Zmayski from Croatia

[Zmayski]

Hi, guys…

My name is Krešo (Zmayski is a nick, meaning “Dragon-like”) and I’m a new owner of an old beast; 2004 Land Cruiser 120 D-4D… some 250.000 km (all on roads).
It will take some repairs before I can put her on the road (central differential, suspension, brakes… and a bunch of small thigs).

I’m an old fart and old biker (can’t ride anymore), so my new toy have a “flaw”; four wheels instead proper two… ;-)
Anyhow, I’ve used to ride adventure bikes (off and on roads), and now I would like to have a more stable platform underneath me.
If interested, some 10 years ago I used to keep blog about my local rides: https://blog.dnevnik.hr/zmayski , but that's in Croatian…

Planning to have this Cruiser set as a daily reliable car, usable on macadam and forest roads.
I do have a lot of experiences in mountains and surviving, mountaineering and climbing, ridding in wild… but almost none in 4x4.
Only a Russian UAZ 469, for a short time, a beated gasoline guzzler with shaky front end.
Biggest beast that I’ve ever drove was Tatra 8x8, but that was just for fun. And what a fun it was!
Heaviest beast was M-84 MBT, 42 tons, again, for fun only. Can that be count as all-terrain vehicle also?
War veteran, as you can see…

Living in Zagreb, Croatia, Europe, Earth, Milky Way… (sorry, what is a coverage of this forum?)

Btw, I’ve just her a new set of summer tires; Nokian 265/65 R17 Nokian Line SUV, on original alloys; just to have a decent set of economical road wheels.
Planning to get a set of steel rims, and put on some robust all-year tires, to have something for winter and that modest off-tarmac I’m looking forward for.
Do you think that would be a good solution for my intentions of use?

Thank you all – I’m looking forward to exchange of experiences!

 

[Iwan]

Hej pozdrav dobro nam se pridruzio na nas forum! (my girlfriend instructed me what to write!)

 

[goodoldboy]

Hi, guys…

My name is Krešo (Zmayski is a nick, meaning “Dragon-like”) and I’m a new owner of an old beast; 2004 Land Cruiser 120 D-4D… some 250.000 km (all on roads).
It will take some repairs before I can put her on the road (central differential, suspension, brakes… and a bunch of small thigs).

I’m an old fart and old biker (can’t ride anymore), so my new toy have a “flaw”; four wheels instead proper two… ;-)
Anyhow, I’ve used to ride adventure bikes (off and on roads), and now I would like to have a more stable platform underneath me.
If interested, some 10 years ago I used to keep blog about my local rides: https://blog.dnevnik.hr/zmayski , but that's in Croatian…

Planning to have this Cruiser set as a daily reliable car, usable on macadam and forest roads.
I do have a lot of experiences in mountains and surviving, mountaineering and climbing, ridding in wild… but almost none in 4x4.
Only a Russian UAZ 469, for a short time, a beated gasoline guzzler with shaky front end.
Biggest beast that I’ve ever drove was Tatra 8x8, but that was just for fun. And what a fun it was!
Heaviest beast was M-84 MBT, 42 tons, again, for fun only. Can that be count as all-terrain vehicle also?
War veteran, as you can see…

Living in Zagreb, Croatia, Europe, Earth, Milky Way… (sorry, what is a coverage of this forum?)

Btw, I’ve just her a new set of summer tires; Nokian 265/65 R17 Nokian Line SUV, on original alloys; just to have a decent set of economical road wheels.
Planning to get a set of steel rims, and put on some robust all-year tires, to have something for winter and that modest off-tarmac I’m looking forward for.
Do you think that would be a good solution for my intentions of use?

Thank you all – I’m looking forward to exchange of experiences!

welcome to the club Zmayski.I used to have another set of wheels & tyres but in the end I chose AT tyres as a compromise.if you're doing mild off roading they should be ok & not too noisy on road.some pictures of your 120 would be appreciated.

 

[clivehorridge]

Welcome aboard Zmayski, rather envious of you living in Croatia, it’s on my visit list one day... and the ‘toys’ you’ve been able to play with, even if the times were tough then.
Looks like you’ll fit right in on this friendly forum.

 

[stumog]

Welcome lovely part of the world. I lived for 6 months there was great time very welcoming people.

Loved the roof parties when they added a new story to the building

 

[Zmayski]

Hej pozdrav dobro nam se pridruzio na nas forum! (my girlfriend instructed me what to write!)

Hi, iwan_t24, thank you for your welcome!
Your girlfriend is from my neck of the woods? She speaks one of the Balkan languages?
Please say "Bok!" to her for me...

 

[Zmayski]

welcome to the club Zmayski.I used to have another set of wheels & tyres but in the end I chose AT tyres as a compromise.if you're doing mild off roading they should be ok & not too noisy on road.some pictures of your 120 would be appreciated.

Thank you goodoldboy, both for your welcome and tyres suggestion!

Thing is, I may be using this car for highway drive too quite often - so becouse of fuel economy and lower noise level I've chose those summer tyres.
I was planning to get another set for winter, mud, grass... but I'm open to suggestions of expirienced people...

