G_fresh
Adventurer
Hey ExPo members,
I'm posting this to introduce myself. I've been lurking for a few months ever since I discovered "Overlanding" was an organized hobby/sport/lifestyle.
My background is that I have been overlanding in different forms since I was in college going between school (Purdue) in Indiana where I grew up and my internship/first job in So Cal. I did the drive five times between '97 and '99. I would usually take two weeks to drive it in my '88 Dodge Caravan (hand-me-down). I took the seats out, built a half-length storage platform to sleep under, and got a lot of flats with my passenger car tires.
I then graduated to an '02 Eurovan Weekender (Westfalia pop-up) once I had the funds. This was fun. My wife (to be, at the time) and I did many Owen's River Valley (395 in CA) trips to and from Mammoth Lakes to ski/board in the winter in that vehicle. It was comfy, cozy, convenient, and fast to set up. But, it lacked any real off-road capability. (It turns out what I really wanted was a modern Synchro.)
Next was a 4Runner that my wife and I bought in '07. It was my first off-road capable vehicle. It was a 1997 (3rd gen) 4Runner Limited with rear diff lock. It was a great truck and I had a lot of fun with it. Off road trails in So Cal, the whole of Baja, ski vehicle, home Depot, etc. The down side is that it was a little small inside for my wife and I to sleep in the back and carry even minimal gear.
All I did to it was basically add a Sonoran Steel System 7.2 lift, BFG A/T, and under armor. I was just about to continue the build with front/rear bumpers, tire carrier, extra fuel tank, etc. when I discovered overlanding.
I discovered this about 3 weeks before the Overland Expo this April. I went, I saw, and I had a plan: Buy an Adventure Trailer Chaser and sleep in the back of the 4Runner. It was ok that the 4Runner was not the ideal around the world rig since that is 5-10 years off at this point. We could still do our Copper Canyon trip (this Nov.) and our Central America trip (my next sabbatical in 3 years) and still be comfortable with it's lack of ubiquity around the world.
What I really wanted was an 80-series. But, run what you got, right?
Then, my brother told me he wanted to buy a 4Runner. "Hey bro! I got the perfect one for you..." So, the 4Runner was sold to my brother and the search commenced for an 80-series. I ended up buying a stock 1997 LX 450 with 195k miles for $5k. Pictures once I can post...
Good:
- From So Cal - no significant rust
- Looks as if it has never been off road
- Most maintenance records
- Interior in really good condition
- bit of wear on driver's seat
- one coffee stain on carpet
- Body in good condition
- front bumper dented (who cares!)
- two pea-sized rust spots
- scrapes on one plastic fender flare (who cares!)
- New pads and windshield
Bad:
- The truck basically sat for the last 4 years
- only 5k miles
- last oil change 4 years ago (it was relatively dark brown and nasty looking)
- coolant was dark and full of sediment
- Many oil leaks
- Only one car key
- Brakes really spongy
Neutral:
- No lockers but wanted ARB's anyway
So, what do I want to do with this truck?
As already mentioned, the ultimate plan is to pull the Chaser trailer. We will use this to carry our camp gear, cooking fuel, water, power, etc. The truck will primarily get us to (and especially from) place to place and be our sleeping quarters. We want the truck to carry all the stuff to make us go (i.e. spares, recovery gear, gas, etc).
Given the above, my LX 450 build will concentrate on reliability, durability, self-sufficiency, and to some extent light weight.
Here are my plans (roughly in order of how it will be done):
- Remove running boards, mud flaps, and extraneous trim – DONE
- Anyone want some of the running board trim pieces or mud flaps, they’re your for shipping
- Change all fluids - MOSTLY DONE
- 255/85R16 KM2's - DONE
- Axel rebuild - Man-A-Fre
- ARB front and rear lockers and compressor - Man-A-Fre
- Rebuild brakes (or upgrade?) - Me
- Lift - for more load capacity (and some more tire clearance?) - Me
- Front bumper, non-winch, ARB? - Man-A-Fre
- Rear bumper with dual tire/wheel carrier, Kaymar? - Man-A-Fre
- Armor (sliders?, under armor plates?) - Man-A-Fre
- Dual battery - Me
- Infotainment - Me
- Lighting (driving, interior, and camp lights) - Me
- Extra fuel tank, 24 gallon - Man-A-Fre
- Engine rebuild (1FZ-FE?, 2UZ-FE retrofit) - Man-A-Fre/Slee
- Transmission rebuild/upgrade - Man-A-Fre
Of course, a lot of smaller maintenance/upgrades will be performed as required and time permits.
I guess I'll post a separate build thread with the progress.
I would be happy and thankful to hear any advice or guidance anyone has for me since I am pretty new to this!
Been reading Tom Sheppard's and Chris Scott's books lately to get me on track...
