PalmoftheWild 100 Series Build

Palmofthewild

Palmofthewild

Adventurist
Hello All,

My name is Craig and I’m new to the forum/overlanding world. I’m documenting my build and adventures on instagram, @Palmofthewild. My friend, Nate Day (@SomedayAdventure) has inspired me to pursue my dream of owning a beast of an adventure vehicle.

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My wife and I have been known to drive 26 hours to visit a new place on a whim. Now we have two kids and still enjoy getting outside as much as possible. Recently we purchased this garage kept, kid taxi of a 2004 Land Cruiser. I’m building this thing from stock to family overlanding machine.

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I love chasing the horizon with my son; finding new trails and new adventures. He’s also into building things and helping me with the rig. I’ll be documenting my build and adventures on here and instagram.


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Time to find another hill to climb and adventure to tackle...
 
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So I got my dream rig home on a Sunday afternoon. Right away I was eager to make some changes and get this thing trail ready. But first, the loud squeal I was hearing had to be addressed. I tackled myself, despite not being the most mechanically savvy dude on planet earth. *Insert ass kicking emjoi here*
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Whoever serviced the mommy mobile last had crossed threaded two of the five lugs on the first wheel, resulting in snapping one in half and about two hours of extra work to get the wheel off. Unfortunately, this pattern maintained itself for all four wheels. Two trips to the auto parts store, $40 dollars later, and after pressing in 11 new lugs, I was finally able to address the noise.

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The front pads had worn to the metal leaving a nice score in the rotors. The rear pads looked like a chisel and a hammer had been taken to the edges before install. Off to the auto parts store again. Vented and slotted rotors installed, one seized caliper rebuilt, elbow grease and we have a driveable rig. Up next, new shoes all around!

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Nothing more annoying than crossed threads on lugs like that. Musta been a real genius that pulled that stunt - on all 4 corners? Wow.

:headbang

Nice looking Cruiser!
 
Cross thread = red neck (or insert your favorite un-PC stereo type here) Loc-Tite.

If 11 lug studs have been hammered on with an impact wrench over the years, it's a safe bet the others have as well. Next wrenching day I'd change the rest of the lug studs...a 2 hour fix in the garage can turn into an eternity in the middle of no where.
 
bob91yj said:
Cross thread = red neck (or insert your favorite un-PC stereo type here) Loc-Tite.

If 11 lug studs have been hammered on with an impact wrench over the years, it's a safe bet the others have as well. Next wrenching day I'd change the rest of the lug studs...a 2 hour fix in the garage can turn into an eternity in the middle of no where.
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No kidding. It’s on the preventative maintenance list for the next wrenching day along with a timing belt, water pump, and a few other routine maintenance items. It’s amazing how careless some techs can be, hand thread them first and the torque to spec, pretty elementary Watson!
 
So there I was, all alone on a dark and stormy night. The pass was an insurmountable obstacle of rock and slippery slopes. Just me and my UZJ100. Actually, I was on a trail near my house at noon and I made it to the top just fine. But, as I worked my way up the hill I relied heavily on avoiding the rockier technical sections of the trail. I noticed the engine and transmission were having to work extra hard through the slippery sections. So, I pushed to the edge of the trail and made it to the top. Thus began my search, “What is the best all terrain tire on the market?” After hours of forum searching, research and careful consideration it was clear, BFGoodrich KO2’s were the best tires around.

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I originally went with another brand and found them to lack true performance. After the dismal performance running up the hill I knew I needed better tires. They were so bad I went back to stock wheels and road tires! So when I had the chance to work with BF Goodrich and put these KO2’s on my truck I was stoked! Discount Tire killed it and came through with overnight delivery. My KO2’s were on my porch!

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I loaded them up, ran to Discount Tire and had them mounted in under an hour! The service was unreal. My Landcruiser looked amazing! These things were sick! After admiring my new shoes, it was time to put these tires to the test. Back up the hill I went. I smashed straight through the toughest part of the hill with ease! No slippage, no bouncing, NOTHING! It was bliss.

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Welcome to American Adventurist AND the 100 series club! Hopefully you dont find any other hidden gremlins. Looking forward to seeing your build/thead evolve. :)
If you need technical advice or support with th 100 series, IH8MUD is a great resource. If you ever need to pick my brain, feel free to do so.
 
