New here! Hello! (1 Viewer)

[marie]

Hi all, I currently drive an hj61 land cruiser (owned by my partner) and I've used this forum while fixing it multuple tines, so I figured I would go ahead register! I actually read someone that posted our exact vin number in a thread while googling the vin yesterday afternoon. Its a left hand drive 5 speed with the 12H-T, we believe imported into the US from France. Recently we replaced the throttle return springs to remedy a touchy throttle with help from this forum. Currently waiting on a new alternator/fan belt to get it ready for daily driving during the winter. Thanks for all the help the forum has supplied me! : )

 

[JayDoc]

That's a beauty. Welcome.

 

[lcolon]

Nice rig. Welcome!

 

[cruiserpilot]

Welcome to Mud. Kinda some cool Euro things going on there. Post some close up pics of the rear bumper.
Are they just tail lights in the bumper or brake lights too? Is the pintle/ball a 4 bolt attachment to the cross member?
Weird extra marker light on front fender, you could lose that if you wanted. Not necessary. Nice condition, but Michigan -
I'd not be driving it too much in that road-salt soaked world. 12HT's rule!! Need more pics, engine too. J

 

[CruiserTrash]

Hi all, I currently drive an hj61 land cruiser (owned by my partner) and I've used this forum while fixing it multuple tines, so I figured I would go ahead register! I actually read someone that posted our exact vin number in a thread while googling the vin yesterday afternoon. Its a left hand drive 5 speed with the 12H-T, we believe imported into the US from France. Recently we replaced the throttle return springs to remedy a touchy throttle with help from this forum. Currently waiting on a new alternator/fan belt to get it ready for daily driving during the winter. Thanks for all the help the forum has supplied me! : )

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YES! What a great truck. I love the rust spots - honestly I do. It's honesty at its finest. What these trucks were meant to be. What do y'all use it for? Camping/hunting? Daily driver? Wood hauling rig? As cool as the high roof models are, something about a square headlight, low roof, Euro spec diesel 60 really gets me.

@cruiserpilot FYI the front "side marker" is probably a blinker - Euro laws required that rather than the constantly-on side marker required in the US and perhaps Canada. They were located further back like this, and those lenses were stock. In fact, I ordered those lenses from CruiserWorld EU for my US-spec truck just because they're relatively cheap and I thought they looked cool. They fit the stock NA-spec rubber bases perfectly. Screw hole spacing is identical. Notice the right hand fender where the marker is missing - the cut out is identical to an NA-spec truck.

 

[marie]

Grassy pictures are from summer and early fall last year, and thanks for all the kind words everyone!

YES! What a great truck. I love the rust spots - honestly I do. It's honesty at its finest. What these trucks were meant to be. What do y'all use it for? Camping/hunting? Daily driver? Wood hauling rig? As cool as the high roof models are, something about a square headlight, low roof, Euro spec diesel 60 really gets me.

@cruiserpilot FYI the front "side marker" is probably a blinker - Euro laws required that rather than the constantly-on side marker required in the US and perhaps Canada. They were located further back like this, and those lenses were stock. In fact, I ordered those lenses from CruiserWorld EU for my US-spec truck just because they're relatively cheap and I thought they looked cool. They fit the stock NA-spec rubber bases perfectly. Screw hole spacing is identical. Notice the right hand fender where the marker is missing - the cut out is identical to an NA-spec truck.

It was used as a daily in Texas for a number of years, since being moved to Michigan it hadnt been driven very often due to a touchy throttle which I found the solution to after moving in June 2024. It was originally planned to be used for camping when it moved to Michigan, with the interior getting stripped, however we have a m998 HMMWV with a 6.2 v8 with a banks aftermarket turbo, with a diesel heater, air mattress, and a solar battery for camping out of. The interior of the land cruiser is basically fully stripped currently minus the front seats, dashboard, driver power window switches and climate control panel.

