The Millennium Mall Crawler (1 Viewer)

[SNLC]

Wasn't so sure I should do a build thread on this truck, no so sure how much I will build it up. I like build threads though, I like to read them, post them and all that. So here we go....


I am not new to Land Cruisers. I got my first back in 1991 when I was just 17yrs old. I had inherited a little bit of money and the first thing I wanted was a new car, or more to the point a truck. I looked at Jeep Cherokee's and a Range Rover. The Rover was to much cash for me at the time and I almost bought the Cherokee. Then I came across an 87 FJ60 for sale. Back then we only used the local paper or Autotrader to find cars. Well, I found the Cruiser in Autotrader but it was about 50 miles from me at a dealership. I called them and said, I am a cash buyer and highly interested in your Land Cruiser but I have no transportation. So of course they sent a new guy on up to me with the Cruiser. It only had 40,000 miles on it and I bought it on the spot for $14k, way more than half of the money I had at the time. Being a kid I tossed on some mud tires and a super nice stereo and off I went in the Cruiser. That truck was what I experienced my first solo road trips in, I drove it from LA to Seattle more than once. I went camping in it all the time and really enjoyed the Cruiser. A few years later I was poor, out of money working a 9-5 job so I sold the Cruiser.

Years went by and I went without even having a car. About 20yrs ago I moved to Wyoming and a few years later I started my own business. Not long after I wasn't such a poor white kid anymore. I bought a bunch of Nissan Patrols which is another passion of mine although not my 1st 4wd. That title goes to the 60-series above. Any ways, eventually I ended back in a Toyota. I bought a nice clean 2004 Tacoma and over the next few years built the truck up a lot. It had the TRD supercharger, URD 7th injector, Doug Thorely headers, SS Jardine exhaust, Icon lift, bumpers and a bit of an overland build with dual batteries and other goodies. I drove this truck on down to Panama and back twice from Wyoming logging over 25,000 miles on the roads through Latin America.

Eventually I got tired of the Taco, mostly because for me it was uncomfortable. The seats just plain suck in these trucks (to me) and with very limited head room, ya I could have put in a better seat but not changed the seating position much. For me that is what kills the small Toyota trucks, a low seating position, like I am half laying down in the thing. I am not that big of a guy I just like to sit upright with good posture when I drive and no matter what I did I couldn't get there in the Taco. On top of this it was to small, both in the cab and in the bed and lastly just a bit to light duty. I could crack 6,000lbs in this truck loaded up for a trip to Panama! Way over GVW to say the least. It was built for it but in the end it was the uncomfortable and to small that killed it for me.

So I decided I wanted to get back in a Land Cruiser and an old one at that. I ended up with an FJ60 with a ramjet v8 in it and a bunch of other goodies. See my siggy below for more info on that truck.

After a few years with that truck I ended up selling it, not really cause I wanted to but rather because I needed to. Over the next few years I didn't have a truck besides old crummy work trucks, I am a contractor by trade. I had/have other trucks but not something fun and something you want to DD, go on road trips in and all that jazz. Eventually through the grape vine I came across a truck I didn't so much want to own or buy but it was just to good a deal to pass up. I had owned this thing nearly 10yrs before and spent a ton of money on it and then had sold it locally. Well, I come to find out the truck is for sale and I can maybe get it for half what I sold it to the guy for. So I go for it and buy it!

Now of course that is a toy, not something many people would DD or take long distances. But it was a deal I couldn't refuse. I fixed it up over the next 4 months and took it out offroading and camping a few times. Hell of a fun truck!

TBC!

 

[yotasavg]

Well this is already quite the saga... glad you made a build thread!

 

[SNLC]

5 picture limit per post, I am getting to the 100!


So I knew the 6x6 was just a short term truck for me and I knew that when I bought it. So I ended up trading it for a 91 80-series that had a vortec v8 in it along with FZJ80 locked axles. A buddy of mine had bought one of these brand new in 1994 and I was there that day so it was kind of cool to have one of my own after all these years.

