Builds 1988 BJ74 “Number 1” (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter FJBen
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FJBen
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- Thread starter
- #422
Actually a sunrise
we may not have restaurants, or stoplights, or neighbors within 1.5 miles or mountains
,but we do have some really nice sunrise/sunsets andthe stars are amazing at night. The lake is pretty nice part of the year ...And bonus if you are really into corn
thanks alika, those are all just taken with my iPhone 7I’m not a very good photographer lol. I thought about straightening that picture but I kinda liked how it was off
maybe I’ll try it and see
here! A quick iPhone fix. I like both!
FJBen
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- Thread starter
- #425
Pictures, everybody loves pictures.
So one thing that still kind of intrigues me about this cruiser is the VIN and when it was sold. I’ve gone over this before, but it’s still bugging me.
the end of the VIN again is 9000001, which usually means first run of a model but that’s not the case with a 1988 BJ74. Its not the first 12v BJ74 sent to Australia, at least pretty positive on that but I’ve been wrong a bunch in 70 series. No help from Toyota, not surprising on an old vehicle, and possibly not talking to the right people.
2nd interesting point is year it was sold. So it’s a 10/88 build date which doesn’t surprise me that it wouldnt sell until 89 at some point...but this didn’t sell until February 1991.
That’s a long time to sit somewhere?
4BH is a radio station in Spring Hill, Brisbane
They purchased it at Torque Toyota in red cliffe QLD. Feb 18 1991. Ironically that address is now a VW and Jeep dealer.
Pretty place.
redcliffe Fun facts.
It was the first European settlement in Queensland.
The BeeGees first public appearance was here in 1959, and the Birthplace of the BeeGees.
4BH Limited is a radio station, 882khz, that was in Astor terrace, Spring Hill. In 1990 they attempted to convert to FM, but it was too costly. So what do you do with that extra money? Buy a Land Cruiser of course. I wish I knew the MSRP of a BJ74 in 1988. Also, did they get a bargain because this was an 88 model being sold new in 1991? In the US, you were paying $20k for a Land Cruiser.
Maybe it sat on the showroom floor???
service records show it was serviced at motorama Toyota in Moorooka QLD off Ipswich rd. That dealer is still there.
continued...
So one thing that still kind of intrigues me about this cruiser is the VIN and when it was sold. I’ve gone over this before, but it’s still bugging me.
the end of the VIN again is 9000001, which usually means first run of a model but that’s not the case with a 1988 BJ74. Its not the first 12v BJ74 sent to Australia, at least pretty positive on that but I’ve been wrong a bunch in 70 series. No help from Toyota, not surprising on an old vehicle, and possibly not talking to the right people.
2nd interesting point is year it was sold. So it’s a 10/88 build date which doesn’t surprise me that it wouldnt sell until 89 at some point...but this didn’t sell until February 1991.
That’s a long time to sit somewhere?4BH is a radio station in Spring Hill, Brisbane
They purchased it at Torque Toyota in red cliffe QLD. Feb 18 1991. Ironically that address is now a VW and Jeep dealer.
Pretty place.
redcliffe Fun facts.
It was the first European settlement in Queensland.
The BeeGees first public appearance was here in 1959, and the Birthplace of the BeeGees.
4BH Limited is a radio station, 882khz, that was in Astor terrace, Spring Hill. In 1990 they attempted to convert to FM, but it was too costly. So what do you do with that extra money? Buy a Land Cruiser of course. I wish I knew the MSRP of a BJ74 in 1988. Also, did they get a bargain because this was an 88 model being sold new in 1991? In the US, you were paying $20k for a Land Cruiser.
Maybe it sat on the showroom floor???
service records show it was serviced at motorama Toyota in Moorooka QLD off Ipswich rd. That dealer is still there.
continued...
FJBen
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- Thread starter
- #426
So the last 3 services were done by Laughtons Oakey Nissan. Zero information on this...almost.
after some searching I Had a hit on Wayne Laughton who was a previous owner/manager at Laughtons Nissan with a Motor Dealers license for 7 years there and another business he owned called Oakey House and Property Sales.
