paulbgardner
SILVER Star
I apologize in advance for the wordiness of the beginning of this thread. I had started writing some text describing my foray into the world of Land Cruisers for a personal Cruiser blog but never got around to it to starting it up. I figured my story might be helpful to anyone else thinking about Land Cruisers. Reading this forum is what got me hooked and I appreciated all the detailed descriptions of what, when, how, where, why for all variety of topics. So...Here it goes.
Background:
My very first vehicle was a 1995 Jeep Cherokee with 50,000, bought in 1998 or 1999. This truck took me all through high school and most of college but it was only a 2x4. After adding an additional 100,000 miles to the truck and running the Cherokee into the ground, in 2005 I bought another jeep; this time a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 with 80,000 miles. The Jeep Grand Cherokee brought me into the wonderful world of off road driving. The inaugural off road trip in the Grand Cherokee was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where I was able to drive out on the beach in some pretty soft sand. Since then the Grand Cherokee has taken me on trips through Death Valley, Moab, The Sierra Nevada Mountains, The Inyo Mountains, across the country twice, and up and down the California coast more times than I can count. With all that fun the fact that I owned a jeep couldn’t escape me. All the good times were offset by having to put in a new transmission, rear differential, transfer case, gaskets on everything in the engine, water pump, power steering pump, front drive shaft, and a tie rod. I bought the car with 80,000 miles on it and finally sold it in 2010 with around 190,000 miles on it. I had originally wanted to throw a bunch of money and overhaul the entire jeep into a custom expedition vehicle but with a new baby boy on the way I was in need of a new, more reliable and safer truck.
Car Shopping:
So with the Jeep gone forever the search was on for a new truck. The doors were wide open to any kind of truck. The only requirement was that it be 4x4. Right off the starting line my choices were pretty clear: Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota 4Runner, Land Rover LR3 or Nissan Xterra. Before getting rid of my last Jeep I had fantasized about getting a newer Grand Cherokee but after a lot of research, reading forums and reminding myself of the headaches that come along with owning a Jeep I nixed the idea of ever owning a Jeep again. As much as I had with both of mine they were too much of a maintenance headache.
LR3 was way too expensive and way too much maintenance.
This left only two options in my mind; the Toyota 4runner and Nissan Xterra. I will start off with my thoughts on the 4Runner. I have never been a big fan of the way the 4runner looked. I knew that it has great off road performance but I also wanted a car that looked great. I would go back and forth on this truck. From time to time I would see one that was lifted and outfitted for serious off road driving and would ogle over it. The only other problem with the 4Runner was the cost. Even a used late model 4Runner was out of my price range. So with price being the killer the 4Runner was off my list.
The Nissan Xterra was the only truck left on my list. I was actually in love with the Xterra from the get go. It had the looks, the braun and the right price tag. I was a little hesitant at first because I had always wondered if the Xterra could live up to all its rugged off road hype or was I just being suckered in by fancy marketing geared towards active folks like myself. After joining a few Xterra forums online, watching YouTube videos of trucks at play and researching modifications other people had made to their trucks it was clear that the Xterra, with a little modifications could walk the walk and talk the talk. There was no doubt in my mind that the truck could provide me with everything I was looking for in an expedition vehicle. Now the search was on for the perfect Nissan Xterra. I narrowed down the search to 2007 and newer. 2005 was the year the body style was changed to the current look but I wanted to stay away from the first two years of a new body style. There were no lack of Xterra’s available used but it was certainly hard to find one that was 4x4. For every dozen that were listed maybe one would be 4x4. My wife and I test drove a few of them and liked the truck but we were not in the position yet to afford a new truck so we just kept looking and waiting. I can very close on a few occasions to buying an xterra but I am very thankful that I didn’t.
The Conversation:
My wife’s good friend was talking to her one day about the car buying decisions that she and her husband were thinking about. Kate’s husband Robby was potentially going to get a really good deal on a Toyota Land Cruiser. Somehow that sparked Lindsay’s imagination and she came to me one day and asked me “What about a Toyota Land Cruiser”. I had never even given a Land Cruiser much thought. In my mind they were big, expensive soccer mom cars or, in the case of older models, wannabe jeeps (way wrong here). I really had no knowledge about anything other than the old FJ40’s or the more modern Land Cruisers you see at the mall. After a little bit of research it was clear that the Land Cruiser was the kind of car that is a lifetime goal vehicle. It is the ultimate in luxury and off road capability. The Land Cruiser is used all over the world in various forms for utility trucks, military trucks and just plain awesome off road vehicles. I wanted to be a part of this legendary club immediately.
