Builds Starclassic's 1999 Land Cruiser Build Thread "Bear"

[starclassic]

I purchased my first 100 series on 7/12/18 from a forum member. After a couple years modding a 1997 4Runner and getting my feet wet with wheeling and modding (nothing major here in Chicagoland), we needed a new family vehicle and decided to sell the runner and look for a UZJ100. I'd been lurking on MUD well before I sold the runner, and after what felt like a long time but was only a number of weeks, we pulled the trigger.

The plan is to build this rig gradually into a comfortable, versatile overlander (not that it isn't capable enough stock, but where's the fun in that?). We live in the western suburbs of Chicago and hope to relocate to Colorado within the next several years. Until that time it will see some constant tinkering, gradual modification, and if all goes as planned, 2-3 road trips per year (Silverton, Moab, Escalante, Yellowstone/Tetons, Glacier National, etc.). We're especially looking forward to next year's 100s in the Hills!

Rig features as of May 2020:

• Black on black (all trim painted to match body) 1999 Land Cruiser
• 187k+ miles
• Factory rear locker
• Slee 2.5" medium lift incl. SPC UCAs
• 17" TRD Rock Warrior wheels
• 285/75/R17 Toyo Open Country A/T IIs
• OEM chrome badges
• Metal Tech sliders
• K&N cold air intake
• Kenwood DDS6704S
• WeatherTech 3D liners

Planned/hoped-for upgrades:

• Slee Blueberry front bumper
• Slee rear bumper
• Roof rack
• Roof top tent
• Hi-Lift jack
• Front seat covers
• Upgrade factory speakers
• Stealth Custom F5 wheels w/ 295/75/16 KO2s

January 2018:

My previous vehicle: 1997 4Runner "Jake" (New Mexico clean, Lavender Steel Metallic, 235k miles, 3" Toytec/OME lift, Tacoma flares, Rocky Mtn sliders, 16" ProComp/Duratrac 33s, 99+ headlights/center console, Pioneer h/u w/ JBL stereo upgrade and backup camera, JDM field monitor, exterior/interior LEDs, unlocked):

Many thanks to my pal @sorich for getting me a preliminary taste of the 100 series and helping me search for mine. Check out his '98 LX470 build thread here.

 

[Leandro]

@starclassic, welcome to the 100's
I see you're in Aurora, we are practically neighbors.
If you ever need help with mods or just get together for a beer, just let me know.

 

[starclassic]

@starclassic, welcome to the 100's
I see you're in Aurora, we are practically neighbors.
If you ever need help with mods or just get together for a beer, just let me know.

Aww yes! What's up man, that sounds awesome. I keep seeing poorly cared-for 100s driving around, very glad to meet a neighbor. Mods/beers sound perfect. Maybe before the summer is over!

 

[roemer7]

Another IL resident here. Welcome! Ill be following your progress.
I wish there were more of us. The only other 100 in my area belongs to a real estate agent and she has no idea what she has.

 

[lt1fire]

Something to always consider on a 98-99 is the weak front diff.

First thing I did to mine was buy a locker to upgrade the carrier.

 

[geanes]

Agreed that a locker on the front would be good on 98/99 LX/LCs. However, my '98 LX is unlocked and I've been over every pass in the San Juans (Engineer, Imogene, etc.), the Central Range (Mosquito, Georgia, Webster, Red Cone, etc) and all over Big Bend and South Padre National Seashore without incident. I think the "weak" front diff is a little overblown (kind of like the '00 models having bad transmissions). You can certainly tank it if you are aggressive and let the front wheels spin like crazy while going over obstacles. But, if you left foot brake and learn to work the vehicle smoothly, you should be fine. Having said that, I WILL eventually put a locker on the front and rear (98 LX has an LSD rear) for added security. I figure I'll do that in conjunction with a possible 4.88 re-gear so I can consolidate budget and install effort.

 

[ILcruiser]

I also have the "pleasure" of living in Illinois if anyone decides to get together let me know. I may be hitting up @Leandro to show me how to cap off my rear A/C lines (beer provided of course).

