Tongue in cheek driving impressions of a first time HZJ77 owner (1 Viewer)

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JDM Journeys

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I finally got to drive my winter project last week. Woohoo! So fun, and a very unique experience for me, coming from 25 years of IFS 4x4s. And I'm sure everyone who passed me (yes, that was everyone) got to enjoy some eye candy. Well, they should've. ;) And actually once it was up to highway speeds, it felt pretty effortless cruising along at 110kmh in 5th gear. Unless there were hills. Then there may have been some downshifting. (We are at around 1100m here, so less air to work with...)

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I crossed a set of rail road tracks immediately followed by another (about 15 feet apart) and those springs were very thorough in their manipulations to cushion me from the harsh environment. I am of course talking about the bouncy seat springs. Not the leaf springs. They were as subtle as a sledge hammer. Might need to add some weight in the back?

Speaking of subtle, the steering is subtle too. You turn the wheel and after a while the signal gets down to the right department, and you begin to move port or starboard. I did adjust wheel bearings and steering box after this drive. And while I haven't quite achieved laser sharp, it is certainly better, and no pesky if not precise steering rack to worry about.

Gravel at speeds was no worse than pavement to my poorly calibrated derriere, except for the gunshots of gravel in the wheel wells. Damn you BFG!

I'd never seen any use for a wireless remote control with a car stereo touchscreen head unit before. But now I see the light. :cool: Hitting the touch screen in the right place is ummm... often off the mark.

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Okay, now in all seriousness, what the hell is up with that transmission tunnel? I was looking for a dead pedal to rest my foot on when not depressing the clutch. Nope. The clutch pedal is as far west as you can go. Turns out there is a little tiny bit of space east, if you look at the no man's land between the brake and the clutch, where you can carefully maneuver your left size 11 to rest, if you happen to get a foot cramp. Otherwise? Nope. Clutch and dead pedal serve double duty. Maybe I oughta try a stiletto, so I could just pivot on the heel?

"70 Series - Built for serious comfort on long journeys" said no advertisement EVERRRR. Bahahahahah :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

All jokes aside, this thing is a hoot to drive, has a "forever" quality to it, and really does feel like an adventure every time you take it out. I'm in love.
 
You’re overthinking this. 😊
After an hour or two you’ll no longer have any feelings in your lower extremities anyway. (No pain, no cramps). After that you’re good for the longhaul. 😊
 
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Very colorful use of adjectives. I've had my 77 for 5 years, and I feel like I have found solutions or at least solace with all but one that you have mentioned. The left foot rest is one that I really start to long for at about hour 3 into the drive. In my opinion the biggest draw back in the RHD config, with really no reasonable solution. Couldn't agree more about the touch screen radio, something very difficult about using your left hand to push small objects on a touch screen, ended up switching it out to good ol fashion analogue dial and push button model.
 
The footrest issue is one I had forgotten about too, until I did about a 6 hour drive in my Prado a couple of months ago and had to make a couple of stops to stretch out. I did discover that if I take off my left shoe I can rest my foot on top of the clutch pedal, but thats not the wisest course of action either...

One thing that has struck me since I started daily driving a 70-series again is how small they are, especially compared to most vehicles on the road in North America. They have always looked big in photos, but once inside they are quite cramped. I'm not tall by any means, but I can drive comfortably with the seat all the way back.
 
The footrest issue is one I had forgotten about too, until I did about a 6 hour drive in my Prado a couple of months ago and had to make a couple of stops to stretch out. I did discover that if I take off my left shoe I can rest my foot on top of the clutch pedal, but thats not the wisest course of action either...

One thing that has struck me since I started daily driving a 70-series again is how small they are, especially compared to most vehicles on the road in North America. They have always looked big in photos, but once inside they are quite cramped. I'm not tall by any means, but I can drive comfortably with the seat all the way back.

Agreed. They are much smaller than people realize. Even the largest Troopy and Dual Cab are smaller than an access cab tacoma.
 
Being 6'5" I had to move the seat back 3" to make it more comfortable. It made a big difference. Having size 13 shoes doesn't help either. On longer trips out on open roads I will fish my foot under the clutch pedal and stretch out for a spell. Yeah not the best idea, but I can still gas/brake normally and pull into neutral sans clutch if I need to for some emergency.


Some new springs/shocks will help that ride out tremendously. You can make a leaf sprung vehicle ride pretty good.
 
Yeah I'm 5'11" and I have the seat all the way back as it is.

It does already have the OME 2" lift, but I'm not sure how old it is, or what level of load carrying it is. Right now my truck is empty. But that will change...

I love it's form factor, esp the width. Also really like the greenhouse, and the upright seating, like a proper 4x4 should be.
 
I have a bit of bursitis going down my right leg that makes it increasingly painful to sit with the toes raised on my right foot with the heel down, as you do when you are operating the gas pedal. Sometimes I use my left foot on the gas pedal to give the right a break. (Yeah, I know Mr. ___ my high school driving instructor would not approve.)

The best solution I've found for these issues is to invite my younger boy to drive while I sit comfortably as a passenger and vaguely wave my arms to give directions, smoke my cigars, and play my 'quacking duck' music from the 1920s and 30s much to the bemused annoyance of my son and anyone else in the truck. Fortunately, Jonathan absolutely loves our 77. So much so that it really needs to be his car.
 
I have a bit of bursitis going down my right leg that makes it increasingly painful to sit with the toes raised on my right foot with the heel down, as you do when you are operating the gas pedal. Sometimes I use my left foot on the gas pedal to give the right a break. (Yeah, I know Mr. ___ my high school driving instructor would not approve.)

The best solution I've found for these issues is to invite my younger boy to drive while I sit comfortably as a passenger and vaguely wave my arms to give directions, smoke my cigars, and play my 'quacking duck' music from the 1920s and 30s much to the bemused annoyance of my son and anyone else in the truck. Fortunately, Jonathan absolutely loves our 77. So much so that it really needs to be his car.
Indeed I do! It is just like you say, JDM J., it struggles a bit going uphill at highway speeds, and died on us only once when were at high elevation before reaching the LC Heritage Museum in Salt Lake, UT. We think it is the ethanol content in American gasoline which has eaten through god knows what in the carburetor. We are currently getting that looked at and fixed before we drive back to the east coast again. However, the 22R does get around a lot more effortlessly than the 1-HZ as I've found on our 75 pickup. The 77 my family owns has coil springs in the front and it rides (in my opinion) better than or equal to a 100 series. It must have something to do with the fact that the engine is quite small, and not very heavy, as well as we don't have a steel bumper. My dad found an old factory Toyota aluminum bull bar and winch from one of his favorite scrapyards.

For a truck that isn't very powerful, it truly feels light on its feet.
 
Just for fun, here's a 77 I saw today at a salvage yard. Gotta love that color!
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It is a LHD and has a 22R. It is a little sad seeing it trapped there like that. The scrapyard does not have any paperwork on the truck so it is a little hard to know whether anything is possible.

The roof rack is super cool. Maybe I will see if he will part with that.
 
Just for fun, here's a 77 I saw today at a salvage yard. Gotta love that color!View attachment 2688112View attachment 2688115
It is a LHD and has a 22R. It is a little sad seeing it trapped there like that. The scrapyard does not have any paperwork on the truck so it is a little hard to know whether anything is possible.

The roof rack is super cool. Maybe I will see if he will part with that.
Would that be an RJ77 with the 22R?
 
I've had a bit more seat time since I first wrote this, and have actually put together a full story about "driving Miss Betsy". Link is in my build thread. But in case you like to wax prosaic about our hotrods and the land speed records they set 😁 , here's the full story:
 

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