Just built up a truck but now I feel like I will be an idiot driving it....

[MountainWestPipeSmoker]

Full time 4x4 brother….I’ll be lucky to get 12-14mpg. But I also work 2 miles from home so it’s not so bad…

That's a nice walk or bike ride, and starting an engine, running two miles, and shutting down is engine abuse...

There's nothing wrong with a nice truck, I've got one too, but it's not a daily driver - it's a truck, for doing truck things, and I drive/ride something an awful lot cheaper to run for casual transportation miles.

 

[FrancisK]

That's a nice walk or bike ride, and starting an engine, running two miles, and shutting down is engine abuse...

There's nothing wrong with a nice truck, I've got one too, but it's not a daily driver - it's a truck, for doing truck things, and I drive/ride something an awful lot cheaper to run for casual transportation miles.

I’m a business owner who needs a daily vehicle with cargo room as well as aesthetics and being in the Midwest there are very few days where riding a bike or walking would even be feasible, not that I would do it anyway. My other car is an exotic which gets even worse gas mileage than that, thanks for conserving gas for me I need it!

Enjoy that pipe out there in the mountain west buddy…

 

[Cr33pin]

Its awful just awful

You should sell it to me at a good price

 

[MountainWestPipeSmoker]

I’m a business owner who needs a daily vehicle with cargo room as well as aesthetics and being in the Midwest there are very few days where riding a bike or walking would even be feasible, not that I would do it anyway.

Ok. I don't think that's been mentioned in the thread, you just stated you drive it two miles a day, so fuel consumption isn't a big concern. I pointed out that a cold start cycle like that on an engine is horrid for them, for a variety of reasons. In no particular order, most of your internal wear comes from a cold start before oil pressure is up, so "driving 2 miles" and "driving 100 miles" is almost identical in terms of actual wear. Making it worse, a two mile trip will never come up to temperature, so you end up with insane amounts of condensate in your oil, as well as the usual blowby gasoline from cold starts (rich mixtures on startup end up in the oil far more than a warm running mixture will), so you end up with oil acidification and have to do far more frequent oil changes.

Hence my observation that I consider it engine abuse.

If you're driving it from your worksite out to customer sites, then you're doing a lot more than 2-4 miles/day, and fuel costs probably matter a bit more. Though I've enjoyed the times I've been able to walk or bike (rather more than two miles, and, yes, in the midwest) to work over the years. Better than having to wait for a car to warm up.

My other car is an exotic which gets even worse gas mileage than that, thanks for conserving gas for me I need it!

Up to you, clearly the money isn't an issue. I try not to spend a lot of money propping up the prices of gas.

Enjoy that pipe out there in the mountain west buddy…

Indeed I do. And locally sourced energy production, and a cost of transportation that I've driven down to a few cents a mile when I don't need to move something particularly large or heavy.

 

[mountainaire]

I’m a business owner who needs a daily vehicle with cargo room as well as aesthetics and being in the Midwest

I just started a new business recently as well. I'm in the very beginning stages, but made a decision a couple weeks back to fully commit to it, and quit my dead end job.

I'm also from the Midwest (but live near the Rockies). It's funny how people end up having so much in common, in a place like this.

In my neck of the woods built up 4x4s are very common, so people don't really bat an eye. In your area probably not as common, might stand out a little more.

 

[typtre]

As a non-American-small-car-otherwise-road-and-gasoline-taxed-to-death-sidewalks-everywhere-European-country-man that I am I always thought you were all pretty douchy driving around in the biggest trucks and cars you can find when you are just going to work, taco bell, or the store just five minutes away. This was before I understood what Bankers did to your infrastructure, transportation system, and mindset.

Anyhow, given the worldly circumstances, driving a tank in any way shape or form is less douchy now than ever. Call me jealous!

 

[mountainaire]

pretty douchy driving around in the biggest trucks and cars you can find when you are just going to work, taco bell, or the store just five minutes away

Here we call 'em mall crawlers. Mall crawlers are still douchy in my opinion. I don't begrudge someone who likes them, but they always seemed a bit silly to me. Building a purpose built vehicle and using it for said purpose is a different thing altogether. You can usually tell the difference.

 

[FrancisK]

Ayyyyy I forgot all about this thread and never updated you guys! I did end up "finishing" her over the summer, mind you a 26 year old truck will never truly be finished. I got really impatient at one point just pulled her into my warehouse and locked myself in for a weekend getting everything done myself.

Here is where she ended up...




