Where does it become to modified?

[The_Dude]

I have been wanting to mod my Land Cruiser with all sorts of fun goodies I see on the interwebs. It is kind of an addiction. My point of this thread is finding out where you other expo members draw the line on mods. I use my Land Cruiser almost daily. If I were to have drawers and a fridge, remove the back seats it would be really useful about 3% of the time. I have people in the back seats from time to time. Our adventure companion Icarus (Pomeranian) rides back there on all of our adventures. I carry my mountain bike in the back of my truck due to not having a hitch rack, I carry large objects in the back of it and use it for grocery shopping.

So basically my question to you is have you modded a vehicle to the point where it detracts the from day to day usefulness of it? If you have a dedicated expo rig this question may not quite pertain to you.

Here are some pics of my rig and my beautiful wife and I and our adventure dog!

 

[98dango]

Yes it have over built added ton much Crap I thought i needed. You don't need most of it and what you do need can be loaded up in ten minutes.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

What about something like a TruckVault behind the rear seat? fridge can go on top of the truck vault. You can probably find a hitch rack for the bike on CraigsList, cheap. My truck is about halfway between a nice hunting rig and an expedition rig, and I love driving it but things like the fridge and the drawers and the recovery gear do make it less viable as just a truck. So I have another old truck just to use as a beater and daily driver. I rationalize this by telling myself that I will be able to keep the hunting truck forever if I don't drive it every day. Works for me.

 

[The_Dude]

I just looked up those TruckVaults. Those are pricey!! I like the idea of them though. I will have to look at something like that in the future.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I just looked up those TruckVaults. Those are pricey!!

Somebody on this board is selling aluminum drawers for a Cruiser or Rover and somebody else is selling a plastic drawer unit that might fit. Check the "for sale" section. I saw those a week or so ago. I had one of the plastic drawer units in my old truck for years and it held up surprisingly well. I think I got it from Cabela's.

This isn't the one I had, but doesn't look bad:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Bett...ruck+drawers&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

These are the Rover drawers I remembered, but it looks like they have been sold:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/136775-4-Drawer-amp-2-Drawer-Aluminum-Storage-Set-ups

This is the plastic drawer I remembered:
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pts/4825590480.html
Looks like the same manufacturer that made mine, but mine was/is long and narrow for gun storage inside the shell. Mine would not fit behind the seat in a Cruiser. Can't find it on Cabela's, but this one looks worth the money if seller will ship it. Shipping is probably as simple as slapping a label on it and then shrink wrapping it for UPS.

ARB drawer systems:
http://store.arbusa.com/Storage-Solutions-C75.aspx

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I think it depends a lot on where you live as well. All the modifications I've done to my car makes an unstoppable little winter car as well. In the winter I utilize the skids, lift, tires and lights almost every day. I purchased my car and modified always with that happy medium in mind. I didn't want to lose fuel economy, comfort, or ruin how fun the car is to drive. If you're actually going to make use of some of these modifications on your daily commute than it makes sense. But if you live in the city and you're driving to work in a lifted truck, that just seems like a waste to me.

I think once you start sacrificing passenger space, fuel economy (front and rear bumpers, larger tires) and comfort (harsh suspension, mud tires), that's when you should probably start thinking of getting a dedicated rig. A couple years ago I tried to use my race-prep'd Volvo 855R with 400ft.lbs of tq and slammed on coilovers as my DD. I found that the money I was spending keeping it as my DD was more than I would have spent with just getting another reliable vehicle as my DD and keep the wagon as a dedicated race/weekend fun car.

I think the only things that I don't need/use on my daily commute with my vehicle is my CB and off-road tires (besides in the winter).

As the old saying goes, smart people learn from their own mistakes... wise people learn from others' mistakes.

 

[The_Dude]

Do you have a pic of your Sx4? I have been looking at those for awhile and they are cool little cars. Have you owned it long? It is primarily Fwd and then when the rear tires spin its AWD?

 

[BigSwede]

It is a great luxury to have a dedicated trail truck. You can leave it torn down indefinitely if you have to and not worry about getting to work on Monday.

