Land Cruiser 200 - an overland build up

[Surfy]

You find 5 new Pictures under "Sleepingplattform" there is a progress

And i show how we will navigate in africa - and how we will clean the water to use and drink.

I still search a solution to store my gas grill/cooker and the gasbottle. To store it behind - looks to expensive.. Would you store it inside?

Hope you enjoy,

Surfy

 

[Surfy]

We had a beautiful Overlanding Trip with our Land Cruiser. I decide to do a own thread about.



http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/84144-Switzerland-Klöntal


Surfy

 

[Surfy]

I have now more pictures online - from the storage room below of the sleeping area.

The buildup nears the finish state :sombrero:

 

[Surfy]

One of the best pieces i bought for the car - is definitively this light here:

http://www.alled.com.au

Unfortunately the seller only sells to australian - so i had to organize it over an australien friend, who collects this for me.

It has a dimmer switch, and two brightness settings (not three like described from the seller). It is very bright in the highest setting - a bit too much for anything else than setup your camp at night. But the lower setting is a perfect lightsource for cooking at night - or to have some background light.

It has a clever mechanic and strips - so that you can mount them where ever you want.

Next time i will do some pictures.

 

[Surfy]

Not that all think this buildup dont get used ;-)

Here is the Thread on Expo about our Trip, we will start in 8 days:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/83748-Trans-Africa-November-2012?highlight=

This is a actual picture of the car - just the right tyres arent mounted yet:

Surfy

 

[RangeBrover]

Had a question about your cruiser, is your's equipped with the radar cruise control? I'm just wondering because I'm getting ready to order an ARB front bumper and was wondering if it interfered with it at all. Thanks.

 

[Surfy]

Had a question about your cruiser, is your's equipped with the radar cruise control? I'm just wondering because I'm getting ready to order an ARB front bumper and was wondering if it interfered with it at all. Thanks.

It is the European Spec Modell from 2011 (too built at 2011) - and near to the US Modell from 2012 - without Euro5 and without aircon-seats and radarcruise control.

I dont know if you will have an impact - with the Frontbar.

Surfy

 

[RangeBrover]

No problem, thanks for the reply. Look forward to reading more about your build.

 

[NothingClever]

I wish my 200 looked like yours. It's a big, fat, blobby, over-dimensioned disaster that gets high-centered at the mere sight of bull dust. When I drive it in town I understand how obese people feel when they try to move through confined areas. When my choices of where to drive are limited because it's too fat to drive down normal routes, I want to drive it off the nearest cliff. I can't fathom what Toyota was thinking when they designed it other than trips to Starbucks on paved roads.

Sorry to rain on your parade...just had a bad day with my 200. It's earned a permanent moniker....Lumpy.

Yours looks respectable and capable.

 

[RangeBrover]

I wish my 200 looked like yours. It's a big, fat, blobby, over-dimensioned disaster that gets high-centered at the mere sight of bull dust. When I drive it in town I understand how obese people feel when they try to move through confined areas. When my choices of where to drive are limited because it's too fat to drive down normal routes, I want to drive it off the nearest cliff. I can't fathom what Toyota was thinking when they designed it other than trips to Starbucks on paved roads.

Sorry to rain on your parade...just had a bad day with my 200. It's earned a permanent moniker....Lumpy.

Yours looks respectable and capable.

I'm going to have to admit I've had the exact opposite reaction. For a stock vehicle that can carry me, 4 passengers, all our gear for a weekend, and can do so with ease and comfort I think it's a great rig. I've taken mine on forest roads in Virginia and off road a few times at Raush Creek in PA. Now I agree that it's not perfect, but it can hang with the best of them. I'll admit that my Range Rover had better ground clearance, but with the Toyota I don't worry about an air bag blowing out. Really the only thing I did to mine so far was put on AT tires but the stock tires were fine for everything I tried. If you already dropped the coin for a Land Cruiser you might as well buy some new tires and get an OME 2 inch lift.

 

[Surfy]

All the bigger cars - have an handicap when doing serious offroad stuff. You have to lift them, to mount bigger tyres - to be able to do some stuff without hassle.

The europe spec of the 200 - has an adjustable heightcontrol - so i can lift them - or lower them - when needed.

That is a big plus.

Then to lift the car - has also some worse points

- give you more headache for Parkhouses,
- for driving "at inclined" angles it is bad
- for rolling over on high speed (dodge on highway at sample)
- and will worse your fuel economy.

But to be honest - this car is stock very very capable, also with his huge size.

In what citys do you had problems with it? In a small italian village on sizilia?

 

[RangeBrover]

Surfy, do the Euro Spec 200's come with airbags then? How much height adjustment do you get?

In the states we really don't have a problem parking the 200, for us at stock height the rig is only 188 centimeters (no suspension adjustment available from the factory).

 

[r3run33]

in some spots of the world land cruiser come with the AHC same as lexus. no air bag hydraulic

 

[NothingClever]

In what citys do you had problems with it? In a small italian village on sizilia?

The central Asian states, commonly referred to as "the 'Stans".

It does OK on improved roads but it's horrible in cities and anywhere the road gets rough. Of course, armor kinda hurts its chances at being something other than a hippo with fairy wings.

 

[RangeBrover]

I guess I'm used to American roads and cities, compared to my Silverado, the LC200 parks like a dream.