new 70 series!

[Ben]

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/articles/20 ... al-cab-ute

once im settled in OZ and earning good money i intend to buy a brand new 70 series!

 

[Crushers]

you can get all the parts you need from Toyota to build a 4 door pickup. these are all factory parts.
i had my contact in Japan price the whole "kit" out for me and it was $6000 not including glass and trim and i had to put it together.
basically it is a 77/78 series doors with an extended 79 series roof and factory rear section (similar to a modified 79 rear cab)

i lost interest so i passed on it but is was a cool ass find.

 

[ardugpc]

Very popular conversion in South Africa.

 

[Ben]

Not keen on the tray, and definitely needs a suspension lift and bigger tyres.

But apart from that i think it looks great!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Just remember that there is a point where the vehicle mods in Aus will need to be engineered...

Any of these can get you canaried in NSW (Defected, prohibition of use and then a blue slip check to clear the defect) if not engineered... (or outside the engineered spec)
-Any increase in tyre size 15mm above the total diameter of the largest factory wheel and tyre combination is a bit of a no-no
-Any increase in tyre width above 51mm of the widest wheel offered by the factory
-25mm increase in track/12.5mm offset per side

And we complain about the rules here for vehicle mods! You can go wider/taller once you get it engineered; my experience is that most RWC examiners in NSW don't particularily care about the diameter on a 4x4, nor do the Police, but they love the modified Commonwhores/Foulcan's/Nissan/Subaruts/Mitsushtis/Toyotas that have been lowered and then fitted with wider wheels etc

The other one that won't affect us is the requirement for 100mm of clearance to the lowest (non-supsension) part!

Had friend get defected recently in NSW, hence the knowledge gleamed from the guys on the Volvo forum that I use as well!

Linky for reference:
wx3. rta. nsw. gov. au /registration /downloads /vsi /vsi09_rev4.pdf

 

[Ben]

Thanks Ed.

Yes i realise everything needs checking by an engineer and a certificate issuing. Its definitely more hassle than the UK, but i dont really see it as a problem. Im sure you saw for your self that theres loads of 4x4s' running 33"-35" tyres with big lifts etc.

Commonwhores/Foulcan's. not heard that before.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Ford/GMH seem to leave themselves open to this so well:
Commodes (Commo's again)
Toiletry (Ford Territory)
Exploder (Ford Explorer, but that's a world wide reputation!)
Nissan have an even worse one with the Pootrol though; but again that's world wide after the Grenade engines that they insisted on fitting to everything!

(nearly there on the post count for a url! I've got a picture I want to upload!)

 

[Paddler Ed]

Ah

That wasn't supposed to happen... it was supposed to be with this text:

I was running 2" suspension lift, and 31" tyres out there; they were a bit narrow and small... could have done with 33"s as they'd stop the diffs getting snagged (the most common reason why I'd get pulled out!)

My set up seemed to work well as a daily driver (300km per week just pottering about!) as the gearing wasn't messed up.

Mine is the FJ73 in the middle; the other 2 are guys I know from a Volvo forum!

The Ute has been in the guys family since new IIRC (1982!) and has no rust on it; Tigerz11 winch on the front and custom side bar work, Long Range Fuel tank and 2 1/2" zorst.

The FJ60 is LPG/Petrol and is his newest toy! Think the 60 was bought because the V8 Commode was in the process of getting a bit of an engine rebuild... helps that guy who owns that works for a tyre and zorst place (which does Terrain Tamer), so he's running a 2 1/2" zorst on that as well.

Both on a suspension lift as well, but only 2". Body lifts are a lot more work, and can't be done when there are airbags involved.

Think we all ran AT's of some description, mine were KO's, 60 was on Maxxis and I can't remember what the 60 was on.

This was out the back of Ballarat in VIC; I'd travelled down from NSW before we had to leave, doing a final fling 3,000km trip, and had arranged to meet up with the guys for some 4wding out there.

