Land Cruiser ownership started for me in June of this year when I was in an accident totaling a truck I had purchased just 5 days prior. Insurance delays meant I would be footing the bill for a replacement vehicle so when I passed by a 1998 LC in blue mica one day driving to work, I thought...why not see if I can put in a cash offer and maybe this “old thing” will last long enough for my insurance claim to be processed. I had always been intrigued by LC’s but never was motivated to purchase a 15+ year old vehicle prior to this. When I met the person selling the truck, he reminded me of a sopranos cast member and while I thought he was being slick during the deal, everything checked out and the truck handled and ran surprising well, so it was game on. A VIN check showed it wasn’t reported stolen. Car fax showed a prior accident and I could see the truck had been repainted on one side but all VIN numbers on body panels and frame matched...and again, this was supposed to be a temporary vehicle so it wasn’t a deal breaker. No noises during the test drive from drivetrain, engine, or suspension and virtually everything worked with the exception of one door lock actuator. So I put in a lowish bid and it was a deal.
Fast forward a few months, and after finding this forum and having driven 10k miles without a hiccup, my temporary LC has become a beloved daily driver. I’ve taken it on a few 1000 mile road trips and it’s comfortable and reliable. I must say, I’ve never done repair work outside of exactly 2 jobs... changing brakes and a shock on previously owned BMW and Volvo vehicles respectively, but with the amazing how-to’s here I can see myself getting into more involved repairs. There is something very satisfying about knowing your own vehicle well enough to anticipate repairs and actually set eyes on critical parts so you develop confidence in its running capabilities. I just have to get through the phase of fix one part, break 2 more...but I will chalk that up to the learning curve. Also, it’s confidence inspiring to know there is an owner base like this forum to bounce ideas and thoughts off. I’ve met a bunch of you in person and everyone has been super nice and supportive despite my lack of knowledge and experience rock crawling, wrenching, etc. This forum and its members definitely add value to owning an LC and create a sense of “its possible” no matter the issue.
Now for the reason to this post, my LC has 165k miles mostly in New England and I know I’m going to need some maintenance soon. There was no repair history on it when purchased. Additionally, while the truck drives fine, there are things I’m noticing that I want to repair before they become bigger issues and I wanted the forums collective knowledge to help me prioritize and maybe group together repairs since I’m not in the position to simply drop a few grand on all the repairs I’d like to do at once. Also, I’m on the fence about which repairs are worthwhile to do myself vs which I should sent the truck to a shop to do. I have minimal knowledge and although I have a garage to work in, and a decent assortment of hand tools, time is at a premium so I’m most likely only able to dedicate one weekend a month to repairing this truck.
So to give some context, these are the items I’ve already repaired, and it’s labeled shop if I didn’t actually do the repair myself:
Oil changes every 4K miles w conventional oil (shop)
Front and rear differential fluid change w mobile1 75-90w
Transfer case fluid change 75-90w
Brake fluid flush and fill (shop)
PCV and grommet change
2 denso coils installed to repair misfire
2 door lock actuators repaired, driver door lock mechanism changed
Windshield replaced to repair crack and water leak (shop)
Horns replaced w PIAA supertones
Battery replaced w Duralast gold
Key lock cylinder replaced (Toyota)
Falken wildpeak 265 75 16 At3w (p metric - shop)
Driver, passenger, and center console leather replaced w lseats (shop)
Head unit changed w apple CarPlay pioneer unit (shop)
Door speakers changed to jvc and pioneer
Dash wood trim removed and replaced with new rosewood trim
Steering wheel leather re-wrapped
Heater T’s replaced
Front brake pads and rotors (shop)
SRS light fixed w replacing passenger seat belt (shop)
Headlight upgrade to ZXE
PFran led kit and backup lights
Fog light housing replacement
Center cap install
Driver side end link
MAF sensor
Oxy sensor bank 2 sensor 1 (shop)
Air filter
4 wheel alignment and balancing (shop)
Now for the upcoming repairs:
Front Sway bar frame mount broke off (passenger side) - needs welding
Rear sway bar bushing replacement
Any and all other bushings that may make sense to replace
Timing belt / water pump / tensioner- no history of replacement
Serpentine belt and squeaking from tensioner or pulley bearing
Hood struts
Steering rack bushings - little wandering at highway speed
E brake frozen/rusted @ rear wheels - inoperable
Brake actuator is noisy...being psyched out by reports of total brake failure
Thermostat housing leak - fix during TB job
Frame rust - scrape the treat and POR15
Muffler rust/manifold leak. Not sure if there’s a leak but there’s a little putting noise at idle
CV’s leaking grease at outer boot. No rips...slight resistance when turning. No clicks yet...want to repair if possible without CV rebuild
Shock replacement - rides fine but notice scalloping on new tires so suspension is suspect to me
Unknown source of vibration at 70-80 mph...smooth up to that
I’m wondering if those who do a lot of restoration or maintenance would chime in on helping me prioritize the outstanding repairs, and perhaps let me know of any other critical parts I should be looking at. I’d like to spend about $750 in January and do as much as possible myself. Then another $500-750 in March. How much of my list do you all think I can get to considering this budget? Also, out of the work outlined which should definitely go to the shop? Which repairs could presumably wait until total failure vs hose that are better dealt with before failure?
