How to find year of manufacture

[kaz Hayat]

Hi, I wondered if any can help, I'm trying to establish year of manufacture of a Land Cruiser BJ40 I recently imported, it only mentions a date of 1981 on the import documents, but is there any way of verifying this?

It has got a chassis plate with details on which look to be original but how do i use this info to get me a date of manufacture which i need to register the vehicle in the UK.

Any pointers will be welcome.

 

[Rodger]

Hi Kaz.

Take that long number including the letters and you can then put into www.toyodiy.com and it will give you a summary of your 40. there may be a set on letters on the plate e.g. KCW MV etc. Keep a note of these and they may help via that website to clarify it even further.

Prior to January 1st 1978 Toyota produced 31715 BJ40s from the beginning of February 1974 but did not specify numbers per month. The article, by an accredited Toyota archivist, states that production ran consistently at 675 per month. [31715/47 months] and my truck's number is 13719 so it was actually manufactured in September 1975.

However it may be that your truck is post January 1978 as most built prior usually say '1977'. 1981 could be right ... square or round headlight bezel? Square are post '79.

You will, of course, appreciate that you cannot keep such a thing of beauty to yourself and therefore we need to see photos.

Regards,

Rodger

 

[kaz Hayat]

Thanks Roger much appreciated, I'll give it a go this evening. It definitely has a square bezel around the headlights so we're definitely looking at post 1979. Ive attached a picture below.

 

[Rodger]

Hi Kaz,

Your 40 looks very good!
Is that a PTO winch on the front?

Regards,
Rodger

 

[kaz Hayat]

Hi Roger

Yes it is, but haven’t had the chance to check it out to see if it works. The winch assembly looks in good shape so it should work. I can see there is a lever in the cab to operate it and so I’m assuming the clutch is used to connect the power from engine ?

 

[Rodger]

I have no idea how to operate the winch but do know that the drive is on the side of the transfer box. So, I guess, it is a combination of the lever and using the transfer box shifter/engine revs to control speed.
When you have figured out how it all works I would be interested to know.
The drive take-off and the winch are covered in one of my manuals, should it give problems i could scan it, but it doesn't tell me how it all works!

regards,

Rodger

 

[kaz Hayat]

I have no idea how to operate the winch but do know that the drive is on the side of the transfer box. So, I guess, it is a combination of the lever and using the transfer box shifter/engine revs to control speed.
When you have figured out how it all works I would be interested to know.
The drive take-off and the winch are covered in one of my manuals, should it give problems i could scan it, but it doesn't tell me how it all works!

regards,

Rodger

Hi Roger thank you for the guidance, much appreciated, will let you know how I get on.

 

[Firewout]

Winch operation:
Transfer in neutral
Winch lever in wind or unwind
Gear selection : 1st gear is low speed but strong pull, 4th gear is high speed less power.
Clutch : power to winch or not

There is a shearing pin where the driveshaft enters the winch housing.

Hope this helps. Great truck btw.
I think I have a manual somewhere on the harddisk. Pm me if you*re interested.

 

[kaz Hayat]

Winch operation:
Transfer in neutral
Winch lever in wind or unwind
Gear selection : 1st gear is low speed but strong pull, 4th gear is high speed less power.
Clutch : power to winch or not

There is a shearing pin where the driveshaft enters the winch housing.

Hope this helps. Great truck btw.
I think I have a manual somewhere on the harddisk. Pm me if you*re interested.

Thank you Firewout, will try out the winch after I’ve got to grips with the rest of the truck!

 

[clivehorridge]

Thank you Firewout, will try out the winch after I’ve got to grips with the rest of the truck!

A word of warning with a PTO winch, I had one on my 80 and they’re very powerful in 1st gear. As a noob, and because you’re operating it from the driver’s seat, I didn’t notice the cable had jumped the drum and it had jammed between the drum and the main body casing.

It was unstoppable, so it simply crushed the casing, ruining the whole winch body.