So the BJ74 was now being serviced at a dealer in Oakey, Australia for a few years. The last service at that dealer was 50,740kms. It took 1.5 years to get to 18,693kms, then in 5 months just a year later it travels nearly 11,000kms.
Oakey is a small town of 5,000 people west of Toowoomba, and west of Brisbane around 1.5 hours.
using logic, it’s safe to say the owner moved, or the vehicle sold and went inland, and my best guess not knowing the area is that for awhile, that was the closest dealer. My guess is they were further west from that as well.
Forrest Gump...And just like that, she was gone
On an Aussie forum, one person gave me some tips about the radio station and mentioned it was most likely a farmers rig or someone inland and remote.
makes sense, it isn’t all rotted out like rigs on the coast, and it was built up well, and outfitted from dealer nicely as well.
ARB’s were (not sure if still) a factory option according to some of the Aussie folk I talked with. Makes sorta sense as my ARB bumper has no numbers that ARB could figure out, but definite part numbers stuck on.
Someone added Arb lockers front/rear and the compressor that’s at least 20+ years old. Custom rear bumper, interior wiring putting a power outlet in the rear/second row, a lift kit and flares, turbo timer, red arc dual battery isolator, overhead console, Narva lights and at some point an FRP replacement windscreen. Someone was building it up nicely and taking care of it. Knock on wood, I have yet to find “dreaded previous owner” mods. The wiring is all pretty good and no other obvious hacks besides some speaker wires that were butt clamp connected, and rear trailer connector that I believe were scotch locked on. Nothing egregious at all.
In my estimation, this rig spent most if it’s life in dry inland conditions (some red dirt/dust hidden) traveling all over for 430,000 more kms until it popped up for sale at a dealership in Brisbane in 2014 that seemed to sell a lot of used land cruisers.
dealer photo
Now to me, I feel like this may have been a single or few owner once it left the big city for parts unknown. IMO, it’s in way too good of shape to pass through multiple owners in the outback as an expedition vehicle, or looking like one. Most Aussie rigs I see with that many kms are usually beat down pretty good. One could assume that if it’s from the coast areas, it would be rotted like crazy.
I’m not sure if there is an Aussie carfax or something that I could track the vehicles past, but I imagine there are some cool stories with it.
From here, the story is less exciting. In 2014, it landed in Long Beach California, within a month blew a hose and popped the headgasket, scored a cylinder wall and bent some pushrods. It sat in a garage until it arrived at my house in September of 2018 and the process to rebuild began.
after some searching I Had a hit on Wayne Laughton who was a previous owner/manager at Laughtons Nissan with a Motor Dealers license for 7 years there and another business he owned called Oakey House and Property Sales.
So the BJ74 was now being serviced at a dealer in Oakey, Australia for a few years. The last service at that dealer was 50,740kms. It took 1.5 years to get to 18,693kms, then in 5 months just a year later it travels nearly 11,000kms.
Oakey is a small town of 5,000 people west of Toowoomba, and west of Brisbane around 1.5 hours.
using logic, it’s safe to say the owner moved, or the vehicle sold and went inland, and my best guess not knowing the area is that for awhile, that was the closest dealer. My guess is they were further west from that as well.
Forrest Gump...And just like that, she was gone
On an Aussie forum, one person gave me some tips about the radio station and mentioned it was most likely a farmers rig or someone inland and remote.
makes sense, it isn’t all rotted out like rigs on the coast, and it was built up well, and outfitted from dealer nicely as well.
ARB’s were (not sure if still) a factory option according to some of the Aussie folk I talked with. Makes sorta sense as my ARB bumper has no numbers that ARB could figure out, but definite part numbers stuck on.
