Wade Pat2

19 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

@Wadepat2 I came across this workshop space rental service and thought of you knowing your preference to work on your own car but resident in an apartment (like myself) 

https://www.ufixit.ae/we-have-what-you-need/

I would def use this but only learnt how to attach the compressor to a car battery since joining here  ... mine is a dream vs your actual hobby/ability! 

Thanks for thinking of my request Niki. I have looked into this shop once before but have never tried it. Hoping my Cruiser stays together for awhile, at least long enough for my wife to forget how many "not broken" things I have already replaced. hahaha

5 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

You will be the real winner my friend, to learn off-road skills on stock LC100.

1. First it will make you a better off-roader.
2. You will be rich with spare money.
3. Surely drive every week.
4. Surely drive back in the same car.
5. Drive with complete peace of mind.

This is exactly what I am hoping for. Thanks for the confirmation.

Focus on learning and  "project work" geared towards reliability and stock restoration.

Full list of my project so far.

No mods for desert off-road driving really. and not sure if I will go that direction. I am hoping to fight the urge to modify for desert driving and enjoy it in stock form. I have had many modified vehicle for other off-road types in the past and the ability to learn driving skills on sand with stock vehicle sounds great to me. 

My LC is a 1999 with 200km V8 auto 

Maintenance- Fluid / filter for Engine,trans, and diffs. Grease prop shafts. Air filter change. Added cabin filter. PCV valve.

Replaced -. Steering rack with tie rods and fluid Res, front upper/lower control arms, rear upper and lower control arms, front and rear stabilizer bar bushings. Brake Master cylinder and flush. All coil packs and spark plugs, headlights, corner lights and fog lights.

Reboot and regrease CV shafts, replaced front wheel bearings and seals, front diff bearings and seals. Swapped weak 2 pinion front diff carrier with TJM carrier.

Added metal lower sump and trans cover to replace broken fiber stock cover.

Interior- not much done,  front windshield 3m clear tint , ram ball mount integrated into dash, and remove 3rd row seats, rubber floor mats.

Gear. Arb single compressor, 4 way tire inflator, tire deflator, real shovel, radio, flag, small fire extinguisher, first aid kit and I always carry basic hand tools. 

**Next- Trying to figure out better front recovery point that fully clears bumper and only thing not working at the moment ( stock console cooler) haha

If you read this far you may think I am crazy to spens this money on such an old car. I might be but I work from home so daily car isn't a must. Also after looking at new cost, I much prefer to much much less and I really enjoy my old car project. Have always wanted an old Land Cruiser. 

Only problem is I can't easily do the work myself as I would in my home country. Instead I bother the poor mechanics at shop I use to let me give detailed instructions on work I want done. I also prefer to buy all the parts myself and bring to shop.

Welcome to my Land Cruiser Project. Thanks for allowing me to share. Feel free to ask any question, offer ideas or even constructive criticism.  I have pictures of some of the work also if anyone wants to see anything specific.

Thought I would start post to track my LC Project. I have only made one drive in the desert but have done a lot of work on my old LC. The plan is to continue replacing and upgrading things until I bring it home in 3-4 years to the US (after its 25years old). I can list all of the other work if anyone is interested.

Latest modification after my first drive and having the additional bumper addition scraping sand a few times on descent.

Swapped out to a simple stock style bumper cover. Should give little more bumper clearance and about 10kg less weight hanging off the front.

before and after pics

Thank Again Richard and Shamil,

Very good trip. I learned alot and had a good time. Your managing of the convey was great.

@Wrangeld 

Thanks for the reminder.

I can take pictures tomorrow of front if needed so you can confirm. Will the standard Land Cruiser 100 series front tow hooks be sufficient if they are in good shape? I was already headed to shop in am so I'm sure I can have some rated ones bolted on in their place if they have them in stock.

For rear I'm not sure what is there besides a pintle style hitch. Will see if I can find a replacement to bolt on with shackle for rear tomorrow if needed.

@Wrangeld quick question about radio freq. Is the Freq setting listed some where for this drive and I'm missing it or will it be sent before meet-up? I have them pre-programmed from the FAQ and looking forward to learning how they are used in a convoy.

2 minutes ago, Zed said:

Ah lucky for you @Wadepat2, I'm stuck with unused features like Heaters. Sometimes I prank my passenger by pressing the heater button so their seats get so hot they think they're sitting on an oven 😁

Here are my front recovery points (2 rated @ 4.75t shackle each) and rear recovery point (Hitch Receiver with D-Ring so it can fit a soft shackle):

 

Exactly what I was looking for! Please let me know where you got them. 

Yea no rear heat on mine but I do have a center console cooler that doesn't work. Haha

15 minutes ago, Zed said:

Welcome @Wadepat2 , it seems we have the same LC100:  Black, US-import V8 4.7L 😁

Since I got it on the cheap, I spent some dough "baselining" the car (the 90K miles Toyota recommended routine: timing belt, tensioner, pulley, etc.). First thing to get it desert-ready was replace the stock tyres with Yokohama Geolandar 275/70/R16 (keep it OEM specs so speedometer will be correct to prevent fines from overdriving 😂 ).  Got some windfall, so went crazy and did 2" lift. Well, I still got stuck 😅, so it didn't help except boost confidence level by +10 points. Anyways, welcome fellow LC 100, let me know if you have questions regarding our "iron-block" + "non-interference" V8 engines 😊

Good to see another old cruiser here. Mine is GCC spec and I have already spent a small fortune on it just refreshing and replacing things. Guess that's the good side of not buying new, have plenty to spend on parts. I could use some advice on front and rear recovery points if you have added some. Looking forward to meeting you and you LC soon.

Looking forward to first drive. 

7 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

Welcome @Wadepat2 looks like you bring a wealth of off roading experience with you and we look forward to welcoming you into the Carnity fold. You'll find that we are all passionate about getting out there in the sand and that it's much more about having fun and the community (perhaps) than being able to drive our vehicles full tilt up Moreeb dune [there are other clubs for that]. 

It's the standard axiom - you get out what you put in. As a club we will support your getting to know the sand safely and gradually. As a member, if you like teamwork, meeting people from lots of different places and seeing how all sorts of different (mainly stock) vehicles perform in the sand it's likely the place for you. 

Thanks Wrangeld, this all sounds great and I really like that the group is focused on keeping beginners like myself and stock vehicles as a main focus. Learning off-roading techniques, enjoying the outdoors with like minded people, and using 4x4 for what it is intended is what I am after. Long gone are the days of my extreme off-roading. To much work keeping those things going. 

If I cant drive my car to the meet up , have fun on the drive, and then drive it back home, Im in the wrong place. 

Thanks for the info Guarav ,definitely looking to learn and join a newbie ride.

15 minutes ago, Shehab Alawadhi said:

Let me be the first to welcome you, hope to see you in a drive soon! Is the land cruiser a V8 or V6 and is it a manual or automatic? just asking out of curiosity.

Thanks for the welcome Shehab. V8 auto