The ideas:
When Lindsay first proposed the idea of a Land Cruiser it was along the lines of getting an older series Land Cruiser and doing a complete restoration. We were tight on money so the thought was, spend $5,000 on the truck and build it up for off road use as we go along. I thought this was an awesome idea and I got super pumped up about it.
My first idea was to get a 60 series Land Cruiser. At the time I thought that this series Land Cruiser was just plain classic looking. I still think that they have great lines and would like to own one some day. I would buy the truck for $5-6,000 and put another $8-10,000 into it to bring it up to perfect running shape. The idea of spending $15,000 to get a completely trail ready truck vs. spending $18,000 on a stock Xterra sounded very appealing. Then reality set in. My wife and I were about to have a baby and had to remember the reasons we were getting a new truck in the first place; reliability and safety. As cool as it would have been to do a big restoration and build, I didn’t have the time, space or tools to do it all myself. The other issue was that the 60 series trucks are much older and don’t have modern safety features such as airbags, antilock breaks, locking seatbelts or a latch system for car seats. It didn’t take long for this idea to get panned.
So moving forward the next idea was to get a little newer Land Cruiser. The next one on the list was the 80 series. The 80 looked awesome. I started seriously hunting for the perfect truck. They were hard to find with everything I was looking for. Many of them were in poor condition with super high mileage. I still think they are awesome and would love to have one fully loaded. The one thing I really didn’t like was the interior; it screamed 1990’s. The car also lacked some modern safety features. With a new baby on the way I moved forward and started considering the 100 series.
It took me a really long time to come around to the 100. I was a little resistant to it until I went and test drove one and was blown away at how nice the ride was. After a little more research and a bunch of time reading John Schotts build thread I was convinced that I could have comfort and capability. The search was on. Eventually I found a nice 2001 Cruiser with 114,000 miles for under $20k. I didn’t want anything earlier than 2001 because of engine options and I couldn’t really afford anything newer than 2001, so I lucked out finding this one with such a narrow search criteria.
I got the truck home on July 4th, 2010 and immediately started the modifications. Without going into a lot of detail and deep philosophical discussion; I am trying to keep my truck as stock looking as possible and only making mods that are useful and necessary (i.e. I am not going to get front and rear bumpers until I absolutely need it, or I rip the stock ones off, or have more money than I know what to do with) I stick to a really good article on expedition portal describing vehicle mods for overland travel.
Vehicle Preparations for Overland Travel
Let the fun (and pictures) begin...........
Background:
My very first vehicle was a 1995 Jeep Cherokee with 50,000, bought in 1998 or 1999. This truck took me all through high school and most of college but it was only a 2x4. After adding an additional 100,000 miles to the truck and running the Cherokee into the ground, in 2005 I bought another jeep; this time a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 with 80,000 miles. The Jeep Grand Cherokee brought me into the wonderful world of off road driving. The inaugural off road trip in the Grand Cherokee was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where I was able to drive out on the beach in some pretty soft sand. Since then the Grand Cherokee has taken me on trips through Death Valley, Moab, The Sierra Nevada Mountains, The Inyo Mountains, across the country twice, and up and down the California coast more times than I can count. With all that fun the fact that I owned a jeep couldn’t escape me. All the good times were offset by having to put in a new transmission, rear differential, transfer case, gaskets on everything in the engine, water pump, power steering pump, front drive shaft, and a tie rod. I bought the car with 80,000 miles on it and finally sold it in 2010 with around 190,000 miles on it. I had originally wanted to throw a bunch of money and overhaul the entire jeep into a custom expedition vehicle but with a new baby boy on the way I was in need of a new, more reliable and safer truck.
Car Shopping:
So with the Jeep gone forever the search was on for a new truck. The doors were wide open to any kind of truck. The only requirement was that it be 4x4. Right off the starting line my choices were pretty clear: Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota 4Runner, Land Rover LR3 or Nissan Xterra. Before getting rid of my last Jeep I had fantasized about getting a newer Grand Cherokee but after a lot of research, reading forums and reminding myself of the headaches that come along with owning a Jeep I nixed the idea of ever owning a Jeep again. As much as I had with both of mine they were too much of a maintenance headache.
LR3 was way too expensive and way too much maintenance.
This left only two options in my mind; the Toyota 4runner and Nissan Xterra. I will start off with my thoughts on the 4Runner. I have never been a big fan of the way the 4runner looked. I knew that it has great off road performance but I also wanted a car that looked great. I would go back and forth on this truck. From time to time I would see one that was lifted and outfitted for serious off road driving and would ogle over it. The only other problem with the 4Runner was the cost. Even a used late model 4Runner was out of my price range. So with price being the killer the 4Runner was off my list.