Someone added Arb lockers front/rear and the compressor that’s at least 20+ years old. Custom rear bumper, interior wiring putting a power outlet in the rear/second row, a lift kit and flares, turbo timer, red arc dual battery isolator, overhead console, Narva lights and at some point an FRP replacement windscreen. Someone was building it up nicely and taking care of it. Knock on wood, I have yet to find “dreaded previous owner” mods. The wiring is all pretty good and no other obvious hacks besides some speaker wires that were butt clamp connected, and rear trailer connector that I believe were scotch locked on. Nothing egregious at all.
In my estimation, this rig spent most if it’s life in dry inland conditions (some red dirt/dust hidden) traveling all over for 430,000 more kms until it popped up for sale at a dealership in Brisbane in 2014 that seemed to sell a lot of used land cruisers.
dealer photo
Now to me, I feel like this may have been a single or few owner once it left the big city for parts unknown. IMO, it’s in way too good of shape to pass through multiple owners in the outback as an expedition vehicle, or looking like one. Most Aussie rigs I see with that many kms are usually beat down pretty good. One could assume that if it’s from the coast areas, it would be rotted like crazy.
I’m not sure if there is an Aussie carfax or something that I could track the vehicles past, but I imagine there are some cool stories with it.
From here, the story is less exciting. In 2014, it landed in Long Beach California, within a month blew a hose and popped the headgasket, scored a cylinder wall and bent some pushrods. It sat in a garage until it arrived at my house in September of 2018 and the process to rebuild began.
FJBen
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- #427
Some actual work done this weekend. We had mid 60s temps on Saturday, perfect for wrenching in feb 1st.
First up: oil change.
decided to try some T5 semi syn in 10w30 instead of standard T4 15w40. A little lighter for winter and good flow properties. Not that much more than regular t4. What a rabbit hole of oil. Put some oil in that meets specs, good oem filter and change when it needs it. Works for me.
Co-pilot agreed all looked good on test drive.
First up: oil change.
decided to try some T5 semi syn in 10w30 instead of standard T4 15w40. A little lighter for winter and good flow properties. Not that much more than regular t4. What a rabbit hole of oil. Put some oil in that meets specs, good oem filter and change when it needs it. Works for me.
Co-pilot agreed all looked good on test drive.
FJBen
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- #428
Next up was greasing everything and checking the wheel bearings. The RHD side was a little loose.
A full axle rebuild is on the schedule soonish. Might as well do brakes and rotors while I’m at it. Also the rubber seal on that hub is bad making it hard to turn. Easy enough fix.
Small other projects were new connectors and hose for the ARB compressor so I can fill tires if I want.
after all the work, I put the tractor to work dragging the driveway to smooth it out.
this upcoming weekend is caster shims, new u-bolts and who knows what else.
A full axle rebuild is on the schedule soonish. Might as well do brakes and rotors while I’m at it. Also the rubber seal on that hub is bad making it hard to turn. Easy enough fix.
Small other projects were new connectors and hose for the ARB compressor so I can fill tires if I want.
after all the work, I put the tractor to work dragging the driveway to smooth it out.
this upcoming weekend is caster shims, new u-bolts and who knows what else.
FJBen
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- #429
The day started with such promise.
Slap the shims in and back on the road in no time...
then Father Time won again. Worn out bushings which I imagine are contributing the wander. Part of me wants to put it back together and drive it, while part wants to wait until I get spring bushings.
No one has anything remotely local to me that I can find, so it may just sit on stands for another week.
Slap the shims in and back on the road in no time...
then Father Time won again. Worn out bushings which I imagine are contributing the wander. Part of me wants to put it back together and drive it, while part wants to wait until I get spring bushings.
No one has anything remotely local to me that I can find, so it may just sit on stands for another week.
FJBen
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- #430
Well to answer my own post, I just put it back together. Drove into town definitely returns to center better now and it tracks better driving. Hard to tell being windy, but I still need to replace those spring bushings.
would you go rubber, or replace the current poly bushings?
would you go rubber, or replace the current poly bushings?