Pretty much day 1 and how I got it.

Truck was in great order mechanically. Georg at Valley Hybrids had owned this thing for years and fixed it up a lot. I built it up a lot over the next 1.5yrs and took it on some trips like to KoH and eventually one down to Baja.

And then one sad day the weekend before the 4th this year this happened....

We rolled nearly 2x, everyone was ok but my poor Cruiser! Looked like a beer can you had stomped on.

So I have this really mint 1988 FJ62 body sitting in my yard, pretty much just a body as the rest of it is all gone. The 91 80 chassis is actually just fine. No damage to it at all, I drove it home 80 miles after the roll. So I decide to put the 62 body on the 80 chassis. Now that is a big project and expensive too since I decided I want to upgrade engine and trans. I dispose of all the 80 stuff besides the chassis, basically I cut the body up with a sawzall and tossed it and sold what was good interior wise to a buddy. I drive work trucks for the next 4 months which I really only like to do when it is working time. I was going to tuff it out and drive the old crummies as long as it took me to build the 62/80 Cruiser but I just can't do it! Haha!

So I decided maybe six weeks ago to buy a 100 series.....

 

[SNLC]

So I go on the hunt for a 100, find three locally, a buddy beats me to one that had 137k on it. One is a pile and not worth $4k. I find a few here on Mud, almost bought one or two of those. I was after something specific though and on a tight budget. What I wanted in the 100 was a West or SW truck it's whole life, as low mile as I could find and afford and I didn't want white! If it was a 98 or 99 with the rear locker all the better but I didn't limit myself to that. I wanted interior to not be trashed but what was more important to me was the mileage and zero rust.

I find a few out west that are what I am after but after carfaxing them find out they were originally east coast trucks and the chassis is not stellar like I want. I can't stand rust on the underside of my trucks, it is a fetish if you will. Eventually I find a 2000 that was corporate owned the first ten years in Santa Monica and then Culver City for a few years and eventually Fresno. Super clean carfax on this truck, exactly what I had been looking for. The color was good and the chassis looked exceptional. The truck was in Portland, Oregon so a deal was struck, deposit sent and arrangements made. I flew out last week and picked it up and then drove it 1,500 the round about way home!

Now the seller, kind of the shady car lot type but he was cool and picked me up at the airport. Now not being ignorant to Cruisers, trucks in general or what I was getting myself into I didn't let the shady car lot crap bother me. I know the last owner lost the truck to repossession and I know this dude I am buying it from bought it at auction. Don't care, done this before and I judge the truck not who is selling it.

So anyways, it is a 2000. Has 124.5k on it now. Always a California truck which mattered a lot to me. I have owned it for about 10 days now. It wasn't as clean topside as I had hoped but under it is simply stellar. Truck almost looks brand new on the underside, not a single leak anywhere or spot of rust that I can find. It has been clear coated at some point, I found two clear coat drips and the roof was not done. It definitely sat in sun for some years and then got re-cleared not to long ago. I am pretty experienced with trucks and it really looks like somebody may have painted the leather in a few spots but not all of it. If they did, they did a damn good job of it and the color match is almost perfect. On the steering wheel though you can see some wear but it is not black like I would expect, same for a few places on the seats. They may have even did the steam trick on drivers seat because the wrinkles are just not there. I can tell by the stitching they have not been recovered. The carpet is kind of stained which might clean up or I might do something else. Mechanically the truck seems very solid. I have got the typical 2000 trans woes going around in my head but this thing is pretty solid all around. Overall I am fairly stoked. It is low mile, mechanically sound (so I hope!), zero rust and all in all pretty good shape for 16yrs old.

 

[SNLC]

Not bad even if it has been "re-freshed", you can see in the door jam somebody slammed the door on the seat belt at least once, found that in a few of the door jams and it bummed me out. Oh well, few scratches means I don't have to worry about the ones I am going to put on this truck!

