Bought: 2000 Land Cruiser

[bamachem]

Today, I pulled the OEM mechanical fan and shroud and installed the electric fan with variable speed controller.

So far, it's much quieter. Can't really tell any difference on the road. I'm going to be driving about 1000-miles this week for work, so I'll have some good checks on MPG. I made the same trip this past week. We'll see if there's any difference.

One thing I did notice is that if idling, it will take a good 10-min for the truck to build up enough heat to kick the fan on. The radiator stays cool for at least 6-7 minutes with no sensible heat at all. Once the fan does cut on, it does so at a low speed - just enough to keep temps in check.

Also installed today was a set of DDM 55W HID lights, 4500K color. I got them with the relay/harness and installation was a breeze. The oem reflectors in the Hundy's have a great low-beam cutoff, and so using HID's in the stock housings isn't an issue.

Light output is amazing. The 55W HID has around 5X the lumens as a 55W Halogen. I'll get pics of the beam, etc up later this week.

[Cebby]

Hurry up and finish this one so you can sell it to me.

[bamachem]

har. har. Funny man...

I'm trying to decide now if I want to keep the bumper I built or just stay w/ the OEM tupperware and add a TJM nudge bar - painted to match, of course.

The reason is two-fold. I don't offroad anymore. Ever. A steel bumper is primarily for front-end collision protection and offers a secondary means of mounting some aux lights. However, I now use the truck for work a LOT, so a more "professional" look is desired...

[bamachem]

Resotred and Refinished my Leather Seats

[bamachem]

I have developed huge CRACKS in the tread shoulder where the tread meets the sidewall in all 4 of my Zeon LTZ's. Pics will be posted soon... NOT GOOD! 1.5 years old and about 34,000 miles. Still have 6/32 of the original 14/32 of tread left too!

I got in the Hundy last night to go to the store - it's been sitting there since Friday afternoon. Anyway, had a flat. No biggie - probably picked up a nail in the tread. Aired it up and went 1.5-miles to the store. Came out in 3-min to find the tire half-flat. OH SCHIDT! Booked it home and the tire went flat as I turned in the neighborhood. Limped it home and changed it out w/ the spare in the garage.

It has HUGE cracks along the tread, both inside and outside edges. Cracks are in ALL FOUR tires!

I called Cooper and got a Customer Service Rep on the phone and then emailed them the pics. Cooper Zeons have a "premium" warranty for the life of the tire on defects. They will give me a new set 100% free, or I can get an adjustment/credit from the MSRP of these tires towards another set of Coopers.

Here's the pics... Not so sure I want another set of these - even though they have been wearing VERY well with no issues until now.







I've been on the phone with "Julie" at Cooper Customer Relations and dealing with my local Cooper retailer over the counter. Here's what they're going to do.

Cooper has a national back order on both the 285/60/18 and the 275/70/18. However, they retain a small stock in their DC's for warranty adjustments, etc. They are going to ship a set to my local retailer for installation via UPS for delivery on Wednesday.

They will pay for 100% replacement on all 4 tires as they are covered under their "Premium" Warranty, whatever that is. Mounting and Balancing is also covered. Zero cost to me for the swap.

However, I am going to bump up to LT 275/70/18 this time and I will have to pay the difference in the cost of the tire (about $50 each) and they simply won't cover this upgrade no matter how much I complained about the safety, inconvenience, etc.

In all, I will have a new set of tires and out of pocket around $200.

Even though the crackes caused me some worry, I'm actually pretty happy with the outcome - as long as all goes smoothly.

I have to say that I have been extremely pleased with these tires up to now. Very smooth ride, quiet, and wear like steel. These have 34K on them and have ~ 43% of the original tread (6/32" vs 14/32 new). The LT's will have 16/32" of tread depth. Hopefully they won't have any issues.

I did a google search for "Zeon LTZ Cracking" and only found one reference on an F150 forum. He has 35k on them with 5/32" remaining tread, just like these. Maybe it was a bad batch of rubber? Weird, that's for sure.

In all, I would have to give Cooper a thumbs-up on handling this warranty though. Zero cost replacements on 60% worn tires is standing behind your product - as they should in a case like this!

[bamachem]

new tires will be in tomorrow afternoon...

In the meantime - Sold the LX steering wheel last night on eBay for $495. I just couldn't ever get used to the wood surfaces for driving. I've just had leather under my palms for too long.

I chatted with Don at Dallas Custom Steering Wheel yesterday for a replacement OEM lether-covered wheel @ $269. I know I'm getting the extra padding (1/16" thick for an extra $30 - makes the wheel slightly thicker), but I'm trying to decide if I want the German stitching (extra $30) and the perforations at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock (extra $75) like the OEM leather had. I'm going to get one of his "core charge" wheels covered and then send my original back to him afterwards, so this should go quick. I expect to have the wheel by Monday or Tuesday of next week as it's only two business days from payment to shipment on non-perforated leathers.

************************************************** **************

New wheel was ordered today. I'm going with the original Oak Leather with extra padding and a Mahogany Basting Stitch (german).

Here's a pic of the leather. The thread I'm getting is the one on the right - in the BMW zig/zag pattern instead of the "baseball stitch".

[bamachem]

New tires going on today. Here's some pics comparing the 285/60/18 Zeons with 6/32" of remaining tread versus new 275/70/18 with 16/32" of tread.





31.48" to 33.15" when comparing new to new. The used tires have lost another 0.6" in overall diameter on top of that.

The price was not quite the $200 I was expecting... The shop is charging me $74/tire for the difference in sizing. Comes out to $323 with tax.

But wait, that's not all...

When removing the Driver-Rear wheel, THREE of the 5 lugs were cross-threaded from the last tire monkey that did a rotation for me.

One Toyota dealer has 1 stud and 3 nuts and the other Toyota dealer across town has 2 studs and 1 nut. Either way, to get at least 2 of the broken studs replaced, then they have to go to BOTH dealerships for the parts, so the tire shop is going to go ahead and replace 3. Since this shop wasn't the one who did the last tire rotation, then the cost is going to be tacked on to the bill. At $4.89 per stud and $12.79 per lug nut, all the driving around to pick up parts, and then the labor to pull the rear drum/rotor and R&R the studs, it's going to add another $100-$150 easily to that tab.

In all, I expected to spend around $475-$500, but a BIG part of that are the stupid cross-threaded lugs.

At any rate, a LT 33" set of tires for 18" wheels out the door including mounting and road-force balancing on a Hunter 9700 for that price is good enough for me considering that I would normally be out $1200 for all this...

[bamachem]

Just picked it up. $430 and change was the total damage. About $95 of that just for the studs.

Verdict: WELL worth it.

The ride is superb. These are as quiet as I remember my old Michelin LTX's to be. I was expecting a STIFF ride with the Load Range E rating, but I am PLEASANTLY surprised that the ride feels very plush - maybe due to the increased sidewall height. I don't feel any appreciable power loss, and the rubber FINALLY fills up the fenderwells the way it's supposed to.

These are 33.1" tall tires on a NON-LIFTED cruiser. Amazing that they come with puny 30" michlins from the factory when this looks SO much better!

I'm ecstatic with them on the drive back from the tire shop, I'm very pleased with how Cooper handled this, and will know more about differences/performance after going hunting in north Mississippi in the coming weeks.



Sandwiched between the boss' Sequoia and a Scheduler's GS350

[4x4mike]

Looks nice even if you were out $500.

[Crinale]

definitely looks good. and you would have had to do the studs either way, so $323 for $1200 tires is a pretty damn good deal