 

[Zmayski]

Welcome aboard Zmayski, rather envious of you living in Croatia, it’s on my visit list one day... and the ‘toys’ you’ve been able to play with, even if the times were tough then.
Looks like you’ll fit right in on this friendly forum.

Thank you, clivehorridge!

Yes, Croatia is a very nice country if you like exploring hilly forrests, rocky and wooded mountains, even some low-land marshes. All of that is within short reach, and when you have enough, it is easy to get on highway and go home. I love Gorski Kotar; mountainous region of Croatia near the coast; a great place to go exploring small dirt roads, hiking the hills, enjoying the cool mountain air to the contrast of hot coast... and all of that within the reach of all the conforts of civilisation.

But it is not that Romania is lacking any of that! I've rode a Transfagaršan road twice, Translivania, cities like Cluj-Napoca... but I only know to say "cum te cheama"...
Or are you from Romania just by origin, living somewhere else?

 

[Zmayski]

Welcome lovely part of the world. I lived for 6 months there was great time very welcoming people.

Loved the roof parties when they added a new story to the building

Thank you, stumog!

Yes, that was a Croatia of my childhood; warm people with strong friend and relatives bonds. This is exact way my parents house has been build; hard work and joyful celebration hand-in-hand! Of course, now are much more modern times, but not all of that is lost...

In which part of Croatia did you live?

 

[Zmayski]

welcome to the club Zmayski.I used to have another set of wheels & tyres but in the end I chose AT tyres as a compromise.if you're doing mild off roading they should be ok & not too noisy on road.some pictures of your 120 would be appreciated.

Sorry, goodoldboy, I missed to answer about the photos:
I dont have any at the moment! Car is at a repair shop on another end of Croatia; problem with gearbox / central differential; wont be back for another couple of weeks.
As soon I'll have it back I'll take some of pics...

 

[clivehorridge]

Thank you, clivehorridge!

Yes, Croatia is a very nice country if you like exploring hilly forrests, rocky and wooded mountains, even some low-land marshes. All of that is within short reach, and when you have enough, it is easy to get on highway and go home. I love Gorski Kotar; mountainous region of Croatia near the coast; a great place to go exploring small dirt roads, hiking the hills, enjoying the cool mountain air to the contrast of hot coast... and all of that within the reach of all the conforts of civilisation.

But it is not that Romania is lacking any of that! I've rode a Transfagaršan road twice, Translivania, cities like Cluj-Napoca... but I only know to say "cum te cheama"...
Or are you from Romania just by origin, living somewhere else?

Well, you know my name already, so you don’t need “cum te cheama”

I’m a Brit (English) expat, married to a Romanian with an 11 year old daughter, so România has been my home for 18 years and will be for what’s left of my days...

My father-in-law is the man responsible for suggesting building the Transfagarasan to Ceausescu, when he was the Secretary of State for Forestry and Agriculture. Once approved, he got the job of supervising its construction, back in the 1970s.

We live and work in Bucharest, but we have a house in the countryside at Comarnic, Prahova, so if you're passing this way and want to visit, you’re more than welcome.

We’ve been having forum member visits every August since 2015, here’s some banter from this year... plenty of photos from our area on the later pages of this thread....

https://www.landcruiserclub.net/community/threads/comarnic-romania-2019.151284/

 

[stumog]

I had a house in primostone sorry for the spelling. Then a flat in tucepe. Spent alot of time sailing around the islands which really are amazing. I think people really miss a great part out when they don't tour the islands

 

[Zmayski]

I had a house in primostone sorry for the spelling. Then a flat in tucepe. Spent alot of time sailing around the islands which really are amazing. I think people really miss a great part out when they don't tour the islands

Primošten is beautiful and a great place to explore Kornati archipelago by boat.
Tučepi is just infront two large islands; Hvar and Brač - fantastic roads for exploring. I'll try to upload one photo from Hvar; that small spot on the gravel road is my bike...
There is over a 1000 islands on the Croatiaan coast!

 

[Zmayski]

Hi, guys

Finally I have got my car back from repairshop!
Here are some pictures of it that I promissed...

 

[stumog]

Well.done glad you have it back

 

[goodoldboy]

That looks great , lovely colour.The wheels suit it well.

 

[Zmayski]

Well.done glad you have it back

Tnx, Stumog!
It runs (and stops!) much better now. I havent test it off the road yet.
Only thing that really bothers me now is clunking sound when I ride it hard uphill. I think it comes from forward right wheel, sounds like a CV joint... that will cost me ANOTHER arm and a leg, I'm afraid... :-(

 

[Zmayski]

That looks great , lovely colour.The wheels suit it well.

Tnx, Goodoldboy!

I love the wheels too... I still have to take it to wheel geometry be checked/set. It would be shame to destroy those tires quickly now... I’m curious how they will act on long run hard braking in corners; they have 30 mm positive scrub radius now…

And the color; it is in great condition on all the upper body parts (metal ones), but bumpers and door/fender plastic moldings are all beaten and scratched. I’m considering to repaint them in some protective color, like Raptor. What is your opinion on that?

I have done some Photoshop test on that;