Builds The "Red Rocket" Troopy (2 Viewers)

[gilmorneau]

The issue I see here is that his main usage is carrying people in the back and the separate wheel carrier on the bumper would make difficult for people inside to get out

Good point. Didn't think of that. But that said, if this....

As for tire size, I'm running a 235/80-R17

...then your spare should fit under the truck in the stock location. Effectively the same width and diameter as a 235-85R-16. Not sure why it wouldn't go under there.

I'll adjust the fuel screw to give me a bit more sometime soon and keep everyone updated on if that solves the problem.

Go lightly here, and make careful note of where you started so you can get back there if necessary.

Theres the plate you asked for to use your magical decoding powers on.

That's actually a Dutch VIN plate (I think), not an original Toyota one. Nevertheless, it looks like you've got a K082 rear axle, so 4.11 gears. Same ratio as mine, but I have the K085.

Also how are you able to measure what grade you are driving on?

I don't measure it, the Colorado Highway department puts signs on steep grades for the truckers. The grades are noted on the signs. I've driven the road so many times I just know where they are.

 

[gilmorneau]

Just occurred to me that you might have been asking how to calculate a grade more generally. It's just elevation gain vs. distance traveled. So, for instance, a 45 degree angle is a 100% grade because for every unit of forward travel, you gain an equal unit in elevation. A 10% grade means for every 10 units of forward travel, you gain one unit of elevation. And so on.

 

[theglobb]

Good point. Didn't think of that. But that said, if this....



...then your spare should fit under the truck in the stock location. Effectively the same width and diameter as a 235-85R-16. Not sure why it wouldn't go under there.



Go lightly here, and make careful note of where you started so you can get back there if necessary.



That's actually a Dutch VIN plate (I think), not an original Toyota one. Nevertheless, it looks like you've got a K082 rear axle, so 4.11 gears. Same ratio as mine, but I have the K085.



I don't measure it, the Colorado Highway department puts signs on steep grades for the truckers. The grades are noted on the signs. I've driven the road so many times I just know where they are.

Hmmm, interesting. The PO had it strapped to the inside of the car because he said it was too big to fit underneath, when we get back from the mountains I'll be sure to double-check (and save 2-3 mpg).
As for the lack of power, even for a 3B, we turned the fuel screw in halves, after the second turn it was pouring black smoke out on hard acceleration, so we kept it at half a turn. I can now notice a light amount of smoke under hard acceleration, but more importantly MORE POWER. Nothing game-changing but hills I had to go up in 2nd I can now tackle in 3rd, hills I had to go into 3rd in I can sometimes make it in 4th, etc etc. I feel a lot less like a road hazard and now just like a slight inconvenience lol.
For the Dutch VIN plate, would that mean that the car was originally in the Netherlands? A big amount of the red Troopys I see online are dutch emergency vehicles, but they all have locking diffs, which led me to think mine wasn't since I have open diffs.

 

[gilmorneau]

Sounds like your fuel was off a bit. Glad to hear it was something that simple. Now that you've adjusted it, keep an eye out for smoke and higher temps. Too much of either and you've adjusted it too far. Fuel makes power, but also heat. Power and heat can break things. It's a balancing act.

Yes, I would guess from the VIN tag that the truck was originally sold in the Netherlands. Could have been a fire truck, but maybe not--hard to say. Most of the fire vehicles I've seen with lockers are Danish, rather than Dutch. I've also seen Finnish forestry trucks (in 6H9 green) with lockers. Almost all of both are badly rusted. Rare to find one that isn't.

For reference:
K082 = 4.11 semi-floating axle, open diff
K085 = 4.11 full-floating axle, limited slip diff
K084 = 4.11 full-floating axle with diff lock

 

[portcruiser]

Thank you so much for the data to compare with, its a huge help and means a lot. As for tire size, I'm running a 235/80-R17. As I stated before, I always end up in 2nd if the incline goes on for long enough, leading me to think its probably running lean, on top of the lack of smoke at any time while I drive. Here's a video I took of the Troopy going uphill this morning to kinda give anyone a better idea of what's happening. I'll adjust the fuel screw to give me a bit more sometime soon and keep everyone updated on if that solves the problem.View attachment 2385398
Theres the plate you asked for to use your magical decoding powers on. Also how are you able to measure what grade you are driving on? or do you just know. Again thank you for all the help.

