Use your time well !

Read up on what owners say about the 61 series Landcruiser with the 12HT turbo and the 80 Series Turbo diesel both models and I kidd you not are AWESOME 4X4's.

Call a few of the UK importers and just see what they say, a phone call and a bit of time on the net checking what people say about a particular importer is easy as, link to a list provided below.

UK Imported vehicles websites

Merry Xmas Dave.

2nd that ... buy a JAP import 60 - Instead I brought a Auzzie HJ75 Troopie, then spent 2 years getting it on the road in Belgium... Fantastic car / camper has a pop top... only speed is a downside, I crusier at 100 kph and she does 10 ltrs / 100 kms...

I am more of a LR man than toyota , but from experience in Australia , the hilux size vehicles below 2.8l are a pit short on power especially in sand ,
There is no shortage of cruisers to choose from in UK , for overland travel better wioth manual box than auto, although the auto box in l/crsr were not a weakness with the vehicle , but not the best for towing as they tended to hunt between gears when climbing hills . The 4.2 diesel is a very good engine , any probs that the turbo Ihz had would have been sorted by now The earlier turbo engine was pretty bomb pruf but they all tend to be a bit heavy on the fuel avg 22mpg , if worked hard and fast you can get down to 12 !! . As mentioned in previous post you need to change oils regularly , and follow the Toyota service schedule . Some of the 4cyl diesels tend to crack heads if they get hot so cooling system needs to be in good order , The cruiser is a lot more comfortable for long distance travel than the hilux , due the leaf springs on the hilux. A lot of the cruiser wagons came on a very road type tyre , far better to go to a decent AT or MT . HTSH

But with Land Cruisers you really should stick to the numbers. Depending on where the car was sold, Toyota used different naming schemes for identical vehicles. Eg the moniker Prado for the light duties was not used in continental Europe. In Swizerland a unique numbering scheme existed (200, 300, 400) that related to nothing else in Europe.

And then there is more to learn, if you get the full designation of the car (like HZJ80 or VZJ95), especially the motor type. Toyota uses a mixed combination of letters and numbers to define the engine type and the body style. But all Land Cruiser designations contain the letter J. The number right of the letter J stands for the body style, the letters left of the J for the engine type. For an overwiew of the designation scheme on Toyota engines see the article on wikipedia.

A general overwiev can be found on wikipedia about the Land Cruiser and the Land Cruiser Prado.

Generally Toyota split up the Land Cruiser series into two during the 1980 into a heavy duty line (with leaf springs only until ca. 2000) and a light duty line (with coil springs). So a Land Cruiser with a 7 as the first digit of its type number might be heavy duty or light duty. These two lines later split up into independent series.

So comparing a 80 to a 90 or 95 is not fair. The 80 series is the heavy duty line with the straight 6 as Diesel, Turbodiesel or petrol and has always 4 doors.
A 90 is a short light duty with 2 doors, a 95 is a light duty with 4 doors.
The J9 like the J8 has coil leaves on both axles, but the J9 has the smaller differentials (8" compared to 9.5") and the J9 was never available with the straight 6.

If you are interested in a particular car, ask for the VIN or frame number. Go to ToyoDIY.com, enter the number or choose by the market where the vehicle has been sold originally and you find plenty of information about it. Here you find a cheat sheet for Toyota VINs.

HTH, Hans

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Seen whilst travelling - Fernwehstammtisch Karlsruhe - Relief action Togo Togoville e.V.

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More than suitable.

The posters who suggest to "Stay away from the plastic" have little idea of what is underneath.
Sure the plastic helps to keep them pretty for the road going buyers, but make no mistake, they are seriously capable for off road.

For a long trip, you want reliability, comfort, and fuel economy.

Land Cruiser of most descriptions fit the bill there.

vette

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Hi Dave,

No point suggesting to the OP that he look for a Troopy, he is in UK.
Are you suggesting an 80 series is more comfortable than a 90/95 or a 120/125 series, dream on
Are you suggesting the 80 is economical, forget it, get real, 80 series diesels, 12 valve or 24 valve will give you mid 20 mpg at best.
The 90/95 diesels are easy into the 30 mpg.

Unless your heading to the swamps of central Africa in the rain season, then an 80 is a total overkill, with heavy fuel consumption to weigh you down.

You are right though, the OP should continue to seek out a land Cruiser.

vette

My opinions are based on personal hands on experience, millions of kilometres in extremely harsh & remote country over decades. The question originally asked was answered with budget and reliability in mind and answered fairly, honestly and it is based on real outback experience! Take it or leave it, simple!

It's a very interesting and useful summary: thanks!
I think some of this has been mentioned in other threads about Landcruisers, but it's a good summary for this particular thread.
Regarding the "light duty/heavy duty" factor, I seem to recall that the smaller diameter differentials in the light duty series do not have full diff locks in place; rather there are limited slip diffs (LSDs) fitted all round??

