Project Hundy Build Thread - 2000 UZJ100 Land Cruiser (Deathstar)

[miahshodan]

Thanks Kurt, that makes sense. I decided on a 1997 80 series (with factory lockers), but my use is much different. I live in St. George and work from home. My audi Allroad (surprisingly capable off-road) is our day to day driver and the Land Cruiser is used mostly for offroad trips, towing a small trailer, camping etc. Having driven it to Salt Lake a few times, it is not the best highway vehicle.

One day I need to get the cruiser up to SLC to have your shop look it over and maybe make some modifications.

 

[Jordan345]

Well done Kurt. I am a little green with envy.. I think you purposely layed all the parts out on the floor just to entice a pavlov response. all you need is a christmas tree and its every 100 owners wish list. I have been adding parts to my rig over the last year and am getting closer to completing my build thread. I love reading everyone's build, even if many are similar to mine. I'll be ordering a Helton system from you soon; i've got my first kid on the way and i've sold the hot water system as a way to wash off diaper bum when we are in the bush.. nobody likes cold water on their ass.

i had mounted 285 75 16 on my rig last year and while they are still new with only 10k on them, i'm contemplating moving to a duratrac.. i also have the choice of the 295, which would be a nice compromise for not going to the 315.. i don't think 315 is the way to go for me, although i can justify anything to myself. i know the 295's are a touch bigger than the 285, but perhaps you can explain why you went 295 specifically over a 285..

 

[Mid TN]

I also am in the 100 Series market, trying to talk the princess into trading her Camery. Which is why I startd looking here. Great timing and great write up Kurt, Subscribed as well!

 

[Bart2]

Thanks Kurt! You are helping me sort through what I need vs. what I want...

You are going to have a very busy weekend!

Keep up the good work,

Jordan

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks Kurt, that makes sense. I decided on a 1997 80 series (with factory lockers), but my use is much different. I live in St. George and work from home. My audi Allroad (surprisingly capable off-road) is our day to day driver and the Land Cruiser is used mostly for offroad trips, towing a small trailer, camping etc. Having driven it to Salt Lake a few times, it is not the best highway vehicle.

Makes complete sense, sounds like it does a splendid job for your needs

One day I need to get the cruiser up to SLC to have your shop look it over and maybe make some modifications.

For sure, we would love to help you out with it. Keep me in the loop!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Well done Kurt. I am a little green with envy.. I think you purposely layed all the parts out on the floor just to entice a pavlov response.

Well, did it work

I'll be ordering a Helton system from you soon; i've got my first kid on the way and i've sold the hot water system as a way to wash off diaper bum when we are in the bush.. nobody likes cold water on their ass.

Excellent, give me a call when your ready and I'd love to chat with you about it. I'll be detailing the Helton install in the next part of the build, it was a bit of a chore but I was able to find hoses that worked perfectly with my heat exchanger mounting location and didn't require I cut into any factory hoses, I simply removed two of the OE hoses and found two pre-bent hoses that I trimmed to fit. This way I can always return it to stock or bypass things easily if a hose fails, etc. Probably more work than it was worth as I've not seen or dealt with a single Heat Exchanger failure but I do lots of pain in the ass things just so I don't have to cut up a factory part

i know the 295's are a touch bigger than the 285, but perhaps you can explain why you went 295 specifically over a 285..

Honestly the slight bigger size was the deciding factor. I was set on the BFG AT and seeing as they offered the 295 and the pricing wasn't much different then the 285, I was sold. On top of that, several of the gents I travel a lot with run the same size tire on their 100's, rare scenario but I could borrow a tire if needed. There was a certain Utah Cruiser Expedition in which our pal DMC was borrowing everyone else's tires by the end of the trip Funny thing, he had driven to the tip of South America on the tires and didn't get a flat, crosses Utah and gets literally a dozen

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I also am in the 100 Series market, trying to talk the princess into trading her Camery. Which is why I startd looking here. Great timing and great write up Kurt, Subscribed as well!

Glad your enjoying it, thanks for chiming in.

Thanks Kurt! You are helping me sort through what I need vs. what I want...

You are going to have a very busy weekend!

