RUSH55
SILVER Star
This thread has been a long time coming. I was scheduled with Tucker for POTM thread back in '08, I think. Was gonna try again in 2011, and that fell way short.
The time is now. This will mostly be a thread about the rig, where it's been, and what's been done. Not a lot of wow factor - I chose to do what mods I could afford, do myself, and would be beneficial to how it would be used.
One thing I've realized about being a pig owner, is that owning a pig is an exercise in tolerance - meaning, how many non-working or non-functioning items or sub-par performance can you tolerate before it drives you crazy enough to do something about it.
The flip side to this, as many of you already know, is the 55's ability to negotiate bitter terrain, and carry all of your camping gear for a week. Plus they are vintage old iron that most people don't even know what they're looking at - "Is it a Scout? A Land Rover?" I'm definitely all about originality and non-conformity, so the Pig and I have always been a great pair. So now, on with the tale...
My Dad picked up this Land Cruiser thing when I was a senior in HS (1995-1996), from a guy he always refers to as, "some skin-head in Cottonwood", to use as a "huntin' rig" for $1500.
Shortly after his purchase, he did an in-frame rebuild on the 2F, had the back seat reupholstered, and a few other odds and ends. Once it was road worthy, he took it on a couple local hunts, and then let it pretty much just sit there. He's not one to do any modification that deviates from the OEM, and so was not interested in really doing anything with it other than drive it, and tend to a thing or two that needed fixed.
The very first time I drove it, I took some buddies out to some nearby stomping grounds just to wheel around. At some point, I drug the muffler over a dirt pile and pulled it away from the pipe, quickly filling the cab with exhaust, and putting an end to our fun.
The next couple of drives were just as use as a backup vehicle to get to work with. Shortly afterwards, I took the pig on a couple extended wheeling trips and got hooked. Soon I was doing small mods and replacements that Pops approved of, and doing more trips.
In 2002, I bought it outright from my Dad for $2500.
The time is now. This will mostly be a thread about the rig, where it's been, and what's been done. Not a lot of wow factor - I chose to do what mods I could afford, do myself, and would be beneficial to how it would be used.
One thing I've realized about being a pig owner, is that owning a pig is an exercise in tolerance - meaning, how many non-working or non-functioning items or sub-par performance can you tolerate before it drives you crazy enough to do something about it.
The flip side to this, as many of you already know, is the 55's ability to negotiate bitter terrain, and carry all of your camping gear for a week. Plus they are vintage old iron that most people don't even know what they're looking at - "Is it a Scout? A Land Rover?" I'm definitely all about originality and non-conformity, so the Pig and I have always been a great pair. So now, on with the tale...
My Dad picked up this Land Cruiser thing when I was a senior in HS (1995-1996), from a guy he always refers to as, "some skin-head in Cottonwood", to use as a "huntin' rig" for $1500.
Shortly after his purchase, he did an in-frame rebuild on the 2F, had the back seat reupholstered, and a few other odds and ends. Once it was road worthy, he took it on a couple local hunts, and then let it pretty much just sit there. He's not one to do any modification that deviates from the OEM, and so was not interested in really doing anything with it other than drive it, and tend to a thing or two that needed fixed.
The very first time I drove it, I took some buddies out to some nearby stomping grounds just to wheel around. At some point, I drug the muffler over a dirt pile and pulled it away from the pipe, quickly filling the cab with exhaust, and putting an end to our fun.
The next couple of drives were just as use as a backup vehicle to get to work with. Shortly afterwards, I took the pig on a couple extended wheeling trips and got hooked. Soon I was doing small mods and replacements that Pops approved of, and doing more trips.
In 2002, I bought it outright from my Dad for $2500.