G'day from W.A.

[Handyman]

Greetings from the land of Oz. My name is Chris, and I am a recovering Chrysler Valiant addict. That was years ago, though...

Just bought my first Land Cruiser 4 weeks ago. Had a couple of early 90's Camrys before, one had over half a million on the clock, and a couple of TCR11 Taragos, one of them also had over half a million km's. So I have grown to respect Toyotas.

Moved to a rather wet area of the state recently, Manjimup, and with all the rain we have been having on the clay soil, the Magna and Micra are both having trouble getting up the hill to leave the property. Decided it was time for a 4WD, and needing a decent towing capacity too, it had to be a Land Cruiser.

2 days after deciding that, the missus and I drove 240km to check out one advertised for $6700. Had a bit of a look over it, cleaned out the savings, and bought it for $5500.

Hair raising drive home, front end and steering box were badly worn, but managed to keep it on the road. Have since found a few more things wrong with it, too many to list, but we will just chip away at it...

It's licensed for LPG, but has been disconnected, looks like it has a lift kit, front locker fitted (wires disconnected), and freewheeling hubs for some strange reason that I can't really fathom. Being a newbie, I disengaged them for the drive home, put it in reverse, and went nowhere. Seller came out and said I needed to engage the centre diff with them disengaged, I began wondering if something was seriously stuffed, until I researched a little more and found out these are full time 4WD normally.

Have replaced the power steering pump and tie rod ends, adjusted the steering box, and working on the front hub assemblies at the moment.

I don't really have much 4WDing experience, did grow up on a farm and have done plenty of 2WD off-roading though. My 18yo son is the 4WD nut, 80 series are his favorite, but he's saving up for one so he doesn't have to buy a fixer-upper like mine. Smart kid.

I do have an unlicensed 1993 Holden Jackaroo SWB (Isuzu Trooper) V6 that I could not get to go properly, so I made a manifold adapter and fitted a 600 Holley, and it actually runs. I could not believe it! Prefers high revs though, as you might imagine... we have had some fun in that little beasty.

Appreciate the forum, it's nice to have the knowledge base and the ability to communicate with people who appreciate good quality machinery. Keep up the good work.

 

[bones]

Hello and welcome. So you live in whoop whoop then. I use to live in W.A , north of the river though, have only been down that neck of the woods once on the way to Albany back in the 80's

 

[chapel gate]

nice write up. you got the first and last land cruiser you will ever need.

what i gather from oz prices that was pretty cheap, so i would expect some catch up work.
base line it, and you wont be disappointed.

 

[Handyman]

Hello and welcome. So you live in whoop whoop then. I use to live in W.A , north of the river though, have only been down that neck of the woods once on the way to Albany back in the 80's

Thanks Bones, yep, way down beyond the black stump, and in the middle of state forest, plenty of 4WD tracks.

nice write up. you got the first and last land cruiser you will ever need.

what i gather from oz prices that was pretty cheap, so i would expect some catch up work.
base line it, and you wont be disappointed.

Yes indeed, it was about 5 grand cheaper than anything else at the moment, but solid body, no rust, everything else is easily replaceable, and most parts are relatively easy to get still.

 

[bones]

It's very nice down south and a bit more greenery than north of the river, lots of lovely massive Karri trees as I remember. You should have a very picturesque landscape to play in, a bit of everything down there. I grew up in Perth, great place to live but I don't think I could handle the heat anymore.