Hi i have a Land cruiser Kzj95 its standard at the moment but with full roof rack and rear spot light, BFG ATs all round, I'm looking to go on a long trim 6 ,months to a year around Germany and sweden, ill be on my own and would like a list of mods/work i would do to the LC before i go,I'm going to take out all the rear seats and build a sleeping platform and storage…also ill be driving up to northern sweden in the winter so would like to know what i can do to the LC for there very cold winter, thanks matt
So driving in northern Sweden in winter you can expect to hit some VERY low temperatures.....the lowest we got was -41C/-41F in Karasjok (where they test new models by the way). You will need some form of block heater OR will have to leave the engine running all night. The Swedes mostly use electrical hook-up for this. However, I used a Webasto tied into the engine coolant circuit: these are noisy. Most of the roads north of the arctic circle are left iced....to protect the surface. I used MTs and drove over 2000 miles on ice without problems (bit slippy at times). Locals use studded tyres and will race past ordinary tyres.
At those sorts of temperatures oil goes almost solid (even 5W30), diesel gets very waxy even when treated (local garages all have winter mix so fill up when you can as you go north to make sure you are using winter mix and not anything else. Even with an engine block heater the oils in diffs/gearbox etc go so stiff that it feels like the handbrake is one until things get warmed up.
Other issues I had included: iced up brake disks (couldn't stop on first application of brakes in the morning), windscreen heater unable to keep ice off the screen, wipers flopping around with a ball of ice on the end as the chill factor made even the best local screen wash turn to ice (neat). As per the above post pay special attention to vehicle insulation.
If you're camping (as I did) you will need some serious arctic gear - if you're going in cabins then very few are open in the far north in Winter. Many areas outside of the towns are remote and spaced out - consider what you will do if you break down or skid off the road (common).
Investigate arctic equipment for your vehicle with Toyota/here.....I drove up in a Defender 110 and had to add a heater element to the crankcase breather pipe.....for example.
Diesels don't generate much heat and the engine may struggle to heat AND create enough energy to warm the cabin too....particularly if you're crawling along in fog/ice storm etc.....I tried a rad-muff and it was next to useless. You could try heater screen washer jets as after market.
My trip was to Nordkapp and back via Sweden, Finland and Baltic coast in Jan/Feb. Stunning scenery and I'd definitely do it again even with the driving challenges