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LC120 durability

My 120 having spent 8 and a half years in the UK was about the same as the pics you have put up , I spent 5 days brushing it all with hand wire brushes and wire brushes on drill and anglegrinder then treating the chassis and any rust on the underbelly with rust killer , then painting with anti rust paint and then with waxole , the axles are very thick metal a good wire brushing and anti rust paint will bring it all like brand new , 5 days of work and £100 in materials is all it will take on that 120 by looking at the pics , did mine 9 months ago and all still looks like brand new . PS dont forget to remove the spare wheel so you can treat the rear underbelly and chassis .
 
My 120 having spent 8 and a half years in the UK was about the same as the pics you have put up , I spent 5 days brushing it all with hand wire brushes and wire brushes on drill and anglegrinder then treating the chassis and any rust on the underbelly with rust killer , then painting with anti rust paint and then with waxole , the axles are very thick metal a good wire brushing and anti rust paint will bring it all like brand new , 5 days of work and £100 in materials is all it will take on that 120 by looking at the pics , did mine 9 months ago and all still looks like brand new .

That’s awesome! Of course, it is a lot of work. I am for sure willing to put in the work. This car will be a hobby for me. Okay, sounds like you are not spotting any mayor issues regarding rust. That’s reassuring.
 
As above, rust is the killer of these vehicles, if you can find one with a solid chassis suspension and rear axle and keep it that way then these are brilliant vehicles that can last for many years and cover high mileages.
Note the vehicle in the link appears to be on aftermarket wheels, that might be for looks (though personally the OE wheels when in good nick look superb) but one wonders if they got so corroded they were scrapped, which would make me want even more to see underneath.
The bodies on these are resilient to corrosion, except for the inner sills underneath between the chassis and side steps, these get heavy battering from road grit etc and can if left untreated corrode through so as well as the chassis and rear axle etc give those inner sills a good look over.

Obviously you'll maintain the engine well (you can see the oil pick up strainer on the Diesel through the oil drain hole) and if you look after the rest of the drivetrain with fresh oils every now and again, and maintain the brakes meticulously (these vehicles need regular brake cleaning/lubing) then they are in my opinion mechanically one of the best long term bets out there.

I looked at a few 100's before buying my 120, again underbody corrosion is an issue, they are not as heavily made or as simple as the 80 series, or 70 come to that, and i personally find the fairly narrow 120 a good package overall whilst still a comfortable and roomy place to be, se have dogs and the side hinged door of the 120 suits us better anyway.
If i could have found a 100 in as good condition as my 120 i would have bought it, unfortunately from what i've seen they seem to suffer more neglect from first owners than 120's, and the good examples fetch serious money.

The thing with those American videos is they are mostly in warm states which don't use thousands of tons of road salt, without seeing salt these LC's will last forever, its salt that kills them, have a look at some videos of cars that live in areas that see heavy winter road salting, the corrosion underneath will shock you, the chassis on Tacomas and Tundras riddled in rust in only a few years.

I'd also have another Hilux 3.0 litre auto if the right one came along, VED in Britain is more favourable to commercial vehicles.

Hi @Juddian. You are mentioning that having "a solid chassis suspension " is good. What is this compared to. What kind of other suspension systems are there. Does all LC120 have a solid chassis suspension?
 
What Juddian means in having a solid chassis suspension is a chassis that is not rusting so bad that it is weak and difficult to bring back to a sound (strong) condition and a solid suspension as in its mounting areas where the suspension is fitted to the chassis areas not weak with heavy rust , shocks and springs are not a problem because they can and will be changed at some point in time as they are wear items .
 
Hashmat, maybe i should have put a comma or 'and' in between chassis and suspension.

Ladder chassis vehicles are different entirely to uniframe build where the chassis as it stands is built into the body, both have their merits.
The 120 like all Landcruisers and Hilux have a ladder chassis with a bolted on separate body with its own strengthening, but that body doesn't need to be as strong as unitary construction because the separate chassis is taking all the twists turns and shocks that the vehicle is subject to.

Rust wise, the separate chassis vehicles benefit from an overall sturdy chassis, but they then ruin the ship for a ha'porth o' tar by not suitably rustproofing that chassis, it's criminal really because it would be simple to galvanise and then protect the finish with sturdy paints of a quality found on ships, the same coud be done with major castings such as axles and suspension arms, this would cost more but the end product would be a vehicle that would literally last you a lifetime even if all you did was once a year wash the salt crud from underneath.

Unitary construction vehicles where the chassis is integral with the body can't take the pounding the same, but where they do win is that when the various anti corrosion coatings are applied to the body that also seals the chassis in as well.
Whilst they can last longer in theory, if used hard then seams will split coatings will be abraded and rust will set in, they will then be harder to rebuild because you can't separate the body and chassis, apply the welding torch to any part of the strengthening and your into the body stampings as well.

Much easier to inspect a ladder chassis design for rust, but then it will more than likely be rustier than an Unitary design like Range Rovers due to poor protection at manufacture.
Proper Landrovers on separate chassis were no better, again IMHO poorly protected against corrosion at the time of manufacture.

The trouble with separate chassis vehicle like Cruisers is that they are seriously expensive new, and most owners have no intention of keeping them for 20 years, so early owners don't take steps to prevent rust, most can't even be bothered to stick the hose pipe underneath even if they can be arsed to wash the paintwork.