 

[CBeckFJ]

Congrats on the purchase! nice that you got it from another mudder too. Currently on the hunt for a 98-99 right now, and my buddys one the hunt for a 3rd gen 4runner. Cant wait to see where this goes!

 

[sorich]

Having said that, I WILL eventually put a locker on the front and rear (98 LX has an LSD rear) for added security. I figure I'll do that in conjunction with a possible 4.88 re-gear so I can consolidate budget and install effort.

That's my plan as well on my '98 LX, @geanes.

Looking forward to seeing/helping with your build, @starclassic!

 

[Leandro]

I also have the "pleasure" of living in Illinois if anyone decides to get together let me know. I may be hitting up @Leandro to show me how to cap off my rear A/C lines (beer provided of course).

No problem, just let me know.
We should do a HIP (hundreds in the plains) since there's not much to do in IL will be mostly drinking beer.

 

[starclassic]

No problem, just let me know.
We should do a HIP (hundreds in the plains) since there's not much to do in IL will be mostly drinking beer.

Haha! There’s an idea

 

[ILcruiser]

@Leandro Thanks for the offer, i'm sure i will hit you up sooner or later. And as far as it being mostly drinking beer, i'm good with that too.

 

[starclassic]

May 2020: Bumper swap, Metal Tech sliders, and replacing a hard brake line

Okay, it's way past time for some updates on my build. We're on the verge of welcoming our 4th child, and I've been trying to get a bunch of projects done on the Land Cruiser before the little guy (son #3) arrives. Here are some of the highlights from 3 major changes:

1. Front bumper swapped: I sold my ARB winch mount bull bar to a friend, and put his stock bumper on my rig (painted to match OEM black)
2. Rock sliders added: Ordered raw sliders on discount from Metal Tech 4x4; scrubbed, primed, painted, installed myself
3. Brake line replaced: The hard brake line feeding the rear left caliper sprung a leak at one of the plastic frame clips; got an OEM pre-bent replacement line and installed it myself

It was all very instructive and I learned a lot. Hope my experiences can help someone else out down the road!

 

[starclassic]

ARB Bull Bar w/ Winch Mount (#3413050) swapped from '99 LC to '98 LC

So I wanted to shed some weight, going back to the stock look (which I love) for a spell. I'd like to have a more streamlined front end, thinking it'll be a Slee Blueberry for me sometime down the road. But for now, time to go back to stock. I drove over to my friend's place and we spent the morning removing the ARB from the front of my '99 and putting it on his '98. I took his stock (tan) bumper, and painted it to match my rig (OEM black #202).

The morning of the bumper swap—ARB still on my rig

Getting ready to start the swap—'99 LC on left, '98 LC on right

Bull bar portion of the ARB removed. 8 bolts total.

A closer look at the bumper mount, which bolts on to the frame. No cutting involved in this specific ARB bull bar—the '98-02 model years do not require the frame brackets to be cut. Winch mount clearly pictured.

All done! It took us some finagling but we managed. It was very straightforward and we didn't have any setbacks. Took about 3 hours, which included wiring the parking lights for the receiving '98.

The white '98 was my buddy's second 100, actually. Had to take a money shot: 2004 LC, 1998 LC, 1999 LC!

I headed home, took the bumper cover off, and wet sanded it with 600 grit. Cleaned it up as best as I could and then primed it. Really happy with the SEM High-Build Primer Black that I got from Eastwood.com. It's meant for flexible materials like bumper cover plastic. Went on great. I got about 4 coats of primer on with 2 cans.

Then applied the SEM Factory Pack base coat. #19423 is color matched to OEM Toyota Black #202. Really happy with the results again. I got about 5 coats out of 3 cans.

Finished with 2 cans/4 coats worth of the SprayMax 2k clear satin topcoat.

For rattle can, I am very happy with the results. Here's the finished product. Also, my DD, an '07 Acura TL 3.2.

All in a day's work!

