That is a oem rollbar but as far as I know they where never offered in the JDM models so a po must have sourced it and installed it .
Hopefully a new owner! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter deanclean
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- #22
Again,
Thank you all for the input and advice. Great photos of that roll bar. I spoke with an importer here in Canada and they say they add tether anchors to all vehicles they import and are “certified” to do so. I dealt with them in the past and it was a great experience so I trust them. I’d love to share some photos to the group of rigs I’m looking at for your thoughts. I’m mostly looking at the HZJ and the pzj motors.
Thank you all for the input and advice. Great photos of that roll bar. I spoke with an importer here in Canada and they say they add tether anchors to all vehicles they import and are “certified” to do so. I dealt with them in the past and it was a great experience so I trust them. I’d love to share some photos to the group of rigs I’m looking at for your thoughts. I’m mostly looking at the HZJ and the pzj motors.
Low mileage 1HZ would be my choice, but I'm also incredibly biased in every possible way.
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- #24
And yes I agree it would be a good idea to have another car. I had my wife’s wheels to use when the Defender was out of commission. I’m thinking that a Cruiser will be more reliable than a Defender but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. I’ll have my wife’s car again if the cruiser goes tits up.
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- #25
@Sundowner that’s definitely my preference. A HZJ73
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- #26
Here is a link to what I think is really nice. Almost too nice.
Import used TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 70 1992 for sale - SBT Global Car exporters - https://www.sbtjapan.com/dealers-cars/toyota/land-cruiser-70/DZJ5443/
Import used TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 70 1992 for sale - SBT Global Car exporters - https://www.sbtjapan.com/dealers-cars/toyota/land-cruiser-70/DZJ5443/
Are you sitting down? Go ahead and sit down if you're not already sitting down. This is going to be funny.
Okay, ready?
Q: Know what my day job is?
A: Working on Land Rovers.
Q: And what do I drive to work every day?
A: An HZJ73.
I've said it before in my own thread, and I'll say it again, here: after turning wrenches on Land Rovers every day for a living, there's absolutely no way I would ever have one. There's just no comparison possible to a Land Cruiser in either quality, execution, or overall design...and that goes for everything they've made since 1947. The trucks are a hodgepodge of solid design mixed with ridiculousness, and the solidly-engineered parts are the ones that got the budget and quality cuts. I mostly work on Series I through III trucks, but we see some Defenders and Discos as well; if I had to take any of them, I'd take the Discovery...but I wouldn't take it much further than the mall parking lot. That being said: I'm sure you can keep a Defender in solid condition and make it go anywhere you like, reliably...but it's going to take an MoD budget and a motor pool to do it.
I'm reminded of a conversation I had this past week with the shop owner, when I uncovered a stash of approximately 375 boxes of tie-rod ends that were hiding under a Series II chassis.
Me: "How much are these worth, each? This has to be a TON of frozen capital."
Owner: "Oh, they're not expensive; maybe $25 each."
Me: "That's... actually , that's surprisingly affordable. I was expecting a lot more."
Owner: "Yeah, try buying a TRE for that Toyota of yours. I bet it's more expensive."
Me: "Oh, definitely. About $150 for a set."
Owner: <smug face> "And I bet they're hard to find, too."
Me: "They sure are...but that's true of most JDM Toyota spares. Know why?"
Owner: "Did they not make very many of them, or something?"
Me: "It's a Toyota: we don't f***ing need spares."
He didn't have much of a response to that...so I just went and threw a handful of oil-dry under his Series I; it was busy leaking on the floor, like it always does.
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- #28
@Sundowner haha well that makes me feel better about a cruiser. I enjoyed the defender loads but couldn’t spend all that time working on it. It was in good shape and had very little rust but it was all the other stuff. I don’t regret it but I won’t have another one. I had a Triumph TR6 that was loads of fun but heaps of work too. I like working on cars as a hobby and learning loads but I don’t want to do it full time. I have a regular job for that! There’s seems to be a great crowd here and a great resource.
All JDM MWB 70's or just the 92 and older LDRF posted? Seems like I saw a lot of 73's with roll bars when I was looking...but they were all 96 and 97s.
FJBen
SILVER Star
So that’s a PZJ70. Short wheel base. Will ride rougher/bouncier. Much less room than the 73/74 mid wheel base series.
No roll bar, but hard top. Seatbelts attach to a bar not a roll bar.
Personally I wouldn’t get a short wheel base. The ride is much better on the MWB, plus the extra room and then of course the removable top
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No roll bar, but hard top. Seatbelts attach to a bar not a roll bar.
Personally I wouldn’t get a short wheel base. The ride is much better on the MWB, plus the extra room and then of course the removable top
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- #33
Thanks @FJBen it was the two tone brown and white that caught my eye. I really like the look of the SWB but the MWB is nice too. I’m 6’2” tall so the room inside is maybe something I should think about. Only my son will be in the back seat so he would be fine back there. The non removable top is not a big deal to me but it’s a bonus that’s for sure. What I’ve picked up most from this site is find low rust low km’s and get a 1hz motor. I will certainly keep looking. Love the input and advice.
Don't get too worked up about trucks overseas. Either work with an experienced, reputable importer, or buy a truck that is already sitting in Canada. If you have an importer lined up it makes sense to shop the overseas sites. Otherwise just stick to trucks that actually "exist" - that are in Canada that you can go and check yourself. There are far more sketchy trucks and sketchy importers than there are good ones.
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- #35
@Tennessee Jed thats probably some of the best advice yet. It’s easy to get excited over pictures that may or may not be real. I am working with an importer so if I do see one I’m serious about, someone will go check it out.
I think patience is a virtue...or at least a way to get exactly what you want, rather than getting just close to that mark.
If you're 6.2 get yourself a Euro spec or prepare to immediatly modify the JDM seat as these where made for a different frame folks .
Also the absolute worst thing you can do to a diesel engine is drive short distances so if you get a really low mile one prepare yourself to do several engine flushes and to break it in properly . many cases around already from low mile jdm cruisers catastrophically going in to self destruct mode on long US based trips .
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- #38
Wow ok @joekatana thats good to know. I should definitely stick with a HZJ73. Probably more leg room than the shorter 70. Maybe I need to re evaluate this. I was thinking under 100,000km would be low mileage. Nothing under 50,000 those are out of my range. Thanks again for all the great tips.
100k km over 25-30 years is super low and almost a guarantee it only has been used around town , the 2 tone one that you posted up has around 200 k km on it as you can see from the driver seat wear on it . Odo's in JDM cruisers are a indicator not proof , when I was younger this was frequently done in Europe also especially with young used cars exported out of Germany in to Belgium and The Netherlands as cars where cheaper in Germany but later the inspection stations in Europe started recording mileage which made it harder for those guys
fireball
SILVER Star
Agree with the above and would have no interest in a SWB model. I really like my bj74. I'm also 6'2", but the seat mod was a quick and easy one, and now that i have a fancy armrest / drink holder thingy, it's a comfortable drive!
