Which is best year LC for me??

[mikeg]

I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I am planning to drive down to Baja Mexico to start, and I'm new to Land Cruisers. I would like a diesel, turbo perferably, and a wagon body, and perferably manual 5spd. The rest really doesn't matter much. The worse looking the body the better I think. Less chance of theft and not much to worry about when exploring the coast damage wise. I've been doing some searching and for my price range of about $7-8000max, there doesn't seem to be much. There are a few early 80's, particularly an 81 that all seem to be over the 400,000k mark. My questions are;

1)How are these vehicles at high milage? especially the diesel?

2)Which years have good 4x4 equipment and which years are bad if any?

3)How easily available and pricey are OEM and aftermarket parts? DO these vehicles cost more to repair?

4)Are engine swaps particularly difficult?

5)Any other relevent info a newbie to LC's should know about choosing his first vehicle?

Thanks guys,
Mike

 

[roscoFJ73]

I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I am planning to drive down to Baja Mexico to start, and I'm new to Land Cruisers. I would like a diesel, turbo perferably, and a wagon body, and perferably manual 5spd. The rest really doesn't matter much. The worse looking the body the better I think. Less chance of theft and not much to worry about when exploring the coast damage wise. I've been doing some searching and for my price range of about $7-8000max, there doesn't seem to be much. There are a few early 80's, particularly an 81 that all seem to be over the 400,000k mark. My questions are;

1)How are these vehicles at high milage? especially the diesel?

What do you mean by high mileage?
Generally diesels last longer then petrol engines but they still have gearboxs diffs and steering ect that all wears at the same pace.
Anything with 4000000 klms will need work serious work before it goes on a long trip.
Its hard to justify spending $$$ on mechanicals in a rusty dented body

2)Which years have good 4x4 equipment and which years are bad if any?

They all have good 4wd attributes and are all fundamentally the same.
Some come with locking differentials as an option outside of North America but the local versions will do fine for your trip.

3)How easily available and pricey are OEM and aftermarket parts? DO these vehicles cost more to repair?

Diesels are not sold in the US so you would not get parts from a dealer.
You would need to rely on a small but dedicated band of suppliers some of which participate on this forum.
No such thing as cheap diesel parts,they are heavy duty

4)Are engine swaps particularly difficult?

Depends on which swap ,your budget and your skill.

5)Any other relevent info a newbie to LC's should know about choosing his first vehicle?

For your trip I would suggest a 60 series,they came with a choice of 3 diesels engines ,are big and comfortable and non diesel parts are available all over the Americas
Start studying everything you can about landcruiser models and engines and keep asking questions .
Thank people who help with info

 

[lunyou]

mikeg,

I would agree with ROSCO that the 60 series is a better fit for you. it has a 4 speed manual and manual trannys seems to have less problems than autos(not just in the LCs but in all vehicles) They are also easier to find someone to work on them.

Being as you are from canada you probably can import Toyotas that we here in the states cannot import. If i were you i would look for a "high roof" 60 series from AUS, if canada did not get any of them. There are some pictures of them around in the 60 series registry at the top of the forum page. That would give you a little more head room for any passengers and also more storage space for supplies, plus they look alot "cooler" than the regular 60's.

For $7000 to $8000 i think you can pick up a really nice 60 series that is capable and also looks good. it won't be diesel but it will have the 2F workhorse in it. Check out the Classifieds section and maybe post a want add. I posted one for a 40 series and got over a dozen PMs with vehicles that fit my needs.

Oh yeah, Welcome to the site. You might also visit the 60 & 62 FAQ section
and read up there, it is a great start.

lunyou

 

[lunyou]

here is the 60 series registry:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=40087

Here is the FAQ section:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=13183

lunyou

 

[mikeg]

Thank you for your responses, as you've started to head me in the right direction. It seems the BJ or HJ are the models I should be going after as they both offer diesel, but do any come with a turbo? I'm Having trouble decyphering the main difference between the BJ and HJ other then the roof?? Seems also that a 70's series HZ or KZ would be another option?

Also any idea how much it would cost to rebuild a diesel?

 

[Exiled]

Thank you for your responses, as you've started to head me in the right direction. It seems the BJ or HJ are the models I should be going after as they both offer diesel, but do any come with a turbo? I'm Having trouble decyphering the main difference between the BJ and HJ other then the roof?? Seems also that a 70's series HZ or KZ would be another option?

Also any idea how much it would cost to rebuild a diesel?

The only 60 series to come standard with a turbo is an HJ61, available in many variations but outside of North America. You can find them in Canada as ex-JDM units importations, but these will be RHD. If you want LHD, you'll have to look in Western Europe or Central America.

I'll be the first to tell you: your budget is very low for your intended purpose. Diesel Land Cruisers are rare in this part of the world and command premium prices. I think US$8K for the base vehicle might not be enough, unless you're budgeting significant funds for the prep/buildup of the vehicle after purchase.

Check out the Toyota Land Cruiser FAQs over at www.birfield.com, you'll understand the different engine designations. Then head over to the Diesel section on this board and spend some time playing with the SEARCH feature.

Sounds like you have a good trip planned and you definitely chose the right vehicle as a base. But it also sounds like you have a lot of homework to do!

Also check the forum on www.expeditionportal.com, lots of good info for this type of trip.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Thank you for your responses, as you've started to head me in the right direction. It seems the BJ or HJ are the models I should be going after as they both offer diesel, but do any come with a turbo? I'm Having trouble decyphering the main difference between the BJ and HJ other then the roof?? Seems also that a 70's series HZ or KZ would be another option?

Also any idea how much it would cost to rebuild a diesel?

Rebuiding my 1HZ cost $4800 for new pistons ,new head ,rings crank grind ,cam grind,cyl boring and all gaskets ,seals and labour.

On top of that was a injector pump rebuild $1500 ,injector rebuild $360 ,water pump ,fan clutch,flywheel regrind,manifold blasted and machined.
Over $7000AUD in a country where they are as common asa chev V8 is in the US.
I also had to remove and replace all outside bolt ons

A 2H or 3B maybe a little cheaper for me

The high roof is an option in some countries and has nothing to do with BJ or HJ.
As exiled said they do come with a turbo like mine here
A 12HT cost $5500AUD for a rebiuld plus pump and turbo if necessary

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Maybe a different way to look at this...

A diesel is ideal IF you can find one at low mileage that isn't rusted to heck from the Canadian winter salt and you can get it cheap enough to afford the repairs that it undoubtedly needs.

A much cheaper option is a USA gasoline model FJ60. I see nice ones all the time in the $4000 range and sometimes much less. If you get one from California or the southwest, they are often rust free and still running fine. As an example, I got mine for $3000 with 160k miles. 50k miles and 4years since, I've driven it almost everyday. Not a bad ROI despite the relatively poor fuel economy (14-15 mpg) I would trust it to go to Mexico tomorrow.

For the $4000 price difference, you can buy a lot of fuel, or more likely do a lot of the maintenance and repair items you will have to do on any 20-25 year old truck. Any truck you buy is going to need a bunch of work to have it ready for a major adventure south of the border. It is my view, that except for the very, very long term, the gasoline versions will be cheaper to buy and operate. Believe me, I have tried hard to justify a diesel but no luck so far.

edit: Just in the first few lines of the trucks for sale section, there is a mechanically sound one for $1500, and another nice one with lots of recent work for $3500. Your $8000 would go pretty far with one of those.