FJBen
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- Thread starter
- #431
Stereo upgrade. Took this cheapie out of the little farm truck. Blue tooth, phone and I can actually read the display compared to the burnt out factory cassette player.
Not going to be the final stereo, and the install isn’t the best at all, but for temporary new tunes and some modern features it works. I need to put in the amp and a sub I have as well.
I think I’m going with a Sony AV series in the future.
pulling the passenger kick plate I found this. No idea what it is. Any ideas? Proximity? Remnants of alarm? I didn’t follow the wire as it went someone under the carpet.
Not going to be the final stereo, and the install isn’t the best at all, but for temporary new tunes and some modern features it works. I need to put in the amp and a sub I have as well.
I think I’m going with a Sony AV series in the future.
pulling the passenger kick plate I found this. No idea what it is. Any ideas? Proximity? Remnants of alarm? I didn’t follow the wire as it went someone under the carpet.
Man... I need a stereo of some sort. You just using the stock speakers? Not sure mine are even capable of sound at this point.
That is a curious artifact you’ve found. Obviously aftermarket judging by install. No clue what it is.
FJBen
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- #433
Yeah it’s a cheapie, no CD just “media” player. Was for another vehicle that we aren’t using. I’m just glad I can stream Apple Music to it, we have like 5 terrible radio stations.
So warning long pointless story... Another mystery...or not, is that this had a Toyota stereo in it, no factory speakers or evidence of them being there. The stereo doesn’t match anything in the manual, although there are some old photocopies of the manual for this stereo put in there ??? My guess, someone has an upgraded stereo, and pulled it when they sold it, putting a Toyota stereo in. Awfully nice providing photo copies lol, so that’s a bit weird.
either way, it had some period correct pioneer 6 1/4” in the doors and 6x9” in the backdoors of which I’ve never heard of “sonic” brand. In terms of old stereo, it wasn’t terrible.
I replaced the door speakers with some kicker 6 1/4” that sound way better and clearer. Ihave yet to put my sub and amp in, but that’s soon. I’m debating replacing the 6x9s or taking them out. They don’t sound that great. Decent bass, no clarity, under powered.
Someone suggested that it might be an aftermarket alArm sensor which makes sense. I do see a small light on the steering column. I have yet to find wires.
FJBen
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- #434
Getting a swing out finished. The whole rear bumper is home-made so don’t expect anything super fancy here. I think there is too much weight on that back door, especially with bigger tires.
Just your typical swing out. Kept it in the same relative spot as the door Used and old 4 plus tire carrier mount that @workingdog was getting rid of on the forum as it was loose in setup.
You have some adjustment on the tire in and out to fit different width tires. I also plan on putting a mount for my high lift on there.
the end needs capped and then it will have a destaco latch Probabaly. I really like 4 plus setup but I can’t find something like it. Anyone have ideas besides 4 plus on where to get one?
inactually like it better than a destaco latch
Still a few more tweaks to do on it. There will be a drop plate and bolt/safety pin part way though. There is Also a pad it sits on to support the weight of the tire. I’ll try to get better pictures when it’s done.
also need to figure out a lock for the tire once I get my new spare on there.
Just your typical swing out. Kept it in the same relative spot as the door Used and old 4 plus tire carrier mount that @workingdog was getting rid of on the forum as it was loose in setup.
You have some adjustment on the tire in and out to fit different width tires. I also plan on putting a mount for my high lift on there.
the end needs capped and then it will have a destaco latch Probabaly. I really like 4 plus setup but I can’t find something like it. Anyone have ideas besides 4 plus on where to get one?
inactually like it better than a destaco latch
Still a few more tweaks to do on it. There will be a drop plate and bolt/safety pin part way though. There is Also a pad it sits on to support the weight of the tire. I’ll try to get better pictures when it’s done.
also need to figure out a lock for the tire once I get my new spare on there.
