I just joined Ih8MUD and have found it so valuable that I supported it at the Gold level. I first want to thank all the members who have made this site so useful. I have been lurking for a bit with the intention of joining.
I bought an 06 Land Cruiser, Thunder Cloud Metallic, with AHC, in Sept. 2012 with 113,000 miles. I am the third owner. It was originally bought in Tacoma, WA and has been in the area ever since. I live on the Olympic Peninsula. It has insignificant surface rust underneath and a clean body. I have found two small body rust spots where minor dings occurred which should be easily repairable. The leather is in good shape and everything has worked fine (amazingly). I paid $24,000 for it. The dealer was asking $28,000. I test drove it, liked it, but was going to leave and think it over when he offered it for $24K. I bit.
I will detail what I have done in other posts, “What have you done to your 100…”and adding to other threads where appropriate. The one problem I have experienced is two instances of stalling, and will not start, which I will add to one of the existing threads. But I would like to briefly summarize my experience here by way of introduction.
I have taken the approach of getting the truck baselined and in top operating condition and slowly adding appropriate mods as I find I need them. I bought it to off-road and have done that mostly in the desert around Borrego Springs, CA, where I go in the winter. But I also wanted a comfortable highway cruiser to get to and from Washington to California. I have enjoyed discovering what the LC can do basically stock, except for tires. The terrain is mostly sand and gravel, soft rock, and eroded washes and hills. I immediately installed BFG AT KO in the 265/65-18, on the original 18 inch wheels. I wanted to keep as close to stock size as possible in this tire. The new KO’s were quieter than the worn Bridgestone Duelers they replaced, a pleasant surprise.
I installed Metaltech sliders after crunching the running boards. The front bumper is pretty scratched up from narrow washes and will be replaced someday. I drag the rear quite a bit, the factory hitch taking most of the hits. I remove the 7-pin trailer wiring plug bracket and suspend it up near the spare tire with a bungy cord when off-roading, otherwise that plug would be long gone.
I think seriously about a nice lift and large tires, the whole shebang, and drool over the build threads that you guys post here. But doing that is a ways off.
But what stops me mostly in the off-roading I do is loss of traction in soft dirt/sand. The ATRAC kicks in but often is not enough to keep me going in very soft flour-like dirt on a hill. I use low/low and a very light foot on the gas, but have found there are limits to steep soft hills. I air down to 16 psi when off-road, and have been as low as 12, which I think I will start going to more. On many hills I can get up when some jeeps in the group (I wheel mostly with jeeps) cannot. Sometimes it is the other way around. The LC more than holds its own with most jeeps. I attribute a lot of that to airing down. Most of the other guys are leery about going below 20 psi, whereas I believe that you need to get to 15 before you really gain anything.
So I am seriously thinking that my next mod will be ARB lockers front and rear and the lower low range transfer case gear, the 3.11. My style is slow and easy and I prefer to not lose traction in the first place rather than have ATRAC step in after slippage is detected.
I also have flushed the AHC fluid and this has improved the ride significantly. It is a must do.
I have been really pleased with the LC as a comfortable on-road cruiser and a comfortable, capable off-road explorer. I have towed a 6 x 12 u-haul trailer 1400 miles from Washington to southern California twice, pretty heavily loaded, with no problems at all. It is quite a versatile vehicle as you all know.
I greatly appreciate all the expertise, advice and comments that appear on this forum and hope that I can contribute in the future.
This being my first post I will also see what the signature, avatar, and all that other stuff really is, so I can modify my preferences as needed. I welcome any and all comments.
I bought an 06 Land Cruiser, Thunder Cloud Metallic, with AHC, in Sept. 2012 with 113,000 miles. I am the third owner. It was originally bought in Tacoma, WA and has been in the area ever since. I live on the Olympic Peninsula. It has insignificant surface rust underneath and a clean body. I have found two small body rust spots where minor dings occurred which should be easily repairable. The leather is in good shape and everything has worked fine (amazingly). I paid $24,000 for it. The dealer was asking $28,000. I test drove it, liked it, but was going to leave and think it over when he offered it for $24K. I bit.
I will detail what I have done in other posts, “What have you done to your 100…”and adding to other threads where appropriate. The one problem I have experienced is two instances of stalling, and will not start, which I will add to one of the existing threads. But I would like to briefly summarize my experience here by way of introduction.
I have taken the approach of getting the truck baselined and in top operating condition and slowly adding appropriate mods as I find I need them. I bought it to off-road and have done that mostly in the desert around Borrego Springs, CA, where I go in the winter. But I also wanted a comfortable highway cruiser to get to and from Washington to California. I have enjoyed discovering what the LC can do basically stock, except for tires. The terrain is mostly sand and gravel, soft rock, and eroded washes and hills. I immediately installed BFG AT KO in the 265/65-18, on the original 18 inch wheels. I wanted to keep as close to stock size as possible in this tire. The new KO’s were quieter than the worn Bridgestone Duelers they replaced, a pleasant surprise.
I installed Metaltech sliders after crunching the running boards. The front bumper is pretty scratched up from narrow washes and will be replaced someday. I drag the rear quite a bit, the factory hitch taking most of the hits. I remove the 7-pin trailer wiring plug bracket and suspend it up near the spare tire with a bungy cord when off-roading, otherwise that plug would be long gone.
I think seriously about a nice lift and large tires, the whole shebang, and drool over the build threads that you guys post here. But doing that is a ways off.
But what stops me mostly in the off-roading I do is loss of traction in soft dirt/sand. The ATRAC kicks in but often is not enough to keep me going in very soft flour-like dirt on a hill. I use low/low and a very light foot on the gas, but have found there are limits to steep soft hills. I air down to 16 psi when off-road, and have been as low as 12, which I think I will start going to more. On many hills I can get up when some jeeps in the group (I wheel mostly with jeeps) cannot. Sometimes it is the other way around. The LC more than holds its own with most jeeps. I attribute a lot of that to airing down. Most of the other guys are leery about going below 20 psi, whereas I believe that you need to get to 15 before you really gain anything.
So I am seriously thinking that my next mod will be ARB lockers front and rear and the lower low range transfer case gear, the 3.11. My style is slow and easy and I prefer to not lose traction in the first place rather than have ATRAC step in after slippage is detected.
I also have flushed the AHC fluid and this has improved the ride significantly. It is a must do.
I have been really pleased with the LC as a comfortable on-road cruiser and a comfortable, capable off-road explorer. I have towed a 6 x 12 u-haul trailer 1400 miles from Washington to southern California twice, pretty heavily loaded, with no problems at all. It is quite a versatile vehicle as you all know.
I greatly appreciate all the expertise, advice and comments that appear on this forum and hope that I can contribute in the future.
This being my first post I will also see what the signature, avatar, and all that other stuff really is, so I can modify my preferences as needed. I welcome any and all comments.