Hi Theglobb

Congrats on your Red Rocket troopy ! From the VIN plate you show , I can assure you that your BJ75 is original from Belgium , not the Netherlands . Why ? It is written both in French and Dutch languages . Your BJ75 should also have the original Toyota VIN plate on the left to this one . The plate you have is the Belgian homologation for the maximum wheigt you can tow . Let me show a pix of both the VIN plates present on my 1994 HZJ80 , sold new in Belgium , imported and registered in Portugal 1996 .
On the other pix , I show the original Toyota VIN plate on my July 1999 HZJ75 Troopy , one of the last 75 produced ! Produced 05-1999 , sold new in Sweden 07-22-1999 some days before 75 series production ended . Bought her at the Netherlands , some months ago and registered here in Portugal some weeks ago ( a real saga ) . Note there is also a VIN sticker on the B pilar , driver's side , but this is perhaps characteristic of the latest ones built .

Cheers

 

[theglobb]

Hi Theglobb

Congrats on your Red Rocket troopy ! From the VIN plate you show , I can assure you that your BJ75 is original from Belgium , not the Netherlands . Why ? It is written both in French and Dutch languages . Your BJ75 should also have the original Toyota VIN plate on the left to this one . The plate you have is the Belgian homologation for the maximum wheigt you can tow . Let me show a pix of both the VIN plates present on my 1994 HZJ80 , sold new in Belgium , imported and registered in Portugal 1996 .
On the other pix , I show the original Toyota VIN plate on my July 1999 HZJ75 Troopy , one of the last 75 produced ! Produced 05-1999 , sold new in Sweden 07-22-1999 some days before 75 series production ended . Bought her at the Netherlands , some months ago and registered here in Portugal some weeks ago ( a real saga ) . Note there is also a VIN sticker on the B pilar , driver's side , but this is perhaps characteristic of the latest ones built .

Cheers

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That's awesome to know! Thank you. Now I really wanna know the history of the cruiser and how exactly it ended up in France, especially due to the "Jihadi Edtion" emblems it has.

 

[theglobb]

Back home from the mountains, pretty much no smoke anymore even with the fuel screw turned 1/2 more than before. Hey, I'll happily take any more power I can get. If I end up going to school at App State (which I'd love to), an engine swap might be included into the tuition cost... I'm fine with going slow everywhere, I already do at sea level, but in some situations I was a genuine traffic hazard up there. Don't know if I could daily it for 4 years up there. The scenery is just absolutely beautiful up there so enjoy the pics!

 

[flx]

That's awesome to know! Thank you. Now I really wanna know the history of the cruiser and how exactly it ended up in France, especially due to the "Jihadi Edtion" emblems it has.

Do you have a copy of the last French registration ? Or the last French licence plate maybe ?

If it had been sold new in France it would have a "SIDAT" plate on the firewall (That was the private importer of Toyota in France back in the day).


Importing cars between European countries is not very complicated so it's not uncommon, particularly for models that may be hard to find in good condition.

 

[gilmorneau]

The most recent French registration was in Joigny, about 150km south of Paris. License plate was: EJ 840 EH

Here's a pic of it arriving in America:

Original Toyota VIN plate:

 

[portcruiser]

That's awesome to know! Thank you. Now I really wanna know the history of the cruiser and how exactly it ended up in France, especially due to the "Jihadi Edtion" emblems it has.

Not a strange/rare thing to happen between Europe countries . It is not very hard to import and register new or used vehicles among european countries ( with one single exception , Portugal - I will explain that in a few days , when I show my HZJ75 here in Mud ) . Even so , sometimes , local importers couldn't satisfy the demand for some model . With Toyota Portugal , that was the case with Land Cruiser KZJ70s . They sold KZJ70s like crazy and could not supply all the demand , so , they bought a few of them of them from the Belgium importer ( through a different company , subsidiary of Toyota Portugal ) . All the KZJ70s that came from Belgium have that 2nd VIN plate , rear electric diff lock ( no front diff lock , I don't know why ) and no AC . None of the KZJ70s imported and sold through the oficial importer/dealer , both versions VX & GX , had rear or front diff lock , bu! all had AC and electric locking front hubs ( that are a real pain ) .

PS : Here in Portugal ( and I think in all Europe ) if you put different licence plates on the front/back , specialy from different countries , you would be in a lot of trouble ! Vehicle imediatly seized , HUGE fines , and a lot to explain to Customs & Revenue !

