Recommendations for Refurbish my 04 LC

[Chrisek]

The drive home went through a few phases. For the first 100 miles, I was just thinking the front torsion bar was appropriate for a 400lb bumper and a snow plow, lol. Bouncing everywhere, headlights moving around during the night (I usually leave around zero dark thirty) it was terrible .
After 700 miles it really calmed down a lot. I never noticed the rears. But that front is definitely topped out on on suspension travel. Here is a before pic:

And if you keep your eyes on the centers of those hubs relative to the steps and bumpers.

And you feel taller behind the wheel as well. I know it is not a 6” lift or anything but it is noticeable. Overall a plus. The difficult part to judge is the dampers which are rated by OME for Full Build as in over landing, etc. I think there is a lot of compression damping. I had gone this way in case I choose to do the rear 40gal aux tank.
Which I’m not sure about. Having a 600 mile range and a usable 500+ even in the hills with winter gas is just less stressful. I know a lot of people are in the “I’ll just stop sooner” camp, but it is comforting in many parts of the country (especially state roads) where you see a gas station 240 miles in but you want to go to the next one, or the one after that, and you are never worried about watching the tank. I pretty much kept it 250-350 miles per tank and still had about a half tank each time. Very comforting.
I consider the 100 gasser to be the first almost powerful enough for USA highways. Mine still like 75mph more than 80. Still prefers to mellow out to 55-65mph when climbing out of SLC up to Park City or climbing the continental divide or whatever.
If I go to the aux tank I think I’ll go to keeping the spare inside the truck. After playing around at Slee’s I can see how those rear bumpers weigh 400 lbs. I can see how much length they add to the back (and front) of the vehicle. I love the size of the hundy and how easy it is to wheel around in towns and congested cities. Adding gas capacity is one thing (because it fills and empties) but then adding a rear bumper (and then a front one to match, right?) and then 75mph won’t be as comfortable.
If I get a 200 in the future, that one might get bumpered up etc. And an aux tank for sure. I don’t want to lose the 100’s strengths or make any disadvantages bigger.

 

[Live to Ski]

for highway driving, the weight of the rear bumper/aux tank will not affect the mpg much (if at all),

Now the front bumper will kill the mpg.

Basically added weight, as long as it's "aero dynamicall slipstream" (rear b in the "shadow of the body" and the aux under the rig protected as well), does not affect wind resistance much.

on highway, as long as holding a steady velocity (read use cruise control), your major drag source is wind which is affected by the velocity ^2 (squared). a smll increase in v will dramatically increase air resistnance. weight mainly on affects acceleration.

The front bumper....now that's a different story. It crushes the already horrible air resistance or our rigs (lc driving is like driving a brick as far as air resistance is concerned).

Offroad, I don't care what you do to the rig, you will get 9-10mpg (minimal air resisntance).

that's not my story and i'm not sticking to it

 

[NE Snowman]

If it’s anything like my work van. A ladder rack will eat 2mpg lol. Weight doesn’t effect my mpg much, unless it’s a ton of stop/slow down.

I really like the look of LCs with bumpers but I don’t ever “need” them so I doubt they’ll go on. Unless something happens to my OEM ones…

 

[JB Mitchell]

Got back last Monday from my latest lap. Super quick at only 7 days. Once again just a great vehicle. Took it in for service when I got back, no recommendations.

View attachment 3469110

The oil pressure had “that” issue where it just locks in at the 1/4 mark even when I climbed the continental divide. Once I was comfortable that the oil pump was fine and it is either the pressure sensor or the gauge I continued on. It was dead for about 2000 miles.

View attachment 3469111

Of course it started working normally again about 1000 miles from home so my dealer had nothing to check out . Either way fortunately it is a minor issue.

Hi, Really enjoying this thread. I thought I would mention that I’ve had trouble with the oil pressure sensor over the years. After the original failed I replaced with a cheaper aftermarket. It failed within 10,000 miles. I replaced it with the best aftermarket one I could find and that has lasted 40,000 miles so far, so I think I’m good. It looks like you get what you pay for in this case.

 

[Chrisek]

Got a few updates, turned it in a little early for the 330k service (329k on odometer). So that is oil, trans, and all 3 diffs with tire rotation. This time the rear diff was noticeably cleaner than front or center diff fluids (?) usually the rear is the dirtiest.