Hard to see in a picture but this is one spot that kind of looks like the leather was painted. Can you see it!?

 

[SNLC]

Best of all on this truck, to me is this....

That is after 10 days of driving on rainy roads and in snow here where I live plus my driveway is gravel and mud.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Now, what are my plans for this Cruiser? Well, I just got it, certainly been thinking about my plans since before I got it. Right now, this is my DD and will serve me going to the auto parts store, grocery store, beer runs and the occasional road trip. Both bays in my shop are taken at the moment, my FJ62 is in one of them but a buddy is finishing up his 87 Hilux 22RE rebuild. Hopefully he is done soon! I have not even had the 100 in the shop yet and would like to get it in there.

I am the 4th owner. Last owner didn't take it to a dealership for maintenance like the previous two. I don't know if the timing belt was done at 90k. So looks like I might have to go for it on that, will look for signs of it being done first. Ya know, will be doing the typical streamlining of the maintenance. Keep an eye on my Millenium trans and all that. Running boards are coming off the day I get it in the shop! Along with 3rd row going up in the attic. I bought some parts from Toyota, most notably a new shifter knob but some other interior bits too. As far as building it up after this....

I got an Engel on a slide I can toss in it. I got a 36" LED bar for it, my buddy just gave me one of those old school tape deck adapters with a plug on it, my iPod works in the 100!! I will own this truck at least the next 4yrs, I financed $7k of it through my bank to ease my wallet pain and to build up credit. I been living debt free since 2008 and my credit score doesn't exist because of it! So hell maybe I should get a few CC and go for it fast on the 100!? Nah, I like taking it slow. I am planning to lift it, 2.5" and the sooner the better. King all around are in my future. Sliders will come after that with rear bumper next. Front bumper likely last for me, want that tire up and out from under the truck. I am already rolling on 31" BFGs with 75-80% so may be keeping them awhile before going 33's but ya doing 33's like the rest of us. Not much else planned, very temping to do a SAS with the really nice 80 rolling chassis sitting here but I think I won't and will keep it simple and just start racking up the miles. Already love the seat heaters and my dog digs it too. I got to work all winter or I would be taking it down to Baja asap, oh well maybe next winter for that.

I will update the thread when the Slee boxes start showing up! J/K, as I do things to it I will post up.

Cheers

 

[bucfl]

Thank you for sharing that story. Really enjoy reading these type of threads. If i ever buy another LC i would like a 62. Something about that style and the seats i like. Always pictured me driving the wife to a nice restaurant in it... just something about the lines and character make it stand out out to me.


EDIT: Pictures dont show in hour threads... i was looking forward to seeing that 62.

 

[SmoothLC]

 

[RND1]

Now that's an intro to the 100 section! Enjoyed your story and pics of past vehicles. Since you live in the snow belt, what will you do to protect that pristine undercarriage?

 

[SNLC]

Now that's an intro to the 100 section! Enjoyed your story and pics of past vehicles. Since you live in the snow belt, what will you do to protect that pristine undercarriage?

They only use 15% salt here, it's called salt sand. The salt is simply used to get the sand penetrated into the ice. So it is not a big stress but a regular wash and perhaps some fluid film or similar. My 80 didn't have any issues here but after 3 weeks camping on the beach in Baja the chassis starting showing rust. So I will have to do something because the 100 is taking me to the beach in Baja for sure.

I didn't mention it yet, I am going to do some Monstaliner on this truck. I had not so great results with the ML on my 80 but since then have done a work truck with it too. Here is the thing about the ML, you can touch it up. It is soft, sands easily and can easily be touched up with a small brush. On my 80 it wanted to chip from hard rock hits, no probs yet on the work truck.

I certainly have ideas rolling around in my head for this truck. Drawers or a sleeping platform in the back for example. The idea though is to keep it simple and keep dumping money into other projects, mostly my 62/80 hybrid. I need new floor mats badly though and I am considering a vinyl floor kit for the truck. The vinyl floor would do wonders for me here in mud season. I had the vinyl floor in my 60 and loved it.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Running boards are off! 3rd row seats are in the attic.

