How should I spend the money...

[ECVMatt]

I am debating selling my 05 Taco and getting a very nice low milage 99 LC. It is set up for the street, so I need to change a few things. I figure I will have about 4K to upgrade the truck after I put a set of good tires on it. I would like to put a good set of front/rear bumpers on (Slee or ARB or other?), sliders, a Baja Rack, and an e locker protecter. If I had money left over I would like to add some lights. Is this possible? Am I on the right track? I do not rock crawl or take extremely difficult trails. I usually am found on the back roads of the Sierras near Bishop/Death Valley. Most of my travels are washboard type roads, like the Saline Valley, Wyman Canyon, etc.

Lastly does anyone know a good LC shop in the LA area?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am very new to all this and am trying to accelerate my learning curve.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[spressomon]

You're going to take a MPG hit with the LC. Having said that I love my '99 Land Cruiser! Hunting, fishing, overlanding, mine trail exploring, wine country touring oops: ), grocery getting, etc. Although not originally purchased as a DD it is also serving that purpose until I find a DD type vehicle I like.

$4k however is not going to go far when bumpers, winch, lift, etc. are considered.

 

[Hltoppr]

4K might get you tires (1500), lift (700) and a front bumper/moderate winch (1800)....and that's gonna be close...

-H-

 

[DBS311]

Check the "For Sale" section. Ckkone has a mint ARB front bumper and Slee rear bumper for sale. At his prices you are looking at your first $2500 (minus shipping) gone, but it is money well spent.

As far as LC shops, you have TLC, Man-a-Fre, Downey, SOR............need any more?

 

[locrwln]

What the others have said.

As far as the e-locker protector, I would skip it for now. I have the stock stamped piece on mine and have rockcrawled in the Sierras and Moab and haven't hit it...yet. If you are just doing dirt road/trails, I think you will be fine.

Jack

 

[Hltoppr]

If it were my $$, I'd just do an OME lift and BFG tires (5). Sell the other tires to recoup some of your expenditures.

Then...a fridge maybe...

Take the extra $1500 and go to Baja for 3 weeks....

-H-

 

[Purple People Eater]

If it were my $$, I'd just do an OME lift and BFG tires (5). Sell the other tires to recoup some of your expenditures.

Then...a fridge maybe...

Take the extra $1500 and go to Baja for 3 weeks....

-H-

:iagree:

 

[ECVMatt]

I am not counting the tires in the deal. Those are seperate.

Thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming. I have a engle fridge for my AT that looks like it would fit great in the LC.

I didn't think about looking in the for sale section. Thanks!

God how I would love three weeks in Baja right now. A trip down to Bahia Concepcion would put me in heaven.

Please keep the suggestions coming,


Thanks again guys,

Matt

 

[Maximus Ram]

Beer Beer and more Beer:beer:

Hope that helps........:costumed-smiley-007

 

[pint]

I'd do the tires, lift and sliders before bumpers. I've used/needed the sliders way more often than a bumper. If you need the extra storage, it's hard to beat a good rack...although most are pretty expensive! Oh yeah, and X2 on the beer. Lots of beer!

 

[ginericLC]

There really aren't too many front bumper options for the 100, at the moment ARB and Slee are it (I'm not even sure the Slee front bumper is really available yet), sliders (Slee is it), Rear bumpers 4x4 labs, Slee, ARB, and you might find a rear TJM somewhere. Aftermarket support sucks for the 100 series compared to Tacomas. It is a small niche and there are not too many competitors. The body is not easy to work around for the bumpers which complicates the build making them fairly expensive. The sliders would be easy for any home fabricator to make. Even easier than a 4 door Taco.

I'd probably go tires, sliders, lift, front bumper, then rear bumper in that order and I'd throw in an ARB front locker somewhere too to get rid of the weak front carrier.

 

[ECVMatt]

Beer Beer and more Beer:beer:

Hope that helps........:costumed-smiley-007

Oh yeah, and X2 on the beer. Lots of beer!

I love it!!! I am sure it is totally un-PC, but my rigs don't seem to work very well w/o beer. It is the one definately the one fluid replacement that I am best at as well; no Jiffy-Lube needed.

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

Matt