 

[starclassic]

Metal Tech 4x4 raw sliders prepped, primed, painted, installed

Took advantage of the sale Metal Tech was having on their raw sliders. Finally got the side steps off the rig. I didn't want to powder coat them b/c I wanted to be able to easily and cheaply touch them up when they get gnarly. Hence the rattle can approach. I went with Eastwood Self-Etching Primer and Rustoleum Automotive Enamel. Easy peasy.

Time to scrub. Used a cheap laundry powder from Amazon, similar to Oxyclean. Red scotch brite bads. And gloves. Because I didn't want my skin to peel off...

Pick a hot sunny day so the sliders will dry quick in the sun after you've scrubbed them.

EL. BOW. GREASE. I spent 3 hours scrubbing. I hate rust. Hate. It. These sliders go SO clean.

Cleaned/scrubbed slider vs dirty slider (how they shipped)

Time to get spraying. You want a self-etching primer that will etch into that nice clean steel and prevent rust! The Eastwood stuff is top notch for this.

The only beef I have with Metal Tech is the quality of the beads. I was expecting higher quality. On each of the sliders, the bead on one of the feet/brackets was not air tight. So, water got in there during prep, and was bubbling out afterward. I had to spend a bunch of extra time with a heat gun to get the water out (I hoped). Even so, more water seeped back out after I'd primed (see below) so I had to go back and clean those areas up again and prime them.

Painted them a few days later with the Rustoleum Automotive Enamel, black semi-gloss. And finally got them installed!

I'm super happy with the look now. Will stick with this for a while. The rig will be driving around my family of 6! Dad, mom, 9 year old, 6 year old, 5 year old, and infant!

 

[starclassic]

Replace leaking hard brake line 47322-60730

I've got a '99 Land Cruiser with 187k miles in the rust belt. When I was installing the Metal Tech slider (see previous post) on the driver's side, I had to ever-so-slightly move the hard brake line that is clipped on the inside of the frame in order to get the U-bolts snug against the frame. These hard brake lines are held in place by plastic retaining clips at various spots along the frame. These clips trap moisture over time, corroding the brake line to the point of failure.

In my case, it was a clip downstream from where I was working. I was being SO careful but ... brake line sprung a leak

What to do? My wife is days away from going into labor—we need this rig on the road! I decided to save the money and swap the line myself. Thee steps seemed simple enough—disconnect this ~7ft long brake line at either end, snake a new line in and connect it, then bleed the system. It ended up taking me a day, but I got it done.

Here's the old line. You can see the leak at the clip downstream from where the new U-bolt is, up and right across from the tank. I never actually touched that clip at all when I was installing the slider. But that's where it started leaking.

I first removed the spare in order to get at the rear fitting.

This hard line connects to a flexible hose above the rear axle, which feeds the left rear caliper. Fitting is a 10mm, which I cracked easily (thankfully, it was not too rusted) after everything had soaked in PB Blaster for a few hours.

Next up was disconnecting the line at the front of the vehicle. This was much, much more difficult. Same 10mm fitting. I didn't want to jack up the rig and take off the front left wheel, so I worked at it from under the car. The line feeds into what Toyota calls a "brake line way", in this case a very rusted L bracket with two female fittings. Actually as you can see, it's two L fittings welded to a single bracket and bolted to the frame. In my case, the whole thing was super rusted. I hit it with tons of PB Blaster over the course of a few hours and hope for the best. The line coming horizontal at bottom left is what I had to disconnect.

Just in case, I'd purchased a new junction as well. Part number 47392-60040. Local dealership had it in less than 24 hours for $31.

Getting the old line detached from this old rusted fitting was the hardest part of this job. There was very little room to work with. The fitting was rounding off with my 10mm wrench, so I switched to vice grips. I just didn't have enough space to get it to turn. So, I cut the old line off right at the fitting. Then I could get a 10mm socket on, and finally I got it to turn! It was leaking fluid by then, obviously, but it was leaking slowly. So I left the old threaded fitting loose inside the L and set about running the new line—OEM part number 47322-60730. Comes pre-bent. Unfortunately I thought I got a photo of it, but didn't.

I "snaked" the new line through from behind the vehicle, taking my time and very gingerly coaxing it along past the tank, along the frame, and toward the front of the vehicle. This took time. But I got it through. I connected the fittings and tightened everything up!

