New build - 2006 Land Cruiser - no Nav no AHC (1 Viewer)

[riffman12]

Some of you may have seen my previous build thread on my 03 - The Plum Cruiser - but it's pending sale and shipping off to North Carolina!

The 03 was supposed to be my "forever" Cruiser, but I've always wanted a white one ever since I had a white 80 series. This 06 popped up locally with under 140k miles AND it was a rare Puerto Rico import which means no factory nav and no AHC

Here it is when I first got it. It had these Tundra wheels that I wasn't crazy about.

And here's the Nav-less and AHC-less interior that I've wanted for quite some time (previous owner put an Alpine head unit in with wireless Car Play which is really nice)

It's by no means perfect. It spent a little time in Florida, and also by the coast here in Northern California. It has a little more surface rust than I'm used to dealing with, but nothing serious from what I can see. It seems most of it is on the rear axle making me thing they dunked a boat in a launch ramp at some point and didn't rinse it off.

 

[riffman12]

First order of business was getting everything up to speed maintenance-wise. So far I've done:

- Oil and diff fluids. Ditched the off brand oil filter and put in a Toyota one
- Swapped my Asfir skid plate and Roadsafe recovery points from my 03
- Two new OEM axles from the Toyota holiday sale
- Replaced tilt and telescope steering wheel motors
- Ditched the rear seats
- Packed and set the preload on the wheel bearings.

Next up was to swap out those Tundra 18's. First I put my 16s from my 03. This is the only shot I have of that:

Buuut then the new buyer of my 03 wanted those wheels so I scooped some Fifteen52 Analog HDs in 17x8 with a 25 offset. Most of the aftermarket wheels I found were 0 offset and I'm just really not a fan of that much poke on a sort of classic 4x4 like this

In the past I would always do Cooper ST Maxx in 285/75R16 but this time I wanted to try the tall skinnys or "pizza cutters". I went with my trust ST Maxx in a 255/80/17 which is just a hair over 33"

Really happy with the tires and offset. Everything sits flush with the fender with virtually no poke. Tiny bit of rub on the back of the fender liner, but I'm going to massage it with a heat gun. I don't think it's actually reaching the metal pinch weld.

What's next?

In the short term I want to detail it nicely with a full paint correction. I have a ton of vacuum lines arriving that I'll do with new spark plugs and coils. From there I'll enjoy the extra bump in horsepower for driving up to the Sierras for the ski season.

Then in the spring I plan to put an ARB bumper and some type of lift but haven't decided which yet.

 

[excessive]

Congrats! That's the best possible spec in my opinion! I wish my 04 did not have NAV, it would be so nice to not have to worry about the display taking out my HVAC controls someday

 

[FxFormat]

Nice pick up! Can you get more shots of the wheels/tires from the side and rear 3/4 view? I'm digging the skinny look and might try that on the LC

 

[riffman12]

Sad day, my 03 Cruiser is off to its new owner in North Carolina!

Also, a couple of questions:

1) Near my back pop out window, I have two small little surface rust spots. The car spent some time near the bay here in California and I think the salt air reacted with a particularly bad rock chip. How would you go about getting rid of this and preventing future issues? The previous owner neglected the paint so I plan to to a full paint correction this week, but how do I handle the little rust spots?

2) Dumb question, but how do I change the turn signal bulb on an 06 where the corner light and main light are all one housing? Do I have to remove the entire headlight housing?

 

[riffman12]

Nice pick up! Can you get more shots of the wheels/tires from the side and rear 3/4 view? I'm digging the skinny look and might try that on the LC

Hey sorry haven't had a chance to take many photos but I'll try and get a few more this week.

The paint had faded, but since white is single stage paint it can be recovered pretty nicely with a good detail. This is after a wash, clay bar, orbital compound, orbital polish, and a final sealant. It's shiny again!

 

[offoradjunkie]

Hey sorry haven't had a chance to take many photos but I'll try and get a few more this week.

The paint had faded, but since white is single stage paint it can be recovered pretty nicely with a good detail. This is after a wash, clay bar, orbital compound, orbital polish, and a final sealant. It's shiny again!

Looking good! What's next?

 

[riffman12]

Looking good! What's next?

thanks! been slow on updates, but I changed spark plugs and a bunch of vacuum lines. It's running great!

I did just get a P1445 pointing to the secondary air injections system so I need to sort that out

Next up just waiting for my ARB front bumper and Dobinsons C59-223V rear springs and will post pics once those are on!

 

[offoradjunkie]

thanks! been slow on updates, but I changed spark plugs and a bunch of vacuum lines. It's running great!

I did just get a P1445 pointing to the secondary air injections system so I need to sort that out

Next up just waiting for my ARB front bumper and Dobinsons C59-223V rear springs and will post pics once those are on!

I'm thinking of getting the C59-167 springs since I dont ahve a rear bumoer yet or a drawer system built out. I'm running stock springs with Radflo Shocks currently, but they are due for a rebuild as they have like 100k miles on them.

 

[riffman12]

Long overdue update! Last weekend I installed my ARB front bumper as well as my Dobinsons C59-223V rear springs.

I've been slowly lifting the front day by day until I'm happy with the amount of rake. I might go 1-2 more turns on the T bars. But I assume the springs will settle a bit more. What do you all think?

Also, at one point is the front lift too much that the alignment gets out of whack and I need new upper control arms?

Anywho, onto the pics

 

[martinstickller]

Long overdue update! Last weekend I installed my ARB front bumper as well as my Dobinsons C59-223V rear springs.

I've been slowly lifting the front day by day until I'm happy with the amount of rake. I might go 1-2 more turns on the T bars. But I assume the springs will settle a bit more. What do you all think?

Also, at one point is the front lift too much that the alignment gets out of whack and I need new upper control arms?

Anywho, onto the pics

Looks great, congrats! What rear lift did you get out of the 223V?

Curious what the rear height measures now from center hub to fender…