Keep up the good work,

Jordan

Thanks Jordan though I have to be upfront. The build is actually done, we completed the weekend in October and I took the 100 on a big trip to the tip of Baja MX and back as part of a chase team for a race car we were driving in the Baja 1000. It was fabulous! Part #4 of my build thread will cover the actual build, we have a lot of fun pics as well as a time lapse video of the entire process.

 

[Sporin]

In for updates, this is pretty much my dream rig you are building.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

In for updates, this is pretty much my dream rig you are building.

I'm working on the build portion of the thread now, it obviously has the most pics and the most commentary thus it is taking the longest. I may break it down by day one, day two, etc. Thanks for following along!

 

[dnp]

Subscribed....

 

[Hayes]

Hey Kurt,
Nice thread and nice Cruiser.
Conincidentally, I've been pondering another rig to my garage to replace my 80 as a daily driver (I will give up my 80 when it's pried from my cold dead hands). A Hundy is at the top of my list, but I've been uncertain about how to build and what good reliable options are available. Lucky for me, you're doing all the work and posting it here. Gracias.

I will have to schedule a ride in your new rig.

Ryan

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Hey Kurt,
Nice thread and nice Cruiser.
Conincidentally, I've been pondering another rig to my garage to replace my 80 as a daily driver (I will give up my 80 when it's pried from my cold dead hands). A Hundy is at the top of my list, but I've been uncertain about how to build and what good reliable options are available. Lucky for me, you're doing all the work and posting it here. Gracias.

I will have to schedule a ride in your new rig.

Ryan

Come take it for a spin, its my mobile sales pitch for upgrades

 

[HWY22]

Come take it for a spin, its my mobile sales pitch for upgrades

Kurt
Nice to see you building up a Hundy. I will give you a call tomorrow to arrange for a Helton and Nat'l Luna dual batt install. Enjoyed reading about your build.

I am running 295 TGs on my 16s. I am seriously contemplating going tall and skinny. 235/85/16 Cooper Maxx or a 255 duratrac. Your thoughts on tall and skinny on the Hundy?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Kurt
Nice to see you building up a Hundy. I will give you a call tomorrow to arrange for a Helton and Nat'l Luna dual batt install. Enjoyed reading about your build.

I am running 295 TGs on my 16s. I am seriously contemplating going tall and skinny. 235/85/16 Cooper Maxx or a 255 duratrac. Your thoughts on tall and skinny on the Hundy?

Sorry I missed your reply. Would love to chat more about the Helton/NL setup.

As much as tire brand selection is emotional, tire size isn't much different. While I'm not a huge fan of overly wide tires on a street driven rig, I'm not a huge fan of a super skinny tire on a heavy street driven rig. I opted for a happy medium and I couldn't be happier.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Back from another road trip in the Death Star. I had four adults and camping gear for a trip to the King of the Hammers. We were serving as chase and pit support for a good friend of ours in the Every Man Challenge race. I finalized my HAM (Kenwood TM-D710 with MARS/CAP mod) prior to departing for the race and the setup proved 100% successful. I ended up mounting the main unit to the drawer unit just behind the drivers side rear seat. All the wiring is under the carpet and trim with the face plate attached to a Panavise/Ram mount on the dash. We built a custom mic mount on the side of the center console, offers a real clean look when not in use and out of the way when in use.

We found one major need... more USB ports. I have two in the rear drawer side panels that were installed right next to the 12V outlet and fridge outlet, however when gear is stacked deep you can't have easy access to them. With 4 adults, i.e. 4 phones, 4 ipods, 4 cameras, etc... outlets become a premium and stretching cords from the front seat to the back seat is a pain and cluttery. I've got one more of the BlueSea USB twin outlet setups I had planned to install in the front dash somewhere but I think instead I'm going to install it in the back of the center console? Preferably in a fashion that doesn't interfere with the drink holders? I may play with that a bit tomorrow.

Lastly, I'm still working on some build thread details for part# 4 of my formal write-up

 

[cboyd]

Back from another road trip in the Death Star. I had four adults and camping gear for a trip to the King of the Hammers. We were serving as chase and pit support for a good friend of ours in the Every Man Challenge race. I finalized my HAM (Kenwood TM-D710 with MARS/CAP mod) prior to departing for the race and the setup proved 100% successful. I ended up mounting the main unit to the drawer unit just behind the drivers side rear seat. All the wiring is under the carpet and trim with the face plate attached to a Panavise/Ram mount on the dash. We built a custom mic mount on the side of the center console, offers a real clean look when not in use and out of the way when in use.