:lol

Nice looking LC! It's amazing what a good set of rubber will do to a vehicle. Those Hankook's got nothing on those KO2's.
 
Yuman Desert Rat said:
Welcome to American Adventurist AND the 100 series club! Hopefully you dont find any other hidden gremlins. Looking forward to seeing your build/thead evolve. :)
If you need technical advice or support with th 100 series, IH8MUD is a great resource. If you ever need to pick my brain, feel free to do so.
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Thank you. I’ve been lurking around several forums for years. I never thought I’d be in a place to snag a cool adventure vehicle. I’m excited to be here and share what I learn as a build this truck and hit the roads
 
Truck. Check. Brakes. Check. Tires. Check. I’m almost ready to roll. I needed to get some more clearance and better suspension setup to handle the weight of the overall build. I had a connection to piece together a suspension setup from a few different companies. I was worried about piecing it together and having issues with certain components. I finally landed on the Old Man Emu 2.5 inch heavy setup. Ultimately I knew I was going to have a fridge, storage, roof top tent, extended fuel, batteries, etc. I needed a setup to handle the weight without compromising performance.

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I knew the stock setup was legit, but this new setup gave me performance and the look I wanted. This lift, combined with my BFG T/A KO2s is an insane setup. I haven’t felt the need to regear the truck, and still have the acceleration and power I need as my daily driver. Along with the lift, I needed to make a modification to the Method Wheels dust caps. The 100 series land cruiser has a pretty big grease cap on the front axle. The grease cap prevents the Method dust cap from fitting on properly. So, I busted out my Dremel Tool, JB Weld and a sharpie to make my modifications. I started by removing the lip at the base of the dust cap. This allowed me to mount the wheel and slide the dust cap in place.

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After getting the proper placement, I removed the wheel and prepared to attach the dust cap to the wheel. I used some alcohol wipes to clean the inside of the wheel and the dust cap. I applied the JB Weld directly to the wheel and not the cap itself. I set the cap in place and let the compound dry for eight hours before mounting the wheel back on the truck. I quickly ran off to find a trail and test my modifications.

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The best question someone asked me about my build came before I even began building my Land Cruiser. Nate Day (@SomedayAdventure) and his dad asked me, “What do you envision for your truck?” At first I was like, “Something cool, big tires, and off road brah!” They laughed at me, I cried ugly tears, Nate didn’t understand, I just needed him to care. It was a real heart breaking moment

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So then I thought about it. We are a family of four who loves the outdoors, seeks adventure, and wants to see the back roads of the United States. I did not want us to be confined to conventional campgrounds and supermarket stores. I knew I needed to solve three very important components, sleep space, food needs, and overall storage.


Sleep space was an obvious answer, a roof top tent (RTT) is the only choice. The advantages of a RTT over a standard poll tent are numerous; elevation off the ground from animals, setup is substantially faster, four season capability, sleep capacity with a comfortable mattress, and overall “bad-assery!” It also frees up space by not lugging around a conventional tent. Only disadvantage is I’ll have to pack it up every morning to hit the trails. (10 minutes of work at max, so not a big deal to me.)


So, who makes the best RTT for the money? Is Tepui better than CVT? ARB over Smittybuilt? Hard shell over Canvas? For me, I needed my RTT to accomplish the following, super comfortable (major back injury at 14 still haunts me), easy to setup and take down, sleeps four, overall quality/durability, fits my roof and factory load bars, and provides a solid annex space. Also high on my priority list is small business support, cool company/people behind the product, and customer service.

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Ultimately one company stood out for me; Cascadia Vehicle Tents and their Mt. Rainer Extended Stargazer Pioneer paired with their 72 inch awning. This thing checked all the boxes for me. Bobby, the owner of CVT is an American boy with a whole lot of heart and an amazing personality. He answered all my questions, made sure I was getting what my family needed and truly cared about his tents. The tent sleeps 3+ in its 72x96 3 inch memory foam mattress sleeping area. It has an annex with a floor which can handle an extra cot, and provides a great changing/storage area out of the elements. Since having the tent we’ve spent almost 20 days in it. We’ve camped in 24 degrees with rainfall in the mountains to 80 degrees at the beach. It’s held up like a champ and my family loves it.

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Up next... Food!
 
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