New member on the 200 Forum

[lrowe_csp]

Hello All:
I have been active on the 40, 80 and 100 series forum's for the past decade. This last summer we brought my wife's elderly mother and father to live with us in Virginia, and I brought my Slee'd V8 80 series back east from their home in Nevada, as well as their Prius. This left me with three landcruisers, an Avalon and a Prius in my three car garage/driveway.
My brother had been asking me for years if I wanted to sell my 1999 Supercharged triple locked 100 series so I said yes, and by coincidence, that same week, discussion with a very cool mudder named DocBG in Colorado terminated with me shipping my Slee'd V8 1997 80 series out to him.

I went from a wealth of landcruisers, a 40, 80 and 100, to just one Landcruiser in one week. The Landcruiser withdrawal symptoms were so bad that even going out and sitting in my SOA 383 5 speed 1974 40 series in the garage wasn't helping me.

 

[lrowe_csp]

I had purchased a set of TRD Road Warrior wheels and tires from a mudder up in Alexandria VA who drove a beautiful black 2014 LC200, and a week or so after I shipped the 80 series off to DocBG, this mudder posted up that he was thinking of getting a Raptor, and possibly selling his 200 as part of the transaction. I contacted him and expressed interest and we started talking...
I next had to convince my significantly thrifty spouse that we "really needed" this 2014 cruiser. She was pretty unmoved by my plea's until I explained that her 90 year father would be very happy in the heated rear seat with 4 zone climate control. That did it and I bought the 2014 200 series.

 

[lrowe_csp]

This had already been set up pretty well, with Fuel Wheels, pretty new 275 70 18 KO2's, Bilstein Shocks, Prinsu Rack, WNOR sliders, ARB skid and nice LED light bar mounted on the Prinsu. I had already started discussing buying parts that the PO of this 200 series had before even purchasing the cruiser, as I knew I would get in to a 200 series sooner or later. Parts included two sets of BP51 fronts and one set of rear (all sets uninstalled and new in box), Labrak ARB fog lights inserts, and other parts. When we finally transferred title, the LC had 48K miles and I purchased it for $49K, plus a couple of grand for the extra parts and for the Prinsu, Sliders, LED and ARB skid.
My plan was to install the BP51's and sell the almost new Biltsteins (still available), put a set of storage drawers in the rear, lock the front and rear, and install a winch. I was up in the air about going ARB or TJM for a bumper, or keeping a more stock look, possibly with an ASFIR hidden winch mount like Carl Montoya had put on. I also am a big fan of superchargers as I have spent a significant amount of time at altitude and really dislike the loss of power when the air thins out. My 100 series was supercharged and I enjoyed that extra power when I needed it. I researched this for the 200 series and decided to go with Sparks Toyota for the Magnuson SC.

 

[ryanCA]

Welcome

Congrats

Hope the father in law enjoys rear seat heater

 

[lrowe_csp]

I had rotator cuff repair surgery right after I bought the 200 series, so I relied on two really great east coast cruiser shops to assist with my work. I took the brand new in the box ARB BP51's to Iron Pig and they pulled the Billies and installed the BP 51's. I liked the ride, not super different than the Bilsteins, but perhaps a little more plush due to the adjustable settings. I have run Fox, Slee, Bilsteins, OME, RadFlo, Frankies Offroad, and Kings in previous landcruisers, so I have some experience with these, and the BP51's felt pretty good. I had no "klunck" as the weather got colder in December, so I thought I was going to be okay, but then we had some vey cold weather late December and the front passenger side shock started klunking. I called ARB and they said they would replace the shocks, but after they asked me for the SN's, they said these were registered to another owner and the warranty was for the original purchaser. I had previously searched for their warranty policy but I must have missed a disclaimer about original purchaser only. I have owned 2 ARB fridges, had an ARB front bumper on my 80 series, and had locked the front and rear diffs on the 40, 80 and 100 with ARB air lockers and compressors. I had also already contacted Forge Specialties about finding a set of ARB drawers for the 200, so I think I have spent somewhere around $13K on ARB products in the past 8 years- this BP-51 thing is a minor hiccup, and their products are generally good, but I am bothered that I have this beautiful but unusable set of front shocks in my basement. I have also have offered to pay for the repair but they said they are not doing that.

View attachment 1666561

 

[lrowe_csp]

Thanks Ryan:
He has trouble getting up into the 200, but once he is in, he is happy!

 

[lrowe_csp]

Next install was the Supercharger. Since TRD has stopped selling these, it seemed like the expertise to install them was starting to dry up. I searched around and TorFab was too far away to be convenient, but Sparks Toyota in Myrtle Beach was reasonably close. I contacted them and they said they do quite a few installs, and they could flash an ecu and have everything ready to go in a couple of weeks. I arranged to take annual leave and drove south the 7 hours where they gave me a rental car to use and said come back in 2.5 days. It actually took three days, as they found a little weeping in the water pump and received permission to replace it under warranty. I picked it up at about 4pm on day 3 and headed home. The supercharger is intercooled so the install also includes a separate pump and reservoir, and a small "radiator" in front of my radiator. It pulls very strongly, and it is even perhaps a little scary when at 4500 rpm and still pulling really hard. I will have a trailer at altitude out west in the future and I can foresee that this will make a big difference in how it climbs grades. ....the service at Sparks was very good and I am happy I had this work done.