Also was looking to get some interior lights replaced

These bulbs are soldered to a circuit board. Had my dealership pull in the last one and it was was actually for a non-nav setup. There are none left new. Was also looking to replace bulbs in the dash, specifically the group in the middle above the PRNDL. Those are also a board and those are also out of stock. They did replace the bottom group under the PRNDL.

And finally, got some evap codes going on. Didn’t show up for 2000 miles after tank install, but they did show up.

Thinking it is the charcoal canister or a kinked vent line. There are new hoses around the tank, but going to order a new charcoal canister and other stuff and check routing of everything. Looking to replace all old evap lines and clamps eventually.
I pick it back up tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

 

[Chrisek]

Drove to Tulsa yesterday, just love that first few thousand miles after changing drivetrain fluids, it just glides.
Was worried about being a little stiff on the springs, with my wife and a little luggage it smoothed right out.

 

[Chrisek]

Been enjoying the LC and finally got the front done up with Paint Protection Film except the front bumper.

I’ll get that front bumper cover replaced next year.
Put 1,000 miles on it and no codes until last Friday when all 5 evap codes came on. Dropped it off Tuesday and will see if the root of these codes gets handled.
I had been talking with the service crew about head gaskets, torque converters, etc and they just said everything is running great. Going to do the valve inspection at 360k and see if the head gaskets need attention at that time. This LC is so good, just trying to head off anything that might take it down.

 

[Chrisek]

Been in the Philippines for 3 weeks, been interesting LC watching.
1x 70 series
4x 80 series
3x 100 series
About 12x 200 series
And maybe 6x 300 series.
Not sure what I was expecting to see, but been fun checking them out.

Current pricing is also surprising. Similar to USA the final 2 years of 200 series going for same price as a new non-import 300 series (approx US$100k). But what is also cool is the 70 series is imported from Saudi (71, 76, and 79) and are also similarly priced though I have not been able to check any out in person yet. Finally, the 300 GR-S is also being imported from Saudi and seems to go for US$200k.
All fun stuff to pay attention to a dream about.

 

[Chrisek]

Got home, picked up the LC from the dealer. They were working on the pressurizing of the gas tank and replaced the charcoal canister and the vent tube and say it is fixed. Got another lap of the country coming soon, hoping it is handled.
While in the Philippines I was driving a 2023 Mitsubishi Montero with the 4 cyl 2.8 turbo diesel. I was quite surprised to find how much better the hundy rides.
I know I had mentioned previously regarding the GX, but still amazed. I mean optimum suspension angles for this size SUV are well known, the knowledge of matching damping rates to spring rates have come a long way since 1999 when the hundy came out. These things do not cost extra to manufacture, it is just specifying suspension placements, spring rates, and damping rates at whatever price point is being worked with.
Rant over, still loving the hundy.

 

[Chrisek]

Forgot to mention, final piece of grandpa spec also got installed (finally): the infamous bug shield.

Hoping it helps save the windshield a little.

 

[RND1]

Was it the charcoal canister causing the evap codes? I'm chasing a couple minor evap leaks (P0442 and P0456) after having the OEM tank replaced.

 

[Chrisek]

So far codes have not come back, but have not driven it much. Heading out for another lap of the country later this week, will update.

 

[Chrisek]

Was it the charcoal canister causing the evap codes? I'm chasing a couple minor evap leaks (P0442 and P0456) after having the OEM tank replaced.

I had a code come back yesterday, fortunately it was only 1 this time, will check things out when I get home.

 

[Chrisek]

Put the Blizzaks on, should be a quicker trip, but still getting ready for the storms.

Sorry about the finger creep. I do like the actual size of these tires vs the 3 season set on the others. Both say the same metric size (OEM) but these are obviously larger. Fresh set of windshield wipers and sub freezing windshield fluid. Other than packing, ready to go.

 

[open country]

Great thread, enjoying your enjoyment of a great rig.

Agree with others' advice (including Slee), for your purposes of crushing miles and memories, simply be in tune with what the truck needs and proactive with OEM parts/solutions to give the truck what she asks for. You're on your way to a million miles with that formula.

 

[Chrisek]

Overdue for an update and leaving tomorrow for another lap in the LC. The gas tank pressurization has come back with a vengeance and now coming up every single drive cycle (!). I was able to get it into my local dealer with the code on, while troubleshooting it the tech found out some interesting stuff.
1. The code P0451 is for a sensor or a switch. He was able to narrow it down to a pressure sensor.
2. The sensor only reads to about 3psi or so. Without the LC running (just turning to acc position) the fuel tank was pressurizing to 18psi. This is so far out of the sensor’s parameters that the ECU just assumed the sensor failed.

