New here and still looking for a truck

[Bumgardner]

I just thought I would drop on and say hey. I am new to the forum. I am a commercial photographer based out of Nashville, TN. My wife and I are looking for our first Land Crusier or LX470. We have not found the perfect truck yet, but are hopeful.

I will be selling my Mini Cooper to fund the purchase. We recently had our first child and are looking for a car that is bigger and more capable. My wife has an SUV too, but with our lifestyle we really need two big vehicles.

We hope to do some off roading with the vehicle. We go out to Salt Lake City at least once a year. So we are hopeing that we can find a truck that will be reliable enough to get us and our daughter out there and then be able to hit some trails and do some camping.

I know I will want to do at least a few mods to the truck. Right now I know I will want to put some sliders on the truck and front and maybe rear ARB. In order to do these mods will I need to upgrade the suspension components? It is adding a fair amount of weight to the truck.

 

[CappyKD]

Congrats on the new addition (baby). Try to look for a SoCal Hundy, cheaper prices due to gas prices and RUST FREE. I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[pfran42]

The Dirty Dirty has them super cheap and rust free. Keep an eye out in the ATL area. There are a few guys here that won't mind checking out a truck for you if you happen to run across something that looks promising.

 

[Anthony.L]

I know I will want to do at least a few mods to the truck. Right now I know I will want to put some sliders on the truck and front and maybe rear ARB. In order to do these mods will I need to upgrade the suspension components? It is adding a fair amount of weight to the truck.

The ARB front is an awesome bumper, nothing wrong there. The ARB rear however is not a very popular choice in the 100 community. Mostly due to the fact it's large boxy design that doesn't lend to well for off road clearance. It's also heavy and expensive for what you get. I would suggest you look into the Slee rear bumper, it really is the standard in rear bumpers.

Slee - Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series Rear Bumpers

As for the suspension, yes when you start adding lots of heavy armor (front/rear bumpers, sliders, etc) you are going to notice the OEM suspension will not handle it as well. Things like when you hit the brakes the nose will dive more than normal, etc. The main stay of LC suspensions is the Old Man Emu. Check the suspension section on Slee's site to get an idea of the options. They list the different spring options for the rear so you can pick.

As for sliders, here is a recent thread where another member went through the different options we have now. Pretty cool since when I bought my 100 there was only a single option (Slee). Now there is four.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/465226-slider-options.html

 

[pfran42]

For what you are talking about, budget $7K at a minimum (more if you have someone else do the installs).

That will get you:

Tires
Lift
Sliders
Front bumper
Rear bumper

Now double that figure if you want add most of the odd and ends (winch, better shocks, upper control arms, lights, roof rack, recovery gear, etc.)

 

[NMuzj100]

For what you are talking about, budget $7K at a minimum

Let him get the truck before you scare him with the big figures.

 

[Bumgardner]

I just bought a 2000 Land Cruiser today! Pics to come soon.

 

[Bumgardner]

For what you are talking about, budget $7K at a minimum (more if you have someone else do the installs).

That will get you:

Tires
Lift
Sliders
Front bumper
Rear bumper

Now double that figure if you want add most of the odd and ends (winch, better shocks, upper control arms, lights, roof rack, recovery gear, etc.)

Don't tell me that.... I had figured we would put about 4k in it and me ready to go.

I am actually going to have to wait to mod it now. The engine on my wife's Volvo is crapping out. The best quote for an engine that I have gotten is $1,400...

 

[pfran42]

Don't tell me that.... I had figured we would put about 4k in it and me ready to go.

I am actually going to have to wait to mod it now. The engine on my wife's Volvo is crapping out. The best quote for an engine that I have gotten is $1,400...

Congrats on the purchase!

Don't worry, you can squeeze that number down a great deal if you are patient and keep an eye out for deals both through our vendors and on the classifieds. Plus you can go a long ways by just getting tires and rear springs. As long as you don't go too high, you can crank the factory torsion bars up a little.

For reference, I am pretty sure that 02Beast and 2000UZJ both had factory TBs and lifts for quite some time.

 

[Bumgardner]

What is the best order to do the upgrades in?

Here is my current plan.
1. Fix all of the small issues with the truck.
a. Front Rotors need to be turned (I think they are thick enough to be turned)
b. Paint everything underneeth with some rustolem
c. Fix the hum on the aftermarket head unit

2.Tires- BFG KO 285/75/16 if there is another good option I would like to know, especially if it is chaper.

3. Lift- OME 1.5in medium duty? Should I upgrade to the OME T-Bars and

4. Front ARB Sahrah

5. Slee Step Sliders

6. Slee Rear Bumper

7. Lights for the ARB

8. Roof Rack tbd

 

[2000UZJ]

What is the best order to do the upgrades in?

Here is my current plan.
1. Fix all of the small issues with the truck.
a. Front Rotors need to be turned (I think they are thick enough to be turned), or trying to stop a fully loaded and lifted 100.
b. Paint everything underneeth with some rustolem
c. Fix the hum on the aftermarket head unit

2.Tires- BFG KO 285/75/16 if there is another good option I would like to know, especially if it is chaper.

3. Lift- OME 1.5in medium duty? Should I upgrade to the OME T-Bars and

4. Front ARB Sahrah

5. Slee Step Sliders

6. Slee Rear Bumper

7. Lights for the ARB

8. Roof Rack tbd

1. fix all the small things, you don't want anything breaking in the middle of nowhere after you built it.
a. Turn the rotors, you can't have a badass truck and it shakes your passengers to death coming to the office.
b. Install those BFG's and give the guy at the tire shop $10 and work away while its on the lift

2. If you want a little more height you have the option of a 295/75, it's a little bit more expensive.

3. With the things listed below it would probably be a good idea to put some OME torsion bars on. Assuming you are installing a winch, roof rack would make you want stiffer suspension with 150lbs of stuff on the roof.

 

[Bumgardner]

2000UZJ great idea about asking the guys at the tire shop to let me work under the car while it is up on the lift. I had not thought about that.

 

[pfran42]

Put #5 in at #2. You will be absolutely mortified if you put big dents in your rocker panels while out playing around on your new BFGs. That is one of the most expensive places to have body work done.

 

[Copenhagen1]

Congratulations on the purchase!

You need to post some pics because inquiring minds want to know.

If you are on a tight budget, you ought to look at my build thread in my signature line. I have not spent any money really that I might have to throw away later.

I want a new front bumper terribly bad, but between shipping and painting, it will probably set me back $2000. If i ever get to that point, then I know I will have to upgrade the torsion bars but for right now, the factory TB's are golden.

Welcome to the addiction.

 

[Bumgardner]

Pics will be coming soon. I have to get to a cool spot for pics...

 

[pfran42]

I agree with what was said earlier about the 295s. I lurked for a while, planned my build and decided on 285s with a 1.5 inch lift just like you. I really liked the larger lifts and tires out there but I was trying to play it conservatively. The minute you put those 285s on you are gonna think, "I could have gone bigger". I loved my 285s for about a month but Mud got the best of me and I started checking out all the rigs with 295s and larger.

I sold the tires at a $350 loss and went bigger. Point is... plan your build carefully and don't compromise on what you really want when it is all said and done. If you do, it will end up costing you more in the long run.

- Sent from a very small supercomputer.

 

[arbetrader]

I second that... My bro has 285/75/16, and I went up to 18" wheels and went 275/70/18, which is actually a 33.4" tire vs the 32.8" tire. You can notice the difference just by looking at it.

You should check out Duratracs. You won't be disappointed. I'm not sure they make them in 295/75/16 though...

Good luck with your build!