LJ70 Build Thread!

[vegarwe]

OK I've finally managed to make some time to update the thread.

It was so cool to see you do this to your car. I'm going to do the exact same thing to my own LJ73. More out of necessity than yours, though. I have a slightly bigger hole that needs fixing:

The bolts were an absolute bitch to get out, the one took over an hour to get out.

About that tool you've made. Mine LJ73 from '87 had a small hatch on the inside of the box profile where the chassis mount is. By removing two small screws you get access to that bolt from behind instead of having to go through to top from inside the vehicle. Very convenient. Of course, as the picture shows.... There was nothing much left of my hatch...

Quickly welded up and ready to now be inserted into the body and welded in place. Just need to mark and drill them first.

I saw this and though wow. It looks very sturdy. But do you think it's really necessary or are you just overkilling it because you can? Do you think there is a lot of pressure on those mounts? I hadn't planned on doing something as crush-proof as this ^_^

I also don't have a 37" tire hanging on the back of the car. How much weight is that wheel?

 

[Paddler Ed]

Got it going! Timing was out 75* or so at the cams.

 

[bravobrak]

Thanks mate.

Hope you enjoyed the read.

Love what youve done with your 8274.

What make is the extended low profile drum?

How much rope can you get on it?

I need to pull mine back out soon and re-build it. Bloody thing is leaking oil and when I peaked inside the big bottom gear doesn't look too healthy.

Thanks, I didn't realize there are many 70's in NZ.

Trip pics would be great!

Hi Ben,

Bloody good info on your wright ups and must admit thinking of doing rock sliders from your design

The drum on the 8274 is my own doing after doing some research - its 52mm diameter solid steel from a engineering shop and made to the same length as the DELTA TECH drum that you can get in AUZ or the U.K. So the winch plate I have made for my will fit my winch and if I decide to upgrade to a delta tech winch drum I can swap it over with no mods to the winch plate!!

On my 8274 in the pic below I can get 50 meter + on the drum but then you loose pulling power up the top end. With the reduced drum diameter in theory my winch is upped to 11300lbs at the first layer,but will drop to the 8000lbs at full drum.All seals were replaced on the winch and at the end of the drum has a bearing in the end plate.Only have the 2.5HP motor not the best but would like a bower motor from the U.K !!

Regarding your truck being a LJ70 bugs me a bit.Would like to know what is on your plate in the engin bay. We have them hear in NZ with 2.4TD and the 1KZ 3.0 TD but over here they are a LJ78 see pic.The only difference from your truck to mine is mine has all round disc brakes. So they must be compatible with parts.

Having some problems getting some pics of my truck small enough to load up.Will get some up tomorrow.

Any questions let me know.

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Regarding your truck being a LJ70 bugs me a bit.Would like to know what is on your plate in the engin bay. We have them hear in NZ with 2.4TD and the 1KZ 3.0 TD but over here they are a LJ78 see pic.The only difference from your truck to mine is mine has all round disc brakes. So they must be compatible with parts.

Having some problems getting some pics of my truck small enough to load up.Will get some up tomorrow.

The number after the 7 denotes the wheel base; 70 & 71 = Short wheel base, 73 = Medium wheel base, 78 = Long wheel base. There are some other numbers but theose are the ones Ive seen.

Try uploading your pics to Photobucket or similar and then copy and pase the

 

[bravobrak]

Hi all,here is some more pics of my truck with my new 34" jungle trekkers,took them up for a test drive up a local track Heaven!





With the two Auzie auto lockers these trucks are awesome!!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Ben's LJ70 is a Bunderra, the SWB, whereas yours is the wagon (that they've just started in the last 3 years officially bringing into Aus), that's why your plate says LJ78, whereas mine was an FJ73, so the MWB:

Hope that helps.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Found the story behind the tennis balls in the springs Ben; one of the guys is a service tech at a workshop in New Mexico, USA... that was how the car was presented to them as it was used on rough roads a lot, and they made the suspension better...

 

[bravobrak]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for that information.The Prado LWB & SWB are imports from Japan.We have a bunch of them over here and they are well sought after!!Do you have the LJ78 in Auz?

Thanks

Joe

 

[Jimbo4x4]

That '78 looks like the one I just sold after 4 years of ownership. Dropping it off with the new owner today!

