100 Build

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
Who am I? My name is Nick, live in Atlanta, GA and currently in college somewhere in central GA where the term "cool breeze" does not exsist and everybody with toothpicks hanging from there teef wants to race you in there pickup with broken exhaust. Currently I am looking into joining the military and venturing to the other side of being a American. My brother is a US Marine, 8 years and 6 tours, special forces and all that great stuff. I enjoy outside and wheeling and meeting people... ok this is getting gay, it's not Match.com. Let's get on with this...

so the driver of this 100 Series cruiser is...... Look no further, it's me!
a6890ca7-e0ff-3c7a.jpg



Hope you enjoy the build, it's lots of reading, but it's a build thread, you want a little bit of text (ok, i love writing and looking into going into journalism because I can seem to stop typing and sharing my opinions and experiences with people)

Specs-
2000 Toyota Landcruiser 100
4.7L V8 2UZ-FE W/ ATRAC and VSC
Mods-
2" OME lift/Bilstein shocks
ARB 03+ Combo Bar
295/75/16 BFG All Terrains (Now 305/70/16 BFG KM-2 Mud Terrains)
Cobra CB / 4' FireStik Antenna
4 IPF 968 100W Lights (Removed)
55W HID Kit
Black: Rims, Trim, D-Pillar Vents, Grill, Emblems
5% Tint all around



Back in the early 90's my dad had a old white Chevy Suburban. It was a great truck and did what it was supposed to do. After many family trips he started looking for a new car. He then came home with a green Chevy Tahoe. Served us well for many years to come, going to Florida, Skiing, the daily Costco runs. At the time I was in Middle School and didn't know anything about cars, but I knew I loved them (my first word was "dardar", which in my language was car). My dad then started looking for yet another daily driver. Something nice, and a step up from the Chevy lineup. He looked into the Toyota line-up. Back in December of '99 he pulls up in a brand new "Toyota Landcruiser". I was sitting in the garage working on a huge project with a friend of mine. I saw it and thought "wow, what is that? It's huge". I ran over and looked at it. It was awesome! My dad had officially bought a 2000 UZJ100 Landcruiser, which at the time I knew it was a Toyota and it wasn't American. That's how much I knew. After 80K and 5 loyal years of a Daily driver it became my Landcruiser. I went to get my drivers permit with my dad and I passed. We walked outside the DMV and started walking through the parking lot back to the 100. I hear from my dad, "so, you wanna drive home?". I had driven a little. By that I mean through parking lots and sitting on my moms lap steering through the neighborhood. Absolutely nothing compared to Atlanta traffic and streets. I was nervous and didn't want to say yes, but I was excited I could drive so I didn't say no. I kind of gave a nod and he handed me the keys. I turned the 100 on, put it in reverse and backed out. Driving home I was so nervous I started sweating, it was a huge truck to drive for the first time on the streets of Atlanta. Traffic everywhere, blind drives, people driving 90MPH past me on the interstates, tail-gaters, everything I DIDN'T need on my first drive home. I guess I could blame me for the tail-gaters due to my 90 year old grandma style driving at the time. I drove it to school, and that was it. After a few months I soon began to hate it. I was trying to find a way to sell it and get something sporty. Being young at the time (and still am) I wanted something fast and cool. Like a 1997 M3 coupe in Azul Blue and black leather! I found one and wanted it so bad I never stopped talking about it. I really thought I was going go crazy if I didn't get it. I guess the spoiled factor could have a small factor in it (being given a 50K SUV at the time). My good friend soon found out I drove a Landcruiser. He asked if I really drove one with a excited and shocked sound. I told him "yeah, why?", he said "you ever watched 4WD Weekly?"... "nope, whats that?"..."its a really cool offroad show and Landcruisers are always on it, you should really take yours offroad"...." why the hell would I do that??? It's a big old soccer moms truck, i would get stuck or break something". O.K, at the time I knew pretty much nothing about wheeling. He asked if it had lockers, I said yeah it does (showing him my key and pointing to the door lock button lol). After 45 minutes of him ranting about how good these things are offroad I told him "sure, whatever lets go offroad then". Well, from that point on I didn't stop. It kept going and going and going and climbed everything I drove up and over and went through anything. My brother had smashed up a 4Runner Sport offroad so you can kind of tell where this is going with the parents. I had to wash it and detail it every-time I went home. Which was pretty much 3 times a week. I soon started tackling harder trails and noticed these "running boards" kind of hang low, but my dad would notice and beat me to death. I then brought up the question of "dad, can I take off the running boards :D ?". He didn't say yes, nor did he say no. I took it as a no. A few weeks later I put the smallest scrape in the running boards and I knew I was screwed. I scratched dads truck! After about 3 hours of waxing that same spot I figured he would either find out or I could say a basket at Costco did it. Then I made the mistake of going mudding, I brought the truck after cleaning most of it. But forgot about the frame and underside. It was so obvious. My dad simply said "cool, how did it do?". All hell broke loose after he said "cool". I lost the running boards the next week and was hunting for more challenging trails. I then started liking it, but nowhere near keeping it loving it. I found IH8MUD (great site with great guys in lots of info) and saw some of there built and armored rigs. Lifted 100's, 105's, snorkels, ARB's, Slee Offroad stuff, roof racks, 4 wheels, 3 wheels, 2 wheels, 1 wheel and no wheels on the ground!!! I joined and that started the whole shebang. I was hooked. I liked the 100 a bit more. Starting to realize these things are really built for wheeling and expedition driving. Being on a very tight budget with no job. I started with some mods that I now regret. I bought a chrome brushgaurd and put that on. At the time I liked it. I threw some KC Day-lighters on it and loved those.

