What did you do on your 70 series today? (15 Viewers)

[robmobile73]

Question for the rest of you 70 series owners: At what year/mileage level is a 70 series still good on road trips?

By this I mean not too much wind noise through old window and door seals. Back doors not squeaking and rattling too much. Engine not shaking the truck too much. Not a leaf spring buckboard ride. No noticeable gear whine or drivetrain vibration.

My BJ73 is kind of a beater compared to alot of the nicer trucks many have. I have gear whine, a shaky 3B diesel, squeaky back doors despite new hinge pins/bolts, wind noise, and some squeaks from the FRP top..............At what point does the 70 series become a pretty good road vehicle? Say as good as a Hilux or Surf of the mid to late 90's? KZJ Prado of mid 90's vintage? super low mile JDM firetruck HZJ70? Or is this asking too much from a 70 series.

 

[OGBeno]

Well, you’ve made your truck into a beater. That’s been pretty obvious.

A 35 year old 70 series can be a road trip vehicle if the truck is prepared correctly, driven correctly, and you are personally in good shape, have time to kill, and don’t mind stopping every 2 hours to stretch.

It’s a ****ing relic of another time. Treat it as such.

 

[TonyP]

It’s a f***ing relic of another time. Treat it as such.

I say this to myself in the shower every morning.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

@robmobile73 …. “My BJ73 is kind of a beater compared to alot of the nicer trucks many have. I have gear whine, a shaky 3B diesel, squeaky back doors despite new hinge pins/bolts, wind noise, and some squeaks from the FRP”.
———————————————————————————————————
So in other words, your Cruiser has “character”.

 

[Loober]

.At what point does the 70 series become a pretty good road vehicle? Say as good as a Hilux or Surf of the mid to late 90's? KZJ Prado of mid 90's vintage? super low mile JDM firetruck HZJ70? Or is this asking too much from a 70 series.

I've been chasing this same unicorn condition with mine, so far I have:
- Swapped in a 1HDFT
- converted to coils in the front
- regeared to 3.73
- Installed comfortable seats
- insulated interior

Does it drive like a 2022 TRD Pro 4runner, not even close, its a hell of a lot better than what it was. Is it worth the cost to do all those things, depends on what is important to you. Obviously I did it in stages over many years, doing a lot of the work myself, learning as I went. Having that experience and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it again if I started fresh with another 70.

When new or prospective LC owners ask me if a 35 year old diesel LC would make a good daily driver. My response goes something like this: Yes, if you are okay with driving a fully loaded stick shift water truck, while throwing $100 bills out the window, getting a thumbs up and hearing "nice Jeep" everywhere you go.

 

[FJ73Texas]

Was the coil conversion worth the time, money, and effort?

 

[FJ73Texas]

It’s a f***ing relic of another time. Treat it as such.

I really do miss the 90s and just seeing these 1990+ 70 series land cruisers reminds me of how great things were back during that era. For me personally it was the best decade of my life.

 

[Loober]

Was the coil conversion worth the time, money, and effort?

I think so, it improved the ride quality, handling, and feel significantly. I used all stock OEM parts of a 99-07 79 series, so its still all Toyota with nothing aftermarket. That was important to me, I could have done it cheaper and probably got more functionality out of a custom 3 or 4 link, but I didn't want to spoil its heritage. Contemplating doing a rear coil conversion...not sure if the benefit will be worth the effort.

 

[Irish11]

Finished getting the floor patches welded last week with @NookShneer So today I started painting the interior with Master Series rust primer. This is coat one. The rear is clean and rust free. The floor below the pedals is where most of the rust is. This should hopefully keep the rust at bay in the future though.

 

[JuanJ]

A 35 year old 70 series can be a road trip vehicle if the truck is prepared correctly, driven correctly, and you are personally in good shape, have time to kill, and don’t mind stopping every 2 hours to stretch.

It’s a f***ing relic of another time. Treat it as such.

Hello,

Even a fresh-from-factory 70 Series requires you to go slow and stop every 2 hours for a stretch.

In time, as you are in another car (with more creature comforts, including suspension) suddenly you find yourself missing the shaking and bone-rattling ride.

Yes, they are relics from another time. But they are enjoyable relics. If treated properly, that is.





Juan

 

[Elbee]

Question for the rest of you 70 series owners: At what year/mileage level is a 70 series still good on road trips?

By this I mean not too much wind noise through old window and door seals. Back doors not squeaking and rattling too much. Engine not shaking the truck too much. Not a leaf spring buckboard ride. No noticeable gear whine or drivetrain vibration.

