Surf's Down
- Thread starter IanB
- Start date
IanB
New member
Got home late last night, and threw the new Duratrac's on this morning! It was raining here today, so I didn't get a chance to wash all the bugs off and snap any better pics, but the new tires made a HUGE difference in the appearance and how the truck drives! I had to make a few small adjustments to the tranny kickdown cable, but otherwise the truck performed flawlessly on the trip home.
Oh ya, and the center console fridge is amazing on a road trip!
Oh ya, and the center console fridge is amazing on a road trip!
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PhdNPrerunners
New member
Land Cruiser looks great! I wish they sold rigs like that here in the states. Can't wait to see what you have in store for it :thumb3:
JohnsD90
New member
They did, but the steering wheel was on the correct side, and it came with only spark plugs.
PhdNPrerunners
New member
Not with all those extras standard and a diesel motor. Im a big fan of diesel motors
IanB
New member
Thanks guys, it's certainly filling the void left by the Surf in my heart, and my garage, lol. I'm not sure I can fit a 3" lift and still get it in the garage door, it's a big unit!
I was looking around and found a factory winter front (think roll up blind in front of the rad, behind the grille), which is pretty cool! The 1HD-T turbo diesel has far more power than the 1KZ-TE the Surf had, but also much more truck to move, and the bigger tires (11% larger) really makes a difference in how hard the truck pulls up top. I do however have all the materials to make 3" turbo back exhaust, so hopefully that will bring back some of the passing power.
I played around with the lockers a bit, the center is immediate, the front and rear take some forward/reverse, figure 8's kind of thing to lock in, but I'm sure some new diff fluid and some exercise will speed them up. I haven't played with the winch much yet, but it's a BEEFY unit, and Aisin 8,000lb unit that looks really heavy.
I was looking around and found a factory winter front (think roll up blind in front of the rad, behind the grille), which is pretty cool! The 1HD-T turbo diesel has far more power than the 1KZ-TE the Surf had, but also much more truck to move, and the bigger tires (11% larger) really makes a difference in how hard the truck pulls up top. I do however have all the materials to make 3" turbo back exhaust, so hopefully that will bring back some of the passing power.
I played around with the lockers a bit, the center is immediate, the front and rear take some forward/reverse, figure 8's kind of thing to lock in, but I'm sure some new diff fluid and some exercise will speed them up. I haven't played with the winch much yet, but it's a BEEFY unit, and Aisin 8,000lb unit that looks really heavy.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
So how does it ride and handle compared to the 4runner?
IanB
New member
Much more "truck" like, lol. It's heavier feeling in everything that you do, the solid front axle doesn't feel like the IFS of the Surf, the fulltime AWD doesn't feel like a RWD truck, and it's bigger in every way. It's not a bad thing by any means, just different, and takes a bit of getting used to.
I drove it to work this morning, the Surf was quicker stoplight to stoplight for sure, due to the weight, and the Surf electronic tranny seemed to ride the torque wave more efficiently, but maybe some more tweaking of the tranny kickdown cable will bridge that gap...the Land Cruiser has far more passing power on the highway so it evens out to some degree.
It doesn't have the turning radius of the Surf either, everything takes a bit more room, u-turns need to be planned for, that kind of thing.
IanB
New member
Bit of an update, I took the truck in for safety inspection last week, and got a call that it had passed and was ready to pick up! Got a call about 1/2 hour later that the mechanic had called MPI/VIU and now it needed the seatbelts changed as they didn't have the CMVSS/FMVSS tags on them, and the brake hoses didn't have the DOT markings on them.
This was not a complete surprise, I had a set of North American LC seatbelts at home already ('93+ so I gain shoulder belts in the rear), I just needed to wash them and get them installed ahead of schedule. I had also already ordered all 6 new brake hoses, as they are likely 21 years old and I planned on replacing them when I got around to doing the front axle service, but the parts were being shipped to a parcel service in the US that I had to find time to pick up, so that was a pain in the ass.
I got the seatbelts swapped in over a couple evenings, and got the brake hoses on Friday, so installed them yesterday. About 1/2 way through this job I took a closer look at the hoses I was removing and found SAE markings on them, which should be equivalent to DOT! Not happy, so I'm taking the old hoses with me for the reinspection, and they will come out when the bill is ready.
Either way, truck should be fully compliant with local laws at this point, and ready to put permanent insurance/plates on!
So far, I miss the Surf's agility/nimble driving feel compared to the lumbering LC, and I really miss the roll down rear window! Otherwise, very happy with the new truck.
This was not a complete surprise, I had a set of North American LC seatbelts at home already ('93+ so I gain shoulder belts in the rear), I just needed to wash them and get them installed ahead of schedule. I had also already ordered all 6 new brake hoses, as they are likely 21 years old and I planned on replacing them when I got around to doing the front axle service, but the parts were being shipped to a parcel service in the US that I had to find time to pick up, so that was a pain in the ass.
I got the seatbelts swapped in over a couple evenings, and got the brake hoses on Friday, so installed them yesterday. About 1/2 way through this job I took a closer look at the hoses I was removing and found SAE markings on them, which should be equivalent to DOT! Not happy, so I'm taking the old hoses with me for the reinspection, and they will come out when the bill is ready.
Either way, truck should be fully compliant with local laws at this point, and ready to put permanent insurance/plates on!
So far, I miss the Surf's agility/nimble driving feel compared to the lumbering LC, and I really miss the roll down rear window! Otherwise, very happy with the new truck.
IanB
New member
Thanks, I'm really liking it!
IanB
New member
Thanks! Sliders are on the list of things to do. Roof basket is a no-go as it won't fit in the garage anymore. I'm also looking to tint the windows, and add a small lift (1-2.5", not sure yet).
IanB
New member
Time for another sad update. I was woken up to my wife screaming that the garage was on fire Friday morning, it was too late already, everything was lost, my Land Cruiser, another parts Land Cruiser that I had in the garage, my snowmobile, all my tools and stuff that was inside, even the wife's car that was in the driveway was lost. Thankfully the house has only minor damage and smoke damage,and everyone was OK.
We've been living in a hotel, pets are staying with friends for now, hoping to be back in the house for this weekend. This has been a pretty heavy blow for me, pretty well anything material that I cared about was in there, and it's just gone.
The vehicles have been towed away, and the garage leveled, it's just a burnt pad in the ground that's left now.
In some positive news, we found a vehicle for the wife, a minty '04 Lexus GX470, so I'll have a reason to hang out on here again. No pics of that yet.
I'll leave you with a pic.
We've been living in a hotel, pets are staying with friends for now, hoping to be back in the house for this weekend. This has been a pretty heavy blow for me, pretty well anything material that I cared about was in there, and it's just gone.
The vehicles have been towed away, and the garage leveled, it's just a burnt pad in the ground that's left now.
In some positive news, we found a vehicle for the wife, a minty '04 Lexus GX470, so I'll have a reason to hang out on here again. No pics of that yet.
I'll leave you with a pic.
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downpour11
New member
That's absolutely horrible. Very sorry to hear that. How did the fire start?
theizzardking
New member
OH my god ian...i am soooo sorry!!!!!!!
i cannot believe that!!!! you just have the worst luck of anybody! glad your guys are ok fwiw...that's is tragic man, this just makes me sick, i hope you get everything covered, sure those were nice rigs but i can only imagine what this is going to end up costing!!! i'll just say it again, j.h. Christ! sorry man!
edit; if we can help in anyway let us know!