Yesterday a new code (never seen before)came up with the other now regular 5 codes: P2418. Another emissions code.

I’m convinced my LC is mechanically sound and can happily continue piling on miles, but there are realities of driving a 20 year old vehicle that stopped production 17 years ago (think about that: the last time techs were trained on LC100’s by the factory was 17 years ago). I’ve got decisions to make for sure.

Yesterday I was pretty frustrated and talked with my wife. Main goal for our vehicles is to reliably get us to 2035 (maybe beyond) and see what realities are then for vehicle ownership. She supports me in replacing the LC and LS with one newer vehicle to carry me 11 years and guessing 200k miles. I’m assuming my annual mileage to start coming down. In walks the thought of an LX600 or 570, or Yukon XL (6.2L or duramax). All of which should easily be able to handle these goals.

Today driving the LC around and the fact is I really enjoy the hundy . It suits me well and is able to handle all of my needs with a vehicle. Not to mention US $70k-$100k buys a lot of gas and fixes a lot of “old car issues”. Which also inclines me to fix the issue or workaround it. While I did replace both cats in last couple of years the fact is I live in an area of the country that doesn’t smog. Add to that these Hundys are approaching 25 years of age and in the USA that means no more emissions checks anyway, coupled with many parts of the world had these without emissions at all. Do I want to be bad human and head off many issues? Still deciding .

In any case will update during or after the lap. At this time I need to tow a small trailer to Tulsa, and normally I would just carry on the 40 through the southwestern states. Unfortunately Amarillo, TX is on fire right now so I will dodge north to Denver and then proceed west. Planning on 3 days to travel that direction.

Thoughts/inputs on current situation? Questions? Let me know.

 

[zgfiredude]

The reality here is that dealing with repairing the car you know is and will be easier than repairing the car that someone else got rid of. You have the solid base to carry forward with, and as long as it suits your needs, I'd roll on with the LC. It's all about the care and feeding of an older car (any older car) but starting with one that was designed to last vs one that was designed to be thrown away is the difference. Fix it.

 

[Chrisek]

The reality here is that dealing with repairing the car you know is and will be easier than repairing the car that someone else got rid of. You have the solid base to carry forward with, and as long as it suits your needs, I'd roll on with the LC. It's all about the care and feeding of an older car (any older car) but starting with one that was designed to last vs one that was designed to be thrown away is the difference. Fix it.

Thank you for this and agree with this view in many ways. I think replacing everything in the evap system (with new OEM parts) should fix the issue and not be that difficult.
I am thinking of purchasing new as the alternative (except 570 of course) so that would be a fresh start and not chasing anything. I hear you on owning something built last vs something built to be tossed. I think every Land Cruiser has been built to last. And that includes the LX600, at least so far that is showing.

 

[Jack90210]

Put the Blizzaks on, should be a quicker trip, but still getting ready for the storms.

View attachment 3530271

Sorry about the finger creep. I do like the actual size of these tires vs the 3 season set on the others. Both say the same metric size (OEM) but these are obviously larger. Fresh set of windshield wipers and sub freezing windshield fluid. Other than packing, ready to go.

These trucks are absolutely unstoppable with Blizzaks, it's like having a superpower. Much safer all around in the snow by every metric, and the only thing to worry about is other people.

And I'm with you on keeping things OEM, these trucks are built to last, were well-designed, and are relatively easy to work on (especially when one takes advantage of the expertise/knowledge database built up in this forum). I'm currently going through my cooling system now (every hose, clamp, and gasket, rad, t-stat, heater cores flushed, etc.); after that I'll do the suspension (every bushing and mount, AHC globes, new UCAs/LCAs front/rear, etc.). Also, prices on many OEM parts have come down over the last few years; since I hope to keep this truck for several more decades I've been stashing quite a few parts away.

 

[NE Snowman]

Id keep the 100 with how nice you’ve kept up with it! Here’s a giant thread on the current problem you’re having.

Gas tank building excessive pressure & fuel smell. Dangerous for sure! Why does this happen?

DANGEROUS GAS PRESSURE BUILD UP IN GAS TANK! Why? What's going on? How can we fix this? Edited 3/15/25: Since first posting this thread. I've corrected many boiling fuel. By working in this order: Coolant system if first on the list, must be operating as designed. Which radiator fins cleaning...

forum.ih8mud.com