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Land Cruiser II

Pete E

New Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
4
Gents,

I've never owned a Land Cruiser, but I am quite taken with them after briefly using various models in the 70 & 75 Series in South Africa..

I don't think these were ever imported in any great numbers to the UK, but I do see the odd Land Cruiser 2 about..I know these were designated "Light Duty" but what are the main differences between the comparable 70 Series Model?

I believe the Lightduty still had beam axles and coil springs all round? So what made it "light duty"???

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Peter
 
First point - the so-called Land Cruiser II is a 70 series ;) Basically the whole 70 series range encompasses the more utilitarian models of the LC range - from fairly basic SWBs through MWBs and LWBs including pick-ups.

Pete E said:
I believe the Lightduty still had beam axles and coil springs all round? So what made it "light duty"???
In many cases the "light duty" LCs were based on hilux running gear, which while not exactly puny, is lighter duty than the drivetrain of the "heavy duty" 70 series (e.g. 75, 78 & 79). Also the SWBs and MWBs were never intended to carry the same loads as the "heavy duty" workhorses because of loadspace considerations and the coil springs are less suited to heavy loads than the leaf-springs common in the heavy duty models.
Hiluxes of that era were SFA so no surprise on the beam axles. I haven't measured them myself but I'd hazard a guess that the diffs, gearboxes, half-shafts etc of the 70 SWB are slightly smaller than the 75 or 79.

My 2c!
 
Thanks Gents,

The question was more out of curiousity than anything.

I do a bit of shooting, deer stalking, ect along with a little greenlaning and always had a hankering for 75 Series LC, after using them in South Africa, but as you guys know, they are like hens teeth in the UK..

From that, I wondered where the Land Cruiser II fitted into things and how much they had in common with "real" Land Cruisers so to speak...

To be honest, from a purely practical point of view, the logical vehicle for me to get would be a crew cab pick-up, but they too are getting a bit "yuppified".

Currently "making do" with a Jimny, (actually quite enjoying it) but have previously owned/driven Isuzu's Trooper's and Land Rovers and for various reasons I'm not really interested in a Land Rover.

Another friend has a crew cab Hi-Lux from about 2005 and its a pretty good all rounder, although I would prefer beam axle's rather than IFS....

Anyways, thanks for the info, its very much appreciated.

Regards,

Peter
 
Pete E said:
From that, I wondered where the Land Cruiser II fitted into things and how much they had in common with "real" Land Cruisers so to speak...
Comments like that won't make you very popular on here :lol:

I would say the 70 series pretend Landcruiser ;) would be more than up to the job. I would choose a 70 series over some of the other vehicles you have used anyday. Don't be put off by IFS either as they make for a far superior ride on the road and in the rough.

I own an 80 series LC and a MK4 Hilux. They both have their good and bad points. However, about 4 years ago I defected from Land Rover ownership and decided to try Toyota. I can't recommend them highly enough and I can't see me getting another green oval any time soon.
 
Ecoman,

Thanks for that, in many ways the LC2 sounds like a SWB Hilux from what you guys are saying?

Re the LandRovers, I drove them a lot in the Army, so I am quite familiar with them..great vehicles in many respects, but reliabilty questionable to say the least, as with with comfort..

The old 2.8 Tropper was a great vehicle and the engine was a gem reliability wise, although perhaps a touch underpowered..The vehicle itself wasn't as robust as a LandRover or LC11 and wasn't as good off road, but were still decent enough..

The later Isuzu's were pigs especially their common rail diesel engine; that made LandRovers look realiable..

I had one for 3 years before the engine went tits up and I bought the Jimny as a "stop gap" as i needed a cheap 4x4 asap.

Its actually been a great little vehicle which excels off road...On road it drives like a small truck, which I didn't mind, but many hate..

The Jimny's obvious limitation is its size, and thats why I was looking for something with more cargo space...Looked at a 1988ish LC 2 in good condition, but it had 170,000miles on the clock..As this is going to be my everyday drive and I also need to make fairly long trips, I think I need something with a lower mileage..The LC II also lacks the space I want, so I think all in all a crew cab Hilux around 2005/6 might be my best bet...

Thank again,

Peter
 
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And a special welcome from a fellow stalker and all round shooting enthusiast.

Cargo space, eh? So it was you who shot that Exmoor stag then was it? :lol: :lol:

Chris
 
If you do go for a LC II make sure it's the 3.0l KZJ model made from '93 onwards. If you think a 2.8TD Trooper is underpowered you haven't met the woes of the 2.4 LJ70 :roll:

Jim.
 
the 2lt motors are under powered time bombs
its popular here to transplant a 1kz motor into them or if your a bit more serious the 4lt v8 1uz
 
Chris said:
Cargo space, eh? So it was you who shot that Exmoor stag then was it? :lol: :lol:
Chris

Can't see me getting that out in my Jimny! :lol: :lol:

Getting back to the LC 11, how easy are they to work on? Are they like landrovers where vertually everything is replaceable/rebuildable??

