New 200 Owner

[lukster]

Hi all. Just introducing myself since I started lurking a week or so ago. We were looking to get a new Tundra to replace our 2006 Tundra as our tow vehicle for a 4,000lb travel trailer but felt an LC is better suited for both city and towing. I will miss the truck bed but love the quietness of the cabin in the LC. We looked at the GX460, LX570 and the QX80 as well.

We picked up a black 2016 CPO LC200 with 8k on the clock a couple of weeks ago. I forgot that a black car is a swirl mark magnet so I ended up claying, compounding, polishing and sealing the paint that took a few days and I like how she turned out. At first I was wondering why did I just pay this much for a toyota but reading through the forums you guys reinforced my reason why. My dad also has an 80 series LC, a Nissan Patrol and now a Toyota Fortuner in southeast asia and I liked the LC the most even if it was the oldest one.

 

[Sandroad]

I did the same sort of thing, coming from a Tundra to the LC for towing and comfort, etc. with our travel trailer. Nice job on the finish! It will be worth every penny as you find out all the cool stuff it can do.

 

[Kyle Toyota OEM]

Those new ones are gorgeous. Good job finding a CPO! When we get one of these on the lot, they never last long.

 

[619TOY]

Welcome to the forum and the 200 club

Congrats on the new rig!

 

[ethernectar]

Welcome, the 200 should pull that trailer as easily (if not easier) than the Tundra.

 

[lukster]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

@Sandroad , how much rear end sag did you experience? Our TT has a tongue of about 550lbs loaded with propane and camping gear. I still have to reconfigure the WDH.

I also have to get a new brake controller and I see good reviews on Redarc. At first I was thinking of getting a Tekonsha P3. My Tundra has a P2 but it seems it is harder to find a place to install a prodigy controller.

 

[Sandroad]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

@Sandroad , how much rear end sag did you experience? Our TT has a tongue of about 550lbs loaded with propane and camping gear. I still have to reconfigure the WDH.

I also have to get a new brake controller and I see good reviews on Redarc. At first I was thinking of getting a Tekonsha P3. My Tundra has a P2 but it seems it is harder to find a place to install a prodigy controller.

I haven't even hitched it up yet! My TT is in winter storage. On my 100 series, I used Airlift airbags in the LC rear springs that worked wonders for keeping things leveled up. I don't know if the 200 series will need them, but it's an easy and inexpensive mod that solves a common problem. My TT is just under 3800 lbs going down the road and the hitch weight is about 400 lbs.

There are other threads on here about towing, notably from @linuxgod, so read up on that too.

I use an Andersen WDH, mostly for it's excellent sway control. I consider the sway control built into the 200 to be an emergency system to prevent loss of control. For the constant minor sway and sideways movement of the TT that can get so tiring, the Andersen is perfect. I don't really need the weight distribution aspect of it, but it's there if I do load up fully with water and have an extra heavy tongue.

For the brake controller, I use and love the Tekonsha P3. It is remarkably smooth, reliable, and effective. I am working right now on finding a good place to mount it in the 200, since the favorite mounting location in the 100 (the ash tray hole) is not available in the 200.

 

[indycole]

Congrats -- nice to see another Bay Area '16 on here.

 

[lukster]

I haven't even hitched it up yet! My TT is in winter storage. On my 100 series, I used Airlift airbags in the LC rear springs that worked wonders for keeping things leveled up. I don't know if the 200 series will need them, but it's an easy and inexpensive mod that solves a common problem. My TT is just under 3800 lbs going down the road and the hitch weight is about 400 lbs.

There are other threads on here about towing, notably from @linuxgod, so read up on that too.

I use an Andersen WDH, mostly for it's excellent sway control. I consider the sway control built into the 200 to be an emergency system to prevent loss of control. For the constant minor sway and sideways movement of the TT that can get so tiring, the Andersen is perfect. I don't really need the weight distribution aspect of it, but it's there if I do load up fully with water and have an extra heavy tongue.

For the brake controller, I use and love the Tekonsha P3. It is remarkably smooth, reliable, and effective. I am working right now on finding a good place to mount it in the 200, since the favorite mounting location in the 100 (the ash tray hole) is not available in the 200.

I also read through linuxgod's writeup. Really informative. I have a pro-series 800lb WDH with the detachable sway control that I used on the Tundra. It was actually great. Well at least better than towing a uhaul trailer. I may need to change my WDH but I want to learn how the basic one is setup first. Problem I had with the Tundra was towing the trailer up the Santa Cruz mountains which is not that steep and it was already grunting at 35mph. Hence the upgrade. I did place helper springs on the Tundra which raised in up maybe a quarter of an inch. I am not too keen in cutting bump stops and unbolting the suspension on a truck this expensive as I also plan to pass this one off to the next generation. Do post what you come up with.

 

[jetstream23]

Congrats! Good luck with your new ride.

 

[Dan Higgins]

I haven't even hitched it up yet! My TT is in winter storage. On my 100 series, I used Airlift airbags in the LC rear springs that worked wonders for keeping things leveled up. I don't know if the 200 series will need them, but it's an easy and inexpensive mod that solves a common problem. My TT is just under 3800 lbs going down the road and the hitch weight is about 400 lbs.

There are other threads on here about towing, notably from @linuxgod, so read up on that too.

I use an Andersen WDH, mostly for it's excellent sway control. I consider the sway control built into the 200 to be an emergency system to prevent loss of control. For the constant minor sway and sideways movement of the TT that can get so tiring, the Andersen is perfect. I don't really need the weight distribution aspect of it, but it's there if I do load up fully with water and have an extra heavy tongue.

For the brake controller, I use and love the Tekonsha P3. It is remarkably smooth, reliable, and effective. I am working right now on finding a good place to mount it in the 200, since the favorite mounting location in the 100 (the ash tray hole) is not available in the 200.

Let me know where you end up mounting the Tekonsha. I have the same issue. This past season I put it low and right just above my shin. Not ideal. But I reall don't want to mount it on the dash.

And BTW, I have an Andersen kit for sale as I wasn't entirely comfortable using it to tow my 6000# TT.

@lukster, congrats on the new rig! The more I drive mine the more I love it.

 

[mejerifly]

Hi all. Just introducing myself since I started lurking a week or so ago. We were looking to get a new Tundra to replace our 2006 Tundra as our tow vehicle for a 4,000lb travel trailer but felt an LC is better suited for both city and towing. I will miss the truck bed but love the quietness of the cabin in the LC. We looked at the GX460, LX570 and the QX80 as well.

We picked up a black 2016 CPO LC200 with 8k on the clock a couple of weeks ago. I forgot that a black car is a swirl mark magnet so I ended up claying, compounding, polishing and sealing the paint that took a few days and I like how she turned out. At first I was wondering why did I just pay this much for a toyota but reading through the forums you guys reinforced my reason why. My dad also has an 80 series LC, a Nissan Patrol and now a Toyota Fortuner in southeast asia and I liked the LC the most even if it was the oldest one.

View attachment 1380650

It looks great. Black is so frustrating with the swirl marks but it looks so beautiful when you clay, compound, and polish. What did you use to seal it?