When they come into the budget of most of us here the damage is already done, some owners will have been more thoughtful (or less ignorant) than others and have done what they can to keep the vehicles well, some vehicles will have seen tons of salt (why i avoid cars that have lived in Scotland if possible) and some will have lived better lives, that's why its so important to ignore all the sales blurb and sling yourself underneath and see what the conditon really is, and when you land on that prime example buy it blinking quick before someone else spots it.

I bought the present 120 the same morning it went up for sale, it was traded in at a motorhome centre not a car dealer, for a new motorhome, had obviously been previous owners caravan tow motor...this alone pricked my 'well heeled previous owner' antenna up, within the hour we're on our way, one look underneath told me it was a goer, it started and ran well and the service history as good as anything i'd seen, towbar only fitted 2 years previously at great cost at Toyota so it hadn't been worked too hard, 2 new Toyota batteries in place, wheels good and 4 brand new albeit budget tyres, all added up so bought it on the spot but not as cheaply as i'd have liked, i honestly believe that is the only way to buy these things, one that hangs around is either a rust bucket or has other issues or seriously overpriced with an unrealistic seller, good cruisers do not hang about.

Obliged to you TonyCY11, i did manage English O level but you'd never guess.
 
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Your English is way better than mine Juddian , I left school at 15 with nowt to my name and went straight into work , I refused to stay the extra year that was brought in a couple of years earlier coz my brother and sister both left at 15 , and jobs were a plenty in the mid 70s when I left, I wanted to do the same and to go to work and earn my own money , they both seemed loaded with cash as I was still at school ,
 
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Yup, i cleared off out of school early as soon as i'd done my O levels, made an excuse of job offer that couldn't be turned down.

In some ways maybe i wasted my quite fortunate education, but no complaints, have done fairly well in what i chose to do, still at work now and in a hell of lot more secure work than many poor sods during the present farce, for which i am not smug just very grateful.

Just seen Hashmat's pictures.
That doesn't look bad at all, some pics of the rear chassis and the body sills mainly both ends between sidesteps aqnd chassis would be good.
I wouldn't be put off from what we've seen so far, hell of a lot worse out there than that.
Its not been caked in rubberised stuff so you are seeing everything, plus it will be a relatively easy if time consuming job to clean off treat and coat, hells own job removing someone else's attempt to cover rust up instead of treating it.
 
Fully agree with you on both subjects , and yes its much easier to work on the underbody than when some twat has disguised and covered up with rubber paint etc .
 
Hashmat, you asked in a previous post about service manual for 120. Simon5030 on here/120 series is sending a free download to those that ask/with a supplied email address.
Send him a p.m. or ask via the thread, nice guy, very accommodating.
 
My 120 spent many years in Norway when I worked for Siemens, on the outskirts of Oslo.
When I sold mine, nearly 500,000km.
Still in perfect order.
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Your English is way better than mine Juddian , I left school at 15 with nowt to my name and went straight into work , I refused to stay the extra year that was brought in a couple of years earlier coz my brother and sister both left at 15 , and jobs were a plenty in the mid 70s when I left, I wanted to do the same and to go to work and earn my own money , they both seemed loaded with cash as I was still at school ,

Man, nothing wrong with any one of you guys English. Trying to explain something to a dude with Pakistani origin, born and raised in Norway with moderate speaking and writing skills in English must be like asking Trump to step down from the precedency. Anyways, @Juddian and @TONYCY11 , much appreciate all the feedback.

Regarding the car I am looking at. Could you @Juddian also have a look at some more pictures from here: Toyota Land Cruiser - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] See if you spot anything? It has driven 152943 miles. When do we need to change the fuel injectors? I have asked the owner to send me some pictures of the engine rom. The car is in another city, around 8 hours of drive. I need to be quite sure about the car before I make trip.
 
Man, nothing wrong with any one of you guys English. Trying to explain something to a dude with Pakistani origin, born and raised in Norway with moderate speaking and writing skills in English must be like asking Trump to step down from the precedency. Anyways, @Juddian and @TONYCY11 , much appreciate all the feedback.

Regarding the car I am looking at. Could you @Juddian also have a look at some more pictures from here: Toyota Land Cruiser - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] See if you spot anything? It has driven 152943 miles. When do we need to change the fuel injectors? I have asked the owner to send me some pictures of the engine rom. The car is in another city, around 8 hours of drive. I need to be quite sure about the car before I make trip.

Nothing there that would scare me off so far, its not a clean chassis but nothing there making my hair stand on end obvious rust wise but you won't know for sure till you wash the chassis down for a closer inspection.

Injector wise, they might be fine but then again at that mileage if they haven't already been changed they probably arn't far off needing doing, you won't know until you ear it cold or get diagnostics done.
So much depends on how well its been looked after.
Most people seem to stick to 10,000 miles or so engine oil intervals, once i get to 3 or 4 thousand i'm champing at the bit to get it changed and often before that.
Has it had all the necessary transmission oil changes, including the autobox which officially doesn't need a specific oil change but most sensible owners give that advice a good ignoring, i would have changed the oil at 100k miles and did so on mine.

Yes 8 hours is a long way, but can you make a round trip involving looking at several, if you don't want any of them you'll know a heck of a lot more than when you started.
 
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