My Landcruiser Odyssey

[kcowyo]

KC: The very first trip I took my FJ62 on, I went out solo and slept in the back, by myself. I awoke and looked out the foggy windows and this guy was looking back at me...

Yikes! ....lynx?

I did laugh when I saw "Lander", I remember going to meet a guy there and he said "take the road out of town". I asked which one? Reply, "there's only one, son".

:victory:



We're heading out in a few minutes for our first picnic cruise out in the Red Desert, with Jr. and the l'il Diva. Looks like it's going to be a great day weatherwise. Hope to have some new pics to post up later and a few impressions from the dirt -

 

[FourByLand]

Very impressive!

Great story and great find... beautiful how things mesh together.

All in time.

:sunny:

 

[Moody]

Yikes! ....lynx?

That was my initial thought, but those who know more than I do suggested a bobcat. Hard to tell from the blurry-through-the-foggy-window picture I suppose...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I've over just to the west, every time the freeway closes I see it on the electric board.. I've been caught in a couple of those storms mostly on the way up to Jackson, brutal with the wind!

 

[jeffryscott]

K.C., what a great score. Congrats.

My Land Rover story is similar.

I had my Isuzu Trooper, great truck but just kinda boring - sometimes the Japanese manufacturers are too efficient - it just worked, and worked well. I started really, really, really wanting a Discovery. Started scouring the boards, asking questions about if they really are as unreliable as is rumored. The general advice was find one that you know the history of, that has receipts and has been maintained - then, they are generally reliable if you keep up with the maintenance.

So, I'm still fantasizing, look on discoweb and saw a Disco for sale in Tucson. I didn't know how serious I was, but emailed the guy to see if I could take a look at it - but was honest about having to sell my truck. Well, it turned out he was expecting another kid and was selling the Discovery to buy, drumroll, a Trooper.

We met - he was the second owner, knew the first owner, had every single receipt of anything that had been done, had a spreadsheet of when things should be done next. It had an ARB, winch, Hella's, 2-inch lift. Perfect.

The Trooper blue-booked to be about $1000 more, without the extras on the Rover, so we made the deal - went to the bank, swapped titles and I had my Rover, he had his Trooper.

I loved that truck, if it wasn't for gas mileage and the need for premium fuel, I wouldn't have traded it.

Funny how many stories of the karma working there are. Again, congrats.

 

[durangodds]

Congrats KC, but you know I really prefer 'em in blue.

 

[kcowyo]

The Shakedown Cruise -


Took the kids and a couple of turkey sandwiches out to the desert for the afternoon. I wanted to see how it handled off road and what everyone thought of it. We put on almost 50 miles in sandy red two tracks, surrounded by sagebrush. A Spring wind kicked up during our picnic, but we found refuge in the Cruiser.

....refuge in the Cruiser...

Of course it handled the local goat tracks like a champ. I never even locked in the hubs although we got in several off camber spots and dipped through numerous dried up washes. It got a little chirpy when I took a sharper than I remembered turn, a little too fast on a wide, flat gravel road near the way out. We had a ball.

Jr. got to "drive" and my l'il Diva found a Coyote skull. In a dress.... Afternoons like today are one of the three main reasons for getting the Landcruiser. My kids were smiling the whole time until they fell asleep on the way home. They clearly caught Landcruiser fever too.

Today was one of the good ol' days.

The skull -

Jr. -

L'il Diva -

Happiness -

 

[Andrew Walcker]

Nice, now that's what it's all about! That was how my dad taught me to drive and my 7 year old son has a lot of miles under his belt doing the same. You are creating memories that your kids will never forget. I still have my kids talk about wheeling trips that I thought were just OK, never realizing what a ball they were having. Ahhh, to see the world from the eyes of a child:campfire:

Any changes to the set-up or immediate tweaks that are planned after the outting?

 

[alvarorb]

KC,

Great story, beautiful pics. Awesome truck.


Alvaro

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Very cool! CruiserOutfit needs to post some pics of the 60 he just scored, another sweet one well used and in great shape, if I remember correctly he is road tripping right now down to Moab to get it

 

[kcowyo]

Any changes to the set-up or immediate tweaks that are planned after the outting?

Well, we never can leave well enough alone, can we?

My buddy down the road with the uber tricked out 62 has been sending me links to roof racks, sliders and winches all week. Not gonna happen. My short "mod list" is as follows -

tint
tunes - XM radio
12v plug in the cargo area.


Down the road, I'll look at swapping out the front seats for something a little less broken-in. The only thing it didn't come with that I really wanted was the 38 gallon tank. I'll check to see if a Kaymar jerry can carrier will work with the rear bumper. That's about it.

It needs a good interior detailing. The PO included a brand new dash pad that he never got around to installing. I'll swap that in some weekend. Then I'll just keep the maintenance up to date. The goal is to keep the 60 simple, reliable and capable.

 

[durangodds]

Check out the tailgate storage unit this guy makes. I put one of these in and absolutely love it. Makes a great place to store recovery gear, extra oil, rags...oh and a first aid kit. All the stuff you need to get to quick without rummaging through everything else. I managed to install it in an afternoon, so you know it's easy.

 

[HongerVenture]

:

I'm not sure who is happier in this pic... I love that!

Good old days indeed KC.

 

[GeoRoss]

Thanks KC,

I love "good karma" stories.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

We need Kurt to post up his story of picking up his new FJ60 yesterday. I got a couple text messages yesterday that were legendard during his trip up. I know he came home through The Swell also with at least 1 hr off road