 

[BigSwede]

You can put on a modest lift, AT tires, and sliders without compromising a DD too much. Removing the rear seats is another question. The nice thing about my Trooper is the rear seats with the backs folded down are integrated into my sleeping platform so I don't have to remove them, but that doesn't work for every rig.

 

[98dango]

I agree with Big Swede as I have this to bad it's been torn down for 5 years. But it was nice to park the truck at 2300 hrs and at 700 be on my way to work. Soon I will be back to this.

 

[Texan1983]

I never stopped...

But I did buy an old beater so that I could save wear and tear on truck and mods as well as save fuel.

Also, like said earlier, nice to be able to tear it apart and work on it at my pace...

 

[Texan1983]

Hell a beater dd should be considered a mod for your truck!

 

[Erik N]

I think once you start sacrificing passenger space, fuel economy (front and rear bumpers, larger tires) and comfort (harsh suspension, mud tires), that's when you should probably start thinking of getting a dedicated rig. A couple years ago I tried to use my race-prep'd Volvo 855R with 400ft.lbs of tq and slammed on coilovers as my DD. I found that the money I was spending keeping it as my DD was more than I would have spent with just getting another reliable vehicle as my DD and keep the wagon as a dedicated race/weekend fun car.

^THIS^
Dedicated rigs are the way to go. I have different vehicles for different jobs. Just grab the one you need and blast off!
My 2 suburbans just sit, fully loaded and ready to go. Heck, I haven't even vacuumed the sand out of my '96 in over a year!

 

[super04duty]

While I don't believe my F350 is too modified (in fact, my list of "wants" is longer than my list of "haves")... but, I did just recently swap out my brand new BFGs on stock tires for my old 16x12s and mud tires (not a lot of life left, got the stockers for driving it around LA).. but, it is a big, heavy truck, and diesel just isn't as cheap as it use to be. I was recently in a position to pick up another vehicle for work purposes (a 07 F150, XL, 4wd, 5.4l,)... And while I no longer need it for work, i am still going to keep it as a daily driver. This keeps the 350 sitting most of the time, but has allowed me to go back to my bigger tires, I added a ladder rack to it over the camper shell (not for ladders, but for other, expo type roof rack accessories), and hell, I got the camper shell itself, as I have the 150 now for open bed hauling. It has made it nicer, in the sense that I don't need to keep it clean/empty, and ready to go on a freeway drive all the time. Its pretty much set up for a long road trip or is loaded for camping in a few minutes. My 150 also came with Thule racks on the bed, so i can haul anything I want basically with it. And honestly, I've never NEEDED a 1-ton truck. I bought my 350 as a gift to myself many years ago, because I wanted a big diesel pickup. The 150 will realistically do everything I need out of a truck.

All that being said, I can't imagine having to DD my 350 once I get a few more things done. I used to DD it all the time when I lived in a farm town basically, but now down here in an apartment in the LA are, its just too difficult to park, it doesnt fit in parking garages at just over 8' tall. And once I get better wheels/tires, and heavy bumpers/winch, and do my roof rack mods, it just won't be friendly for such uses anymore.

Here they are parked next to each other. In my apartment complex parking lot (the management has allowed me to use cones and a no parking sign, to reserve my spots in this 'first come, first serve' parking lot, as my trucks just won't fit just anywhere. and neither fit well in our one assigned parking spot, where we keep the wifes DD car.) So, while its still a full size, V8, 2.5" lifted, 4x4 truck, the 150 is my "small, economical" vehicle.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

We own 5 vehicles with each serving a purpose, all are registered and insured, none of which I would consider a "beater". That being said, it is very nice to hop in a smooth riding sedan that gets 34mpg and leave the other rigs parked at home, and not having to worry about finishing a project Monday because it started to rain is priceless. When it's time to hit the trail I have three 4wd rigs to choose from depending on where we are going and the terrain, the Montero is usually first choice because heated leather seats with good support makes trails easier on the body.