Greetings and salutations from Laguna Beach, CA - Newbies

[TRED LYT]

New to Overlanding.
My wife, 6 kids and I live in Southern California, in Laguna Beach.
Have played around with 4x4 exploration for access to camping, hunting, fishing, or great surf trips in Baja California......before it was known as "Overlanding".
We've owned several 4x4 vehicles in the past a still have a couple, but nothing worthy of an OL build.
Put an offer in on a 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser yesterday and hope to have it this coming Friday! Fingers are crossed. We've been looking for a while.
I've been researching and researching and researching. I'm done with that and just want to get out there and do it!
My wife and I will be meeting up with our daughter, who will be flying in from Georgia, at the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, AZ next month. We're super excited to go learn more and to make this trip our maiden voyage.
Do any of you have a suggestion on who I should work with on my Toyota build here in Orange County? I've been looking, but would feel better about a referral to someone reliable, experienced in overland builds, who understands the mechanical side of the FZJ80. I'd prefer an independent as I like to support small business here in our community....the big guys have enough!
Anyway, we're looking forward to meeting up with some of you along the way.
Cheers,
Richard & Lisa Sherman

 

[VCeXpedition]

Welcome and I hope that 'Cruiser comes through and is everything you want. I love mine, I've owned a few and I wouldn't have any other vehicle for this kind of hobby and lifestyle.

There are some shops I've heard of down there, the one I can think of may or may not be in business still, SDTrux or SDTrucks? But they're down in San Diego.
In the OC, there's a lot of folks on this forum that live in that area, seem like most of them go to the dealership but their rigs are newer Tacoma's and 4Runner's.

I think you have the right idea, find someone who knows and has experience working on this car, it is different and if the guy doesn't like them, his work will be less than top notch.

Hope to see you over at OEX, I'm headed back there again this year, I've missed the last couple so I thought it was time again.


Dan.

 

[MrCoffee]

Welcome aboard! You picked a great rig to "stop reading about, start doing" with. Ia m sure you'll find all the help you need here in the forums, plenty of So. Cal. folks who run Land Cruisers (I kinda wish I was one of them!!).

 

[TRED LYT]

Welcome and I hope that 'Cruiser comes through and is everything you want. I love mine, I've owned a few and I wouldn't have any other vehicle for this kind of hobby and lifestyle.

There are some shops I've heard of down there, the one I can think of may or may not be in business still, SDTrux or SDTrucks? But they're down in San Diego.
In the OC, there's a lot of folks on this forum that live in that area, seem like most of them go to the dealership but their rigs are newer Tacoma's and 4Runner's.

I think you have the right idea, find someone who knows and has experience working on this car, it is different and if the guy doesn't like them, his work will be less than top notch.

Hope to see you over at OEX, I'm headed back there again this year, I've missed the last couple so I thought it was time again.


Dan.

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the input. We closed escrow on the Cruiser yesterday! I'm super happy with it so far. I found a small independent shop in Laguna Hills a few days ago. The name of the shop is American Overland Expedition or AOE, owned by a guy named Alex. He says he loves working on FJ and FZJ80's and thinks they're a great choice for this life. We will be at the OL Expo in Flagstaff next month, so I hope to bump into you. If interested in trading contact info, shoot me an email at rsherman@invensure.com and I'll get you my cell phone. We're planning on taking that week off and maybe heading over to the Grand Canyon for a night or two. I hear the North Rim has some great trails. Since I'm a beginner, I'll be looking for a fairly easy route.

I appreciate the input and will be adding to the rig in the next 2 weeks before we head that way. Planning to add ARB Front and Rear Air Lockers, ARB Rooftop Tent, ARB dual air compressor, Goose Gear Drawers, ARB 50qt refrigerator, lighting management system and led surround camp lighting. That should about blow my budget for the next few months!!

 

[VCeXpedition]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the input. We closed escrow on the Cruiser yesterday! I'm super happy with it so far. I found a small independent shop in Laguna Hills a few days ago. The name of the shop is American Overland Expedition or AOE, owned by a guy named Alex. He says he loves working on FJ and FZJ80's and thinks they're a great choice for this life. We will be at the OL Expo in Flagstaff next month, so I hope to bump into you. If interested in trading contact info, shoot me an email at rsherman@invensure.com and I'll get you my cell phone. We're planning on taking that week off and maybe heading over to the Grand Canyon for a night or two. I hear the North Rim has some great trails. Since I'm a beginner, I'll be looking for a fairly easy route.

I appreciate the input and will be adding to the rig in the next 2 weeks before we head that way. Planning to add ARB Front and Rear Air Lockers, ARB Rooftop Tent, ARB dual air compressor, Goose Gear Drawers, ARB 50qt refrigerator, lighting management system and led surround camp lighting. That should about blow my budget for the next few months!!

Good choice of equipment, and WOW! that would blow my budget for a good long time, but you're off to a good start.
Would love to run into you at OEX to see your progress, I'll shoot you an email.
I should be pretty visible over there, I make a point of walking around and especially chatting up other '80 owners.

Dan.

 

[NotGumby]

Welcome Rich, from a Cali transplant in Germany! Sounds like you are off to a good start with your 80. I look forward to reading about your adventures.


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[Rubyredfozzy]

Welcome.

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[PauldF]

Welcome from another SoCal new member!