Daily Driver Adventure Truck: LS-Swapped 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser
James “Budski” Schmidt’s Cruiser roars through the backcountry with a 5.3-Liter V-8 and much more.0:00 / 0:00
From a distance, this 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser overland build looks like just about any other late-'80s-vintage Land Cruiser set up for overlanding. The classic boxy style of the SUV wears its mild build well without losing its vintage vibe. However, it holds quite a few surprises upon closer inspection. That's exactly what James "Budski" Schmidt was going for.
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James told us, "It's an adventure truck but it also has to be a daily driver. I wanted to keep the traditional look, but with a more powerful and reliable engine." Fact is, the factory straight-six struggled to maintain highway speeds, so swapping in a modern engine and transmission was an obvious choice, but, he said, "I didn't want it to go all the way into a restomod look or cut it up too much."
The 2001 GM LM7 V-8 and matching 4L60E automatic transmission gave the FJ62 all the guts it needed to power down the highway or take on any challenging off-road situations James might encounter. "It gets used as a parts truck for the business (James is a builder for Voodoo Cruisers, a vintage Toyota 4x4 shop), and an off-road adventure vehicle. I built it to be a work truck, but it's also ready to go off-road and be self-sustaining for four to five days."
During the 2021 Four Wheeler Overland Adventure, James' build philosophy paid off. "We had a harmonic balancer go bad and were towed into a NAPA store. The parts were there the next day, we did the swap quickly, and caught back up to the rest of the group later that day. If the Land Cruiser had been running a factory setup, that could have been the end of the trip, but it was just a drive to the parts store."
1988 Toyota Land Cruiser Build Specs
- Stomping grounds: Illinois, Shawnee National Forest
- Build time: 3 years
Drivetrain
- Engine: GM LM7 5.3-liter V-8
- Transmission: 4L60E four-speed auto
- Transfer case: Stock two-speed, twin-stick conversion
- Low range ratio: 2.27:1
- Crawl ratio: 28.5:1
- Front axle/differential: Stock, factory manual locking hubs, 4.11 gears/open
- Rear axle/differential: Stock, 4.11 gears/open
Suspension
- Front: Old Man Emu 2.5-inch-lift leaf springs, extended anti-inversion shackles, Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport shocks
- Rear: Old Man Emu 2.5-inch-lift leaf springs, extended shackles, Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport shocks
Tires/Wheels
- Tires: 35x12.50R15LT Falken Wildpeak M/T
- Wheels: Stock
Miscellaneous
- Steering: Old Man Emu steering stabilizer
- Lighting: 9-inch generic round LED fog lights, eight rock and six rack lights
- Armor: ARB front bumper
- Cool stuff: 300W inverter, Dometic fridge, ARB Touring rear awning and compressor, ROAM side awning, Bowfin Cruisers roof rack, Tepui Kukenam rooftop tent