UZJ100 built for the long trip south

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
I bought this truck last November. I had a really nice 80 with a v8 and set up very well. I rolled it last July and the body was a total loss. I sold a bunch of stuff off it and saved the chassis. I tossed the body. I went a few months driving work trucks which I can't stand doing and then decided to pick up a 100-series for my DD. I searched for about a month until I found what I was looking for, low mile, zero rust and decent condition. I flew out to Oregon and picked it up and drove it home.

It had a great carfax on it and only 124,000 original miles. This truck spent all it's life in SoCal until I bought it from the guy who bought it at auction, I picked it up in PDX. The last 5yrs there wasn't a lot of service records but it only had 10,000 miles put on it the last 2-3yrs and the records before this were stellar and very detailed. It started out in SoCal as a fleet truck, it is obvious to me now it sat a lot in the companies yard, baking in the SoCal sun. The truck does have some sun burn and the clear coat is shot on it in a few places. The interior had obviously been freshened up by the somewhat shady car lot I bought it from. They did a good job but it became obvious to me in the first few days of owning it they had painted some of the leather and likely steamed it or whatever to remove wrinkles & age. The carpet had a lot of stains. That is all good and fine with me though because what really matters to me is the chassis, mileage and overall condition of the truck. It is really hard to find a low mile UZJ100 and when you do they are often high priced. This thing has zero and I mean zero rust on the chassis. The body at time of purchase was straight and clean besides clear coat issues here and there. It even had the original Toyota windshield in it with only one small chip. Definitely some parking lot rash here and there too but that doesn't bother me. The main things that mattered to me was zero rust chassis and body, low mile and a clean carfax. As long as the rest wasn't trashed I would be happy. I paid $11.5k for the Cruiser and feel that was a solid price all things considered.

Since I got it last November I have put nearly 10,000 miles on it. I have taken some road trips in it now and it has grown on me, Cruisers always do this to me. I am that guy that says, nah I don't want a 100, then I get one and six months later I am in love with it. It was the some with my 80 and my last FJ60. I had not really planned to do much to this truck and really was not thinking long term with it. I just wanted to do a bit of maintenance and drive it. I don't know if the timing belt has ever been done and I have now put 10k on it, so that is top of my list of to-dos. I have a really nice 1988 FJ62 body and my 80's rolling chassis which is lifted and locked. So my plan since I rolled the 80 has been just to drive the 100 and once the FJ62-80 mash up is done sell the 100.

I lost two of my best friends and lifelong friends recently. One two years ago and the other this spring. I have been thinking about my life for awhile now and where I am going next in life but the passing of these two guys hit me hard. I came to realize I don't care about money anymore (beyond having enough to do what I want), I don't care about a lot of things anymore. I do care about the quality of my life. What matters to me is living my dreams, staying healthy and active. In the last couple months it became very clear to me that I am done with working to pay bills and fund my next trip or truck build. I am 43yrs old and the last 20yrs have been living here in Jackson Hole, the last 17yrs I have owned my own business here. I have done well, it has been good and I have lived the dream. However, it is now time for me to take things to the next level. In case you don't know me on the forum, I have driven to Panama and back twice. 35,000 miles done in my truck down south and 7 months living on the road. My last trip was in 2011. So what does all this have to do with this truck build!? Everything!! :) I have decided this is my last year here in Jackson Hole. This is my last year paying rent here, working to pay bills and take a trip once in awhile. I have never had kids or been married, I do not own a house or property. I am selling everything I own, finishing up my commitments, setting up this truck and taking off to start a new life of adventure.

The UZJ100 shall be my stead on this journey. Like I mention I had thought about and somewhat planned to do up the FJ62-80 truck and am still working on it but it will take me to long to finish it up and then test before I take off. I plan to be gone by January 2017, at that time I have 6yrs left in my passport and 40+ pages plus the truck registration comes up in November so I will have most of 2017 with good plates. That means I can bail south and not even think about needing anything from up here until the end of 2017. I plan to start an adventure tourism company down south and Land Cruisers will be our fleet of trucks we use in this company. The UZJ100 will be my first truck for this and this trip I am mentioning will be how I get everything figured out and planned.