The Nissan Xterra was the only truck left on my list. I was actually in love with the Xterra from the get go. It had the looks, the braun and the right price tag. I was a little hesitant at first because I had always wondered if the Xterra could live up to all its rugged off road hype or was I just being suckered in by fancy marketing geared towards active folks like myself. After joining a few Xterra forums online, watching YouTube videos of trucks at play and researching modifications other people had made to their trucks it was clear that the Xterra, with a little modifications could walk the walk and talk the talk. There was no doubt in my mind that the truck could provide me with everything I was looking for in an expedition vehicle. Now the search was on for the perfect Nissan Xterra. I narrowed down the search to 2007 and newer. 2005 was the year the body style was changed to the current look but I wanted to stay away from the first two years of a new body style. There were no lack of Xterra’s available used but it was certainly hard to find one that was 4x4. For every dozen that were listed maybe one would be 4x4. My wife and I test drove a few of them and liked the truck but we were not in the position yet to afford a new truck so we just kept looking and waiting. I can very close on a few occasions to buying an xterra but I am very thankful that I didn’t.
The Conversation:
My wife’s good friend was talking to her one day about the car buying decisions that she and her husband were thinking about. Kate’s husband Robby was potentially going to get a really good deal on a Toyota Land Cruiser. Somehow that sparked Lindsay’s imagination and she came to me one day and asked me “What about a Toyota Land Cruiser”. I had never even given a Land Cruiser much thought. In my mind they were big, expensive soccer mom cars or, in the case of older models, wannabe jeeps (way wrong here). I really had no knowledge about anything other than the old FJ40’s or the more modern Land Cruisers you see at the mall. After a little bit of research it was clear that the Land Cruiser was the kind of car that is a lifetime goal vehicle. It is the ultimate in luxury and off road capability. The Land Cruiser is used all over the world in various forms for utility trucks, military trucks and just plain awesome off road vehicles. I wanted to be a part of this legendary club immediately.
The ideas:
When Lindsay first proposed the idea of a Land Cruiser it was along the lines of getting an older series Land Cruiser and doing a complete restoration. We were tight on money so the thought was, spend $5,000 on the truck and build it up for off road use as we go along. I thought this was an awesome idea and I got super pumped up about it.
My first idea was to get a 60 series Land Cruiser. At the time I thought that this series Land Cruiser was just plain classic looking. I still think that they have great lines and would like to own one some day. I would buy the truck for $5-6,000 and put another $8-10,000 into it to bring it up to perfect running shape. The idea of spending $15,000 to get a completely trail ready truck vs. spending $18,000 on a stock Xterra sounded very appealing. Then reality set in. My wife and I were about to have a baby and had to remember the reasons we were getting a new truck in the first place; reliability and safety. As cool as it would have been to do a big restoration and build, I didn’t have the time, space or tools to do it all myself. The other issue was that the 60 series trucks are much older and don’t have modern safety features such as airbags, antilock breaks, locking seatbelts or a latch system for car seats. It didn’t take long for this idea to get panned.
So moving forward the next idea was to get a little newer Land Cruiser. The next one on the list was the 80 series. The 80 looked awesome. I started seriously hunting for the perfect truck. They were hard to find with everything I was looking for. Many of them were in poor condition with super high mileage. I still think they are awesome and would love to have one fully loaded. The one thing I really didn’t like was the interior; it screamed 1990’s. The car also lacked some modern safety features. With a new baby on the way I moved forward and started considering the 100 series.
It took me a really long time to come around to the 100. I was a little resistant to it until I went and test drove one and was blown away at how nice the ride was. After a little more research and a bunch of time reading John Schotts build thread I was convinced that I could have comfort and capability. The search was on. Eventually I found a nice 2001 Cruiser with 114,000 miles for under $20k. I didn’t want anything earlier than 2001 because of engine options and I couldn’t really afford anything newer than 2001, so I lucked out finding this one with such a narrow search criteria.
I got the truck home on July 4th, 2010 and immediately started the modifications. Without going into a lot of detail and deep philosophical discussion; I am trying to keep my truck as stock looking as possible and only making mods that are useful and necessary (i.e. I am not going to get front and rear bumpers until I absolutely need it, or I rip the stock ones off, or have more money than I know what to do with) I stick to a really good article on expedition portal describing vehicle mods for overland travel.
Vehicle Preparations for Overland Travel
Let the fun (and pictures) begin...........
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I had my eyes set on a set of 295/75R16 BFG Al Terrain's and I had to find them with less than 5 days until my Death Valley trip. This also meant I had to get the truck lifted in the rear if I was going to fit those tires under the truck with any kind of clearance.
