Ok, I am a LC newbie. Have had if for about a week and love it, but I need some input from the experienced members out there.

Has 91,000 miles and is in really good shape. As far as tune up, what things should I (must I) do? I am planning on:
- Oil and oil filter change
- Tranny oil and filter change
- Diff oil change
- PCV change (and grommet)
- spark plug change

What about:
- plug wires?
- EGR valve and other stuff?
- O2 sensor(s)?
- shocks? What kind brand for mainly road driving with occasional offroad?
- steering stabilizer? (how long does this last?)
- timing belt/chain?
- ????? (anything else?)

What things should I look for/plan for?

Then there is the dang stereo stuff. Want to put better stereo and speakers in, but everyplace seems to laugh at me because of the setup. What can I do? Anybody been successful? What did you do and what did you use?

Finally, how about alarms? It looks like an aftermarket alarm was added and then removed before I got the LC. But I got NO remotes of any sort. So I guess the factory stuff is ok, but I am not sure. Doors lock and unlock as they should with the key. What alarm would you recommend? Remote start??

Thanks in advance from an LC newbie. Hopefully the newbie part will change REALLY soon!!

 

You can find a lot of information here:
http://sleeoffroad.com/newbie/newbie100.htm
I am thinking about getting one of those myself to replace my 4Runner.
Good luck!

 

StressPuppy...

congradulations on a great purchase. You might want to start looking into the birfields. Unless the previous owner did them.

Unfortunately the stereo is a place of frustation for a great deal of owners.

Another place to check out is:

www.ih8mud.com

That site is dedicated to Landcruisers and under the 80's tech section, there are a bunch of FAQs.

Good luck, and once again congradulations


robb

 

How's the gas mileage on your 97? I'm thinking about getting one of these to replace my 4Runner for comfort issues.

 

Found and read the info at slee for us NEWBIES!! Good info. Wish I would have found it BEFORE I bought my Cruiser.

I have only had it 1 week, so I am not really positive on gas mileage yet. Not great, though. What I am trying to do is run a tank through with a good mixture of the kind of driving I do to determine the mileage it is getting now. Then I want to do a tune-up (oil, plugs, PCV, clean injectors, other stuff????) and then run another tank through to see the results. I'll keep you posted.

I will say that I do like this thing alot. It is big, but I have had a Yukon in the past, so it is not that bad. But Full-Time 4wd is nice. And if you have never looked at the suspension and chassis parts, do this and compare to a Yukon, Tahoe or the like. Not even in the same class. This thing was meant to handle the offroad with no problems. I think this started as an offroad vehicle that was then "cleaned up" to drive on the street. Some of the other stuff out there seems to have started as street and had offroad added later.

That said, the ride is a bit rougher. But that could also be that my shocks are probably original and with 91,000 miles, they probably need to be replaced.

I remember stumbling across IH8MUD.com, but quickly forgot about it. THANKS for the reminder. I will go back and check it out and ask some questions there once I read the FAQs.

Dumb newbie question: What are "birfields"?

Thanks!!!

 

MPG???



I remember seeing a quote some where about the Landcruiser having the aero-dymanic qualities of a brick. Not entirely true, but mostly accurate.

Anyway, I average about 14 mpg...city, town, freeway, street, etc.

They aren't known for their gas mileage qualities. They are however built like tanks and go anywhere.




BIRFIELDS...

The best way I can explain is...well they are the axle shafts just inside the axle from the brakes. Just part of regular maintence. I haven't done mine yet, still on the list of things to do (which is very long)

 

I just did mine, not a cheap job. Since I do not have the wrench time I had to pay someone to do it. Total cost was $650. I have a 94 with 160k miles. Now the transmission is next.