Must be 3lbs of funk in there...

Cheers

 

[ryanCA]

Was recently up in WY from a Los Angeles to Montana road trip, great country you live up there.

I loved your story.

How you got from inheritance, to poor, to rich again.

I, as a doer of LOTS of cross country trips and planning a road trip to Alaska, am curious of your South of the Border trip. I have gone down to Puerto Penasco and Ensenada, but haven't gotten further down.

How is the drive from San Diego down to Panama. That is one of my dream drives, but am not sure safety/places to stay/road conditions.

 

[SNLC]

Was recently up in WY from a Los Angeles to Montana road trip, great country you live up there.

I loved your story.

How you got from inheritance, to poor, to rich again.

Ha! Not sure I am "rich" but I am definitely not a poor young white kid anymore. If I was rich, the Slee boxes would already be showing up and I would have a 6.2L v8 + 6spd trans for my 62/80 build.

I, as a doer of LOTS of cross country trips and planning a road trip to Alaska, am curious of your South of the Border trip. I have gone down to Puerto Penasco and Ensenada, but haven't gotten further down.

How is the drive from San Diego down to Panama. That is one of my dream drives, but am not sure safety/places to stay/road conditions.

It is a fantastic drive, trip of a lifetime. Roads no problem, they are as mild or as wild as you care to find basically. Down the Pan-Am is 2wd Corolla material, off the Pan-Am, things change. I rarely need 4wd though unless I was seeking out dirt. Safety, yes can be an issue. Not a problem for me but I do have lot's of interesting stories. The traffic cops in Mexico and Honduras are bad news, corrupt and out to scam you. Besides that and a few border issues no problems for me. First trip down I took 2 months to get to Panama, camping pretty much the whole way. The second trip I bee-lined it for Panama since I had a house rented there. Got there in 10 days from Wyoming. If you like to surf, going all the way down the west coast of Mexico and CA simply can not be beat. If you don't know how to surf, learning a long the way is incredible. All of Latin America, (for the most part) is friendly, warm and welcoming. I literally had people putting me up in their front or backyards for the night and cooking me dinner. Seemed like locals were always lending a helping hand and looking out for my well being. I been to the hospital in Mexico a couple times and my dog has been to the vet in mexico and Panama. Very good experiences on all those occasions. Little voice always in the back of your head though, reminding you everything you have with you is on the line. Gun in your face, you better just give it all up and walk away. If you are not ready to do that, I suggest not going or going but taking stuff you are willing to lose. Extremely rare for car jacking to take place on travelers but it does happen once in a great while. Probably a much higher chance you will hit a pedestrian, and that will land you in a world of hurt even if they jumped out in front of you. It is kind of intense when you get started on the road down there but you quickly relax, learn the Latin way of doing things and at least for me, my stress level dropped way off after a week or two on the road. Going down the first time was intense though ( lot's of reasons for that which take lot's of stories to explain why), the return trip was pretty mellow and the second trip down and back not much different for me than driving across the USA.

BTW, if I can do that trip someday in the 100, I think I will. Great truck for a trip like this. I am heading down to Baja in the 100 as soon as I can which is probably not until next winter.

Cheers

 

[elk]

I loved reading through your threads on Expo and was sorry to see the 80 go. Welcome to the 100 series section and I'm sure your knowledge will soon be valued here as well.

 

[ryanCA]

Ha! Not sure I am "rich" but I am definitely not a poor young white kid anymore. If I was rich, the Slee boxes would already be showing up and I would have a 6.2L v8 + 6spd trans for my 62/80 build.