NM Frontier
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I used a lower radiator hose heater, easy to install and works great. I think if I were to do it again I would look harder at a block heater that replaces a freeze plug, do your own research but I remember seeing in a thread that some one actually found one at their local Napa. One of these days I am going to make some time to properly test and diagnose my glow screen and fix that.
NM Frontier
SILVER Star
If I leave it plugged in for 3hrs it will start like a summer day, and the heater blows hot right away. That was on temps from 5-20f. I have it on a timer so I just set it to come on 3hrs before I plan to leave.
FJBen
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- #439
Just some information, that’s not 100% correct, but pretty close.
Refuels since ~May of last year
MPG. So this one is a little off. There are 2~3 tanks that are anomalies. The lowest MPG being my last tank, and it's incorrect. I didn't fill it completely up as I wasn't paying attention. It clicked off and I just ended it there. usually I can get 2ish more gallons in. Therefore, that tank was shortchanged a few gallons causing a much lower than normal reading. Previous low was 17.5mpg which was also a semi-short changed tank.
Fuel amounts. The last was the least, and I topped it off pretty good. There is still a few gallons left as the tank is a 23.77 gallon tank, but I don't really ever push it. My gauge shows empty, so I'm sure I can either bend the arm, or figure out how to calibrate it correctly.
Self Explanatory. Diesel is finally coming down some here.
Just some odometer info. I will say, my speedometer/odometer is pretty dang close with my 255's that measure almost 33" Either someone changed a speedo gear at somepoint, or factory was just that far off to begin with. I'm averaging 375 miles per tank, with 400 miles being my best tank.
So my daily commute up until December of last year, was 12 miles each way. 1.5 miles of dirt, 7 miles of 60~65mph 2 lane and the rest "in town" Usually I did that twice a day, going home for lunch. Now I drive the opposite direction, 14 miles each way daily. 1.5 miles of dirt, 11 miles of 60~65mph 2 lane 1 mile of town which consists of no stoplights. I usually just have 30ish miles these days now. It's usually windy this time of year, and by windy I mean at least 12-15mph winds in 1 direction (feels like all directions some days)
I have yet to take this on a "trip" where I burn a tank fully on the highway to see what I get. I bounce back and forth between 60~65mph depending on how grandma I'm driving. U have around 4,500 miles since the engine rebuild.
Refuels since ~May of last year
MPG. So this one is a little off. There are 2~3 tanks that are anomalies. The lowest MPG being my last tank, and it's incorrect. I didn't fill it completely up as I wasn't paying attention. It clicked off and I just ended it there. usually I can get 2ish more gallons in. Therefore, that tank was shortchanged a few gallons causing a much lower than normal reading. Previous low was 17.5mpg which was also a semi-short changed tank.
Fuel amounts. The last was the least, and I topped it off pretty good. There is still a few gallons left as the tank is a 23.77 gallon tank, but I don't really ever push it. My gauge shows empty, so I'm sure I can either bend the arm, or figure out how to calibrate it correctly.
Self Explanatory. Diesel is finally coming down some here.
Just some odometer info. I will say, my speedometer/odometer is pretty dang close with my 255's that measure almost 33" Either someone changed a speedo gear at somepoint, or factory was just that far off to begin with. I'm averaging 375 miles per tank, with 400 miles being my best tank.
So my daily commute up until December of last year, was 12 miles each way. 1.5 miles of dirt, 7 miles of 60~65mph 2 lane and the rest "in town" Usually I did that twice a day, going home for lunch. Now I drive the opposite direction, 14 miles each way daily. 1.5 miles of dirt, 11 miles of 60~65mph 2 lane 1 mile of town which consists of no stoplights. I usually just have 30ish miles these days now. It's usually windy this time of year, and by windy I mean at least 12-15mph winds in 1 direction (feels like all directions some days)
I have yet to take this on a "trip" where I burn a tank fully on the highway to see what I get. I bounce back and forth between 60~65mph depending on how grandma I'm driving. U have around 4,500 miles since the engine rebuild.
