Just picked up a 1996 LX450 to replace my Tacoma (and our '92 80 "Pamela Landy") we sold last fall. Wanted to start a build thread before I get too far and have too many photos to upload.
Here is a crappy photo of how she sat when I picked her up:
Pros: almost no rust. One or two tiny bits of surface rust (about a quarter sized) on the axles. Relatively clean interior (not that it matters much). 246k on the odometer, and was always locally owned. It's now three owner. Also, she was cheap!
Cons: front seats are garbage, worm gears on the sliders are shot. Probably will yank them and replace them with something comfy and manually adjustable. Big 'ole valve cover gasket leak. Tons of gunk buildup on the knuckles (don't look like they've been greased or serviced). Takeoff shudder that only happens at low speeds with high torque. 11 year old, dry-rotted tires.
The plan with this truck is to make it capable and comfortable for camping and moderate wheeling and lots of fire-road driving. Ideally we'll keep weight down too. Current plan includes:
We loved the Tacoma with the GFC for camping, but it had some limitations (payload, lack of front locker, and too small for the giant dogs) that this build should solve.
Here is a crappy photo of how she sat when I picked her up:
Pros: almost no rust. One or two tiny bits of surface rust (about a quarter sized) on the axles. Relatively clean interior (not that it matters much). 246k on the odometer, and was always locally owned. It's now three owner. Also, she was cheap!
Cons: front seats are garbage, worm gears on the sliders are shot. Probably will yank them and replace them with something comfy and manually adjustable. Big 'ole valve cover gasket leak. Tons of gunk buildup on the knuckles (don't look like they've been greased or serviced). Takeoff shudder that only happens at low speeds with high torque. 11 year old, dry-rotted tires.
The plan with this truck is to make it capable and comfortable for camping and moderate wheeling and lots of fire-road driving. Ideally we'll keep weight down too. Current plan includes:
tires, 35s now, 37s later- sliders
- front and rear lockers (debating between ARB or Harrup)
- trans case regear
- regear
suspension (probably Dobinsons)Dobinsons Flexi springs front, VT 2.5 rear, yellow shocks all around. Timbren bumps, Delta arms.frontand rear bumpers,winchARB front, Comeup Seal 12.5possibly a GFC RTTGFC RTTdrawer platform with dog crate setup for our two puppersBuilt, need to adjust crate securing setup.
We loved the Tacoma with the GFC for camping, but it had some limitations (payload, lack of front locker, and too small for the giant dogs) that this build should solve.
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