I've been to the mountaintop

[PixelMagic]

And my dealer allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen and driven the promised Land (cruiser, FE). I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised Land (cruiser). And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any problems. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Land (cruiser).*

*apologies to Martin Luther King for this paraphrase.

I got to inspect and drive a Land Cruiser FE this morning. WOW! YouTube videos and pictures do not do this marvelous machine justice. My LC FE is in the local port and due for delivery by the 17th of May, hopefully much sooner. I'm so grateful to my dealer for giving me a preview.

Solid look and feel on the road. A beast and a real head turner. Super comfortable. The HUD is great. The video rear view mirror is bright and colorful. The JBL sound system sounded fantastic (and this comes from a Lexus owner with a Mark Levinson sound system). The OEM Michelin LTX tires will handle gentle off roading, but lack mud & snow rating and side wall protection for rock crawling. I'll upgrade when this set wears out.

I was concerned with getting this into my garage with the roof rack on, but my tape measure indicates 78 inches to the top of the roof rack giving me a little over 3 inches to spare.

 

[Teebo]

Great review! Thank you. I can't wait.

 

[Dr. M]

Wonderful. Very kind of your dealer. Nice to hear from a Lexus owner that the LC FE is up to snuff. My 1999 LC was magnificent and I’m due to get my FE in about 2-4 weeks. Can’t wait. Thanks again for the astute observations from your test drive. I’m sure MLK will enjoy your quip from Heaven. He loved nice cars.

 

[MudNGuts]

So great to hear your driving impressions! My dealer in Salt Lake City hopes to have an LC on the lot for a walk-around in about 3 weeks. I doubt I'll get to drive it but seeing one will calm my nerves a bit...

 

[jed clampett]

And my dealer allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen and driven the promised Land (cruiser, FE). I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised Land (cruiser). And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any problems. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Land (cruiser).*

*apologies to Martin Luther King for this paraphrase.

I got to inspect and drive a Land Cruiser FE this morning. WOW! YouTube videos and pictures do not do this marvelous machine justice. My LC FE is in the local port and due for delivery by the 17th of May, hopefully much sooner. I'm so grateful to my dealer for giving me a preview.

Solid look and feel on the road. A beast and a real head turner. Super comfortable. The HUD is great. The video rear view mirror is bright and colorful. The JBL sound system sounded fantastic (and this comes from a Lexus owner with a Mark Levinson sound system). The OEM Michelin LTX tires will handle gentle off roading, but lack mud & snow rating and side wall protection for rock crawling. I'll upgrade when this set wears out.

I was concerned with getting this into my garage with the roof rack on, but my tape measure indicates 78 inches to the top of the roof rack giving me a little over 3 inches to spare.

Thanks for the measurement. I’ve got 80” garage clearance and was worried.

 

[Dr. M]

I would love to know the dimension from the back of the rear cargo to the front of the back seats, both folded down and rolled forward. In other words, what is the maximum length we would have to put an air mattress in the back of the LC? Width would be awesome too! Our 99 Land Cruiser had plenty of room for us to sleep back there. Thanks!!

 

[Uncle_Spike]

I would love to know the dimension from the back of the rear cargo to the front of the back seats, both folded down and rolled forward. In other words, what is the maximum length we would have to put an air mattress in the back of the LC? Width would be awesome too! Our 99 Land Cruiser had plenty of room for us to sleep back there. Thanks!!

Somewhere on here was a link to a member who had gone above and beyond to take pics with all the cargo dimensions. I cant for the life of me find it now though.

 

[Teebo]

Somewhere on here was a link to a member who had gone above and beyond to take pics with all the cargo dimensions. I cant for the life of me find it now though.

These aren't mine, I found them on another forum.

 

[PixelMagic]

I would love to know the dimension from the back of the rear cargo to the front of the back seats, both folded down and rolled forward. In other words, what is the maximum length we would have to put an air mattress in the back of the LC? Width would be awesome too! Our 99 Land Cruiser had plenty of room for us to sleep back there. Thanks!!

Teebo found the same link I was going to give you:
Lexus GX and Land Cruiser Measurements

This site measures a Lexus GX and the Land Cruiser!
Here is the actual address in case the link does not work:
Lexus GX - Steven Tom

Also, Looks like Luno will be developing an air mattress for the LC:
AIR Camping Mattress

 

[Dr. M]

Thanks so much for these photos. Huge help.

 

[qberg]

26" from the seatback to the ceiling is rough. I can sit up inside my 4Runner with the seats folded which is more like 34" of clearance from seatback to ceiling. It was easy enough to car camp in there. I was hoping that I'd be able to build a small platform on the 60% side to lay on and drop my legs down into the open well left by the tumbled 40% seat for a little easier getting dressed and putting on shoes when car camping plus and improvement for ingress/egress. Just a nice thing when it is raining. Definitely will skip out on a moonroof if I decide to get a Land Cruiser.

Sounds like the 6th gen 4Runner has an even lower roofline.

 

[qberg]

Item	5th Gen 4Runner w/ Cargo Deck, JBL, moonroof	Land Cruiser
Cargo floor step	3.5"	4"
Tailgate Opening	32.5" (from deck, add 3.5" if no optional cargo deck)	32" (from cargo floor, unclear in photo?)
Cargo width (max)	58"	50"
Cargo width (fenders)	43"	43"
Cargo length (to seal)	42"	47"
Cargo length (to seat bottom)	69"	68" (tumbled seat)
Cargo length (to 1st row seat back)	80" (must remove seat bottom and lean front seat forward to get this number)	78" (seat back laid flat)
Cargo height	36" (add 3.5" if no optional cargo deck)	36"
Seatback to moonroof bulge in headliner	32"	27"
2nd row floor to moonroof bulge in headliner	39"	39"

So, overall, the Land Cruiser cargo space is pretty comparable to the 5th gen with sliding cargo deck. It really seems to win on length due to the way that the seats can tumble, but 5th gen 4Runner wins for height.

 

[DctrEvil]

This info is really helpful! Does anyone know if the rear sets create a flat surface when folded down? Or are they slightly angled up from back to front. Looking to design a shallow 4-5" tall sliding drawer/sleeping platform and trying to decide if it can stop at the lip at the back of the folded seats or needs to be a little taller to go all the way to the backs of the front seats and create a completely flat/level surface.

 

[qberg]

This info is really helpful! Does anyone know if the rear sets create a flat surface when folded down? Or are they slightly angled up from back to front. Looking to design a shallow 4-5" tall sliding drawer/sleeping platform and trying to decide if it can stop at the lip at the back of the folded seats or needs to be a little taller to go all the way to the backs of the front seats and create a completely flat/level surface.

It has some incline to it.

 

[Trailman]

This info is really helpful! Does anyone know if the rear sets create a flat surface when folded down? Or are they slightly angled up from back to front. Looking to design a shallow 4-5" tall sliding drawer/sleeping platform and trying to decide if it can stop at the lip at the back of the folded seats or needs to be a little taller to go all the way to the backs of the front seats and create a completely flat/level surface.

Check out the car camping video posted in a different thread. She shows what it looks like with an inflatable foam mattress in the back and talks about the comfort.