So with that all aside lets get on to the build! About 1-month ago we had a small into the ditch incident up in Yellowstone. A tree and a rock did some damage to the side of my truck, not bad really but the fender got some dents and the truck got some deep scratches down the side. One of my tires was wasted with an 8" gash in the sidewall. I took it to Toyota's autobody shop in Idaho for an estimate, when I went over it with the guy I told him, let's fix every little thing you can find and I pointed out everything I knew of on it damaged. The guy went off in the estimate, even putting in new side window glass because he wasn't sure if the scratches would come out of the glass. In total the estimate came to $10,200!! My insurance company was cool but they offered to buy it out from me for $10,500 or give me a check for $5800 and I can keep it. I could have took the $10k and bought it back from them but that didn't do much for me. I financed this truck with my bank and I still we $7k on it. So I took the $5800 and best of all, no salvage title! I just can't get it full coverage insured up here in the states anymore. My bank didn't like that but after 20yrs with them they bent the rules for me.

I bought all the parts I needed to fix the truck, including a new fender. All from Toyota. I have already replaced the busted side mirror and all the rest of the parts are in route from overseas. For $2k I got everything parts wise including all the timing belt and water pump parts I need. I even bought a new power antenna from Toyota Japan. I then went and bought an OME medium 2.5" lift, Slee diff drop, MetalTech RLCA and 295/75R16 BFG KO2's. I am now really stoked on the truck. It lost a bit of power with the bigger tires but it is not bad and I am high up here at over 6,000ft. I have already been running around with my Engel 45L fridge in the back of the truck since I got it and a month ago I put in an Odyssey 1700 I had left over from my 80. This month the timing belt is getting done along with the water pump and valve cover gaskets. I might have Toyota do it simply because they only quoted me at $350 in labor and it is a pita of a job I am not all that excited about doing. My CV boots are leaking so it will get a new boot kit or new axles, I haven't decided and won't till I look at the axles. This work I will do. It has a small leak on the t-case that needs fixing, otherwise it is just a full fluid change on the whole rig and it is ready to go south. It runs excellent now and has not given me any issues at all in the last 10k miles.

As far as the build up, it goes like this.

2000 UZJ100, bought with 124k, now has 134k.
2.5" OME lift, I would like King shocks but don't need them so not spending the cash on this.
MetalTech rear lower control arms. These are a nice bit of bolt in gear for sure, I like them.
BFG 295/75R16 KO2's. I have had a number of sets of BFG A/T's and I really really like these new style. Perfect size too imho. Spare even fits up under the back in the stock location.
Engel 45L fridge. I have had a couple of these over the years and I like them, work well for me. I do have a slide for it already.
Odyssey 1700 & 1200 batteries. The 1700 is already in and it just barely fits in the stock location. I have the 1200 and a National Luna kit sitting in a box waiting to go it the truck. I think I am going to mount the 2nd battery in the engine bay. Will run my fridge and camp stuff off the 1200.

Other than change the oil twice since last November with Mobil1 that is all I have done to the truck to date. The rest of the build is going to go like this....

BlueBerry front bumper. Warn 9.5XP and Rigid Industries LED light bar. I already have the winch and lightbar. I just today sold a friend a Short Bus bumper from my 80 to fund the new BlueBerry bumper.
Slee or MetalTech sliders. MT seems to be out currently on their website and I don't have ton's of time, 6 months max to be ready and go.
Front Runner Slimeline 2 roof rack. I am really not a big fan of roof racks but I will be traveling with other people and need to take a lot of adventure gear so roof rack it is. I will be kitting out the rr with a camp table, surf board carries, fuel and water up there too.
Ezi-Awn Bat wing 270. I have used an ARB awning on trips so I know I want shade and rain coverage.
GPS! I never use GPS and have not looked into what to buy but on this trip I will be using it to map things out for future adventures. It will come down to whichever has the best maps for Latin America.
Escape Gear seat covers. I am just going to go ahead and throw down the money for these, I can't stand cheap seat covers that don't last. My leather is not bad, no rips or anything but it is old and shows it's age. Cushions are good so just going to put these in and call it good.
Drawers of some sort. I have not decided if I am buying something off the shelf or making my own but I want a basic set up.
Camp lighting. I already have some Baja Designs little LEDs and I will probably add to this plus set up a work light.