With that roof rack I probably had 1 inch of clearance in my garage so I took it off recently so I could get a lift on her, put the stock rack back on. I'll have to get some update pics.

I'm happy with her but again it's a 26 year old very desirable truck which I'm currently daily driving which doesn't seem right. I'm considering upgrading to a 200 series if one pops up at the right price, no hurry on it...

I was actually thinking to buy a Porsche Cayenne and build it up, those things have full time 4wd and locking differentials...who knew! Not that it's a better vehicle than a Toyota/Lexus by any means but it's modern and not just a rolling brick. I test drove a few late model ones recently, ones with low miles and 6-10 years old....all complete junk, drove like trash and every little thing broken or ready to break. I wasn't expecting them to be like Toyotas but I was shocked....


Looking forward to hitting some trails and doing some fishing and camping this spring!

 

[mountainaire]

Ayyyyy I forgot all about this thread and never updated you guys! I did end up "finishing" her over the summer, mind you a 26 year old truck will never truly be finished. I got really impatient at one point just pulled her into my warehouse and locked myself in for a weekend getting everything done myself.

Here is where she ended up...

View attachment 54665View attachment 54666View attachment 54667


With that roof rack I probably had 1 inch of clearance in my garage so I took it off recently so I could get a lift on her, put the stock rack back on. I'll have to get some update pics.

I'm happy with her but again it's a 26 year old very desirable truck which I'm currently daily driving which doesn't seem right. I'm considering upgrading to a 200 series if one pops up at the right price, no hurry on it...

I was actually thinking to buy a Porsche Cayenne and build it up, those things have full time 4wd and locking differentials...who knew! Not that it's a better vehicle than a Toyota/Lexus by any means but it's modern and not just a rolling brick. I test drove a few late model ones recently, ones with low miles and 6-10 years old....all complete junk, drove like trash and every little thing broken or ready to break. I wasn't expecting them to be like Toyotas but I was shocked....


Looking forward to hitting some trails and doing some fishing and camping this spring!

Looking good man. Time to go test out those rock rails.

 

[Roosh]

I'm happy with her but again it's a 26 year old very desirable truck which I'm currently daily driving which doesn't seem right.

My 4Runner is 24 years old and it's my daily driver (though not many miles).

 

[FrancisK]

My 4Runner is 24 years old and it's my daily driver (though not many miles).

Can't beat a 4runner, you must have paid quite a premium for it if it was that generation and had low miles....

 

[Pole85]

Great looking 4x4. I'm in California, in the car business, and have decent experience with Porsches. If youre made of money or love working on engines and auxiliary items attached to them, a Cayenne can be good fun. A good friend of mine obtained one of the older cayennes (leaving out some details because it's almost doxable), and with the help of a friend that's a Porsche mechanic did everything known to man to build it back better than new. I think he sent about $20k on parts and labor to rebuild the engine and suspension, with labor at a friendly $60 hour sweetheart deal from the trustworthy friend. What do ya know, within 5k miles he found a new weak point. Fixed that, supposedly also stronger and better than new, and so far has been good for another 5k miles towing, going off-road, overall being the standard overlander.

I would say lifted overlanding Cayennes on decent tires are a pretty hot trend right now. They're capable, handle great and are comfortable for sure. Would I personally do it? Not really.

You mentioned how your current LC makes you feel a bit weird driving it in town. If you get a lifted cayenne, you'll feel better in town, but feel like an attention magnet on steroids off-road. Your current vehicle will simply get a wave as you off-road through some of the harder death valley trails. If you take a Cayenne, you'll get wide eyes, some enthusiasm and questions, and then a lot of snickering for 10 minutes as they talk about you when you drive away. Not that you should care, but if you do care, that Cayenne will get a lot of people talking anywhere near a dirt road.

 

[Острог]

My 4Runner is 24 years old and it's my daily driver (though not many miles).

Have you sold the Challenger?

 

[FrancisK]

Great looking 4x4. I'm in California, in the car business, and have decent experience with Porsches. If youre made of money or love working on engines and auxiliary items attached to them, a Cayenne can be good fun. A good friend of mine obtained one of the older cayennes (leaving out some details because it's almost doxable), and with the help of a friend that's a Porsche mechanic did everything known to man to build it back better than new. I think he sent about $20k on parts and labor to rebuild the engine and suspension, with labor at a friendly $60 hour sweetheart deal from the trustworthy friend. What do ya know, within 5k miles he found a new weak point. Fixed that, supposedly also stronger and better than new, and so far has been good for another 5k miles towing, going off-road, overall being the standard overlander.

