I’ve been doing a lot of camping/overland research and keep seeing people using older land cruisers so I’m thinking about getting one for running around and car camping. Any older models to look for or avoid? They seem to be pretty reliable. Anything else to look out for when buying an older model (around 2000 model year)?

What mods do you recommend? Lift, tires, inside for comfort, upgrade for performance...

I strongly encourage you to spend some time over at ih8mud. That site has sub forums for each LC series (you’re asking about a series 100 that was produced roughly from ‘98-‘08). The relevant forum has stickies which will list typical trouble areas, modifications, etc. There is also a large photo gallery thread that features places that folks have visited. Great way to see how the vehicles are being used and modified.

For the series 100, the mechanical locker was phased out after the first couple of years. Then a 5spd was added towards the end of the generation along with a power upgrade.

I’ve owned a 2002 LC since new. 265K and I’ve loved it. I stupidly used to trade vehicles every 1-2 years. That stopped when I got the LC.

quote:

Originally posted by FHHM213:
I’ve owned a 2002 LC since new. 265K and I’ve loved it. I stupidly used to trade vehicles every 1-2 years. That stopped when I got the LC.

Were it not for 8 months of road salt and de-ice spray, I would do the same. I've concluded that it's a cost of living to replace your car every ~5 to ~7 years in western PA. Like heating your house, it's really not a good idea to forgo it. If they weren't subjected to that horribly caustic environment, I'd imagine you could easily own 25 years or more based on what I've read on them.

Rogue, I can understand; I fortunately live in the south.

Ruger, one quick additional comment. Build some contingency into your budget. You’ll read about new owners initially “baselining” the newly-purchased vehicle before tackling mods. Baselining is a relative concept for any older, high-mileage vehicle. Despite the incredible durability & reliability, stuff wears out. You might address all items noted on a pre-purchase inspection, only to then find a leak in the original radiator, etc. There is no equivalent to the $85 Sig Service Plan!

Good luck on the search.

quote:

Originally posted by FHHM213:
Rogue, I can understand; I fortunately live in the south.

Ruger, one quick additional comment. Build some contingency into your budget. You’ll read about new owners initially “baselining” the newly-purchased vehicle before tackling mods. Baselining is a relative concept for any older, high-mileage vehicle. Despite the incredible durability & reliability, stuff wears out. You might address all items noted on a pre-purchase inspection, only to then find a leak in the original radiator, etc. There is no equivalent to the $85 Sig Service Plan!

Good luck on the search.

This is very good advise. LC’s are legendary for their dependability but if you’re planning on remote camping then you want to get everything as close to new as possible.

There is a guy on YouTube by the name of Andrew St. Pierre White who lives in Australia and has been overlanding since the 70’s and builds rigs on his channel.
He bought a used Land Cruiser and went through the process of getting it checked out for a build and of course found some “interesting things” about the truck that was not initially apparent. You might find it enjoyable to watch as we sit home.

Welcome to the rabbit hole!

Here’s the start of the series..
https://youtu.be/Cpco_a8ooCs

Slee Off Road has tons of goodies for Cruisers. I’ve bought from them in the past.

Great read for any prospective 100 series buyer

https://sleeoffroad.com/tech-z...series-newbie-guide/

I will own a 100 or a 200 series one day.

Slee 2.5” lift
Slee Slider Steps
Slee Skid Plates
ARB Sahara Bumper
33” Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx tires

 
Ih8mud is the place to go, for sure. They were my bible when I rebuilt my FJ-40 (since sold). Every mod/conversion you can imagine doing has been done and is well documented there with threads, pics, videos, etc. There are also many very well respected vendors who hang out there you may not ever run across anywhere else. They sell NOS, used, and newly manufactured improved parts (such as better steel axle shafts and birfield joints, propeller shafts, drive shafts, brake conversion kits, etc.).

Many moons ago, I had a 1976 FJ40. What a tank !! I rebuilt a Chevy 350. Used an RV cam , smaller valve head and dug up an extra heavy flywheel from a 1 ton truck. That thing would pull till the cows came home. You could pull away from a stop sign in 4th gear and not have to slip the clutch. No idea how fast in would go but it would easily pull my tent trailer at 70 with lots of reserve ! Installed a 2nd gas tank. Raised the body a couple of inches with Rancho springs and shocks, installed power steering ( that was very handy ! ). 31" tires. 14 mpg , regardless of driving conditions. Drove it for over 100,000 miles. There have been many times that I regretted selling it !!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mike28w,

I found Ih8mud earlier today. I’ll check out the others. Probably going to start with a small lift and tires for looks as much as farroad performance. I’d love to see any pics you may have.

