PART II FOR THIS THREAD - MUD MYSTERY
I started a thread for the 79 last year and had a bunch of nice interactions. Not sure WTF happened, but a few weeks ago, it apparently just disappeared. No sign of it ever existing per a moderator. No harm, no foul, just starting over.
My trucks need a name. This is Barak Abyad (Barry White). What else do you call a big (long/tall single cab, 7 foot bed, monster GVW), white, powerful (240hp coil pack 24 valve) that sounds so smooth?
Why now? Well, the truck arrived and we are getting it ready for a road trip from Canton, MS to Flagstaff, AZ to join the Terrain Tamer folks as a vehicular guest at Overland EXPO West.
I will add more historical info and photos as time allows, but will give a quick summary here. The sequence of posted content will not be linear but hope you all find some information and entertainment should you subscribe. As always, comments, questions, suggestions and the like are welcome.
Here are the highlights:
WHAT
A 2000 model year FZJ79 base model with approx 90,000 miles. One owner truck used by Saudi Department of the Interior for 24 years as an insect abatement spray truck, with low miles but a little rough around the edges. As with police and fire vehicles, this truck likely spent many hours at low speeds. The spray rig below is not our truck but you can get a sense that this rig wasn't doing 100KPH on the highway most of its life.
WHY
Every guy should have a pick-up or ute. In the early days of my life as a parts/accessories guy, we (the business) had a FJ75 JDM fire truck. Imported by Wayne Smith @crushers to Canada with the help of Dave Steadman @Japan4X4. The fire service body removed before shipment and replaced by Wayne with a very nice aluminium tray. Loved it but when we moved to Idaho, from Whidbey Island, it was adopted by Georg and now lives in Stockton.The 79 is the replacement hauler/Sunday driver. Here is the 75 for reference. Hauled a bunch of pallets with that thing.
WHO / WHERE
The team for this project includes @Meshal in Saudi Arabia, tracking down the truck and getting it acquired, repaired/restored (including Terrain Tamer HD clutch kit) and ready to ship; @wngrog who imported the 79 and trucked it to his compound in Canton, MS. After a month at the ranch, Nolen is now cooking up a batch of Land Cruiser awesome; that is supported by @orangefj45 and the crew at Terrain Tamer North America with shipments of brake upgrades, heavy swivel repair kit, Aisin locking hubs and a complete Terrain Tamer parabolic suspension with Smart Coils and Fortified shock absorbers. As with all his builds, Nolen is filming while wrenching with stunning results in both fields. He will post up in this thread as stuff gets done.
WHEN / HOW
This project began in May, 2024 and will end whenever....
Details to follow - here are some teaser snaps. Plese like, comment, subscribe and hit up our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@YotaMotorsfor expanded content on this and other topics about old men, old trucks, old jokes, etc. #friendswithlandcruisers
I started a thread for the 79 last year and had a bunch of nice interactions. Not sure WTF happened, but a few weeks ago, it apparently just disappeared. No sign of it ever existing per a moderator. No harm, no foul, just starting over.
My trucks need a name. This is Barak Abyad (Barry White). What else do you call a big (long/tall single cab, 7 foot bed, monster GVW), white, powerful (240hp coil pack 24 valve) that sounds so smooth?
Why now? Well, the truck arrived and we are getting it ready for a road trip from Canton, MS to Flagstaff, AZ to join the Terrain Tamer folks as a vehicular guest at Overland EXPO West.
I will add more historical info and photos as time allows, but will give a quick summary here. The sequence of posted content will not be linear but hope you all find some information and entertainment should you subscribe. As always, comments, questions, suggestions and the like are welcome.
Here are the highlights:
WHAT
A 2000 model year FZJ79 base model with approx 90,000 miles. One owner truck used by Saudi Department of the Interior for 24 years as an insect abatement spray truck, with low miles but a little rough around the edges. As with police and fire vehicles, this truck likely spent many hours at low speeds. The spray rig below is not our truck but you can get a sense that this rig wasn't doing 100KPH on the highway most of its life.
WHY
Every guy should have a pick-up or ute. In the early days of my life as a parts/accessories guy, we (the business) had a FJ75 JDM fire truck. Imported by Wayne Smith @crushers to Canada with the help of Dave Steadman @Japan4X4. The fire service body removed before shipment and replaced by Wayne with a very nice aluminium tray. Loved it but when we moved to Idaho, from Whidbey Island, it was adopted by Georg and now lives in Stockton.The 79 is the replacement hauler/Sunday driver. Here is the 75 for reference. Hauled a bunch of pallets with that thing.
WHO / WHERE
The team for this project includes @Meshal in Saudi Arabia, tracking down the truck and getting it acquired, repaired/restored (including Terrain Tamer HD clutch kit) and ready to ship; @wngrog who imported the 79 and trucked it to his compound in Canton, MS. After a month at the ranch, Nolen is now cooking up a batch of Land Cruiser awesome; that is supported by @orangefj45 and the crew at Terrain Tamer North America with shipments of brake upgrades, heavy swivel repair kit, Aisin locking hubs and a complete Terrain Tamer parabolic suspension with Smart Coils and Fortified shock absorbers. As with all his builds, Nolen is filming while wrenching with stunning results in both fields. He will post up in this thread as stuff gets done.
WHEN / HOW
This project began in May, 2024 and will end whenever....
Details to follow - here are some teaser snaps. Plese like, comment, subscribe and hit up our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@YotaMotorsfor expanded content on this and other topics about old men, old trucks, old jokes, etc. #friendswithlandcruisers
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