My BJ73 is kind of a beater compared to alot of the nicer trucks many have. I have gear whine, a shaky 3B diesel, squeaky back doors despite new hinge pins/bolts, wind noise, and some squeaks from the FRP top..............At what point does the 70 series become a pretty good road vehicle? Say as good as a Hilux or Surf of the mid to late 90's? KZJ Prado of mid 90's vintage? super low mile JDM firetruck HZJ70? Or is this asking too much from a 70 series.

It’s all about your maintenance on it and the suspension. Suspension And seats do wonders for long road trips.
People live out of these trucks for years and travel the world in ones your age and older.

If you have had it for a while, you know it quirks and what has been addressed. They are perfectly fine road trip machines, especially if you don’t mind topping out between 65-75.

Your gear whine and wind noise can be addressed. New seals and even additional seal for misaligned doors, etc.

It’s not nesscairly age or miles you worry about, it’s the maintenance history and mechanical sympathy you have towards your rig.

 

[ASO544]

I added red recovery hooks for my new ARB bumper. I had to have mounts fabricated so the hooks would properly mount on the bumper.

 

[Felde]

Got the Cruiser back from body cavity and underbody preservation.
All flooded with Mike Sanders fat and Fluidfilm now.
The rig is sticky like a honeycomb right now. Curing takes about 4 weeks.
No sand, dust, mud in that time, thus no offroad . Must refrain, or the rig would look like crumbed like a Viennese Schnitzel

 

[Felde]

Now I have to reinstall all the interior.

I have been busy during the winter refurbishing the floor cover, trim and panels. More on the respective thread:

BJ73 interior restore

Luckily my BJ73 is not giving me any mechanical issues at this time (fingers crossed). So I can focus on giving it some tender love and care: The program for the winter is: - Rust treatment and preventive protection, i.p. : fix rust in passenger footwell, under floor and cavities...

forum.ih8mud.com

Cheers Ralf

 

[mt72]

Troop Carrier got his 2 x first coat of fresh white primer 2 more to go

Before

After

 

[RHINO]

your shackles are backwards

 

[robmobile73]

It’s all about your maintenance on it and the suspension. Suspension And seats do wonders for long road trips.
People live out of these trucks for years and travel the world in ones your age and older.

If you have had it for a while, you know it quirks and what has been addressed. They are perfectly fine road trip machines, especially if you don’t mind topping out between 65-75.

Your gear whine and wind noise can be addressed. New seals and even additional seal for misaligned doors, etc.

It’s not nesscairly age or miles you worry about, it’s the maintenance history and mechanical sympathy you have towards your rig.

I appreciate everyone's reply I've gotten on this. I put new springs and bushings on two years ago and that did help dramatically with ride. I put a suspension seat in the front as well which I like. I actually like it better than what's in my tundra. Mostly what wears on me is noise squeaks and rattles My rear motor mount rubber seperated I know that needs replacing probably the front too but not sure.......... I am guessing that having the FRP top versus a steel hardtop contributes to noise and rattles due to more body twists movement of the windshield indoors front and rear not sealing as well etc.. I'm guessing the five or six cylinder diesel engines would be much smoother than the 4 cylinder in the b series. I'm also guessing that coil sprung Land cruisers would like we develop less rattles over time... That's really the sort of information and I'm curious about from someone who's ridden and driven more than one model of the 70 series from different years. When I asked was any one of them as good as a Toyota Hilux or surf I meant say a 1995 surf or Hilux not a new model.

 

[fireball]

I’ve had the bj74 for just over 7 years now. After an initial cross country trip I got home and tore most of the interior apart.

Over the past couple months it’s gotten new t-case gears, new clutch, and completed all the wiring and interior reinstalled and cargo box/sleeping platform finished. Finally back together!

Heading out west next week!

 

[robmobile73]

I’ve had the bj74 for just over 7 years now. After an initial cross country trip I got home and tore most of the interior apart.

Over the past couple months it’s gotten new t-case gears, new clutch, and completed all the wiring and interior reinstalled and cargo box/sleeping platform finished. Finally back together!

Heading out west next week!

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Really nice work on your rig. I'm wondering about your "sleeping platform". It appears you have plywood that you can move the seat as far forward as possible and then there is plywood that folds forward for that area. Is the flat area long enough for you to lay down fully with the rear doors closed,?

 

[bj70_guy]

I’ve had the bj74 for just over 7 years now. After an initial cross country trip I got home and tore most of the interior apart.

Over the past couple months it’s gotten new t-case gears, new clutch, and completed all the wiring and interior reinstalled and cargo box/sleeping platform finished. Finally back together!

Heading out west next week!

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Looking awesome!