I’ll follow up post with pics as needed.
Fast forward a few months, and after finding this forum and having driven 10k miles without a hiccup, my temporary LC has become a beloved daily driver. I’ve taken it on a few 1000 mile road trips and it’s comfortable and reliable. I must say, I’ve never done repair work outside of exactly 2 jobs... changing brakes and a shock on previously owned BMW and Volvo vehicles respectively, but with the amazing how-to’s here I can see myself getting into more involved repairs. There is something very satisfying about knowing your own vehicle well enough to anticipate repairs and actually set eyes on critical parts so you develop confidence in its running capabilities. I just have to get through the phase of fix one part, break 2 more...but I will chalk that up to the learning curve. Also, it’s confidence inspiring to know there is an owner base like this forum to bounce ideas and thoughts off. I’ve met a bunch of you in person and everyone has been super nice and supportive despite my lack of knowledge and experience rock crawling, wrenching, etc. This forum and its members definitely add value to owning an LC and create a sense of “its possible” no matter the issue.
Now for the reason to this post, my LC has 165k miles mostly in New England and I know I’m going to need some maintenance soon. There was no repair history on it when purchased. Additionally, while the truck drives fine, there are things I’m noticing that I want to repair before they become bigger issues and I wanted the forums collective knowledge to help me prioritize and maybe group together repairs since I’m not in the position to simply drop a few grand on all the repairs I’d like to do at once. Also, I’m on the fence about which repairs are worthwhile to do myself vs which I should sent the truck to a shop to do. I have minimal knowledge and although I have a garage to work in, and a decent assortment of hand tools, time is at a premium so I’m most likely only able to dedicate one weekend a month to repairing this truck.
So to give some context, these are the items I’ve already repaired, and it’s labeled shop if I didn’t actually do the repair myself:
Oil changes every 4K miles w conventional oil (shop)
Front and rear differential fluid change w mobile1 75-90w
Transfer case fluid change 75-90w
Brake fluid flush and fill (shop)
PCV and grommet change
2 denso coils installed to repair misfire
2 door lock actuators repaired, driver door lock mechanism changed
Windshield replaced to repair crack and water leak (shop)
Horns replaced w PIAA supertones
Battery replaced w Duralast gold
Key lock cylinder replaced (Toyota)
Falken wildpeak 265 75 16 At3w (p metric - shop)
Driver, passenger, and center console leather replaced w lseats (shop)
Head unit changed w apple CarPlay pioneer unit (shop)
Door speakers changed to jvc and pioneer
Dash wood trim removed and replaced with new rosewood trim
Steering wheel leather re-wrapped
Heater T’s replaced
Front brake pads and rotors (shop)
SRS light fixed w replacing passenger seat belt (shop)
Headlight upgrade to ZXE
PFran led kit and backup lights
Fog light housing replacement
Center cap install
Driver side end link
MAF sensor
Oxy sensor bank 2 sensor 1 (shop)
Air filter
4 wheel alignment and balancing (shop)
Now for the upcoming repairs:
Front Sway bar frame mount broke off (passenger side) - needs welding
Rear sway bar bushing replacement
Any and all other bushings that may make sense to replace
Timing belt / water pump / tensioner- no history of replacement
Serpentine belt and squeaking from tensioner or pulley bearing
Hood struts
Steering rack bushings - little wandering at highway speed
E brake frozen/rusted @ rear wheels - inoperable
Brake actuator is noisy...being psyched out by reports of total brake failure
Thermostat housing leak - fix during TB job
Frame rust - scrape the treat and POR15
Muffler rust/manifold leak. Not sure if there’s a leak but there’s a little putting noise at idle
CV’s leaking grease at outer boot. No rips...slight resistance when turning. No clicks yet...want to repair if possible without CV rebuild
Shock replacement - rides fine but notice scalloping on new tires so suspension is suspect to me
Unknown source of vibration at 70-80 mph...smooth up to that
I’m wondering if those who do a lot of restoration or maintenance would chime in on helping me prioritize the outstanding repairs, and perhaps let me know of any other critical parts I should be looking at. I’d like to spend about $750 in January and do as much as possible myself. Then another $500-750 in March. How much of my list do you all think I can get to considering this budget? Also, out of the work outlined which should definitely go to the shop? Which repairs could presumably wait until total failure vs hose that are better dealt with before failure?
I’ll follow up post with pics as needed.