Welcome to Mud. Kinda some cool Euro things going on there. Post some close up pics of the rear bumper.
Are they just tail lights in the bumper or brake lights too? Is the pintle/ball a 4 bolt attachment to the cross member?
Weird extra marker light on front fender, you could lose that if you wanted. Not necessary. Nice condition, but Michigan -
I'd not be driving it too much in that road-salt soaked world. 12HT's rule!! Need more pics, engine too. J

Currently the sports cars are in the garage for the summer so it has been seeing short trips on days where we are short on trucks at the house. Its been here in northern Michigan for 3-4 years now, came from a stay in Texas a few years. It's got rust on the rockers and some misc screws and such but otherwise its still pretty untouched rust-wise afaik. I plan on keeping the underside power washed if I'm able after taking it out, I personally am new to road salt and rust in general so recommendations on the like are very welcome! I haven't yet checked the setup with the hitch yet but have contemplated getting a trailer to pull a salvage car from out of state to do repairs on my Lexus.

Basically everything on the truck besides the LED headlights came on it, including a 12 volt winch despite it being a 24 volt system

 

[CruiserTrash]

Awesome rig. Might still build it up as a camping rig - I bet the humvee might not fit on some trails. I know out here in Colorado it would be too wide for a lot of stuff. In northern Michigan maybe some of the roads are too tight of a squeeze through trees. Been a while since I was up that way. Anyway, keep us all posted on progress.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Ah, NATO specs voltage. Could be a bit awkward here. 12V winch works fine on 24V just watch line speed, it boosts speed
a bit. If you don't continuous pull, the motor will be fine. I presume you are familiar with Cruiserworld.eu ? He can source
the 24V stuff you might need to replace starters and alternators. We can get 12V starters and alternators from Australia here
in Canada without effort but 24V is a bit of a pain.

 

[marie]

Heres the post where our vin was posted Should I ? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/should-i.1132793/post-12299689

Awesome rig. Might still build it up as a camping rig - I bet the humvee might not fit on some trails. I know out here in Colorado it would be too wide for a lot of stuff. In northern Michigan maybe some of the roads are too tight of a squeeze through trees. Been a while since I was up that way. Anyway, keep us all posted on progress.

Haven't taken any trails that were too crazy or narrow yet. The path to the back of our property where we do recreational target shooting during the summer has some muddy ruts and tight spots through trees; just wide enough for the humvee to fit with the mirrors out. Eventually the plan is to turn the land cruiser into a separate camper, no idea when though. Currently all the interior door and side panels are sitting on a shelf in our garage, so basically all the interior has openings to air outside; not fun for camping in our current climate but may be doable when the snow leaves or if I put the interior back together... The grey spots are where my partner sprayed primer/paint to try and do something against the rust since paint job didnt matter much at that point anyways, and it has seemed to help reduce its progression. I have been using a shop heater aimed towards the oilpan to try and get oil warmed faster on particularly cold mornings,

 

[Ocho77]

Awesome! Where in Northern Michigan?

 

[marie]

Awesome! Where in Northern Michigan?

In the upper penninsula near Escanaba ( :

 

[sved]

12HT rules.
Yours is probably imported from Spain (Canary islands) .Typical poverty pack. No rear heater and it has manual 2H-4H- 4L select lever. No vacuum shift from 2H to 4H. Pintle hook is also a giveaway sign.

 

[kevin in okinawa]

congrats on having a 12ht equipped hj61! Replacing the throttle springs was the best update to that truck, I know. I highly recommend replacing those janky battery tiedowns with properly bolted brackets. It's only going to take launching over a big bump to start an electrical fire that will burn your truck to the ground.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Yeah a LHD 12H-T 60-series is the dream rig. Looks like you have the desirable full-float rear axle, too. Nice score.

Time to sell one of them Hummers to fund the rust repair on the Land Cruiser (mostly kidding!)

 

[marie]

congrats on having a 12ht equipped hj61! Replacing the throttle springs was the best update to that truck, I know. I highly recommend replacing those janky battery tiedowns with properly bolted brackets. It's only going to take launching over a big bump to start an electrical fire that will burn your truck to the ground.

When the batteries are hooked up we have some pretty large rubber covers on them to prevent any issues, the paracord is just for now since the old brackets didnt seem to fit since i think we needed larger batteries for cold cranking. It killed one of the batteries down to like 6v so its got a battery from my lexus coupe for the time being.

Yeah a LHD 12H-T 60-series is the dream rig. Looks like you have the desirable full-float rear axle, too. Nice score.

Time to sell one of them Hummers to fund the rust repair on the Land Cruiser (mostly kidding!)

The hummer is a roomates; we have a modern diesel jeep gladiator as a shared house truck, and between my partner and I we have the land cruiser, humvee and my lexus.