Hello all. I’m a brand-new Mud member who has been a longtime Toyota truck owner going back to the early 90’s. I currently have a 2002 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab 4.7L that has served my needs extremely well for the past 20 years, and with only 165K miles on it, should give me many more miles of service. I primarily use my Tundra to tow my boat, and I have regeared it with 4.88’s. But I have no lockers, and just a basic 2” lift (Bilstein 5100’s/Stock TRD springs/Hellwig helper springs in the rear). I’m still on stock-sized tires – 31’s.
Over the past two years or so, I’ve had the opportunity to go wheeling with some friends who have been into it a long time. They have very capable rigs, decades of offroad experience, and some have extensive mechanical knowledge. At this point, I’ve only ridden along with them, but I’ve had a blast and it is something I want to do more of. Of course my friends are encouraging me to either build up my Tundra, or acquire a dedicated wheeling rig of my own. They’re all Jeepers, so they would prefer I get a Jeep too, so they can laugh at me when I break it.
I have been a casual member of the Tundra forums for years, so I’m pretty familiar with the options that exist to make a Tundra a bit more capable off-road, but I am not sure the investment is worth the potential results you get. I think it would make a great trail rig, but that’s not really what these guys do. They generally don’t do multi-day trips, or camp out much. It’s mostly just day trips where they try to get into the rough stuff, and their rigs have the bumps and bruises to show it. I would prefer to keep my Tundra in good shape for towing and general use around town. So I’m looking into getting something else that is more capable than my Tundra, and eventually, up to the challenge of occasional rock crawling.
So here I am, lurking on Mud for a while, and now looking at getting a Cruiser. I am aware that the market demand for them is at an all-time high. But I’m confident that I can hunt something down that will work for me.
One of my other hobbies is RC Crawling. I’ve got over 20 heavily-modified RC crawlers – many of which are Toyotas. My absolute favorite rigs is a leaf-sprung 70 Series pickup. It’s very much on the scale side of things, so not the most capable rig I have at all, but I have a lot of fun picking lines and finding ways to get over obstacles that would be no challenge at all for some of my linked/coil sprung rigs with big tires.
So far in my search for a rig, I have been mostly looking at 80 Series Cruisers or LX450’s. I like 80’s a lot, but just haven’t found one at the right price yet. The other day, I stumbled across a listing for a 70 Series for sale here locally – a Japanese market HZJ73 which is has been legally registered and plated here in CA since 2016. It has the EPA Certification plate in the engine bay, and the sticker in the door jamb. Two other owners have been able to successfully register it in CA since it was imported.
This particular HZJ73 is equipped with a 1HZ and a 5-speed manual. It has about 195K on it. The chassis is clean and rust-free, and the body is straight, but the clear coat is shot. I don’t really care about that. It’s mostly stock, except for aftermarket bumpers, sliders, wheels/tires. I think the leaf springs are aftermarket as well, but I don’t know which kind. They look to be very heavy duty.
View attachment 2993869
I’m guessing most would probably recommend an 80 series for a newb like me, but I think it would be totally cool to have an all leaf-sprung 70 Series. I don’t need daily driving comfort. I just want it to be reasonably capable on the trail and in the rocks occasionally. While probably not as easy as a LHD Auto, I can drive a RHD manual. Am I barking up the right tree with this 70 Series?
Over the past two years or so, I’ve had the opportunity to go wheeling with some friends who have been into it a long time. They have very capable rigs, decades of offroad experience, and some have extensive mechanical knowledge. At this point, I’ve only ridden along with them, but I’ve had a blast and it is something I want to do more of. Of course my friends are encouraging me to either build up my Tundra, or acquire a dedicated wheeling rig of my own. They’re all Jeepers, so they would prefer I get a Jeep too, so they can laugh at me when I break it.
I have been a casual member of the Tundra forums for years, so I’m pretty familiar with the options that exist to make a Tundra a bit more capable off-road, but I am not sure the investment is worth the potential results you get. I think it would make a great trail rig, but that’s not really what these guys do. They generally don’t do multi-day trips, or camp out much. It’s mostly just day trips where they try to get into the rough stuff, and their rigs have the bumps and bruises to show it. I would prefer to keep my Tundra in good shape for towing and general use around town. So I’m looking into getting something else that is more capable than my Tundra, and eventually, up to the challenge of occasional rock crawling.
So here I am, lurking on Mud for a while, and now looking at getting a Cruiser. I am aware that the market demand for them is at an all-time high. But I’m confident that I can hunt something down that will work for me.
One of my other hobbies is RC Crawling. I’ve got over 20 heavily-modified RC crawlers – many of which are Toyotas. My absolute favorite rigs is a leaf-sprung 70 Series pickup. It’s very much on the scale side of things, so not the most capable rig I have at all, but I have a lot of fun picking lines and finding ways to get over obstacles that would be no challenge at all for some of my linked/coil sprung rigs with big tires.
So far in my search for a rig, I have been mostly looking at 80 Series Cruisers or LX450’s. I like 80’s a lot, but just haven’t found one at the right price yet. The other day, I stumbled across a listing for a 70 Series for sale here locally – a Japanese market HZJ73 which is has been legally registered and plated here in CA since 2016. It has the EPA Certification plate in the engine bay, and the sticker in the door jamb. Two other owners have been able to successfully register it in CA since it was imported.
This particular HZJ73 is equipped with a 1HZ and a 5-speed manual. It has about 195K on it. The chassis is clean and rust-free, and the body is straight, but the clear coat is shot. I don’t really care about that. It’s mostly stock, except for aftermarket bumpers, sliders, wheels/tires. I think the leaf springs are aftermarket as well, but I don’t know which kind. They look to be very heavy duty.
View attachment 2993869
I’m guessing most would probably recommend an 80 series for a newb like me, but I think it would be totally cool to have an all leaf-sprung 70 Series. I don’t need daily driving comfort. I just want it to be reasonably capable on the trail and in the rocks occasionally. While probably not as easy as a LHD Auto, I can drive a RHD manual. Am I barking up the right tree with this 70 Series?
