New to me ... 1999 l/c performance questions

[straycatboat]

I just purchased a lighty used ( 35000 miles ) family owner 1999 LC.
My previous ride was a 1974 fj40.
This vehicle is completely different in ride and power and wouild like to get the members suggestions on how to make some improvements.

First, the handling is clumsy and the vehicle rolls and yaws over bumps and in turns, seems like the suspension is super plush.
I would like to make it more precise with out sacrificing the comfort a lot like on long highway runs.

Second, the engine / transmission is sluggish , needs more ponies. How can I get the engine performance up.. chip, turbo, supercharger?
My other vehicle is a Titan 4 x4 Pickup and it handles and performs much better than the LC/
Help

 

[BobMurphy]

Hi, and welcome to the site.

I have a 2001 100-Series 'VX', 4.2 litre diesel, automatic, with 122,000 miles on the clock. I've not had it long and I'm still learning about it.

I also have a 1998 LWB '90-Series' Colorado, manual gearbox, with the 3.0 litre diesel. It has 135,000 miles on it.

I was expecting the Amazon to have a lot more performance than the Colorado as its got 201 bhp against the Collie's 133 bhp. In practice the Amazon is a slug and is the most disappointing thing I have driven. Its very comfortable though and is so plush inside I won't want to chuck my chainsaws into the back.

The Amazon has the Automatic Height Control (AHC) suspension and I don't notice it rolling. I suspect your earlier model doesn't have that. Both have (I believe) torsion bar front suspension with a live rear axle with coils and trailing control arms.

In your case I would think that up-market shocks would reduce the roll without making the suspension stiffer. If that mileage is correct you shouldn't be needing anti-roll bar bushes and drop links - but I would look at them anyway as modern 'neoprene' bushes will probably tighten it up (different colours = different grades of bush). The replacement bush kits are not expensive and the most difficult bit will be removing the bolts as on both my LCs they were corroded and immovable.

As for performance - remember the Amazon weighs nearly three tons and the 4.2 litre lump is happy to spend its days at 1,800 rpm . I hold it in lower gears when towing a 2.5 ton horse trailer up hills and it will get up to speed eventually, I think I've had it revving to 2,600 rpm a couple of times but I'll never take it to Santa Pod.

I haven't heard of a performance chip but no doubt there is one out there somewhere. This motor has an old-style injection system, No 'common rail' technology here, so chipping it will be more difficult.

The motor already has a turbo and an inter-cooler but these can no doubt be 'tweaked' to give more boost.

I am assuming you have the 4.2 diesel but if you have the 4.7 litre petrol then I guess there are more performance options available to you.

I've come to the conclusion that the thing uses enough fuel as it is (16 mpg with the trailer) and so I'll just live with it the way it is. I'm getting used to it and find that I can keep up with the traffic these days by holding the gears and giving far more right boot than I've been used to. If I need to go faster I'll use one of the Fords or one of my BMW bikes .

Let us have some details of your truck - with pictures - as it sounds like you've got a good buy there.

Good luck with it.

Bob.