Sure as hell gonna miss it!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for that information.The Prado LWB & SWB are imports from Japan.We have a bunch of them over here and they are well sought after!!Do you have the LJ78 in Auz?

Thanks

Joe

Hi Joe,

We get the 5 door wagon as the VDJ76, so the 4.5 diesel with a single turbo. There are some KZJ and LJ78's over here, but not that many, which came in as grey imports from Japan.

They differ a bit to the Prado, as these are 'heavy' Land Cruisers, so the same axles and engines as a Troopy or ute.

The SWB were available in Aus as the FJ70, RJ70 and BJ70; not sure if there are LJ70 and KJ70's that came through from Australia. The shorty's are often called Bunderra's, but I think that they are a bit different to the original 70 series. Ben will probably know more....

 

[Chas]

This thread seems to be digressing slightly from it's original theme

 

[Ben]

Thanks for all the posts guys, all interesting stuff. Thanks for the pics aswell.

Will have a proper read and look when I've got more time and answer the few questions.

Anyway..........................

I have just got back from a truly epic adventure in the Victorian High Country!

It has definitely been the best trip so far this year, possibly my best ever trip!

Left at 5pm on Friday and only just got home 8.30pm Sunday. So got loads of stuff to sort out.

Cant wait to get the trip report up and show you what an adventure I've had!

But that will be atleast a few days away.

Going to try and get a few sneak peak pics up now though. .

 

[clivehorridge]

I have just got back from a truly epic adventure in the Victorian High Country!

It has definitely been the best trip so far this year, possibly my best ever trip!

Left at 5pm on Friday and only just got home 8.30pm Sunday. So got loads of stuff to sort out.

Cant wait to get the trip report up and show you what an adventure I've had!

But that will be atleast a few days away.

Going to try and get a few sneak peak pics up now though. .

 

[Paddler Ed]

Thanks for all the posts guys, all interesting stuff. Thanks for the pics aswell.

Will have a proper read and look when I've got more time and answer the few questions.

Anyway..........................

I have just got back from a truly epic adventure in the Victorian High Country!

It has definitely been the best trip so far this year, possibly my best ever trip!

Left at 5pm on Friday and only just got home 8.30pm Sunday. So got loads of stuff to sort out.

Cant wait to get the trip report up and show you what an adventure I've had!

But that will be atleast a few days away.

Going to try and get a few sneak peak pics up now though. .

Cool, looking forward as always to the next write up!

I've just found a long way to Tamworth from Armidale on the back roads and round the back of the Moonbi Range; if I remember and it's a sunny day I'll get a pic of the sign on the way into T'worth.

 

[Ben]

OK guys heres a super quick preview of the trip report.

Lots of snow on top of Mount Skene.





Meaning lots of recoveries.



And posing for pics.






The waffle boards, which non of the Aussie guys had seen before got a lot of use.



Some nice river crossings.



Which caused some major problems to 2 of the trucks and resulted in some great bush mechanics.





Huge camp fires.



More spectacular creek crossings.



People stripping to their undies to help recover a mate from an icy cold creek.



Driving one of the most extreme tracks I've ever seen, in the SNOW!



Snapped winch ropes.



105 cruisers slipping off tracks.



More use of the waffle boards.



And emerging at the top of the infamous Barkley River Jeep Track, having driven it in the snow!!!



Oh and heres a little video of LJ.



Was such an awesome trip!

Cant wait to get out there and do it again!

 

[clivehorridge]

Nice one Ben, Nice one LJ!

Snow is a different animal altogether! You'll have loads of fun learning how to deal with it. Maybe some chains? They work very well when you have a combo of snow and mud. It's worth having some made particularly for your wheel set-up. I had a set made for me by RUD, but they're expensive and bloody heavy to handle!

Looking forward to the report!!

 

[Jimbo4x4]

Thanks for the sneak peek Ben, looks like you had an awesome time

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Clive the company I work for make and sell snow chains, so getting some chains would be very easy.

Just about to start the update.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Yay!

Looking forward to reading it again... still itching to get out with ours, but I want to know it's 100% good first.

 

[Ben]

Just spent a few hours writing the trip report and the chrome crashed and I lost the lot!