First time owner with 2001 HDJ100 (1 Viewer)

[turtlepower]

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading and learning about Land Cruisers for a few while and decided to get my own back in the spring. I've always liked Land Cruisers and I needed to sell my car and get something more capable of towing. I ended up buying a 2001 HDJ 100 5-speed manual from Canary Island Rover in Spain and it arrived in late August. It was a long process but I’ve been pretty happy with the vehicle so far. It was a one-owner vehicle, seems to have been well maintained, and is very clean. I slowly worked through some baseline maintenance for peace of mind, and replaced all the fluids to get it ready for a Canadian winter. I also did some other modifications along the way like replacing the original AHC system with Old Man Emu springs and Dobinsons shocks, TJM bumper, and new wheels / tires.

I may do some more functional and cosmetic modifications like rock sliders and wheel spacers at some point, but for now I’m happy to just cruise around and enjoy the drive. I'm looking forward to taking some trips with the vehicle in the future.

The day it arrived:

Its current state:

 

[tip]

Awesome!!! How many kms?

 

[FJ40 MNTCRZR]

Nice and congrats…

 

[turtlepower]

Awesome!!! How many kms?

242k km

 

[David*BJ70]

I have a HDJ100 too. I would LOVE to drive a 5spd but mine is auto 4 spd.

Why weaken the drive train with wheel spacers ?

Now time to buy a 2K$ Corolla as a winter beater. Keep this out of the salty roads.

 

[turtlepower]

That's a good point about the spacers and the main reason why I'm not sure about them yet. I used them on my previous car for a few years to fit winter tires and they worked well, my opinion is that a good quality spacer should have a minimal (but not zero) impact on reliability.

 

[Travis Bickle]

That's a good point about the spacers and the main reason why I'm not sure about them yet. I used them on my previous car for a few years to fit winter tires and they worked well, my opinion is that a good quality spacer should have a minimal (but not zero) impact on reliability.

Wheel spacers have zero impact on reliability, unless installed incorrectly and your wheel falls off. Congrats on the new truck, jealous of the five speed.

 

[uHu]

Wheel spacers never have zero impact. By moving the wheel further out, you increase the stress on all parts of the suspension system, and increase power steer, no matter the quality of the spacer.
The perfect wheel geometry puts the king pin axis in the centerline of the wheel where it meets the road surface. But in practical terms, the wheel is always a bit too far out. With a wheel spacer you increase that distance. Only if you increase the tyre diameter, you can use a small spacer without worsening the geometry; as the king pin axis is then extended a bit further out, because of the increased distance between the wheel axis and the road.

Of course, if you just like a wider stance, that might overrule any such "sensible considerations".

 

[Patassa]

Spacers are increasing bending moments and other stresses, there is no way around that. The question is always is that increase negligible or impactful. I'm not sure we have a conclusive answer on that.