The biggest weakness of the 4.7l is the secondary air pump for the exhaust system. Needless EPA crap that will put the truck into limp mode, and is expensive to fix. Rainy/wet areas seem to be the worst effected.

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
Many moons ago, I had a 1976 FJ40.

I did too! Unfortunately, I was a lowly E4 then and couldn't afford to do to it what I wanted. But I loved that truck!

I would encourage you to think long and hard before you dive in and start spending money.

Really spend time going over how you are going to use the vehicle and what the primary use will be.

• Are you going to be traveling light roads or rock crawling?
• What kind of camping will you do and how much time will be spent camping?
• Will you be cooking a lot and need a refrigerator, camp kitchen w/ stove and onboard water?
• How many supplies are you going to carry (tools, recovery gear, etc. and how will you store them?
• And on and on and on...


Once you've answered the first 3 points, you can proceed.


I've almost finished building out my 4Runner and here are some things I would change. I do a lot of involved off-roading / rock crawling. Usually at least once a month.
Because of that:
• I wouldn't go so heavy on the bumpers. Also, for the back bumper, would have dual swing out arms instead of a single. If I'm towing, I have to unhook the trailer before I can open the back.
• I wouldn't have a roof-top tent. I love it and it's fast to deploy and take down, but it's always with me. Again, more weight and even worse center of gravity. I also can't park in the garage any more. Well, I can, but there's not even a 1/2" of clearance.
• I wouldn't have gone with a 4Runner. I will never be able to upgrade enough to get the ground clearance needed for most of the trails I want to ride.

If I was starting over, regardless of vehicle and add-ons, I would get one of the small camper trailers. Some of the recent models are amazing and would be about the same price as everything I've spent to create a camping setup. For example, the inTech RV Luna Rover

Feel free to ask specific questions. Several of my friends have Land Cruiser rigs.

quote:

Originally posted by Gear.Up:

Feel free to ask specific questions. Several of my friends have Land Rover rigs.

Ewww... you need to find some better friends

I have extensive Land Cruiser experience, and a good friend who owns a shop in Arizona who specializes in them. The need to heavily modify a Land Cruiser or it's Lexus variant is in my opinion, a psychological one. There wasn't a single trail in the Tonto National Forest that we didn't tackle in a 97 LX450 who's sole modifications were larger Chinese tires and removal of all body cladding at the rockers. We drove it to San Diego and down to Encinada regularly as well.

My advice would be to get some solid bumpers, front and rear, rock sliders under the doors, and different tires. The engines make plenty of power, the gearing is stout, and the axles are indestructible. Find someone locally who knows how to rebuild the Birfield joints and try to refrain from dumping a pile of mismatched aftermarket stuff on it.

When looking for a used Cruiser, try to find one with front and rear locking diffs as an option. the switch is located by your left knee. Beware, people try to fudge this all the time to get more money for their trucks. The code for the diffs is in the VIN. I personally like the 80 series, (1991-1997) the majority of them have full float rear axles. The 4.5 inline six is bombproof. We spun a bearing in one at around 200k miles. We pulled out offending bearing, replaced with new, and put the engine back together. It's still going as I type this. They really are the best vehicles made.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
The biggest weakness of the 4.7l is the secondary air pump for the exhaust system. Needless EPA crap that will put the truck into limp mode, and is expensive to fix. Rainy/wet areas seem to be the worst effected.

Just bypass that crap!

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:

quote:

Originally posted by Gear.Up:

Feel free to ask specific questions. Several of my friends have Land Rover rigs.

Ewww... you need to find some better friends

D'oh! Fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
The biggest weakness of the 4.7l is the secondary air pump for the exhaust system. Needless EPA crap that will put the truck into limp mode, and is expensive to fix. Rainy/wet areas seem to be the worst effected.

Just bypass that crap!

Yes, if legal in your area, bypass it before there is an issue.

I'm with these guys...LandCruisers are great vehicles.

I currently have a couple FJ60's, and my wife's daily driver is an FJ62. We had an FJ Cruiser and a built GX470 previously as well.

Only other thing I can think of on the 100 series (aside from the air injection system) - Do some research into the ABS brake system. There have been reports of complete failures (they use an integrated electric pump that can die) ...and it's an expensive repair.

Buy the right one, and you will NOT regret it!

- Brian

I think around 2002 and older you can change out the radio. Somewhere in those model years the navigation radios have the A/C controls integrated into the radio, so it is next to impossible to change the radio to something more modern.

Just a heads up if that matters to you. I think you're better off with manual A/C controls regardless.