Differentiating between J70, GX, VX, Prado, etc. (1 Viewer)

[landcruiser420]

Apologies if this post is a bit broad or basic. I’m a personal owner of a 1990 SWB J70 and this forum has been extremely helpful. I am increasing my responsibilities at work which will involve purchasing of vehicles and I wanted to learn more.

I work for a conservation organization in Tanzania and our work encompasses over 2,000km2 on unpaved roads. In the dry season roads vary from sandy to rocky with heavy corrugation on the main roads. Rainy season is muddy though not typically too slick. Much of our work actually takes us off road as well.

I’ve slowly shifted our fleet towards Landcruisers as opposed to Land Rovers, mainly due to the availability and price of spares. I don’t know the exact model names so I’ve attached pictures, we currently have:

1991 J70 Hardtop station wagon
1991 J70 Hardtop station wagon
2004 J70 hardtop station wagon

1996 HZJ79 Station Wagon (safari)

1995 Landcruiser GX
1997 Landcruiser GX

2013 Landcruiser like a VX? It’s our “nice” car.

All the cars do their job well except the newest model as it has too many electronics that are always being shaken loose, getting wet, or acting up.They all need constant maintenance with lots of bushing replacements, etc.

We see a lot of Toyota Surf and Prados on the market; are there any reasons why the J70s perform better or could I expect a similar performance? I’ve heard some people say the Prados aren’t good in the bush but don’t have first hand experience. Newer (2011 and on) J70 stations wagons are nearly triple the price of a 90s or early 00s model but if the body is solid on the early 90s one then it's not worth it to me, or am I missing something? it's tricky buying a car here in Tanzania and we don't have access to proper tools to assess engine health, etc.

I recently learned the post 2003 J70 stations wagons have coil springs in the front, which I think are much more comfortable. Does anyone else have any tips on the differences between those models or key features to look for among models of different years? I basically would like to educate myself a bit more as we are looking to grow our fleet and figured people here may have experience.

 

[SNLC]

Deep rabbit hole on models of 70’s over the last 35yrs or so.

Basics are;

Prado is light duty built on Hilux platform. Many configurations and models for the Prados.

Troopies are 75 or 78 series.

Pickups are 75 or 79 series.

Your GX is an 80 series.

Your VX is a 200 series.

GX, VX, LX, ZX and so forth are trim levels and nothing else.

70-series went coil spring front suspension in 1999. Also went to five lug in 2007. 2007+ is also a wide nose or front clip.

Cheers

 

[OGBeno]

Deep rabbit hole on models of 70’s over the last 35yrs or so.

Basics are;

Prado is light duty built on Hilux platform. Many configurations and models for the Prados.

Troopies are 75 or 78 series.

Pickups are 75 or 79 series.

Your GX is an 80 series.

Your VX is a 200 series.

GX, VX, LX, ZX and so forth are trim levels and nothing else.

70-series went coil spring front suspension in 1999. Also went to five lug in 2007. 2007+ is also a wide nose or front clip.

Cheers

Slight correction: 7x heavy duty went to 5 lug in 1999.

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

The "station wagon" model in the picture is actually a 75/78 Series.

76/77 Series are station wagons.

Prado and Hilux shared platform in the past, but things have changed. Now 4 Runner and Prado are built on a common platform.

It is good practice to think of the Prado, Hilux and 4 Runner as the 70 Series' little brothers. They are all good off road. However, 70 Series Land Cruisers are a category of their own due to, among other things, rugged design and tougher drive train.





Juan

 

[landcruiser420]

Deep rabbit hole on models of 70’s over the last 35yrs or so.

Basics are;

Prado is light duty built on Hilux platform. Many configurations and models for the Prados.

Troopies are 75 or 78 series.

Pickups are 75 or 79 series.

Your GX is an 80 series.

Your VX is a 200 series.

GX, VX, LX, ZX and so forth are trim levels and nothing else.

70-series went coil spring front suspension in 1999. Also went to five lug in 2007. 2007+ is also a wide nose or front clip.

Cheers

Thank you. It would be nice if all our lugs were the same for swapping tires and what not, good to note. I really like the coil front suspension and not really noticing anything significant with load capacity.

All these vehicles have the 1HZ engine so when you say, "GX, VX, LX, ZX and so forth are trim levels and nothing else.", it's basically only the shape?

When we look at the Prado and Hilux, is the performance between the Landcruisers negligible or you think significant? As mentioned these two types of vehicles are widely available but I've always been hesitant to bring one to the bush.

 

[landcruiser420]

Hello,

The "station wagon" model in the picture is actually a 75/78 Series.

76/77 Series are station wagons.

Prado and Hilux shared platform in the past, but things have changed. Now 4 Runner and Prado are built on a common platform.

It is good practice to think of the Prado, Hilux and 4 Runner as the 70 Series' little brothers. They are all good off road. However, 70 Series Land Cruisers are a category of their own due to, among other things, rugged design and tougher drive train.

Thanks for this. Cursory research shows those have 1KZ engines or something smaller. So basically if the engine has a 1HZ then the difference in model is pretty small?

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

Early model (up to around 1995) Prados shared the body, from the windshield on, with 70 Series. This changed after 1996: Prados got a different body and independent front suspension, among other things.

Prados have 1KZ engines. They are reliable but sensitive to overheating because of the turbo.
EDIT: early model Prados had 1KZ engines. Later models have both gasoline/petrol and diesel engines. The former include V6 and V8 used on Lexus models.