New line, new fitting now connected to the old corroded brake way.

Same at the rear

I bought 4 bottles of OEM DOT3 brake fluid (00475-1BF03) and bled the system, starting with the furthest (RR, RL, FR, FL) sequence. Bled great. No leaks! Test drove, had a mechanic friend come over to check it over ... GOOD TO GO!

Whew.

 

[KBDave]

Looks really nice, man. I like the stock bumper better than the ARB.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Hey neighbor!
You are a lot more thorough than I am. I spliced a new section on to the old line when it leaked. I have been meaning to go back in there replace the lines one day.

 

[cmw]

Thanks for the overview of prepping the sliders - some of those welds are not very impressive.

Will definitely keep that in mind.

 

[J.Wayne]

Replace leaking hard brake line 47322-60730

I've got a '99 Land Cruiser with 187k miles in the rust belt. When I was installing the Metal Tech slider (see previous post) on the driver's side, I had to ever-so-slightly move the hard brake line that is clipped on the inside of the frame in order to get the U-bolts snug against the frame. These hard brake lines are held in place by plastic retaining clips at various spots along the frame. These clips trap moisture over time, corroding the brake line to the point of failure.

In my case, it was a clip downstream from where I was working. I was being SO careful but ... brake line sprung a leak

What to do? My wife is days away from going into labor—we need this rig on the road! I decided to save the money and swap the line myself. Thee steps seemed simple enough—disconnect this ~7ft long brake line at either end, snake a new line in and connect it, then bleed the system. It ended up taking me a day, but I got it done.

Here's the old line. You can see the leak at the clip downstream from where the new U-bolt is, up and right across from the tank. I never actually touched that clip at all when I was installing the slider. But that's where it started leaking.

I first removed the spare in order to get at the rear fitting.

This hard line connects to a flexible hose above the rear axle, which feeds the left rear caliper. Fitting is a 10mm, which I cracked easily (thankfully, it was not too rusted) after everything had soaked in PB Blaster for a few hours.

Next up was disconnecting the line at the front of the vehicle. This was much, much more difficult. Same 10mm fitting. I didn't want to jack up the rig and take off the front left wheel, so I worked at it from under the car. The line feeds into what Toyota calls a "brake line way", in this case a very rusted L bracket with two female fittings. Actually as you can see, it's two L fittings welded to a single bracket and bolted to the frame. In my case, the whole thing was super rusted. I hit it with tons of PB Blaster over the course of a few hours and hope for the best. The line coming horizontal at bottom left is what I had to disconnect.

Just in case, I'd purchased a new junction as well. Part number 47392-60040. Local dealership had it in less than 24 hours for $31.

Getting the old line detached from this old rusted fitting was the hardest part of this job. There was very little room to work with. The fitting was rounding off with my 10mm wrench, so I switched to vice grips. I just didn't have enough space to get it to turn. So, I cut the old line off right at the fitting. Then I could get a 10mm socket on, and finally I got it to turn! It was leaking fluid by then, obviously, but it was leaking slowly. So I left the old threaded fitting loose inside the L and set about running the new line—OEM part number 47322-60730. Comes pre-bent. Unfortunately I thought I got a photo of it, but didn't.

I "snaked" the new line through from behind the vehicle, taking my time and very gingerly coaxing it along past the tank, along the frame, and toward the front of the vehicle. This took time. But I got it through. I connected the fittings and tightened everything up!

New line, new fitting now connected to the old corroded brake way.

Same at the rear

I bought 4 bottles of OEM DOT3 brake fluid (00475-1BF03) and bled the system, starting with the furthest (RR, RL, FR, FL) sequence. Bled great. No leaks! Test drove, had a mechanic friend come over to check it over ... GOOD TO GO!

Whew.

If it makes you feel better, when the PO installed the metal tech sliders on my truck-- he couldn't be bothered to move the hard line and proceeded to clamp it to the frame with the u-bolts..... . This was nice surprise when I removed the sliders to clearance and powder coat.