Opinions on Buying a 70 Series (1 Viewer)

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I dailied a kzj90 for a year or two while I was getting my hzj77 ready for prime time. Different platform but still a 1kzte.

Re: transmissions. Agreed on all counts above. Shifting for the terrain and the temps makes all the difference.

As far as dailying, the 1kz felt like lots of other small JDM diesels I've had in the past. Zippy off the line. Okay up to the speed limit, but not much past that. The 1hz... Not zippy. Not quiet. But more soul.

Given the choice? Well... Let's just say I sold the kzj90 and am going to be driving the hzj77 full time soon. Maybe not a rational choice. But every drive to work is an adventure and you are present in the experience.

I'd say try to test drive both iterations and then decide. Them there fancy coils springs are nifty. But round lights are king.
 
It is an HJZ73.

I live in Idaho at 5000 feet

My shortest drive (to work) is about 15 minutes. If I used it for errands around town it may be 5-10 minutes between stops.

In regards to the engine not getting up to temp, if I warmed it in the AM and drove it to work then afterwards ran a 10 minute errand every 2-3 hours does that cause an issue? I drive my modern Duramax diesel like that.

One other thing to note. When I say I am going to daily drive this I would be doing it like I drive my 74 Bronco. I do it when its fun. If I have to drive on the Interstate or a long distance I would drive my 2015 Duramax Dually.
 
Now it’s time to do the A/T to M/T conversion ;)

As for the diesel, diesel engines obviously generally don’t like being run for a short periods, but the 1HZ is super reliable and solid. Battery life will probably be the most impacted.
 
The truck is a M/T already. What problem areas do I need to check out and address? What maintenance issues specific to these do I need to address? What common mods are there that need to be done to enhance reliability or performance? (On the mods I mean easy cheap fixes that are a "Must Do")
 
Start with fluids and filters on the engine, transmission, transfer case, diffs and brakes. If you don’t have a record of when the timing belt was last replaced plan to get a timing belt/water pump kit. Grease u-joints. Maybe check valve clearances. Drive and enjoy.
 
Congrats!

The first thing you need to do is post pictures.

Hello,

x2 on the pictures.

Congratulations on your new truck. Good choice.

Aside from what is mentioned above, replace axle seals and bearings.






Juan
 
nice!
 
I posted a link to pics of the vehicle in the above post
 
I just bought a 1989 FJ75 with petrol 3F engine.

I have a 1997 Prado V6, 2008 RAV4 V6, and Honda Jazz.

There is absolutely no way the 70 series become my daily driver. The considerations are:
- It is very heavy on fuel, let's say 15L/100km while my Jazz cost me less than 7L/100km
- It is long and cumbersome to navigate and park. Huge turning circle
- It is noisy and uncomfortable
- It is bloody slow. My RAV will do 0-100k in 7.4 sec by using 10L/100km only!
- Being a manual it is a pain in traffic

The 70 series is brilliant in:
- It's simplicity, easy to work with and maintain
- Luggage capacity (panning to have camper conversion)
- Offroad capability (will install front locker)
- The feeling of classic vehicle and putting around. More about nostalgia as I used to drive uncle's FJ40

So that's how I will use them, a weekend or offroad touring work to remote locations. Away from cities.

edit: Also the FJ75 has no safety features such as airbags, abs, traction control etc.

Hope that helps.
 
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It is an HJZ73.

I live in Idaho at 5000 feet

My shortest drive (to work) is about 15 minutes. If I used it for errands around town it may be 5-10 minutes between stops.

In regards to the engine not getting up to temp, if I warmed it in the AM and drove it to work then afterwards ran a 10 minute errand every 2-3 hours does that cause an issue? I drive my modern Duramax diesel like that.

One other thing to note. When I say I am going to daily drive this I would be doing it like I drive my 74 Bronco. I do it when its fun. If I have to drive on the Interstate or a long distance I would drive my 2015 Duramax Dually.
Where in Idaho do you live, McCall?

I daily drive my troopy here in Boise. A big improvement for the winter is adding a block heater, it helps a ton on cold-starts. I don't have a garage I can park in, so not sure how it would be if garaged, but plugging it in overnight helps reduce the smoke on start up.
 
Oh man he bought a 1HZ auto rig to live with him at 5000 ft.... he'll want a turbo.

I drove a 1HZ/Manual rig at sea level for a while, it got up and went off the line and quickly fell on its face on the free way. Super smooth though, wouldn't want to ruin the experience with an auto...

When I moved to Colorado my BJ74 got very smokey and sluggish. I shimmed the waste gate, removed the muffler and gently tweaked the fuel pump and got 2-3 mpg back, got rid of the smoke and got a significant amount of oomph back. Even before I tweaked on it, it still got up the hills like a little locomotive, just throw it in third and don't worry about passing anyone. I wouldn't want to have an NA diesel of any sort up here, sounds like good way to blow it up.
 
I bought it and I love it. Where I live in ID its FLAT! Think potato fields. If I am going to be traveling on the freeway I will drive my Duramax. I have been driving around town and it is so much fun.

I have some parts inbound and will start a build thread soon.
 

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