Hello from Bulgaria - Land Cruiser HDJ80

[Yaro]

Hello everyone!

My name is Yaroslav (Yaro) and I am from Sofia, Bulgaria, Eastern Europe.

My current Land Cruiser is a 1992 HDJ80, auto, ~270.000km.

The mods list is long... but here is most of it:
Engine & transmission - Safari snorkel, K&N filter, Safari Intercooler, new management for the A440F gearbox, 4.56 Nitro gear ring&pinion, improved brakes.
Suspension, recovery & wheels - 3" lift from TJM, protection plates from N4, front ARB bumper (on the pics below, the truck is with the previous bumper from TJM), rear TJM bumper with spare tire carrier, African Outback roofrack, Fondmetal alloy wheels (16"/8J/ET -15) with 295/75/16 BFG AT.
Other mods - the truck is equipped with good stereo system, the interior is entirely insulated and renovated.

Plans for the Cruiser - become an overlander of course. For now it is used mostly/ only for trips in Bulgaria and the region.

Plans for future mods - for this year i've planned 3" exhaust, new tires (thinking of 255/85/16 Toyo MT), improve storage space and maybe a roof top tent, will see..
I have a Warn 8274 in the garage, which was supposed to be coupled with the ARB bumper (at least this was confirmed by the local ARB/ Warn dealer), but guess what - it doesn't fit. So either the 8274 (almost new) will have to go and be replaced by a 9.5 XP or i will have to modify the ARB bumper myself to fit the 8274...
I also have a second fuel tank in place, but this most likely won't fit this year.

4x4 Experience - this is probably my 10th truck. Started with a Defender 110 Td5 many years ago, then went through a long line of Patrols and Cruisers to get to this one. My dream Cruiser is a manual HDJ80 (prefer it rather than the auto), but i guess i will stay with my current Cruiser for some time. Never participated in competitions but used to play hard from time to time with my previous trucks - had a TLC LJ70 that was upgraded with 3.0d 1KDFVT engine from 120 series.. Bulgarian landscape allows serious weekend games.. )

A few pics of the truck (the front TJM bumper is no longer with the truck, it is replaced with an ARB bumper):

 

[Gav Peter]

Lovely truck Yaro - welcome to the forum

 

[Gary Stockton]

Welcome - great looking truck! I've got to get to that part of the world before it gets too 'European-ised' where you can't go anywhere off-road anymore!

 

[Yaro]

Lovely truck Yaro - welcome to the forum

Thanks, Gav!

Welcome - great looking truck! I've got to get to that part of the world before it gets too 'European-ised' where you can't go anywhere off-road anymore!

Thanks, Gary! Sadly or not this process already started here, we have beautiful mountain areas that became National Parks and it is (basically) not allowed to go offroading there, but there are still other very nice areas which are free and are big enough even for multiple-day events.

 

[TonyP]

Welcome, your 80 looks very nice in red!

 

[Lars Bo Kjeldstrom]

Welcome Yaro....super nice truck you have

...how about making a one week route -and some of us will join you?

 

[adrianr]

Welcome.

NICE truck!!

 

[Andrew Prince]

Hi Yaro and welcome!

Great first post and your English is excellent

How do you find the regeared diffs with the 295 tyres? I wonder if the gearing will be too short with 255/85s.

Cheers,

 

[Yaro]

Welcome, your 80 looks very nice in red!

Welcome. NICE truck!!

Thanks, guys!

Welcome Yaro....super nice truck you have
...how about making a one week route -and some of us will join you?

Thank you, Lars! Your suggestion sounds nice. We can definitely do it and i can really help anyone from here (even if i don't participate later on) if there is any interest in such trip. We can discuss details anytime (most likely in a different section of the forum). In general - whether is good from middle of May till first half of September. Tents (free camping) are an option, huts/ hotels too. Prices, except fuel (~ 1.30 EUR for the diesel, 1.15 EUR for petrol and 0,60+ EUR for LPG) are reasonable. We've made several trips starting in the mountains and ending somewhere on the Black Sea coast.

Hi Yaro and welcome!
Great first post and your English is excellent
How do you find the regeared diffs with the 295 tyres? I wonder if the gearing will be too short with 255/85s.
Cheers,

Thank you, Andrew!
Changing the tires from the stock size to 295/75/16, first of all i changed the gearbox management. Friends of mine got this for me from Australia, i can provide details if needed. With the new management the auto gearbox became significantly more responsive with the 295/75 tires, before this upgrade, the gears were sluggish, especially in the 50km/h (30+m/h) to 80+km/h (50+m/h) range. Still i lacked the proper timing/ rpm for the gears. I had to "play" with the acceleration pedal to advance or adjust. With the 4.11 to 4.56 change, all became straight.

The only disadvantage of the slower 4.56 ratio in my mind is that i have higher rpm on the highways for the same speeds that i;ve maintained before with the 4.11. Now I am a bit slower on the highway, in order to be effective mileage-wise, i.e. i've noticed that the best consumtion is when keeping the truck in the 90-100km/h range (2000 to 2200 rpm with the current changes).

My hope is to improve this a bit is when i change the exhaust to a 3 inch and i would revise the fuel pump altogether with that. Also, i am considering option #2 as an upgrade too from the link below too (but need to get more info first hand):
http://www.marks4wd.com/products/gearma ... -gears.htm

And finally, regarding your question:

...How do you find the regeared diffs with the 295 tyres? I wonder if the gearing will be too short with 255/85s...

It won't be too short, or at least not any shorter with 255/85 compared to 295/75. Both sizes are a bit over 33 inch". My belief is that the 255/85 will slightly improved the mileage (or at least theoretically) without any other disadvantages over the 295/75. Will see...

 

[Lorin]

Hi Yaro aand welcome to the forum

Very nice 80 you have there

 

[Chris]

Damn if that ain't pretty! I love red ones, they look the biz.

Welcome. I'm on 255's and I like them a lot. Excellent grip and make it very car like to drive. Having a heavy truck on narrow tyres does mean that the weight per cm2 of contact with the road is higher. I find that mine is less wallowy on these than when I put the 285s on. I have come into bends a little too fast at times and been staggered that when I turn the wheel, it just goes round the corner. They are Cooper ST by way. Haven't tried the Toyos

Chris

 

[adrianr]

Tall and thin is the way to go for grip, esp off road (tyres)

And yes in red it looks very very nice.

 

[Julian T]

Welcome, that's a good looking 80