An Off-road Car Modification: 1997 Toyota Landcuiser

An off-roading enthusiast from Bangalore shared his experience in modifying his 1997 Toyota Landcruiser which he bought from someone he knew in 2012. The Landcruiser was in a state of neglected, so he decided to purchase it and do some modifications. It is fortunate that he got some help from Toyota, not to mention that his father had an important position in Toyota as Head of Service before he retired. Through his father, he got an excellent background about cars and its modification and spare parts.
Using his knowledge about cars, he planned to change the neglected beauty of Landcruiser into an amazing off-road car. Looking at the car when he first saw it, it had 4.2 L 6 Cylinder diesel and manual FIP imported from Japan with original VIN plates. To make the 1997 Toyota Landcruiser had its glory again, he did some significant changes which seems easy for him since he had a background knowledge of Hummer and Toyota.

The first thing he did to modify the car was by conducting the engine overhaul. Then he decided to change the midnight color of the car into a pearl white. He thought that the previous color had many scrapes and the car did not care very well for the last 14 years in the hands of its previous owner. He then installed a 6” Iron Man lift kit with the heaviest springs and foam shocks, castor plates, sway bar extensions and adjustable upper and lower arms with front and rear pan hard bars, etc. He also decided to change the type of tires and other significance interiors for the Landcruiser. Overall, he have done major modification to make the Landcruiser looks better and amazing on and off road.
Since the last time this post made by the Landcruiser’s current owner, he informed that his modification is not done yet. He still looks for some spare parts that do not available in India, that is 33” or 36” Yokohama Geolandar AT typical 315/75R16.

An Off-road Car Review: 1997 Land Rover Defender 90

The 1997 Land Rover Defender can be categorized as a rugged sport-utility car that used all over the world. There are some considerations that the LR Defender 90 is the last of the real Land Rovers with its solid axles and short wheelbase intact, not to mention that the Defender 90 is a great performance for the off-road enthusiasts. The Defender 90 features 3-inch lift, the skinny LT255/85R16 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM2 Tires to provide the off-roaders’ needs. Since the Defender 90 designed to provide the off-roaders’ needs, it has a reliable performance when it comes to rocky, bumpy, and muddy roads.
The 1997 Land Rover Defender 90 has a rubber floor mats and the seats’ covering are designed as washable fabrics. The 1997 version of Land Rover went through some upgrades, especially in engine. The 1997 models upgraded and cleaner-burning 4.0L V-8. The engine type yields 182 horsepower and 233 lb-ft of torque. Another new thing happens to the 1997 models is ZF four-speed automatic transmission which operated automatically and factory full-time 2-spd transfer case. The air conditioning for the Defender 90 is improved very well than the previous Land Rover models. It also loaded with a six-disc player, and also a brand new center console with an instrument cluster that operated automatically.
For the standard brakes, the Defender 90 has four-wheel discs along with four brake-piston calipers in front and two piston calipers in rear. The Defender 90 can be proven as a safe off-road car with its good three-point seat belts/shoulder harshness that can be used when the car went through a very challenging track on the way. However, the car has a disturbing high level noise. Even so, the noise is an understandable since the Defender 90 is a truck along with its high level noise. But overall, the car is recommended for the off-road enthusiasts since the design and the specs are perfectly compatible with off-road tracks.