2014 Land Cruiser 200 Series - Executor

Doug

Doug

Adventurist
Senior Staff
Founding Member
It’s amazing how life changes plans for you. I thought we were two years away from retirement when my wife decided to go back to work. After much discussion we agreed she’d take the new job and commit to 5-10 years. I strongly considered retiring anyway but that wasn’t well received. With two kids in college this fall, it’s a bit risky too. So I switched jobs in January and signed a five year contract myself.

My little 4Runner just wasn’t big enough or nice enough for my needs at the new job so I started looking for other options. Land Cruisers are hard to come by in Southern California. When good examples at good prices do appear, they are purchased within hours, sometimes flipped for a significant profit. It’s quite frustrating.

Two or three months ago, I saw one advertised on that other (evil empire) site. It was in Oklahoma but was priced fair. Upon further reading, it already had a BP-51 suspension done, ARB front bumper, Slee sliders, and Tundra TRD wheels. I PM’d the guy and an hour later put down a deposit. I arranged to fly in to OKC, he picked me up and an hour later I was headed west on I40.

It’s an amazing machine the way it was when I bought it, a great starting point for a build that replaces my 4Runner and could even replace my XPCamper, but that’s a decision for the future. First I needed to get to this build to see how well it fits our new plans to go back to part time camping rather than full time adventure. So on to the build...
 
You will have a lot of fun with your new ride. Did you get the awning mount figured out?
 
With Desert Rendezvous right around the corner, I needed to move fast to install power and a larger battery. I’ve done electrical work in the past and I am capable but it’s not my favorite thing to do, especially pulling all the plastic panels and getting them out back. I always cuss a lot and break little important bits. To avoid that frustration, I drove to Santee and went to the movies while @Mitch from Adventure Wired handled it.

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We removed the rear seats to get better access for the power and USB ports he installed. Mitch also installed a rear door exit button and handle for use if we choose to sleep in the back at some point.

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I knew I wanted a Maggiolina RTT so I ordered one in time to bolt it down the the roof rack before going to Desert Rendezvous. Wow, what a pain it was to reach the bolt on the bottom of the RTT between the factory roof rack and the tent. Holding the bolt down to keep it from spinning was nearly impossible. We resorted to sort of prying it downward witha drumstick. I finally broke down and bought ratcheting wrenches but it still took two hours to tighten eight bolts. This was unacceptable. The tent worked fine at DRV but living in the desert I needed an awning and an easier way to remove the tent.
 
After researching roof rack options, none seemed to make it convenient to remove the RTT plus mount an awning on the side. Besides, a rack that is covered 100% is not much use really. I discovered Thule aero bars have a channel in the top that can be used for mounting, utilizing T-bolts. The Cruiser came with Thule aero bars but I need more length so I bought the ones that stick out a little bit past the stock roof rack.

This served two purposes. I can mount the awning using the T-slot but even more important, the feet of these bars can be unlocked and loosened from the side. This allowed me to build the entire bar/awning/tent on the ground with the tent leaned against the garage. It was a little more awkward to lift onto the roof but once it was up there, I could tighten four Allen bolts and the whole thing is secure!

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I’m exploring plans for either a davit arm or gantry crane to lift the roof assembly off to put on a rolling cart. If I could drive into my garage I would just install a hoist but I have to be able to get in there first.
 
Looks like it's new carport time with a 9' ceiling height, although a rolling gantry is a lot more cost effective and no permits.
 
Looking good Doug!

One of the reasons that our Maggie hasn't ended up on top of one of our rides is the simple fact that the hoist is inside the garage and we can't pull either car out of the garage with the Maggie mounted on top. This arrangement worked great when we had that RTT mounted low over the bed of Fafhrd, not so much now. Why the hell didn't I put in 1 8' door when I was building this garage!
 
Doug said:
I’m exploring plans for either a davit arm or gantry crane to lift the roof assembly off to put on a rolling cart. If I could drive into my garage I would just install a hoist but I have to be able to get in there first.
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It's all about entry speed, if you get going fast enough you can get it through the door...literally!:cool: then it's all about the ABS to get it stopped before you make a new entry door on the back side of the garage. YMMV.

Nice truck, I liked your 4Runner as well. All of your vehicles seem to have some thought process applied prior to opening the check book!
 
Doug said:
After researching roof rack options, none seemed to make it convenient to remove the RTT plus mount an awning on the side. Besides, a rack that is covered 100% is not much use really. I discovered Thule aero bars have a channel in the top that can be used for mounting, utilizing T-bolts. The Cruiser came with Thule aero bars but I need more length so I bought the ones that stick out a little bit past the stock roof rack.

This served two purposes. I can mount the awning using the T-slot but even more important, the feet of these bars can be unlocked and loosened from the side. This allowed me to build the entire bar/awning/tent on the ground with the tent leaned against the garage. It was a little more awkward to lift onto the roof but once it was up there, I could tighten four Allen bolts and the whole thing is secure!

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The XP Camper looks like "Wilson" peeking over the fence... "HOWDY HO, NEIGHBOR"
 
We made a quick run to NorCal this weekend to have Trekboxx drawers installed. We’ve only camped once, on the way home, but the fitment and quality are top notch. These bolt into the stock rear seat locations and do not touch anywhere else.

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Cantilevered rack to hold the stove or extra table, installs with thumbscrews
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Action shot!
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Nice spot along the Carson River
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And I came up with a rig name, Executor, Darth Vader’s personal flagship, and swapped the plate from my old 4Runner
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Does this make my butt look big?

Dual swing outs, space for two jerry cans, a six pound propane tank, bike rack, and a hi-lift mount. I’ll post another pic when it’s got everything attached, which will be rare but possible. Perhaps I’ll load it out completely just for fun for MRV, even though I’ll be mostly hanging out in camp.

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No, but (pun intended) it does remind me of a Brazillian cutie on Ipanema? great looking 200 series
 
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