Took it off-roading..:it’s in the shop

Hi guys. I’ve had my LC for 5 weeks and have gone on medium and easy dirt trails mostly since I’m an OR noob. On Saturday I went to a day class at the Pismo dunes. Such a fun day—see pics. However, near the end I got an engine light on, leaking coolant and several other errors. I had to drop it at the local dealer and rent a car to get home.

My guess is that because we had to air down to ~8 psi the little clearance of the LC was reduced even further. Then to get up dunes I had to gun it, which means that if there was a rough spot at the bottom it rammed into the skid plate before heading uphill. It looks like this happened enough that it bent and must have munched the radiator. I’ll post what I hear back from dealer.

Also the little cover for the hitch fell off right away…

I’m on 20” wheels and the stock LC
tires. Would switching to 18” wheels and bigger tires help a lot?
That radiator runs sooo low. They tried to keep everything center and by doing so they had to make it tall. This will be one issue the off-road community will have to take into account. Will need better skids for sure.
 
Here’s a video comparison of skid plates

I am not sure if posting in the correct place. I remover the stock road tires and put the All Terrain tires on for mud and snow and bad weather. It lives on a ranch. I crossed the Sahara in 1972 in Land Rovers in those days and we did not go chasing up dunes. WE did carry sand ladders however for the bad roads and we used those more often than not in the Sahara. Land Cruisers go anywhere however only Camels go up Sand Dunes. Even better AT tires and sand ladders won't help much when. you try to break your car.
 
Just got the damage report. Radiator toast, AC toast, bent mangled bottom and some frame disconnect. $7,000 is the current estimate. Given that this was sand (albeit hardpacked at the bottom of the dunes), I would advise others to tread lightly with their LCs. I am trying insurance but this is more of a longshot that anything.
 
😮😮😮
Yikes!!!

I'm wondering how much the FE skid plate would help if any in this situation.
the front coverage is quite similar
 
Just got the damage report. Radiator toast, AC toast, bent mangled bottom and some frame disconnect. $7,000 is the current estimate. Given that this was sand (albeit hardpacked at the bottom of the dunes), I would advise others to tread lightly with their LCs. I am trying insurance but this is more of a longshot that anything.
Welcome to the off road community.
 
Addition of the upgraded skid plates was the first mod on our Base LC. I had the dealer order and put them on prior to us taking delivery. Thanks to this forum I was alerted to the need for these. Front was $400, Transmission plate was $435, Install $130. $970 total. (You need both plates) Our dealer offered accessories to new vehicle purchasers at 20% off retail. The stock skid plates are pretty wimpy in comparison to previous land cruisers I have owned. I was disappointed good plates aren’t standard. Otherwise we really like the LC. But we are only 250 miles in…
 
So sorry about the accident and damage. 90% of stock vehicles would have sustained the same damage. Not LC specific. Sand, especially dunes really shouldn’t be taken at speed in any stock vehicle without proper scouting. It is impossible to judge approach angle, and anything over 15mph will act like a solid surface. Chances are there isn’t a skid plate that corrects this
 
Hopefully an easy (inexpensive) repair. At least you now have your first LC story!
 
😮😮😮
Yikes!!!

I'm wondering how much the FE skid plate would help if any in this situation.
the front coverage is quite similar
This is my fear as well. Front skid plate mounts to the lower part of the radiator support. That energy is going to be transmitted to lower part of the radiator. A thicker skid plate should help.. I am curious to see what the after market comes up with, this has been well documented in the videos on this thread and the OP. The LC was designed with a very low center radiator.
 
You will definitely need some better skid plates. Dissent off road takes their 1958 through tough trails. They haven’t damaged anything but it is customized. If the right gear is added the vehicle should be ok.
 
Here is a good video showing the front design with the factory skid plates. Even with the FE skid plate the radiator is still low.. in the video he suggest to make a skip plate that ties into the front recover points and reinforced back to the main cross member.

Start at 13:00

 
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