Most people run 2 1/2" on petrols, and then 3L + diesels get a 3" exhaust

Oh and yes I'd love a 70 double cab with tray... only problem is that I'd like a longer tray so I can lob the swag on the back more easily!

 

[Ben]

Looks good.

Did you see many 73's out there?

I saw a lot of troopies and pick ups, but not many 73's.

So are you planning on going back to OZ?

I lived near Ballarat for my last month over there, nice area.

 

[Paddler Ed]

73's were only sold there for 2-3 yrs (1985-87ish), mine was a 86.

They then changed to 74's and tended to come with the 13BT engine, whereas most 73's were 3F's.

There are some Bundera's, but they now tend to be set up with big lifts and used for trialling/rock crawling rather than general 4x4.

Saw perhaps 2 or 3 others in the time we owned ours, but ours was a bit special (and in some ways I wish we'd never sold it) as it was 2 owners from new, still had the factory underseal underneath and there was still traces of the delivery plastic on the passenger door card. We got it with 138k on the clock, which was right because everything still had grip (steering wheel, gear knob etc) and the wheels still had the texter on the back of where they were delivered to back when it was new!

 

[Ben]

Does look nice.

http://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-70-series#double-cab-chasis

Not cheap though.

$77K so £49,184.38.

 

[Paddler Ed]

4WD Action have got one on test in an upcoming issue; there should be a video on their Facebook page or on their main site. Saw them giving a prize of going on the test run with them.

 

[Ben]

I will look forward to reading that Ed.

I thought the latest magazine would have arrived by now.

Up to page 280 of the last issue and need to something to read while at work.

Kind of gets me through the day and reminds me of why im working, and what im working towards.

 

[Paddler Ed]

My backdrop on my laptop is the picture I posted above... that reminds of the good times I had out there, but also depresses me as I'm unlikely to find a 73 as good as that one again

I'm hoping to be back out in NSW next June; things are starting to move in that direction. It would only be for another year, but it's another year out of here!!!

 

[roscoFJ73]

My backdrop on my laptop is the picture I posted above... that reminds of the good times I had out there, but also depresses me as I'm unlikely to find a 73 as good as that one again
!!!

They 73/74 series are getting hard to find,they are all being loved to death.Im still grieving over selling mine 2 1/2 years ago,but if you have the cash the occasional nice one comes up. On the other hand there are some nice troopies around $15k and they are great for going away for the weekends or longer.

 

[Paddler Ed]

They 73/74 series are getting hard to find,they are all being loved to death.Im still grieving over selling mine 2 1/2 years ago,but if you have the cash the occasional nice one comes up. On the other hand there are some nice troopies around $15k and they are great for going away for the weekends or longer.

I paid $8k for ours, and sold if for $9k (after over $1k of work... new rad, big service and a 2.5" exhaust and headers)

I think if I can get back out there I'd get a Troopy or ute as it was good, but a bit squashed for touring over a long period of time (we used it for a month long trip from SYD to Mt Gambier to Melbourne to Coffs and back to SYD). There were some things that we could have done with having that we didn't have space for, mainly a 2nd tank! The other thing is that I'd like a diesel instead of petrol as it was a thirsty beast!

Had people offer $4k for a 151,000km FJ73... well, you can always try!

 

[Ben]

The latest issue of 4WD Action arrived today.

Spotted an advert for the new 70 double cab on the first page.

I hope their still making and selling them in a few years, so I might be able to buy a brand new one!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Do you get the DVD's with 4wdAction?

If not I've got a load here that I could copy for you if you want.

Down near Ludlow to save postage if you're interested.

 

[Ben]

Thats a kind offer of you Ed thanks.

I do get the DVD's, but ive only been subscribed for about 7 months. So I havnt got any earlier ones than issue 177.

Let me know if youve got any from before then please.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Mine are earlier... may have to do a trade... I'll need to go out to the garage and find the box of them that came back over on the ship from Aus.

(On the subject of Aus we used Kent Shipping in Australia to get our stuff back, they used Whites to get it to us from the port in the UK to here. May be worth talking to Whites re costs of getting stuff out there if you're heading over)