For the past couple years I've been wanting to do a road/overland trip, and the time finally came early November. Taking two months off work is not very easy to do plus had to find a vehicle and build it before then. Coming from a mini truck background i knew that the current tacoma i had would be a bit cramped so i started in on search for a 100 series LC.
I found a OG owner selling her 2000 LC so i purchased it early February this year and started in (i apologize for the quality of the photos)
Now it was time to start modding! Ill just run through briefly on what i added as this isn't a build thread, these mods were done to make the truck more dependable and have the ability to be self sufficient. I added a safari snorkel, f/r bumpers, dual swing outs, sliders, winch, led lights, dual batteries (group 34) with national luna isolator kit. Installed an 53 qrt ARB fridge, blue sea fuse block, two 12v outlets, aux fan, and a drawer style tool boxes that double as a sleeping platform and storage. I wanted to keep the lift modest so i installed a OME 1.5" and a set of 285/75 r16 goodyear kevlar mt/r's. Last but not least i outfitted the truck with a CVT Mt. Jefferson rtt and awning, btw Bobby the owner is a great guy to work with!
It took a few days to get on the road as i was still finishing up some final touches so i packed up, loaded the dogs and off i go. I left northern CA and started heading south to big bear early November.
Ive camped here before and this area is still one of my favorites places, the views are incredible, hopefully next trip i can afford a nice camera.
Several of the trails i went on were the black rated trails which are the hardest ones but luckily i knew the ones to stay away from and didn't run into trouble, you guys know these trucks are not rock buggies.. since i was the only one taking pictures i didn't get any of the hard wheeling as it was unsafe to get out
Found a good vista point to take a break, this road was very loose and steep
I carry 11g of water, one of the containers is for the dogs and the other is drinking water for me. Well it was very hot out and the dogs drank 6 gallons in a few days and i was several hours away from a store so i was on the hunt for some creek water to fill up and cool off.
On the map it showed a creek about 5 miles away so we headed that way to find some. Upon arrival it was apparent that this was a seasonal creek and it was dry as a bone
At this point i was ready to drive back to town but on the way there came across a nice flowing creek so we stopped and took a dip to wash off the dry california dust
the road there
This was one of the black rated trails, they can get very nasty... with 6k mile of road ahead of me i wasn't about to try it in this rig!
That night i set up camp and enjoyed a cold one while watching the sun set
I found a OG owner selling her 2000 LC so i purchased it early February this year and started in (i apologize for the quality of the photos)
Now it was time to start modding! Ill just run through briefly on what i added as this isn't a build thread, these mods were done to make the truck more dependable and have the ability to be self sufficient. I added a safari snorkel, f/r bumpers, dual swing outs, sliders, winch, led lights, dual batteries (group 34) with national luna isolator kit. Installed an 53 qrt ARB fridge, blue sea fuse block, two 12v outlets, aux fan, and a drawer style tool boxes that double as a sleeping platform and storage. I wanted to keep the lift modest so i installed a OME 1.5" and a set of 285/75 r16 goodyear kevlar mt/r's. Last but not least i outfitted the truck with a CVT Mt. Jefferson rtt and awning, btw Bobby the owner is a great guy to work with!
It took a few days to get on the road as i was still finishing up some final touches so i packed up, loaded the dogs and off i go. I left northern CA and started heading south to big bear early November.
Ive camped here before and this area is still one of my favorites places, the views are incredible, hopefully next trip i can afford a nice camera.
Several of the trails i went on were the black rated trails which are the hardest ones but luckily i knew the ones to stay away from and didn't run into trouble, you guys know these trucks are not rock buggies.. since i was the only one taking pictures i didn't get any of the hard wheeling as it was unsafe to get out
Found a good vista point to take a break, this road was very loose and steep
I carry 11g of water, one of the containers is for the dogs and the other is drinking water for me. Well it was very hot out and the dogs drank 6 gallons in a few days and i was several hours away from a store so i was on the hunt for some creek water to fill up and cool off.
On the map it showed a creek about 5 miles away so we headed that way to find some. Upon arrival it was apparent that this was a seasonal creek and it was dry as a bone
At this point i was ready to drive back to town but on the way there came across a nice flowing creek so we stopped and took a dip to wash off the dry california dust
the road there
This was one of the black rated trails, they can get very nasty... with 6k mile of road ahead of me i wasn't about to try it in this rig!
That night i set up camp and enjoyed a cold one while watching the sun set