I purchased a 99 Landcruiser about six months ago. It has been an incredible truck. I have a few questions for those of you who are much more knowledgeable and have more experience with these rigs.
1. What tires are you running after the LTX M/S tires wear out?
2. How much weight have you pulled? Will it handle 4,000-5,000 pounds with relative safety. I understand that it is rated at more weight, but the springs seem very soft...
3. How much mud and water have you driven through without damage? Can it push water with the front bumper without damage to the drivetrain? Are the diff breather tubes routed to a high location?
4. Same question with regard to snow. With good tires, can you push snow up close to the height of the bumper?
5. What type of life have you seen out of shocks, brake pads, rotors, starters, etc.
Lots of questions! It sort of depends on how you drive. Landcruiseres are very heavy and if you drive them hard you will go through brake pads. I need to replace my rotors as they are warped.I am looking to replace the Michellins with the same or I may try the Goodyear MTR as they are a good off road tread and will work on the road. Land cruiseres will go 200 to 250k miles if you due the schedualed maintanence.
Same hear. You need to be a bit more specific in your heading. Not many people are just browsing fourms for "questions that need answers".
That said, I have a 99 LC, just like yours. It is pushing 80K miles and only on 2nd set of tires, with tons of tread wear left on these. Dunlop GranTrek has been working great, but one of my former colleagues hated them (prone to flats).
Yes, the springs are very soft - and therefore the ride is so wonderful (compare to a Tundra or Sequoia...). I pull very easily our boat, 3,000+ lbs, and pulled a pop-up camper for well over 2,000 miles a few years ago. Freeway, gravel roads in the mountains, no problems.
Not sure if these "city vehicles" have the breather tubes or not (on Landrover they were an option and you could pull them as high as you liked). I have not seen the breather tubes on the North American LCs. That said, truck has forded streams up to wheel hubs w/o problems. I guess that'd be underside of bumper.
As for snow, you can drive in "any" depth as long as you don't get stuck with your belly on top of it, loosing traction. Hence, if it is soft and fluffy snow, it can be much higher than your bumper, if packed, "hub deep" can create serious problems (this with my "city" tires).
I drive conservatively and have not yet had do do ANY changes of pads or rotors. Shocks are still fine, but I feel that left rear coil spring is slowly starting to sag and will need to be replaced someday.
If you drive defensively, you can get over 20 mpg on the highway. Otherwise, don't count on getting any better than max. 15 mpg in mixed "suburban" driving.
New member as of a few minutes ago. Just brought home a '99 LC last night from a local dealership - it arrived a couple of days ago as a trade - friend who sells at this dealership alerted me about it and I bought it immediately. One owner & very much babied. I had an '85 FJ60 years ago - it's hard to imagine a more radical departure from the 60 series - I've never experienced luxury like this - but despite that I can't help but appreciate how beautifully engineered it is. I haven't taken time to search this forum for questions I have but two immediate ones are tires and shocks. On the 16" rims is it okay to go up to the bigger 285/75R16 tire? What replacement shocks are recommended for these cruisers? Thanks
New member as of a few minutes ago. Just brought home a '99 LC last night from a local dealership - it arrived a couple of days ago as a trade - friend who sells at this dealership alerted me about it and I bought it immediately. One owner & very much babied. I had an '85 FJ60 years ago - it's hard to imagine a more radical departure from the 60 series - I've never experienced luxury like this - but despite that I can't help but appreciate how beautifully engineered it is. I haven't taken time to search this forum for questions I have but two immediate ones are tires and shocks. On the 16" rims is it okay to go up to the bigger 285/75R16 tire? What replacement shocks are recommended for these cruisers? Thanks
I have 265/75R16's on my 99 LC. They were a lot cheaper than the stock sized tires for me. They were around $95 vs. $200 for Michelins of the stock size. I've had these tires on for 3 years now, and have been very pleased.
I have a '99 that goes through brake pads a little more quickly than my other cars but nothing alarming. I've cruised out of my looong driveway in reverse through 22 inches of snow without having to stop. When I got to the end where the plow had piled up a yard-high bank I just powered through it.
i have a 99 that I'm able to get 16-17mpg on my daily commute of about 18 miles each way. That's driving very conservatively,ie., 60 to 68 mph, roll stop signs and time red lights, ease away from stops, no hard acceleration, no AC, etc. I also removed the rear jump seats. I have never used them and they probably total close to 80 to 100lbs. When you get above 70mph, the mileage really starts dropping( too much wind drag). On long trips I have gotten around 18mpg following the same driving habits. I am skeptical of any claims much above that unless it's in the newer VVT-I equipped cars.
20 mpg is ONLY on "relaxed" long distance drives, keeping it at somewhere north of 60 mph. I would also say it helps when it is a bit cooler outside since the air contains more oxygen, but that is just a "feel" I have.
That said, I do not get this regularly, but HAVE gotten it.
Otherwise, the ONLY "trick" I use is to drive very conservatively, use the inertia in the truck (little braking, slow acceleration) and try to keep the change of speed as "soft" as possible. Hence, if I see a light far ahead, I coast, knowing that the light will likely change before I get there (=no stopping, no acceleration).
Apart from that, mileage in town is NEVER better than 15 mpg. There's a lot of weight to haul around (even with the rear seats out). Who'd buy an SUV with a third row anyway, that what's vans/minivans are for...
When gas was around $1,30, who cared, but now when it is constantly abouve $2.60, the amount of miles out of one tank start to show in the wallet.
Landcruiser Questions
Linear Mode
