Hi, CSC!
I finally had a chance to take my HJ47 diesel Land Cruiser “troopy” out for a shake down cruise in the desert. I’ve had it for a couple months now and will join Copper State Cruisers after the first of the year. We went out to Box Canyon last weekend, which is about a 70 mile round trip drive on the freeway for me and about 30 miles or so off road. This is the longest trek with it so far.
Prior to this, I have just been driving it around town and figuring out its idiosyncrasies. Since I am used to my VW, which is a typical car, I have found myself getting in on the wrong side of the vehicle and puzzled for a moment as to where the steering wheel is. Usually when I do that there are a couple people gawking at the truck wondering what I’m doing. I also pulled through the drive-thru at Wendy’s the other day and was committed before I realized the squawk box was on the other side.
Prior to taking the LC out to the desert, I pondered the best mix of modifications to improve the vehicle. Do I lift the suspension? New tires? Disc brakes? 3.70 gears? When it was all said and done, I put a new battery in it… I went out to the desert with everything stock and bald Australian tires (I have PLENTY of spares of those).
I did adjust the slack screw on the steering box to take out some of the slop. This helped the road manners immensely.
I thought I was going to have to regear the axles to 3.70’s to get better road performance. However, I was able to go 65 and upwards of 70 with no problems. Bumping the tires from 31’s to 33’s should boost that by 4 or 5 miles. It is a bit loud, but manageable. I found the 4.11 gearing just perfect for the trip to Box Canyon, which is pretty typical of the type of off-roading I do. I kept it in first or second gear and hardly ever touched the brakes. It just motored over anything at about 1500 rpms. 3.70 gears would really help on the highway, but I think it would be a disappointment off-road.
The only downside at freeway speeds is the amazing about of heat radiating from the firewall and transmission tunnel. The temperature gauge looked good, but it was a cooker. Even though the truck has air conditioning, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the drive train heat.
After leaving the pavement, I quickly learned that thumbs go on the outside as the steering wheel was jerked out of my hands when I hit a rock. I’ll never take power steering for granted again. Other than that, it handled beautifully and I had no issues with any obstacles in the trail and I’m certain it can handle much tougher conditions even as it stands.
The only issues were a rock that flew up and cracked the windshield on the freeway (welcome to Arizona, Mate), and the ignition relay went out. I can deal with the ignition relay except that the truck quit right in front of an active wildcat mining operation with 5 guys armed to the teeth looking at me suspiciously. I just disconnected the engine control rod, it started right up and I was on the way.
The Land Cruiser is certainly not luxurious, but it’s reliable and gets the job done well. A friend of mine’s kid dubbed it the “Lunch Box,” which seems to have stuck.
Since the stock ride height “troopie” LC’s is a bit higher than the standard FJ40’s, I’ll probably put 33” tires on it and see how it does before upgrading the suspension. I’ve heard it works fine. I am also going to find a complete FJ40 disc brake axle, have it rebuilt and swap out the current axle. That should be less hassle and downtime than finding and swapping the individual parts over. Oh, and cup holders!
Here is a picture of it in action:
I finally had a chance to take my HJ47 diesel Land Cruiser “troopy” out for a shake down cruise in the desert. I’ve had it for a couple months now and will join Copper State Cruisers after the first of the year. We went out to Box Canyon last weekend, which is about a 70 mile round trip drive on the freeway for me and about 30 miles or so off road. This is the longest trek with it so far.
Prior to this, I have just been driving it around town and figuring out its idiosyncrasies. Since I am used to my VW, which is a typical car, I have found myself getting in on the wrong side of the vehicle and puzzled for a moment as to where the steering wheel is. Usually when I do that there are a couple people gawking at the truck wondering what I’m doing. I also pulled through the drive-thru at Wendy’s the other day and was committed before I realized the squawk box was on the other side.
Prior to taking the LC out to the desert, I pondered the best mix of modifications to improve the vehicle. Do I lift the suspension? New tires? Disc brakes? 3.70 gears? When it was all said and done, I put a new battery in it… I went out to the desert with everything stock and bald Australian tires (I have PLENTY of spares of those).
I did adjust the slack screw on the steering box to take out some of the slop. This helped the road manners immensely.
I thought I was going to have to regear the axles to 3.70’s to get better road performance. However, I was able to go 65 and upwards of 70 with no problems. Bumping the tires from 31’s to 33’s should boost that by 4 or 5 miles. It is a bit loud, but manageable. I found the 4.11 gearing just perfect for the trip to Box Canyon, which is pretty typical of the type of off-roading I do. I kept it in first or second gear and hardly ever touched the brakes. It just motored over anything at about 1500 rpms. 3.70 gears would really help on the highway, but I think it would be a disappointment off-road.
The only downside at freeway speeds is the amazing about of heat radiating from the firewall and transmission tunnel. The temperature gauge looked good, but it was a cooker. Even though the truck has air conditioning, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the drive train heat.
After leaving the pavement, I quickly learned that thumbs go on the outside as the steering wheel was jerked out of my hands when I hit a rock. I’ll never take power steering for granted again. Other than that, it handled beautifully and I had no issues with any obstacles in the trail and I’m certain it can handle much tougher conditions even as it stands.
The only issues were a rock that flew up and cracked the windshield on the freeway (welcome to Arizona, Mate), and the ignition relay went out. I can deal with the ignition relay except that the truck quit right in front of an active wildcat mining operation with 5 guys armed to the teeth looking at me suspiciously. I just disconnected the engine control rod, it started right up and I was on the way.
The Land Cruiser is certainly not luxurious, but it’s reliable and gets the job done well. A friend of mine’s kid dubbed it the “Lunch Box,” which seems to have stuck.
Since the stock ride height “troopie” LC’s is a bit higher than the standard FJ40’s, I’ll probably put 33” tires on it and see how it does before upgrading the suspension. I’ve heard it works fine. I am also going to find a complete FJ40 disc brake axle, have it rebuilt and swap out the current axle. That should be less hassle and downtime than finding and swapping the individual parts over. Oh, and cup holders!
Here is a picture of it in action:
).
.