Here is a picture in stock form, but without the brush-guard and lights
attachment.php


I saw a few rigs with black rims. Looked pretty sharp. I really did like the black rim look. I then spray painted my rims with a flat black paint. Looks great and has held up great (even after 2 years). I have since then sprayed my D pillar vents, entire grille, and the side moulding.

After that I started looking for lift kits. I knew of one. The Old Man Emu 2" lift kit. It was around $900 without the Slee diff drop. No way that was happening. Now, the 100 Series has a torsion bar IFS setup upfront. Torsion bars are adjustable (meaning you can crank them to raise or lower the suspension), I thought for a while and wondered if I could put some OME springs and adjust the front. Well, it seemed possible. A few months of saving and I bought some used OME-866 rear coils. I installed them in about 2 hours with basic tools and a help from a friends shop. Outcome was great! So my suspension was OME 866's in the back, factory shocks and factory torsion bars.

Here are the end results
attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php


I drove it another 10 miles after the lift and noticed my CV boots are leaking. A quick run to Home Depot and $3 later I had some hose clamps around the boot. I was careful not the cut the soft boot with them. I now have 25K on the lift and still no diff drop and they don't leak or have any issues.

Since I blew my money on the lift and spray paint I could not afford new tires. That, and we had just replaced the 275/70/16 Michelin LTX's a few months ago and still had about 90% tread left. I couldn't justify selling them, nor could I get a new set with the money. I waited about 7 months and got a job working valet over the summer. I was looking for a tire that could handle offroad but would last as long as the Michelin. That wasn't going to happen. I saved up some money and started calling around and asking opinions. I found the BFG A/T's. I wanted 285/75/16 and was going to buy them. I saw some 295's. oh boy, the little extra width and height changed my plan. But was concerned about rubbing since everybody was saying 285's were the biggest you can fit. How bad could it be??? I bought some, well, my dad split the cost with me and I really appreciate it since they are a great tire and I love them. I would put all the details about my build but it would go on for days. So to put it short, I bought some IPF 968's and mounted them on the stock bumper. Pretty stout, but some vibration on larger bumps. Here are before/after of the 295's.

