty. I bought a similar clean one last Tuesday with no scratches or dents but it got a wheeling intitiation last Friday at Hollister. Had fun though with RobRed and Lexi4darin who was both very cool and helpful on a newbie and Dobie with his Slee tricked out 04 LC. Just installed 285/75/16 Falken Wild Peaks to come back for more scratches and dents:steer:
 
Thanks for all the comments.
I found the Kelly TSR's that I wanted and ordered them today. They are actually avail local somewhere, my tire shop called and said they will be in this afternoon waiting on me! I went with 285's and price was $239/tire before taxes. I'm ready to get these things on! Bad news is I doubt I'll make it back in town today before they close. It will be done tomorrow. I'll post up some pics when they are on.
 
I tried to get the TSRs but they were not available, post up when you get em mounted.
 
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