 

[flx]

The most recent French registration was in Joigny, about 150km south of Paris. License plate was: EJ 840 EH

This licence plate number means a registration in France in January 2017 (you probably already know it from the title) but it also means that no new registration was done between at least 2009 and 2016 in France. So either previous owner had it for some time or it was imported at that date, the last French owner seems to not have kept it long...

The "89" (departement number) and the little yellow square (region flag/logo) on the right match with the area Joigny is in (departement Yonne and region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). This is something totally optional, people can choose the departement they want on their plate but generally you have your local one.


(Licence plate system changed in France in 2009, before each new owner of a car had a new plate but since 2009 each vehicle keep the plate it gets for life.)

 

[Honger]

Back home from the mountains, pretty much no smoke anymore even with the fuel screw turned 1/2 more than before. Hey, I'll happily take any more power I can get. If I end up going to school at App State (which I'd love to), an engine swap might be included into the tuition cost... I'm fine with going slow everywhere, I already do at sea level, but in some situations I was a genuine traffic hazard up there. Don't know if I could daily it for 4 years up there. The scenery is just absolutely beautiful up there so enjoy the pics!

View attachment 2390382

I remember being your age and being this cool... well, maybe not this cool, I didn't own a Land Cruiser. Magazine-level modeling photo here, especially for the purple-sock crowd.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

When I was his age I owned a Triumph (crappy car, not cool bike). I thought I was cool but in retrospect I really wasn’t.
According to my dad I was “just stupid” for buying the Triumph in the first place.
** This whole thread proves I need to learn how to take better photos.

 

[gilmorneau]

I remember being maybe 17-ish, coming home with my first car: 1972 Mercury Capri. Yellow. My dad’s take on it? “It’s your money”. Lol.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

I had a 72 Mustang Coupe I paid $1000 for (made payments for the entire summer) and a sweet mullet to match...thought I was that cool too. Glad there are no pics floating around the web from then.

My wife grew up in Wnston-Salem and her parents had a cabin in Boone, it is beautiful up there. I think my wife may have graduated high school in Boone, we visited there once after we got married, but that was almost 30 years ago.

 

[svsisu]

Sorry to hijack your thread Jonathan... but since I have a red troopy, and live in coastal NC and have ties to the mountains in WNC... and it's pretty fun to hear peoples first car experience at your threads expense.

First car was a 1983 VW Rabbit 5 spd diesel, second was a 1981 FJ40 with a chevy 350 in it. The rabbit was lost to Hurricane Hugo, the 40 was just about given a way to fund a surf trip to Costa Rica. Wish I had both those cars still.

Now I have an 86 troopy and a 99 Tacoma with 300,000 miles. Not planning on getting rid of either of those.

 

[FJ73Texas]

Growing up, my family had many cars but I remember my very own first and very short lived first car right after I turned 16 for just a few months.

1985 Buick Rivera. It was a hand me down car from my mother. I hated it and this was before they are cool now. I ended up getting a 67 mustang not long after for $3,500.

Edit: Sorry for the thread hi-jack also.

 

[theglobb]

haha, all of you are fine with hijacking the thread, I love seeing where people came from originally, and yet we all got cruisers now. My first car was my grandma's 2004 Honda Pilot which I was lucky enough to get from my grandma when I turned 16 because she had just bought a new car. Perfect timing. As in typical 16-year-old driver fashion, I decided I knew everything about my car after 1 month of driving and ended up in this situation

Didn't even have "4WD" engaged... 1 tow truck, $150, and having to strip the entire inside of the car later and it was running and driving again. To then have a lady pull out in front of me while I was going 45mph, thus totaling it. Which then led to me getting the FJ62, then selling that, and now I'm lucky enough to own a Troopy.

 

[theglobb]

As for the Troopy, it's still chugging along. I've already put 9,000 miles on in 6 months which is close to double of what I put on my 62 in the same amount of time. I haven't taken too many photos of it recently, but one I took of my friends blew up all over the Instagram Toyota pages. It really is an amazing photo, the vibes are just right. I also put together videos from my summer, using some smooth transitions, and adding one of my favorite songs and I really liked the outcome. The Troopy reoccurs throughout it so give it a watch if you want. Just wish I would've taken more external vids of the Troopy in action... Summer 2020 Video

 

[Gun Runner 5]

It appears you’re enjoying your Cruiser more so than the average guy.