I would say lifted overlanding Cayennes on decent tires are a pretty hot trend right now. They're capable, handle great and are comfortable for sure. Would I personally do it? Not really.

You mentioned how your current LC makes you feel a bit weird driving it in town. If you get a lifted cayenne, you'll feel better in town, but feel like an attention magnet on steroids off-road. Your current vehicle will simply get a wave as you off-road through some of the harder death valley trails. If you take a Cayenne, you'll get wide eyes, some enthusiasm and questions, and then a lot of snickering for 10 minutes as they talk about you when you drive away. Not that you should care, but if you do care, that Cayenne will get a lot of people talking anywhere near a dirt road.

I went and drove a few more Cayennes since I posted that, a couple 2015's and a 2008 turbo. I know Porsche is known for making reliable sports cars but that just doesn't seem the case for their trucks. Every one of them just felt beat up and ready to die with half the features broken, a 2015 car with 60k miles on it should not have a dozen different problems and drive like it's ready to rattle apart. I've learned to do a lot but for most things I would need a mechanic and I really doubt I'm going to find a solid Porsche mechanic for any reasonable rate, I'm not looking to pick up a cayenne anymore.

I am actually planning to sell the LC when I get around to it, I'll probably move on to a 120 series/LX570 or maybe a GX460, i would say an LX470/100 series but for some reason it's impossible to find a decent one they've all been trashed aesthetically and that stuff costs more than a blown engine.....I found that out the hard way with this truck. I love this truck but I'm a perfectionist and a 26 year old truck is just never going to be perfect, every little rattle and noise eats away at me. I seem to be pulling it into my warehouse every other day tracking something down which someone else wouldn't care about, no good. That and I'm not even using it for what it's made for at all, I'm wasting it as a daily commuter.....I haven't had time to do any of the things I built it up for.

It was fun building her up, cost me a stupid amount of money...I should have just done suspension and tires then drove the snot out of her but live and learn I guess. Highly doubt I will get what I put into her but she does definitely have value there is also the consideration that I drove her for a couple years instead of getting killed on a new car, plus I learned so much about working on cars which I take pride in now.

 

[mountainaire]

I went and drove a few more Cayennes since I posted that, a couple 2015's and a 2008 turbo. I know Porsche is known for making reliable sports cars but that just doesn't seem the case for their trucks. Every one of them just felt beat up and ready to die with half the features broken, a 2015 car with 60k miles on it should not have a dozen different problems and drive like it's ready to rattle apart. I've learned to do a lot but for most things I would need a mechanic and I really doubt I'm going to find a solid Porsche mechanic for any reasonable rate, I'm not looking to pick up a cayenne anymore.

I am actually planning to sell the LC when I get around to it, I'll probably move on to a 120 series/LX570 or maybe a GX460, i would say an LX470/100 series but for some reason it's impossible to find a decent one they've all been trashed aesthetically and that stuff costs more than a blown engine.....I found that out the hard way with this truck. I love this truck but I'm a perfectionist and a 26 year old truck is just never going to be perfect, every little rattle and noise eats away at me. I seem to be pulling it into my warehouse every other day tracking something down which someone else wouldn't care about, no good. That and I'm not even using it for what it's made for at all, I'm wasting it as a daily commuter.....I haven't had time to do any of the things I built it up for.

It was fun building her up, cost me a stupid amount of money...I should have just done suspension and tires then drove the snot out of her but live and learn I guess. Highly doubt I will get what I put into her but she does definitely have value there is the consideration that I drove her for a couple years instead of getting killed on a new car, plus I learned so much about working on cars which I take pride in now.

Dude, dont sell the Land Cruiser. You'll regret it if you do.

 

[FrancisK]

Dude, dont sell the Land Cruiser. You'll regret it if you do.

I regretted selling the first one that's for sure, it was my first car had it for 18 years. Tried to replace it a bunch of times but always came back to it when those other cars let me down. Didn't sell it until 2018 when I leased a GX, regretted it instantly....I'm not nearly as nostalgic with this one but we shall see.

I go back and forth on it everyday, mechanically she's great but she's still 26 years old. Yesterday I heard a new rattle in the driver door card. I pulled it, made sure all the clips were good, tried to reproduce the sound and couldn't so I buttoned her back up. Today the rattle is back.....it's things like that which drive me nuts on her and it eating up a lot of time. It's not so much a hobby anymore as it was in the beginning, it's more a burden now.