The 1HZ engine is naturally aspired and stronger. It is also rather easy to maintain and repair in the bush. This makes it very different from the 1KZ.





Juan

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Hello,

Early model (up to around 1995) Prados shared the body, from the windshield on, with 70 Series. This changed after 1996: Prados got a different body and independent front suspension, among other things.

Prados have 1KZ engines. They are reliable but sensitive to overheating because of the turbo.

The 1HZ engine is naturally aspired and stronger. It is also rather easy to maintain and repair in the bush. This makes it very different from the 1KZ.





Juan

In the Middle East, Prados have petrol engines and are basically the same vehicle as the small Lexus (GX470, etc.)

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Hello,

The "station wagon" model in the picture is actually a 75/78 Series.

76/77 Series are station wagons.

Prado and Hilux shared platform in the past, but things have changed. Now 4 Runner and Prado are built on a common platform.

It is good practice to think of the Prado, Hilux and 4 Runner as the 70 Series' little brothers. They are all good off road. However, 70 Series Land Cruisers are a category of their own due to, among other things, rugged design and tougher drive train.





Juan

I'm sure it's an unintentable oversight on Juan's behalf but he omitted the ultimate station wagon that's already set up for overlanding.

 

[landcruiser420]

Hello,

Early model (up to around 1995) Prados shared the body, from the windshield on, with 70 Series. This changed after 1996: Prados got a different body and independent front suspension, among other things.

Prados have 1KZ engines. They are reliable but sensitive to overheating because of the turbo.
EDIT: early model Prados had 1KZ engines. Later models have both gasoline/petrol and diesel engines. The former include V6 and V8 used on Lexus models.


The 1HZ engine is naturally aspired and stronger. It is also rather easy to maintain and repair in the bush. This makes it very different from the 1KZ.





Juan

Thank you Juan, this is indeed super helpful.

 

[clintnz]

Thanks for this. Cursory research shows those have 1KZ engines or something smaller. So basically if the engine has a 1HZ then the difference in model is pretty small?

Nice Fleet!

Model numbers on the 70 series are a bit of a mishmash, but the letters always tell you the motor - you want HZJ for the 1HZ motor. The biggest change to the HZJ7* trucks was the introduction of the coil sprung front end around 1999. Around 2007 the 1HZ motor was phased out in favour of the 4.5 V8 in many places, but HZJ7* trucks were & maybe still are made for some markets.

The GX, LX, VX, ZX trim designations are used on many Toyotas - it refers to the spec level & it's usually just stuff like the VX might have electric windows & the GX doesn't.

A big difference between Prado/Hilux & the heavy duty 70 series is the load carrying capacity - Landcruiser GVM is typically several hundred kg more, so if you're only tooling around with one or 2 guys & a shovel you'll get away with a Hilux no problem, but if you're loading the crap out of it then you really need a proper Landcruiser. Plus if parts & service expertise are scarce where you are, the 1HZ engine is definitely a better pick than any other diesel made by Toyota in the last 20 years.

Cheers
Clint

 

[roscoFJ73]

Slight correction: 7x heavy duty went to 5 lug in 1999.

Yes , they did this because they changed the offset on the wheels and they didnt want owners trying to fit the old 6 lug wheels because it would have interfered with the steering components etc on the coil sprung models

 

[roscoFJ73]

and I wanted to learn more.

Its hard to beat this site Oregon Pacific Railroad Homepage (ignore the name)

 

[landcruiser420]

Nice Fleet!

Model numbers on the 70 series are a bit of a mishmash, but the letters always tell you the motor - you want HZJ for the 1HZ motor. The biggest change to the HZJ7* trucks was the introduction of the coil sprung front end around 1999. Around 2007 the 1HZ motor was phased out in favour of the 4.5 V8 in many places, but HZJ7* trucks were & maybe still are made for some markets.

The GX, LX, VX, ZX trim designations are used on many Toyotas - it refers to the spec level & it's usually just stuff like the VX might have electric windows & the GX doesn't.

A big difference between Prado/Hilux & the heavy duty 70 series is the load carrying capacity - Landcruiser GVM is typically several hundred kg more, so if you're only tooling around with one or 2 guys & a shovel you'll get away with a Hilux no problem, but if you're loading the crap out of it then you really need a proper Landcruiser. Plus if parts & service expertise are scarce where you are, the 1HZ engine is definitely a better pick than any other diesel made by Toyota in the last 20 years.

Cheers
Clint

Thanks Clint, totally makes sense.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

If you wanted to go new, could you buy these for your fleet? Toyota Land Cruiser 76 Standard

 

[FieldCruiser]

What gets really confusing is in some markets in the prado line up, the 4 door wagons, were named under THREE separate chassis codes. J77, J78, J79, most common with the 2lte and 1kzt engines. Not to be confused with the HD lineup, the J78 troop carrier and J79 pickup are entirely separate vehicles. At least toyota has somewhat standardized it now with the J76 replacing the Heavy Duty J77.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

What markets got these inward facing jumpseats?

 

[OGBeno]

What markets got these inward facing jumpseats?View attachment 2187437

Market and vehicle specific. Could be installed down to individual customer order even.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Market and vehicle specific. Could be installed down to individual customer order even.

Would have been nice to have that option in a 77 Series

 

[OGBeno]

Would have been nice to have that option in a 77 Series

With enough money and time, anything is possible.