 

[lrowe_csp]

Next up was to get some of my gear that I had taken out of the back of the 100 series and 80 series off the garage floor. I wanted the 41" double roller top/roller drawer units and I was able to get them locally, with the fit kit coming from Slee. As usual, Slee's service and shipping was fast and efficient, and I had Forge Specialties do this install (I am still recuperating from the shoulder surgery- hard to lift a cup of coffee, much less 50 lbs of metal and carpet). I asked Nathan to pull power from the front, install switched and unswitched power outlets, a Blue Seas Fuse box, and a Wits end fridge power connector that Joey puts together. I also installed some low profile tie downs I have used in the past from US Cargo Control (parts 1519-SSR and AT2BLR). When I can pick up heavy things again, I will install the All-Cab fridge slide and the ARB fridge sitting in the garage.

 

[gaijin]

Next install was the Supercharger. Since TRD has stopped selling these, it seemed like the expertise to install them was starting to dry up. I searched around and TorFab was too far away to be convenient, but Sparks Toyota in Myrtle Beach wasn't that far away. I contacted them and they said they do quite a few installs, and they could flash an ecu and have everything ready to go in a couple of weeks. I arranged to take annual leave and drive south the 7 hours where they gave me a rental car to use and said come back in 2.5 days. It actually took three days, as they found a little weeping in the water pump and received permission to replace it under warranty. I picked it up at about 4pm and headed home. The supercharger is intercoole,rd so the install includes a separate pump and reservoir, and a small "radiator" in front of my radiator. It pulls very strongly, and it is even perhaps a little scary when at 4500 rpm and still pulling....the service at Sparks was very good and I am happy I had this done.

Why don't you just post pics instead of making us download pdf files?

 

[ryanCA]

Thanks Ryan:
He has trouble getting up into the 200, but once he is in, he is happy!

Thought he is the main resson you bought the 200

Isn’t that what you told your wifey

 

[lrowe_csp]

I made the decision to not install an ARB winch bumper, and instead, contacted ASFIR Direct to try to keep the aerodynamics a little cleaner. They sent out their hidden winch mount, and I consulted with Nathan at Forge Specialties again. We discussed the install and how to reach the clutch lever. Carl Montoya had cut the bumper air intake slats to reach the clutch, but Nathan was thinking out of the box and said if we could find a remotely operated clutch winch on the market, we would not need to cut the grill. Since I sold both the 80 and 100 with their winches, I did not have one laying around that I needed to reuse, so I was free to purchase a Warn Zeon Platinum 10 that had a remote clutch operation from the wireless remote. This has synthetic line and also cannot be unspooled without the remote, providing a little security from syn line bandits or fun-loving anchor pranksters. I added the Factor 55 folding shackle and I have just ordered the Gobi folding license plate bracket to drop the license plate and still be able to observe the rope wrapping on the winch.

 

[lrowe_csp]

Why don't you just post pics instead of making us download pdf files?

Probably cause I'm dumb! I couldn't figure out why they always posted as pics in the past, but now they aren't. I am working with an Apple Mac, but if there is an easy way for me to convert these, like you just did, shoot me a pm and I will fix them.

Thanks!

 

[lrowe_csp]

Thought he is the main resson you bought the 200

Isn’t that what you told your wifey

Yes, but I think when you are 90, it's hard to get in and out of any chair. Wait until I teach him how to use the rear dvd player- he will probably not want to get out of the 200.

 

[lrowe_csp]

Ok, per gaijin's comment- loading photos a different way from the iPhone. Fuel wheel and KO2, the Flag, and a couple of front and side views

 

[lrowe_csp]

Next up was the rear locker. I decided to go with Harrops, and contacted Ward Harris and Georg Esterer at Cruiser Brothers. Georg built a beautiful FJ62 split case 38 mm idler and mated it to a new OEM Toyota H55F 5 speed about 8 years ago for my 383 Stroked FJ40. That has been a very nice, trouble free transfer case, so I am comfortable dealing with the Cruiser Brothers on the Harrops E Locker purchase.
Nathan at Forge tore the rear axle down, Vince came in that night and set up the locker and diff, and Nathan put it back together in the morning. I am not sure if I will lock the front- but if Ward has another big sale this year, I might put my money down for a front locker also.
The PO had previously installed this nice switch setup for the future lockers and the LED Bar, so we just wired the locker right in.

I posted an internet Harrops box photo- don't order this part number for your LC!

 

[ryanCA]

Yes, but I think when you are 90, it's hard to get in and out of any chair. Wait until I teach him how to use the rear dvd player- he will probably not want to get out of the 200.

My wife is awaiting her 5 seater LX

No room for inlaws

PS you look like Al Bundy

 

[BVCOTaco]

With the new "TOYOTA" grill emblem, what did you do with the radar unit that is built into the original grill?

 

[Angelo1]

Nice thing about a winch bumber is when you’re in a parking lot and some ahole gets to close parking nose to nose and hits it. Boy do they get some damage. Lol!

 

[lrowe_csp]

PO did the Satoshi grill conversion and the radar is still present and working. I think this emblem is plastic- I have another one in metal that would likely cause problems.

 

[BVCOTaco]

I dig the old school looking Satoshi grill! Nice rig!