It is a fantastic drive, trip of a lifetime. Roads no problem, they are as mild or as wild as you care to find basically. Down the Pan-Am is 2wd Corolla material, off the Pan-Am, things change. I rarely need 4wd though unless I was seeking out dirt. Safety, yes can be an issue. Not a problem for me but I do have lot's of interesting stories. The traffic cops in Mexico and Honduras are bad news, corrupt and out to scam you. Besides that and a few border issues no problems for me. First trip down I took 2 months to get to Panama, camping pretty much the whole way. The second trip I bee-lined it for Panama since I had a house rented there. Got there in 10 days from Wyoming. If you like to surf, going all the way down the west coast of Mexico and CA simply can not be beat. If you don't know how to surf, learning a long the way is incredible. All of Latin America, (for the most part) is friendly, warm and welcoming. I literally had people putting me up in their front or backyards for the night and cooking me dinner. Seemed like locals were always lending a helping hand and looking out for my well being. I been to the hospital in Mexico a couple times and my dog has been to the vet in mexico and Panama. Very good experiences on all those occasions. Little voice always in the back of your head though, reminding you everything you have with you is on the line. Gun in your face, you better just give it all up and walk away. If you are not ready to do that, I suggest not going or going but taking stuff you are willing to lose. Extremely rare for car jacking to take place on travelers but it does happen once in a great while. Probably a much higher chance you will hit a pedestrian, and that will land you in a world of hurt even if they jumped out in front of you. It is kind of intense when you get started on the road down there but you quickly relax, learn the Latin way of doing things and at least for me, my stress level dropped way off after a week or two on the road. Going down the first time was intense though ( lot's of reasons for that which take lot's of stories to explain why), the return trip was pretty mellow and the second trip down and back not much different for me than driving across the USA.

BTW, if I can do that trip someday in the 100, I think I will. Great truck for a trip like this. I am heading down to Baja in the 100 as soon as I can which is probably not until next winter.

Cheers

thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

I wish I had seen your stories before, would have stopped by and grabbed a beer with you while I was in WY in March. Won't be there again next year or so.

I have spent a few years driving in China, Burma, Dhaka, Singapore, and Malaysia. Am very familiar with E/SE Asian culture, and driving there, keeping $$ for bribes, never had any issues.

However, the gun culture in that part of the world is non existent.

We drive down to Puerto Penasco yearly and have gone all over Argentina, Brazil, and all the way down in Baja, but haven't done the southern trips by car.

My next big trip is Los Angeles to Alaska by car (100 series). I would like to start planning my 100 from Los Angeles all the way to Panama and talking to you here is given my some perspective. No issues with a USA license plate roaming down there?

I have a friend from my Lotus Forum, where he shipped his Elise to Los Angeles, drove up to Alaska and back. He is also doing Los Angeles to Patagonia in his Lotus Elise as well.

That is what I live for....

 

[SNLC]

Sounds like you could handle driving down south no probs. I met many people on the road traveling, even one couple from Montana traveling with two huge dogs, a 6 month old baby and their at the time 3yr old daughter. All crammed into a 90's 4-runner the dude bought and fixed up for the trip for $2k! So if they can do it, anybody can!

I actually still have my trip reports up over on ExPo, no pics or videos anymore but the write up is still there. Some even from while on the road. Lot's of blogs out there if you are into reading up on these kinds of trips.

1st trip
The Ultimate Road Trip! - Expedition Portal!

2nd trip
Pan Am Bum Rush! - Expedition Portal!