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 
Last edited:

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
I started wheeling a bit more, since I had a lift and tires I went further. Now the 100 stock bumper is short, and sits up high (compared to most SUVs now days), but I still found myself sliding and bumping it on climbs. So instead of saving for a new front bumper, I bought some more lights.

attachment.php

attachment.php


Lights... oh I love lights. I added two more IPF's. They were shaweet at night. So back to the bumper, I started wheeling more. Which meant my bumper got pretty banged up. It was missing several tabs holding it on, and was scratched up. I saved for about a year and had my eyes (and wallet) set on a 03+ ARB Combo Bar. I finally ordered it and was so anxious to get it I called the shop every day to see where it was. It was shipped from the ARB distributor in Seattle,WA and was on there truck. 7 days they said...7 long, tiring, anxious days. I dreamed about installing it, i dreamed about how awesome it would look. But I was concerned about the weight. You see, I still had a lift... but I had factory torsion bars that had already seen (at the time) 105K. I wasn't sure how they would hold up with the added weight of the ARB dangling over the front end. I guess I would see. I called the shop on the 7th day and they said it was in Orlando, FL. ******??? I had to go through Atlanta to get the Orlando! Apparently the shop didn't unload it and it would take another 2 days to get here. I was so pissed.

2 days later they call. I was so excited I sped off and went to the shop. I pulled in and there was a sweet looking 80 there. The owner had bought a brushgaurd (i removed mine the month before because I whacked it and bent it a little, and hated the way it looked) and said he was getting it installed. I said with a cocky voice, "geez, thats great. I just bought an ARB". He had never seen or heard of one so I showed it to him. It was still on the crate and all boxed up but I destroyed the box in excitement. I was thrilled and he was shocked at how well built and nice it was. He then proceeded to the front counter and said he didn't want the brushgaurd installed. And ordered an ARB lol. I drove home and installed it.


attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php


the ARB had 2 light mounts on the bottom and 2 on the upper bar work. I thought it looked stupid having them on the upper bar work, so I fabbed up a custom light bar that held the 2 lights.
attachment.php


I ran several trips, some easy, some hard. I blew the driver rear shock at RiverRock ORV in GA. That was a nice touch, especially since I had HD springs in the back. Then the following month I had a seized shock from over extension and encountering 2" thick ice (shown in the video below). I replaced the with 4X Bilstein HD shocks while keeping the factory torsion bars and they ride wonderful. Of course anything rides better than shocks that have 130K on them, one seized and another blown. It was a rough ride for the week of busted shocks. They HAD to go.

After I year, I still wasn't satisfied with the light output (mainly low beams). Poor projection and it was just not bright enough. In the rain it was dangerous, I had to check to see if my lights were even on sometimes. I ordered a 55W DDM Tuning 5K HID kit.
photo23.jpg

DSC02464.jpg

DSC02473.jpg
 

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
Since then nothing has really changed. I've been wheeling and traveling the east coast enjoying my 100 Series. Lot's and lots of wheeling trips. Here are a few videos and pictures of my trips and favorite moments. I love my 100 and would never turn back. I wouldn't give it up for anything except for my family or if we were forced to sell it. But I would certainly look for another one if it ever happened. I owe a lot to my dad in supporting me with my project and hobby. Mainly for letting me have this beautiful truck.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBcf38jRC5M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdcXxBIm6KQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cB7OR-eVk&feature=fvw

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 
Last edited:

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
Enjoy :smiley_drive:


Feel free to ask any questions.

Surprisingly the stock torsions are holding up fine. I really didn't lost any height. I would say .25". I was shocked.
 
Last edited:

iigs

Observer
At first I was going to get on your case about being spoiled (hell of a first car, there), but it looks like you're really taking care of it and going interesting/fun places.

Right on!
 

rusty_tlc

Explorer
We have a common bond, back in the 70's my first car was an 1971 FJ40. Great car great times, it turned into a life long love affair.
It looks like you are on the same path.
Welcome, to the affliction.
 

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
At first I was going to get on your case about being spoiled (hell of a first car, there), but it looks like you're really taking care of it and going interesting/fun places.

Right on!

At the time. sure. But now I love my cruiser to death and I do with what I have and don't ask for anything else. It's my baby
 

anthonycds

Adventurer
Awesome bro, hope to wheel w you someday but first, I gotta get my rear into gear with my mods. Wish spring would get here quick.
 

2000UZJ

SE Overlanding Society
Awesome bro, hope to wheel w you someday but first, I gotta get my rear into gear with my mods. Wish spring would get here quick.

Looking forward to it. Hopefully we can go to Illinois again soon. I'll give ya a call if we do go there
 

AlexJet

Explorer
Good story. "...wanted M3...ended up with LC100..." Very good choice. It probably saved you many times of getting ticket for high speed driving...;)
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,530
Messages
2,875,579
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top