Not "really" a build, but more of a mod... what I like to call, turning my Land Cruiser into a Bruiser.
I have restored a couple of 40 series, and had one 60 series, and this will be my 6th Land Cruiser now that I have owned. I scanned and researched importing a 70 series for over a year, finally deciding to start bidding on them at auction early this year. By early February, I had won the bid on this 2002 HZJ76 ZX:
I upped my bid on this particular unit, because it had a pretty clean inspection report, and it came with a factory Toyota 12v winch, and factory front and rear diff locks. It had a little more mileage on it than what I was initially wanting (240,000km), but with the pretty clean inspection, and no leaks reported it seemed cleaner than some of the lower mileage vehicles I had bid on earlier (and subsequently lost).
It shipped later in February, and I picked it up later in March from the ports in Vancouver and brought it home.
I proceeded to do up measurements as with my 40 series I was always able to get away with a 2" lift and 33" tires and always have enough clearance for the backroads, trails and river crossings in BC. The 70 series was another story, with the extended front and rear bumpers and longer wheelbase. Calculations ensued....
I have to admit, I agonized for days/weeks around where to spend my hard earned/saved $$$ on this vehicle, and practicality/functionality always wins for me over what's pretty(tho it's an obvious win/win when it is functional, practical, AND pretty)... I really really wanted to spend $6000 on front and rear bumpers with fancy swing-away tire/fuel can carriers, but that money would be better spent on suspension, tires, maintenance, engine upgrades and sanity checks.
The import inspection at the mechanics shop actually came up clean, needing nothing! In fact they said this was the cleanest nicest JDM they had seen come through their shop. This made me feel pretty good about my purchase, but I took it with a grain of salt as I live in a city of 40,000 ppl, so if this is the cleanest 70 out of 2, that is not saying much....
So, after many hours of research, I decided to go up a notch in lift, and tires. There is no 3" lift, so I had to go with 4", and decided I would probably get 35" tires so I would not have to worry about dragging front and rear bumpers every time I am going through a gully or a cross-ditch.... Plus, with the lower tractor gearing on these units (at a 100km/hr the engine was revving at ~2500RPM) I figured the 35's would be a nice match up with what I had planned to get a little more power from the engine.
Now here is where it gets fun, interesting, and a sense of humor is required. Finding parts for 70's can be a challenge. And shipping them during the covid crap required a super-human amount of patience. I ended up reaching out to Dan at 4wheelauto and stretching his poor brain for contacts and help in creating a lift kit for this beast. I also like to support local business where I can, and Dan has helped me out since the days of my first Land Cruiser over 25years ago.
So this is what we came up with:
Front coils: Dobinsons 4" lift
Rear leafs: Old Man EMU 2" Lift, and Extended Shackles for an additional 2.5" Lift
Shocks: Old Man EMU SPORT NITRO's all around
A new HD PanHard Trac bar for a 79 series
SLEE Off Road HD Radius arms (so I would not have to worry about the caster being way out)
3rd party extended sway bar links - can't remember the brand now
Old Man EMU bushings kit
I ordered the above stuff... and waited impatiently now that I had finally made up my mind. Isn't it just like humans to want all the time in the world to make a decision, then want what we decided on, YESTERDAY?
I have restored a couple of 40 series, and had one 60 series, and this will be my 6th Land Cruiser now that I have owned. I scanned and researched importing a 70 series for over a year, finally deciding to start bidding on them at auction early this year. By early February, I had won the bid on this 2002 HZJ76 ZX:
I upped my bid on this particular unit, because it had a pretty clean inspection report, and it came with a factory Toyota 12v winch, and factory front and rear diff locks. It had a little more mileage on it than what I was initially wanting (240,000km), but with the pretty clean inspection, and no leaks reported it seemed cleaner than some of the lower mileage vehicles I had bid on earlier (and subsequently lost).
It shipped later in February, and I picked it up later in March from the ports in Vancouver and brought it home.
I proceeded to do up measurements as with my 40 series I was always able to get away with a 2" lift and 33" tires and always have enough clearance for the backroads, trails and river crossings in BC. The 70 series was another story, with the extended front and rear bumpers and longer wheelbase. Calculations ensued....
I have to admit, I agonized for days/weeks around where to spend my hard earned/saved $$$ on this vehicle, and practicality/functionality always wins for me over what's pretty(tho it's an obvious win/win when it is functional, practical, AND pretty)... I really really wanted to spend $6000 on front and rear bumpers with fancy swing-away tire/fuel can carriers, but that money would be better spent on suspension, tires, maintenance, engine upgrades and sanity checks.
The import inspection at the mechanics shop actually came up clean, needing nothing! In fact they said this was the cleanest nicest JDM they had seen come through their shop. This made me feel pretty good about my purchase, but I took it with a grain of salt as I live in a city of 40,000 ppl, so if this is the cleanest 70 out of 2, that is not saying much....
So, after many hours of research, I decided to go up a notch in lift, and tires. There is no 3" lift, so I had to go with 4", and decided I would probably get 35" tires so I would not have to worry about dragging front and rear bumpers every time I am going through a gully or a cross-ditch.... Plus, with the lower tractor gearing on these units (at a 100km/hr the engine was revving at ~2500RPM) I figured the 35's would be a nice match up with what I had planned to get a little more power from the engine.
Now here is where it gets fun, interesting, and a sense of humor is required. Finding parts for 70's can be a challenge. And shipping them during the covid crap required a super-human amount of patience. I ended up reaching out to Dan at 4wheelauto and stretching his poor brain for contacts and help in creating a lift kit for this beast. I also like to support local business where I can, and Dan has helped me out since the days of my first Land Cruiser over 25years ago.
So this is what we came up with:
Front coils: Dobinsons 4" lift
Rear leafs: Old Man EMU 2" Lift, and Extended Shackles for an additional 2.5" Lift
Shocks: Old Man EMU SPORT NITRO's all around
A new HD PanHard Trac bar for a 79 series
SLEE Off Road HD Radius arms (so I would not have to worry about the caster being way out)
3rd party extended sway bar links - can't remember the brand now
Old Man EMU bushings kit
I ordered the above stuff... and waited impatiently now that I had finally made up my mind. Isn't it just like humans to want all the time in the world to make a decision, then want what we decided on, YESTERDAY?