Im in trouble

[ddog45]

So last fall I sold my mildly built super capable 2005 lj rubicon with 50,000 miles and bought a 99 100 series. Well long story short I went to Moab a few weeks ago and was not really impressed with the landcruiser. Sure the jeep was built up and had everything and all the landcruiser has is a lift and sliders but can I ever make my 100 series anywhere near as nimble offroad as the jeep?
The buyer of the jeep just told me today the jeep may be for sale in the near future.
How much would I really have to spend to make the landcruiser trail worthy? I used to walk up anything in the jeep and now in the cruiser I am leary of its abilities. Do I sink money into the landcruiser or start over with something else? Money is an issue the landcruiser was cheap compared to the jeep and the v8 motor is great. I have two kids and an adventure trailer that go to the hills everychance we get.
Lets hear it folks what should I do?

 

[2000UZJ]

What have you done with the 100? If it's stock then yes, I can see why you are complaining coming from a Rubi. The 100 will never play with the Rubi's on the rocks. If that is what you are after, you have bought the wrong rig. Don't get me wrong, the 100 can play on the rocks. But it's by no means going to blow your socks off...then again your rocks are different than our rocks.

 

[ddog45]

I have not done much with the 100 yet. Sliders, IBS dual battery setup, drawers, and a homebrew fridge slide and a slee lift. We go to Moab once a year for a week and then other than that it is almost all Colorado wheeling pulling the trailer. Now that the jeep is gone I realize what a sweet offroad machine it was but as for traveling and picking up kids from school it sucked. I love the reliability and comfort of the toyota. It also helps that I live 40 minutes from Slee Offroad.
The plan for this years mods are slee rear bumper and front arb locker.

 

[2000UZJ]

I have not done much with the 100 yet. Sliders, IBS dual battery setup, drawers, and a homebrew fridge slide and a slee lift. We go to Moab once a year for a week and then other than that it is almost all Colorado wheeling pulling the trailer. Now that the jeep is gone I realize what a sweet offroad machine it was but as for traveling and picking up kids from school it sucked. I love the reliability and comfort of the toyota. It also helps that I live 40 minutes from Slee Offroad.
The plan for this years mods are slee rear bumper and front arb locker.

Front and Rear bumpers would certainly help with attack angles, but there is very little you can do with the suspension on the front. A locker is going to be the biggest helper with the short falls of the IFS. You just cannot get the 100 up high enough to really clear large obstacles. Jeeps are fabulous for serious wheeling. Why not buy a older Jeep and run that on the rocks? Tow it with the 100. Build the 100 for mild trips and family outings

 

[car-car]

And what was done to the somewhat built Rubi? Tires, gearing, lockers? All those things make a huge difference. The 100 will never be as nimble as the Jeep though. Its a much bigger vehicle. An ARB locker up front will help out a ton.

I would definitely go see Slee and talk with them. If anyone knows Cruisers, its them.

 

[gearguywb]

It is always a compromise. The Rubi is super capable off road. The 100 shines on road (in stock configuration). You can certainly make the 100 much more trail worthy with some upgrades. Will it match the Rubi...probably not. It is a much bigger and more powerful vehicle. Will the 100 far outperform the Rubi in life expectancy, comfort, power, etc? Absolutely!

What else can you drive to pick up the kids, tow the trailer down the highway at 75 mph (in total comfort), then take on some pretty tough trails?

 

[mph]

sounds like you have a perfect setup to me...An adventure trailer with a LC. I am not sure where you play in Colorado but I pull my e1 popup with my 99 all over the place. Is there a perfect vehicle; probably note. However, for general exploration in the west; I think it is perfect.

The good news...I think you could some pretty good money for your 99

 

[jeffjeeptj]

I had a 2002 TJ Sport w/3.73 D44 rear, mild lift, and 33s. Now have a 2005 LJ Rubi, mild lift, 33s, and tow the same 5X8 cargo trailer modded into a sleeper with kayaks on top of the trailer. Wife has a 2003 4.7 Sequoia. I do not think the Sequoia can ever be as capable or nimble as the Rubi, but as the prior poster said, full comfort, 75MPH, quiet, pulls trailer well, hauls a lot more stuff. Golden retriever fits better too.
I wish I had kept the TJ and put in lockers. I do like the extra length of the LJ, but I've had more trouble in the 12K miles I've owned the Rubi, than during the 80K I put on the TJ. This trouble is not due to mods or wheeling. Some electrical gremlins, stuck rear caliper piston, the OPDA saga, and the 2nd gear syncro issue.
I have given much thought to selling the LJ and buying an 80 or 100 Land Cruiser. I have no decision yet.
As you and your kids grow/get older is comfortable family time better than a nimble Jeep?