Few interesting facts....
-from my house to the house I rented in Panama is just under 4,500 miles by the most direct route. It is roughly 2500 miles to the border crossing at Brownsville, Texas from my house. 1,000 miles down the Gulf Coast of Mexico and 1,000 through all of CA down the Pan-Am.
-I can drive from my house to where I stayed in Panama in 9 super long hard days, 10-11 is more relaxed. This by the most direct route.
-It costs me $2500 in the Taco (12-15mpg) to get from my house in Wyoming to Panama by the most direct route, that is all fuel, food, beers, lodging, border crossing and a bribe or two.
-Takes me about 2 days to get to Brownsville, Texas. I can knockdown Mexico in 2 gnarly days if needed and the rest is all CA. Speed limit is slow in CA, all of it.
-The Mex200 down the west coast of Mexico is 1,000 of simply outstanding coast line. It is the Mexico version of HWY1 in California.
-Average border crossing in CA takes 2hrs but they can take 5-6+hrs. Average cost to cross is $50 or less but it has cost me $200+ with corrupt arseholes.
-The most direct and fastest route across Mexico is down the Gulf Coast. All the way down the coast to past Veracruz, then across Chiapas and into Guatemala.
-Best mods I did to the truck for these trips; Tundra brake upgrade, supercharger, aux fuel tank giving me a 500 mile range, Engel fridge (I like my cold beers), front and rear bumpers and suspension.
-Only Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama require insurance on your truck.

Cheers

 

[ryanCA]

Thank you. I will go read your portals now.

When we drove from Los Angeles to Ensenada it was a gorgeous drive on the Pacific.

When I drive to Puerto Penasco, I go Los Angeles to Phoenix, and then straight down by OJO

HOWEVER, Last year I crossed through Calexico and decided to drive across Mexico to Sonoyota then DOWN to Puerto penaso. It was horrible experience. Pulled over TWICE for literal "speeding" and asked for money, it was a full on shakedown.

 

[SS100]

 

[SNLC]

Ya hear it all the time....a 100-series will grow on you. Damn, that is true. Loving this thing!

With the running boards off it doesn't look like a Subaru or something similar anymore. I got to say too, loving the fact that I went for a rust free chassis. So easy to take the bolts out for the running boards. If this will be the norm on my truck, which I am sure it will, I am super stoked. Nothing like breaking a bolt free with the socket and then removing it with your fingers, on a 16yr old truck!

I have kind of settled on my list of mods and order of them although the following is probably not the order things will happen.

-fix little things bugging me, need a few switches and perhaps a few relays. Mounting screw for my rear view mirror are stripped, got it temp fixed but it won't last long. Replacing my windsheild washer nozzles, tried to clean them but it didn't work. Got a handful of things like this to do.
-Seat covers, want to protect my leather. May spend some money for some good ones, I always seem to wear out cheap ones fast.
-Wheelskin for the steering wheel. I want to protect it too.
-lift; not doing t-bars right off the bat. Will do springs in the rear, crank the t-bars and go from there. Must have Kings all around and TC upper arms. That is super expensive so no idea when it will happen. Next spring/summer likely.
-found a leak on my t-case, looks to be coming from the top, shifter perhaps. My Taco had a leak here, not to big of a deal to fix.
-LED interior lighting.
-Monstaliner. Doing rockers, grill and hood likely in plain black.
-Sliders, may build my own.
-Doug Thorley headers. Maybe cat back too.
-Rear bumper, no real plans atm.
-National Luna battery kit, already got this.
-x2 Odyssey batteries, already got them. A 1200 and a 1700. In the past I have put the 2nd in the back, think this time I will keep both in the engine bay.
-mount up my Engel 45L fridge on a slide.
-front bumper and lastly winch.
-perhaps skid plates, noticed the other night the stock ones are plastic. Let out a nice loud, oh that is lame when I saw them.
-RLCA, I have some real nice 7075 2" links and a tap to modify them. Even got the JJ's already.
-F&R lockers. Front obviously ARB but may swap in a 98-99 rear axle for the back.
-At some point, new tires. Probably going to run stock wheels but will paint or powder coat them.


I discovered the other night my windshield is original. Impressive to me since where I live we go through windshields every 2-4yrs. One tiny little chip in this original windshield, think I will get it repaired and make this glass last as long as possible. I got an ARB awning already but it got damaged in the 80 rollover, not sure if it is damaged beyond use yet. I also got a Roadshower, going to see about mounting both of these to the stock roof rack. If a no-go, I will do Thule bars. Also important that my surf boards fit/work up top.

Cheers