Greetings! I've been slowly working on my LX450 over the last three years or so. I have only within the last six months or so gotten serious about off-road oriented mods so I havent bothered to make a build thread. Time to fix that....
I started my Toyota sickness with a 2010 TT FJ Cruiser. Loved it but it just wasnt what i was looking for.
I went back in time a little bit and ended up with an 83' SR5 Longbed pickup. I spent a great deal of time working on it and gaining an appreciation for the platform. But at 6'2 it was a bit on the small side for me and with a family on the horizon i started looking at something bigger. The 4runner is cool and all but not much larger than the FJC so i began looking at the Land Cruiser platform.
I settled on the 80 and went about finding a healthy specimen. At the time i was living in Texas and after a brief search found my unlocked 1997 LX450. It was in pretty decent shape and mostly stock with the exception of an OME lift. It had been reasonably well maintained at 177k when i picked it up.
Before long i began baselining and removed the flares.
During baseline i accomplished the following:
Axle rebuild front/rear
Brakes
Cooling system: Radiator, new hoses, flush heater core, new heater control valve, flush
All new vaccum lines
Head gasket
Alternator
Idler pulleys
Rebuilt power steering pump
CX Racing Headers
Sealed front windshield (some heathen installed it completely DRY! No seal whatsoever....)
New drivers window run
Re-located axle breathers
There are probably some more things but i cant recall. I will say that altogether i spend close to $4k to get everything done. Not cheap by any means but i feel confident that i have addressed all the major issues.
I recently completed a monstaliner job in the Desert Sand color. This was the color that most closely matched the factory beige metallic color and matches the interior fairly well.
About the same time i installed a set of White Knuckle Sliders and a trail-gear bumper (my factory bumper got mashed on a trail) and a snorkel.
This is how she sits today:
So that brings me to the present day and where i will begin listing out what is coming for the future! I cant say enough about this community and how helpful you have all been along the way.
Currently i have a set of 37x12.5r16 TrXus Radial MTs inbound. To go along with those i will be putting in 5.29's and Harrop e-lockers front/rear. I know there will be some trimming/fitment/changes in my future to work with my lift so i plan on tapping into the knowledge here to make sure i get things right.
(If someone knows how to put the build banner on this thread help me out!)
More to follow later!
I started my Toyota sickness with a 2010 TT FJ Cruiser. Loved it but it just wasnt what i was looking for.
I went back in time a little bit and ended up with an 83' SR5 Longbed pickup. I spent a great deal of time working on it and gaining an appreciation for the platform. But at 6'2 it was a bit on the small side for me and with a family on the horizon i started looking at something bigger. The 4runner is cool and all but not much larger than the FJC so i began looking at the Land Cruiser platform.
I settled on the 80 and went about finding a healthy specimen. At the time i was living in Texas and after a brief search found my unlocked 1997 LX450. It was in pretty decent shape and mostly stock with the exception of an OME lift. It had been reasonably well maintained at 177k when i picked it up.
Before long i began baselining and removed the flares.
During baseline i accomplished the following:
Axle rebuild front/rear
Brakes
Cooling system: Radiator, new hoses, flush heater core, new heater control valve, flush
All new vaccum lines
Head gasket
Alternator
Idler pulleys
Rebuilt power steering pump
CX Racing Headers
Sealed front windshield (some heathen installed it completely DRY! No seal whatsoever....)
New drivers window run
Re-located axle breathers
There are probably some more things but i cant recall. I will say that altogether i spend close to $4k to get everything done. Not cheap by any means but i feel confident that i have addressed all the major issues.
I recently completed a monstaliner job in the Desert Sand color. This was the color that most closely matched the factory beige metallic color and matches the interior fairly well.
About the same time i installed a set of White Knuckle Sliders and a trail-gear bumper (my factory bumper got mashed on a trail) and a snorkel.
This is how she sits today:
So that brings me to the present day and where i will begin listing out what is coming for the future! I cant say enough about this community and how helpful you have all been along the way.
Currently i have a set of 37x12.5r16 TrXus Radial MTs inbound. To go along with those i will be putting in 5.29's and Harrop e-lockers front/rear. I know there will be some trimming/fitment/changes in my future to work with my lift so i plan on tapping into the knowledge here to make sure i get things right.
(If someone knows how to put the build banner on this thread help me out!)
More to follow later!