That is about it really. I may or may not do Slee skid plates, Not so sure I really need them for what I have planned. I will likely have to stiffen up the rear suspension, may just go air bags. The truck is going to be heavy, no doubt about that. I wouldn't mind a rear bumper but not so sure I want to spend the $$$ on it and don't feel I really really need it. Everything can go up top and my spare does fit in the stock location. I plan to carry 45L of water up top and 6 more gallons inside the truck, I also have a RoadShower already. I also plan to carry x2 jerry cans up top. No roof top tent, I will either sleep in the back or ground tent it or do my hammock. I already have ton's of good camping & overland gear so don't need to buy much of that. I do need to buy a couple collapse-able kayaks, some fishing gear and maybe another surf board which is easy to get on the road. I also need to buy a new camera and some GoPro stuff, I won't be spending a lot on camera gear. I will document my trip and travels but as mentioned I am starting a business down south and so a lot of the documentation is for myself. I have tons of tools and tool bags to set up my road tool kit and I already have an air compressor, plug kit and all that. Already got a high lift too along with some other recovery gear. I even have a solar panel already. I plan to take my IK for whitewater stuff, surf board, x2 kayaks, rock climbing gear and I will buy a trainer kite before I leave. I want to learn to kite surf on this trip. It is going to be a lot of stuff to pack in and on the truck! Plus for at least Baja I will have a full truck with x4 people and the rest of Mexico and CA I will for sure have 1-2 passengers besides myself.

That is about all there is to tell right now, a mouthful for sure! Hahaha! I do need to buy some stuff for the truck and also for the trip but like I say, selling just about everything I own that I am not taking with me. I also started a Tierra del Fuego gas money jar recently. Started it with a $1,000 so I feel that is a good start! Here is some pics of the truck and I will keep that going as I do more.

Pretty much the first week I got it.

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Now with OME lift and 295's :)

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The side that got damaged....

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Cheers
 
Last edited:

RadarVector

Party on Wayne
I am so excited for your new adventure life! Wow!

I just purchased my first UZJ100 after years of thinking I wouldn't like it, and love mine as well! Cheers!


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Klierslc

Explorer
Looks good--I'd take a look at that front diff and swap in an ARB locker. The early 2 pinion front diffs are pretty fragile and there really isn't an easy way of making them strong other than adding the ARB locker--you may be able to swap in a later 4 pinion diff, but I can't speak to the compatibility. That is a known weak point and is almost guaranteed to fail when you combine larger tires, extra weight, and off road driving..
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Whoops, looks like the 2000 model year already has the 4 pinion diff.

Yup. I am pretty well informed when it comes to Cruisers. Such as; there is a 5% failure rate on 2000 transmissions but mine is fine.

Cheers
 

cruiseroutfit

Supporting Sponsor: Cruiser Outfitters
Great rig and a perfect choice imo for a CenAm/SoAm trip. Be wise about spares, particularly things you won't find down south. My basics include belts, a CV reboot kit, wheel bearings/seal for one side. Outer TRE's, APPS, Coilpacks, Brake master rebuild kit and and ignition cylinder unit... I'll think of others.
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
You still have a chance of going full on Alan Podvin. It's what that 100 deserves.

I had to google that to know ****** you were talking about, still not 100% sure but portals are sold if the guy isn't full of it (2 weeks from pick up), if he is they are staying in the Patrol which is getting more buggi'ed out. I am literally giving my Patrol to a buddy to do what he wants with. I got other things on my plate.

Cheers
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Great rig and a perfect choice imo for a CenAm/SoAm trip. Be wise about spares, particularly things you won't find down south. My basics include belts, a CV reboot kit, wheel bearings/seal for one side. Outer TRE's, APPS, Coilpacks, Brake master rebuild kit and and ignition cylinder unit... I'll think of others.

Good point but I am pretty sure the same UZJ100 platform was sold in some Latin countries. I have seen them in Colombia and I think perhaps Chile and maybe even Panama. I know most are 105's or 100's with the TD and 5spd but I don't think they all were.

I already have x2 coilpacks in the truck. Got a half dozen Toyota oil filters too. My truck is in really good condition mechanically and I am prepping it for the trip south but ya', I will be taking some spares. I just can't get to crazy because I am already planning on taking x2 collapsable kayaks, x2-4 surf boards, x1 inflatable kayak, fishing gear, camping gear, ect ect and this on top of an already heavy truck loaded dwn with extra fuel, water, bumpers and so forth.

Cheers
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
that's a ton of gear. sounds like you may want to consider a trailer.

Nah, hate trailers more than roof racks!! I packed more than that in an 04 Tacoma and it has a lower gvw. What I really need is a 70-series pickup as a support vehicle! ;)

Cheers
 

RadarVector

Party on Wayne
Nah, hate trailers more than roof racks!! I packed more than that in an 04 Tacoma and it has a lower gvw. What I really need is a 70-series pickup as a support vehicle! ;)

Cheers

What I need is a 70 series in general! So sad they're not available here in the US


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