We found one major need... more USB ports. I have two in the rear drawer side panels that were installed right next to the 12V outlet and fridge outlet, however when gear is stacked deep you can't have easy access to them. With 4 adults, i.e. 4 phones, 4 ipods, 4 cameras, etc... outlets become a premium and stretching cords from the front seat to the back seat is a pain and cluttery. I've got one more of the BlueSea USB twin outlet setups I had planned to install in the front dash somewhere but I think instead I'm going to install it in the back of the center console? Preferably in a fashion that doesn't interfere with the drink holders? I may play with that a bit tomorrow.

Lastly, I'm still working on some build thread details for part# 4 of my formal write-up

Pics of the d710 mount? Have the same rig and was looking for ideas! Also, I ran into a similar issue on USB and was scoping that small panel just above the cub holders for the BlueSea dual USB...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Pics of the d710 mount? Have the same rig and was looking for ideas! Also, I ran into a similar issue on USB and was scoping that small panel just above the cub holders for the BlueSea dual USB...

I'll grab some pics tomorrow. It turned out quite clean and the control panel can be adjusted for optimal use by the driver, easy use for the passenger or quickly removed with a single plug and a knob leaving just the Panavise bracket on the dash.

I'll scout around on the Blue Sea USB mounting, its currently sitting in the glovebox waiting on some time.

Oh, and before I head out again this next weekend for an ExpeditionUtah trip, I have a CV boot that ripped somewhere in the Johnson Valley desert. Easy enough fix but it is stacking up to be a busy, busy week

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Back from another road trip in the Death Star. I had four adults and camping gear for a trip to the King of the Hammers. We were serving as chase and pit support for a good friend of ours in the Every Man Challenge race. I finalized my HAM (Kenwood TM-D710 with MARS/CAP mod) prior to departing for the race and the setup proved 100% successful. I ended up mounting the main unit to the drawer unit just behind the drivers side rear seat. All the wiring is under the carpet and trim with the face plate attached to a Panavise/Ram mount on the dash. We built a custom mic mount on the side of the center console, offers a real clean look when not in use and out of the way when in use.

We found one major need... more USB ports. I have two in the rear drawer side panels that were installed right next to the 12V outlet and fridge outlet, however when gear is stacked deep you can't have easy access to them. With 4 adults, i.e. 4 phones, 4 ipods, 4 cameras, etc... outlets become a premium and stretching cords from the front seat to the back seat is a pain and cluttery. I've got one more of the BlueSea USB twin outlet setups I had planned to install in the front dash somewhere but I think instead I'm going to install it in the back of the center console? Preferably in a fashion that doesn't interfere with the drink holders? I may play with that a bit tomorrow.

Lastly, I'm still working on some build thread details for part# 4 of my formal write-up

I looked into rear seat center console mounted USB ports also. There seems to be plenty of space in there. Especially where the rear seat radio controls would go in later models.

 

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

Love the pic of all your gear sitting ready to be installed!!!

Hey have you done the headers yet?

Robbie just installed mine and I drove it up I70 yesterday, was really surprised to feel a difference. The engine did not down shift as much as before when climbing and seemed to have just enough extra power to stay with the flow of traffic or allow me to drive the way I feel a v8 should drive up I70.

I want that hot water shower system!!

Our rigs are similar, except I have probably 10 less USBs than you have or are going to have...

Did your powder coater guys prep the wheels or just powder coat? Roughly what is the cost to do that??

 

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

Kurt
Nice to see you building up a Hundy. I will give you a call tomorrow to arrange for a Helton and Nat'l Luna dual batt install. Enjoyed reading about your build.

I am running 295 TGs on my 16s. I am seriously contemplating going tall and skinny. 235/85/16 Cooper Maxx or a 255 duratrac. Your thoughts on tall and skinny on the Hundy?

I did not know Duratracs came in 255/85/16, I am running Big Horns in that size.