Also as a noob, I let the whole assy go for a few quid from someone wanting the PTO gears from the side of the T/F box.

I’m gutted now, that I didn’t keep it. Knowing what I know now, I recon the casing would have welded up to make it serviceable again, and 80 PTO winches are like rocking horse poo to find these days.

Such is life...

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi that's a grate looking 40 you have love the old 40s let's. Have more pics.

 

[kaz Hayat]

A word of warning with a PTO winch, I had one on my 80 and they’re very powerful in 1st gear. As a noob, and because you’re operating it from the driver’s seat, I didn’t notice the cable had jumped the drum and it had jammed between the drum and the main body casing.

It was unstoppable, so it simply crushed the casing, ruining the whole winch body.

Also as a noob, I let the whole assy go for a few quid from someone wanting the PTO gears from the side of the T/F box.

I’m gutted now, that I didn’t keep it. Knowing what I know now, I recon the casing would have welded up to make it serviceable again, and 80 PTO winches are like rocking horse poo to find these days.

Such is life...

Thanks for the heads up. Will keep that in mind.

 

[kaz Hayat]

Hi that's a grate looking 40 you have love the old 40s let's. Have more pics.

It's a proper Beast from the East!

 

[Firewout]

I forgot to mention the freespool lever : pull up the knob and slide.

Btw : the truck looks great but winter is coming in a few months so please consider this word of advice : never ever drive the truck when there is salt on the road ! It will rust very very badly! On a quiet winter morning you can actually hear it rust...

 

[uHu]

... the truck looks great but winter is coming in a few months so please consider this word of advice : Never ever drive the truck when there is salt on the road ! It will rust very very badly! On a quiet winter morning you can actually hear it rust...

Amen!

 

[kaz Hayat]

Thanks Firewout, most grateful for

I forgot to mention the freespool lever : pull up the knob and slide.View attachment 149649

Btw : the truck looks great but winter is coming in a few months so please consider this word of advice : never ever drive the truck when there is salt on the road ! It will rust very very badly! On a quiet winter morning you can actually hear it rust...

Thanks for the annotated picture showing the freespool lever, very useful thanks. And also appreciated your advice on winter rust protection. Didn’t think of that to be honest. Learned so much over the last couple of days! Thanks guys.

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi that is one cool looking cruiser love it thanks for the pics.

 

[safhawk]

Hi kaz.
A good looking truck. What size are those tyres? I reckon mine needs bigger ones!
Mine is also a recent import to the UK, did yours come from Japan?.
To get mine registered I needed an original copy of the Japan export certificate and DVLA accepted the year on that.
Steve

 

[kaz Hayat]

Hi kaz.
A good looking truck. What size are those tyres? I reckon mine needs bigger ones!
Mine is also a recent import to the UK, did yours come from Japan?.
To get mine registered I needed an original copy of the Japan export certificate and DVLA accepted the year on that.
Steve

Thanks Safhawk, likewise your truck looks great too! Mine came with the tyres which are silverstone
MT-117 Sport 31x10.50/ R15 109Q ‘s.

I imported mine from the Neelam Valley in Kashmir region. North West Frontier Pakistan. I saw it there on a holiday visit and loved it. It was a pain to get it over but it was worth it.

I also have to get accurate manufacture date to the DVLA to get it registered here in the UK. Guys on this forum have been very helpful. Roger directed me to a website www.toyodiy.com which was very useful. Toyota Uk double confirmed this actual date of manufacture which I’ll I’m planning to send to DVLA to get the truck registered.

 

[Faz]

Hi, I wondered if any can help, I'm trying to establish year of manufacture of a Land Cruiser BJ40 I recently imported, it only mentions a date of 1981 on the import documents, but is there any way of verifying this?

It has got a chassis plate with details on which look to be original but how do i use this info to get me a date of manufacture which i need to register the vehicle in the UK.

Any pointers will be welcome.