 

[tikkasakko]

Alright, so I've owned an 80 series Landcruiser since I was 16 bought it in 2000 off the auction block it was a 1997 coming off a lease, my dad put it in his name and I made the payments. It was my first car I busted my hump working for it and I kept her up until 2018.....18 years later definitely didn't take it for granted. It was the Lexus version the LX450 which for all intents and purposes is just a re-badged Landcruiser with a few very minor differences, it was my tank and while I owned plenty of cars/trucks in between the Tank never let me down. I decided to finally sell it because as I had leased a GX460 and I didn't need two trucks, that and obviously it was a 20+ year old vehicle and I'm not a mechanic. It was bone stock one owner, a completely pristine example that would probably fetch 30k in todays crazy market for Landcruiser's.......sold her in 2018 for 10k which at the time was even then a crazy fetch but they always held their value and have been sought after just not as much as they are now which is true for most 90's trucks and of course cars in general are crazy right now.

Well I regretted it ever since to say the least and I picked up a 97 Landcruiser in the fall to use a daily driver, this time I planned to build her up instead of keeping it all stock. A few reasons for this besides that I missed my truck, one being that I wanted a hobby which has gone well I have learned to do things on a vehicle that I never imagined myself doing and the other being that I saw the writing on the wall for what was happening with cars and I didn't want to get killed on another lease or buying a new car. I have a second GX lease which is up next month and I'm actually going to do quite well buying it out and then selling it, it will more than pay for the LC.

So it all went well, the truck runs really strong it's completely mechanically sorted it just needed aesthetics which I knew going in and I chose this particular truck because it shockingly had no rust. I personally upgraded a lot of things to modernize it, new tires, new basket rack, new stereo, backup camera, navigation, TPMS, new carpet, new seats, new trim, new LED tails, markers and headlights and dozens of other things. It's in the shop right now for paint and should be done any day, after that it goes to my welder for the aftermarket off road rear and front bumpers and sliders then whatever is left I can do myself. When it's done it's going to be one heck of a built rig!

View attachment 38454

I have a fun exotic car for the summer and the LC will be my daily driver tank. I've attached an example pic of the look I'm going for pretty much, it will be close to that no snorkel though I'm not doing any river crossings and not a fan of black wheels, also the main color will be a dark grey with all the trim pieces, front/rear bumper, fender flares and sliders being satin black.





So long story short the problem is I now feel like I'm going to be an idiot driving down the road in it!


You know when you see some guy driving around in some crazy truck and you say to yourself "wow what a douche"....yep that's going to be me. Kinda starting to feel I totally miscalculated this decision, I could just sell her she would have a lot of value probably well over what I paid but that defeats the entire purpose of buying her in the first place.....riding out the disaster which is car prices right now. I'm not a flashy or "loud" person, I've always believed in being subtle or humble and even when I do flash it's classy and understated.....I don't think I will have that vibe with this truck!


So as a forum of like minded men......I put it to you, would you feel like a jack wagon driving around this truck daily? I know I know....who cares what anyone thinks I'm just curious what you guys have to say.

I live in Alberta. Plenty of rigs like yours on the road. It's a nice rig. Enjoy it.

 

[mountainaire]

I regretted selling the first one that's for sure, it was my first car had it for 18 years. Tried to replace it a bunch of times but always came back to it when those other cars let me down. Didn't sell it until 2018 when I leased a GX, regretted it instantly....I'm not nearly as nostalgic with this one but we shall see.

I go back and forth on it everyday, mechanically she's great but she's still 26 years old. Yesterday I heard a new rattle in the driver door card. I pulled it, made sure all the clips were good, tried to reproduce the sound and couldn't so I buttoned her back up. Today the rattle is back.....it's things like that which drive me nuts on her and it eating up a lot of time. It's not so much a hobby anymore as it was in the beginning, it's more a burden now.

The rattles will bother you a lot less once you get some trail pinstriping going.

 

[Pole85]

If those noises bother you, you probably would like Lexus variants.
My family has an older 4Runner, and Lexus hybrid SUV of the same year. Both with 225k miles each give or take.
One weekend I had to open up the dash in both of them and it was interesting seeing the differences. The Toyota panels were all held on with less clips and had zero padding. The lexus had more clips, and usually a screw or two for good measure. Every Lexus panel had some foam/insulation behind it. I usually dread taking apart interiors, but the Lexus camd back together like a mechanical part. The Toyota snapped together like a child's toy.