In contrast the 80 series advertised in the UK are all described as having diff locks x 3 (front, back and, presumably, a main diff straight out of the gearbox).

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Dave

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Not quite correct,
The "differentials, well that's not quite true.
On many so called Light Land Cruisers" they have a locking rear diff, which is also a LSD diff, and also a locking center diff.

The 80 series (there was no SWB 80 series, so really the 80 series should have been called the 85 series, but that just complicates things.) and the 70/71/75 series, have a solid front beam axle, generally allowing for front axle articulation.
But paying a price for road holding and comfort.

The later 90/95 series, the 100 series, and the 120/125 series all have independent front suspension as the difference.
More comfortable, better road holding, and about only 75% the articulation that the solid beam front axles can give.
All are coil sprung, except fro the early 70/75 series rears.

So unless your trip is taking you some where where you need 100% front axle articulation, then there isn't any need for a labouring 80 series.
Your just penalising yourself with comfort, road holding, and heavy fuel economy.

The 90/95 (years about 1995 to 2002)
The replacement 120/125 from 2002 to 2009 are both excellent vehicles. 3.0 Liter turbo diesel, power ranges from about 130bhp to 175bhp. Depending on model.
Almost as cavernous inside as the 80 series, (I say about 90% of the internal size) for the trips that 99% of us will do, bearing in mind, not many of us are heading to the Central African Congo in the rainy season lately..

The 100 series, was the replacement for the 80 series, same'ish sort of engine, but where the 80 series had solid front beam axle, the 100 series was more refined, and was fitted with independent front suspension, like it's smaller 90/95 and 120/125 series.

vette

There is no center diff in the light duties. They do have a LSD at the read but none at the front like hinted above by Walkabout.

Concerning the heavy duty J7: They had spring leaves all around until 1999. Until then they have coil springs at the front and still leave springs at the rear. The two generations are easy to spot: older ones have wheels with 6 bolts, the ones with coil springs at the front wheels with 5 bolts. And the numbering scheme changed. The SWB 70 became the 71, the MWB 73 became the 74 and the LWB 75 remained the 75. But the 75 PU (pickup) became the 79. And the 77 became the 78. To top this all in 2002 Toyota changed the front part of the cars to make place for the V8 engine that our friends from down under so deperately wanted and suddenly there was a 76.

Except for the 105, which still had a solid axle at the front. This makes the 105 one of the most interesting Landcruisers.

Hans

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Seen whilst travelling - Fernwehstammtisch Karlsruhe - Relief action Togo Togoville e.V.

My 95 has a locking rear diff not a lsd, the uk spec 95 Colorado cames with this rather than the lsd of elsewhere in the world. I'm pretty sure that it's also got a centre diff, centainly has the option of High Locked and Low Locked.

Sure the 80's etc may techically be better off road but they aren't cheap and the only troopy on fleabay at the mo is listed at £25k

The 95 is a very capable overland vehicle and mines served me well over 2 months and 15000km in Morocco

Don't think mine dos 30mpg though

It was becoming apparent that the models marketed by Toyota in different countries vary in the detail, even if they have similar market designations and titles (and even the same engine fitted).

Coincidentally, I have been looking at the ebay LCs this evening; from over 280 on sale in the UK right now there is the one Troopy identified above + a couple, or so, HJ40s at asking prices of £7-14K.
I guess they are all collectable here in the UK; certainly some of the later models come with cheaper asking prices.

Going with the view expressed earlier - that there is little wrong with the later models of LC despite the "more plastic" bodywork - what views are there about the later D-4D engine? Could it be, for example, they are more fuel efficient than the earlier machines?

Apologies to the OP if the Hilux (or the RAV for that matter) are still of interest: the LC has cornered this thread

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Dave

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Hi Hans,
I respectfully suggest you don't know Land Cruisers as well as I do.
the 90/95 and the 120/125, both Land Cruisers certainly have locking center diffs.
The rear diffs can be LSD, or LSD "AND" locking rear diff.

Suggest you join a worthy Land Cruiser site,
Land Cruiser Club

And ask a few questions.

vette

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Hans,

I am not sure where you are finding your information, however, please refrain from posting incorrect information.
You are really confusing folk here.
You may be referring to Australian Land Cruisers?
Which are not UK or European Land Cruiser.

My 1991 70 series.

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Notice it has no leaf springs, this is because they are coils all round.
Notice how there are 6 wheel bolts and not 5 as you suggest.

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vette

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There are no 105 series available in Europe, so pointless directing the OP in that direction.

Perhaps it would be better if you completed your profile, so members can see where you are?
Then when you tell people about various Land Cruisers, they can at least recognise that you are talking form, what I guess, is an Australia point of perception.

vette