Thanks all,
Ryan
I'm posting this to introduce myself. I've been lurking for a few months ever since I discovered "Overlanding" was an organized hobby/sport/lifestyle.
My background is that I have been overlanding in different forms since I was in college going between school (Purdue) in Indiana where I grew up and my internship/first job in So Cal. I did the drive five times between '97 and '99. I would usually take two weeks to drive it in my '88 Dodge Caravan (hand-me-down). I took the seats out, built a half-length storage platform to sleep under, and got a lot of flats with my passenger car tires.
I then graduated to an '02 Eurovan Weekender (Westfalia pop-up) once I had the funds. This was fun. My wife (to be, at the time) and I did many Owen's River Valley (395 in CA) trips to and from Mammoth Lakes to ski/board in the winter in that vehicle. It was comfy, cozy, convenient, and fast to set up. But, it lacked any real off-road capability. (It turns out what I really wanted was a modern Synchro.)
Next was a 4Runner that my wife and I bought in '07. It was my first off-road capable vehicle. It was a 1997 (3rd gen) 4Runner Limited with rear diff lock. It was a great truck and I had a lot of fun with it. Off road trails in So Cal, the whole of Baja, ski vehicle, home Depot, etc. The down side is that it was a little small inside for my wife and I to sleep in the back and carry even minimal gear.
All I did to it was basically add a Sonoran Steel System 7.2 lift, BFG A/T, and under armor. I was just about to continue the build with front/rear bumpers, tire carrier, extra fuel tank, etc. when I discovered overlanding.
I discovered this about 3 weeks before the Overland Expo this April. I went, I saw, and I had a plan: Buy an Adventure Trailer Chaser and sleep in the back of the 4Runner. It was ok that the 4Runner was not the ideal around the world rig since that is 5-10 years off at this point. We could still do our Copper Canyon trip (this Nov.) and our Central America trip (my next sabbatical in 3 years) and still be comfortable with it's lack of ubiquity around the world.
What I really wanted was an 80-series. But, run what you got, right?
Then, my brother told me he wanted to buy a 4Runner. "Hey bro! I got the perfect one for you..." So, the 4Runner was sold to my brother and the search commenced for an 80-series. I ended up buying a stock 1997 LX 450 with 195k miles for $5k. Pictures once I can post...
Good:
- From So Cal - no significant rust
- Looks as if it has never been off road
- Most maintenance records
- Interior in really good condition
- bit of wear on driver's seat
- one coffee stain on carpet
- Body in good condition
- front bumper dented (who cares!)
- two pea-sized rust spots
- scrapes on one plastic fender flare (who cares!)
- New pads and windshield
Bad:
- The truck basically sat for the last 4 years
- only 5k miles
- last oil change 4 years ago (it was relatively dark brown and nasty looking)
- coolant was dark and full of sediment
- Many oil leaks
- Only one car key
- Brakes really spongy
Neutral:
- No lockers but wanted ARB's anyway
So, what do I want to do with this truck?
As already mentioned, the ultimate plan is to pull the Chaser trailer. We will use this to carry our camp gear, cooking fuel, water, power, etc. The truck will primarily get us to (and especially from) place to place and be our sleeping quarters. We want the truck to carry all the stuff to make us go (i.e. spares, recovery gear, gas, etc).
Given the above, my LX 450 build will concentrate on reliability, durability, self-sufficiency, and to some extent light weight.
Here are my plans (roughly in order of how it will be done):
- Remove running boards, mud flaps, and extraneous trim – DONE
- Anyone want some of the running board trim pieces or mud flaps, they’re your for shipping
- Change all fluids - MOSTLY DONE
- 255/85R16 KM2's - DONE
- Axel rebuild - Man-A-Fre
- ARB front and rear lockers and compressor - Man-A-Fre
- Rebuild brakes (or upgrade?) - Me
- Lift - for more load capacity (and some more tire clearance?) - Me
- Front bumper, non-winch, ARB? - Man-A-Fre
- Rear bumper with dual tire/wheel carrier, Kaymar? - Man-A-Fre
- Armor (sliders?, under armor plates?) - Man-A-Fre
- Dual battery - Me
- Infotainment - Me
- Lighting (driving, interior, and camp lights) - Me
- Extra fuel tank, 24 gallon - Man-A-Fre
- Engine rebuild (1FZ-FE?, 2UZ-FE retrofit) - Man-A-Fre/Slee
- Transmission rebuild/upgrade - Man-A-Fre
Of course, a lot of smaller maintenance/upgrades will be performed as required and time permits.
I guess I'll post a separate build thread with the progress.
I would be happy and thankful to hear any advice or guidance anyone has for me since I am pretty new to this!
Been reading Tom Sheppard's and Chris Scott's books lately to get me on track...
Thanks all,
Ryan