Also what sort of fuel consumption can you expect from the 3L version??
 
It's mostly not too hard to work on. One or two things in the engine bay require a small degree of contortionism to get at, and to get the alternater out of mine you need to remove the airbox, air con pump, the ps reservior and two hefty cradles first. Annoying when you have to do it three times in as many weeks because of a reoccuring fault, although I got pretty good at it!
Like I said though, not too difficult to work on for the most part, you do find that many things are overengineered - seals for seals etc, but at least it means you're not working on it anywhere near as much as you would be on a landy..

Jim.
 
Pete E said:
Chris said:
Cargo space, eh? So it was you who shot that Exmoor stag then was it? :lol: :lol:
Chris

Can't see me getting that out in my Jimny! :lol: :lol:

Getting back to the LC 11, how easy are they to work on? Are they like landrovers where vertually everything is replaceable/rebuildable??

Also what sort of fuel consumption can you expect from the 3L version??

My first post. :thumbup:

Like most things Japanese, Toyota considered the needs of the mechanic when they design something, so access is good, especially on the KZJ 70 model which is not cluttered up with loads of electronic gubbins. You will need to search high and low in the UK for one though, as only 358 were imported.

MPG is reasonable for that degree of technology. Expect mid 20's, with not much variation, even when you push it.

Roger
 
Roger Fairclough said:
as only 358 were imported.

Roger

Hi Roger

Good to see you. As is normal i am rather amazed at your knowledge

Does the 358r include 75's or just Landcruiser II?
Any ideas how many like mine (HZJ75 pickups) were brought in?

0437a.jpg
 
There were 358 LC2's in 3 litre form ie.KZJ 70's

In addition there were approx 1,100 LJ 70's

As far as I know, these were the only 70 series imported into the UK by Toyota GB. Some years ago I asked Toyota why so few and the response was that they had an agreement with our government, not to undermine home built vehicles ie Land Rover. This is one reason why Toyota, Honda and Nissan build some models in the UK.

All other 70 plus series are grey imports, again , as far as I know. Frogs island, near Oxford, can source some 78's ---I think that's the one---which I believe come via Gibraltar. The company in Gib. import from Japan the basic models, incl. 80 series, and convert to suit individual requirements. I believe they supply NATO.

Roger
 
As a matter of interest, would it be true to class the HZJ 75 as a heavy weight version of the Hi-Lux?

Roger
 
This import label can be confusing and interesting as the fact is anything not made in this country has to be imported. So all Landcruisers, as they have never made them in the UK, are imports.

Grey imports are those that get round the import restrictions in some way such as those coming via Gib, South Africa or Australia via a third pary. In those cases any warranty could be an issue as it may have to go through the agent who first purchased the vehicle.

The DVLA say

a) If the car comes direct from the manufacturer and is counted in the manufacturers official import figures it is not a grey import.
b) If the car comes via any third party, where that third party is outside of the UK and is not included in the manufactures import figures it should be refered to as a grey import.

In the late 70's and 80's the UK almost stopped the import of cars from Japan as they were flooding the market, with the possible quota system coming in as you say Toyota, Honda and Nissan build factories in the UK.

Grey importing was a method of getting a car from Japan without it being counted on the import figures.

My HZJ75 was ordered as new direct from Toyota by a Toyota agent and is included in the import figures of vehicles from Indonisia. At the time due to the quota issues the 75 was not in the official Toyota (Japan) range even by special order only.

Without doubt Toyota did not want to upset the UK government by taking Land Rover sales so they left the 75/78 out of the list.

However those being made by Toyota (Indonisia) (Plant A11) were not part of the quota or figures of import for Japan They could be ordered as a special order only, but most dealers did not bother as they were not allowed to order for stock and there was a very long lead time.

It is my understanding that those 75/78's that were made by Toyota (Japan) must be grey imports and those direct from Toyota (Indonisia) are not.

The DVLA also agree that my truck is not an import in the way a grey import would be viewed.

However after all that its still an import :thumbup:
 
Roger Fairclough said:
As a matter of interest, would it be true to class the HZJ 75 as a heavy weight version of the Hi-Lux?

Roger

Fight................... :naughty: :naughty: :naughty:

In fact its a light weight version of a sherman tank :p
 
Roger Fairclough said:
My first post. :thumbup:

Great to see you found us Roger, I would've pm'd you about this place but big brother is watching on the other site :roll: Welcome aboard, good to have an encyclopedia on 70's around here ;)

Jim.
 
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