 

[ddog45]

You all have great points. Thanks, like many have said its tough to have the perfect rig. I had lockers, winch, bumpers and adjustable everything on the jeep and it just wast a very good traveling rig. The 100 series cruiser is awsome on road and really will probably be just fine on most of the trails I do. I could always rent a jeep in moab and go play on the rocks if I really felt the need.
If money were not an issue I would have Christo put a solid axel under my rig and would probably never look back.

 

[F5driver]

I've had my 100 for a month or so and finally hit some trails today. Obstacles my Jeep would tackle in 2wd the 100 had difficulty in 4wd. But once I hit the LOCKERS it made a world of difference. It will never be a Jeep but for most of my offroad travels the 100 will do. To be fair he Jeep sits on 35 KM2's which and the 100 is on 33' AT's.

 

[4Rescue]

Swap the 100's V8 into an 80, throw some Volvo Portals under it, Get some tall-skinny TSL's and LAUGH at how much better it is then ANY jeep ever made. The 100 is 1000X better then the JK-Rubi as an all-arounder, but it's never gonna be comparable to a Locked Rubi in the Rocks (as has been said) It can do some amazing things, won't break down (like a Jeep) and do it all in style and comfort, but again, the Rubi off the lot is pretty hard to touch in terms of factory equiped rigs. The 80 on the other hand is kind of like a combination of the two and with my aforementioned mods Can't be beat by a Jeep IMO. An LJ Rubicon IMO is the best Jeep ever made (not a huge fan of alot of things about the JK, the LJ OTOH is an AWESOME platform but still nowhere near the all-arounder that an 80 or 100 is.

Your money my views so you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

Cheers

Dave

 

[DiscoveryXD]

Your comparing a small Jeep to a tank of a Cruiser. How can you expect the same performance? They are two completely different vehicles.

My dad has a Rubicon, and I feel like a chihuahua would be cramped in the back of that thing!

 

[ScottyDog]

I've been in both worlds myself... I currently have an FZJ80 lifted and 3x locked w/33's and think for the tank of vehicle its a pretty damn good offroad rig, however prior to this I had a modded Jeep XJ with 4.5" lift, locked with armor.. However that thing was nimble like a billy goat, but alot of that was due to weight and dimensions... Trying to compare a Jeep to Land Cruiser (unless your comparing it to an FJ40) is like comparing apples to oranges...

I would bash the crap out of my XJ but over a period of time it just got really worn, the dash and interior started to fall apart and it squeeked and squeeled all the time, not to mention every time I hit bumps or pot holes I swear another bolt or nut would show up on the floorboard..also the build quality between the 2 vehicles is widely different.. 230k on my landcruiser and it still runs pretty good with no vibes or anything sounding loose, well other than my rear view mirrors...

My $0.02

Scott

My buddy's 2000 Hundy at Truckhaven (Open/Open).. Nothing extremely crazy, but he made it all thru that twisty up and down trails at Truckhaven Hills..

 

[sleeoffroad]

Needs vs Wants. Do you need to drive up that trail, or do you want to? 100 is not going to be a rock crawler, but can hold it's own on some semi rough trails. Just did Porcupine Rim in Moab with a lot of 100's. They did well, but we all pretty much set up with lockers etc etc. but I would not like to be doing more hardcore stuff routinely with the 100. I say bay a 4 seat Polaris RZR for the adrenaline challenge, then get a camping trailer with a pop-up & toy hauler section and drag that with you. You will have bundles of fun.

 

[ddog45]

And Christo wins, needs verses wants.... I think I will make the hundy a little tougher with a rear bumper and a front locker. I bought it at a good enough price that if I wear it out Im not out that much cash.
In the past ten years I have owned these trucks so all in all I have had a good test group.
1969 commando
toyota r22 two wheel drive
2001 tacoma trd
1972 blazer
2005 gmc hd 2500
2005 jeep lj rubicon
1999 100 series
All of these trucks were in good working order I liked the rubicon best on trails and the tacoma best for traveling. With life and wife changes truck changes came about and thats how I ended up in a landcruiser. Not to mention Christo built my brother in law a bad *** power house 80 series.