To be honest though, I once had to fix a stuck Toyota actuator mid trip. Week long trip to the oregon forest in November, pouring rain, and the HVAC was only blowing cold air, only at the passengers. Totally fogged up glass, no amount of rubbing alcohol could help. At the next gas station armed with a screw driver, I took the glove box and related covers off, and manually moved the actuators to hot and top vent. Problem solved, I could now see out the windshield again. Because I force moved them, they actually freed up and started working again even after the trip.

I don't think that would be as possible on the Lexus, but maybe due to better standards it wouldn't have become a problem either.

 

[FrancisK]

If those noises bother you, you probably would like Lexus variants.
My family has an older 4Runner, and Lexus hybrid SUV of the same year. Both with 225k miles each give or take.
One weekend I had to open up the dash in both of them and it was interesting seeing the differences. The Toyota panels were all held on with less clips and had zero padding. The lexus had more clips, and usually a screw or two for good measure. Every Lexus panel had some foam/insulation behind it. I usually dread taking apart interiors, but the Lexus camd back together like a mechanical part. The Toyota snapped together like a child's toy.

To be honest though, I once had to fix a stuck Toyota actuator mid trip. Week long trip to the oregon forest in November, pouring rain, and the HVAC was only blowing cold air, only at the passengers. Totally fogged up glass, no amount of rubbing alcohol could help. At the next gas station armed with a screw driver, I took the glove box and related covers off, and manually moved the actuators to hot and top vent. Problem solved, I could now see out the windshield again. Because I force moved them, they actually freed up and started working again even after the trip.

I don't think that would be as possible on the Lexus, but maybe due to better standards it wouldn't have become a problem either.

My previous 80 series was actually a Lexus LX450, it is the same thing one just had softer shocks, better leather and different badging from the factory, which have all been changed out on my truck anyway. For the Landcruiser's they are the same truck as the lexus variants just different aesthetics and some extra features, same as the GX it is the landcruiser prado which we don't even get here in the states but apparently is coming soon. You're comparing two entirely different vehicles, a 4Runner is purposely a very simple vehicle while the lexus hybrids (I'm assuming an RX) are not really in the same ballpark they're not made to be utilitarian like the 4runner so it makes sense that it would be much more intricate. Not sure if it's still the same as it used to be but the original RX was actually built on the Camry chassis....which was a good thing. Might be the Avalon now as that is what the ES is built on, ES used to also be a Camry.

I've actually owned a lexus my entire life until two years ago when my GX lease ended. The best, nicest and most reliable car I've ever owned was a 2013 GS350 F sport AWD....that thing was such a beautiful car, it drove like butter and the fit/finish was amazing on it, it was fun too. Apparently I'm not the only one that thinks so because while I don't need a third vehicle I always go back and check on them every now and then to see if they're cheap yet, just don't drop in value at all. The GX was incredibly solid and reliable also never one single issue in both the ones I leased, a 2016 and a 2020. Also a real truck, full time 4x4, solid axles, body on frame and locking differentials but that thing is a total soccer mom grocery getter, really boring.....but I didn't necessarily see that as a bad thing. Toyota is different as they don't see gadgets and more power as a good thing, they overbuild their engines and don't push all the power they can out of them so that they last and they seem to view gadgets as just more things to break which I agree with but it means that most people label them as boring. Gadgets and fast don't necessarily equate to a good car for me and they certainly don't equate to luxury in my mind which seems to be what every other car manufacturer thinks. It has become that the more stress put on the engine and the more weird gadgets now equals a nice car.

The thing with the landcruisers though is that with all the extra body parts and features on the Lexus variants it's actually restrictive to any kind of overland rigging or even just updating. For example my LX450 had body cladding on the side which is worthless and will just come off on the trail but if you remove it each panel has dozens of holes where the clips were that guys weld or put bolts in. For the LX470 it also has the cladding and the air suspension is a headache, you also actually want one that didn't have a screen in the dash which is rare because the climate controls are in there instead of just having buttons meaning you can't update the obsolete 20 year old navigation system. For the LX570 to get steel bumpers on it you actually have to cut into the bodywork and go through a whole extra mess of steps to get them on there, same with sliders and the running boards. A lot of companies that make aftermarket armor for landcruisers don't even offer it for the newer LX's, or they'll tell you that it needs custom fabrication and buy it at your own risk.

If I buy an LC or a LX470 I'm going to rig it up but if I buy a newer LC, LX570 or GX I'm just going to update it and keep it stock.