The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[Frank Rabbets]

Which is the nearest tyre to the LTX M/S ?
I need long life, soft ride and road use only ,with good traction in wet.

I have 1996 VX with the separate wheel arches.I am looking for a similar LC but with integral wheel arches,but must be manual.When was the first year these were made?Also Diesel.Are they as reliable as 1996 model?

Thanks everyone
Frank

[Google]

[gilghana]

Frank sorry for road tyres I got no idea.  With the separate wheel arches I assume you mean flares.  To be honest I have never seen a 80 series in UK without flared arches (I am assuming you are referring to 80 series).  The std 80 (i.e. base trim specification) came without flares and with manual g/box but I suspect you will have a REAL mission trying to find one in UK...  they tended to be more Africa/Oz.
Gil

[24Seven]

I think Frank is talking about a 100 series which came out around 1998.

[Wandering Willy]

Hi Frank,

If you are looking at getting a 100 series Amazon (i.e. R reg 1998 onwards) then I can say that the diesel is very good, very reliable. It's a 6 cylinder 24 valve direct injection engine with a turbo charger very similar to the later 80s. The 100 is not as economical as the 80 series being a bit heavier. I get 24 mpg on any reasonable journey. Using the air/con reduces this to 22 (roughly).

There are some manual diesel 100s but not many. The petrol cars are all automatic I think and don't have the same diff locks as the diesel (which is similar in this respect to the 80, i.e. diff locks on the transfer box and the rear axle).

There are some second owner imports around which can be anything, some with lots of fancy stuff and some without. Watch out if you start looking at one of these. It may be a bargain or may not be what you want.

The VX model comes with self leveling suspension, electric seats, sun roof and an electrically positioned steering wheel. All of these can give problems and repairs can be expensive - specially the suspension (£2,000?). The GX model doesn't have these bits and therefore doesn't have their potential reliability worries. However, it also lacks leather seats if that is a requirement. Most GXs come with the third row of removable seats.

Regarding tyres, I have fitted Yokohama Geolanders which have a 50/50 tread which works well for me on muddy tracks while giving a good ride on the road. I don't think that is what you are looking for. Certainly Michelin 4X4 tyres have a good rep but they seem to be hard to find and are 30-50% more expensive than other good tyres. You might consider Pirelli Scorpion tyres. Mytyres have them at £115 each currently, see:-

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/reifenbestellen.pl?typ=R-103523&dsco=10

They have a reasonable reputation and aren't horribly expensive (just fairly expensive!).

Others here will no doubt have suggestions on what tyre to go for, but many here favour chunky rubber for off road use.

Regarding the gearbox, mine is an automatic - the first I have owned - and it is very good. If you get a chance, try one before settling on a manual car.

Good luck and I hope this information is of some use.

Willy

[Frank Rabbets]

Thanks WW for your info.You are right it`s what I need,only does the independant front suspension have as good a roadholding as the solid axle on mine.I had a Shogun once which was DANE GER RUS! Nearly turned over twice for no good reason.
Frank

[Wandering Willy]

I don't drive fast so I haven't tested my car to the limits of its handling. However, the independent front suspension does what it should and the ride and handling a pretty good - no complaints here.

People coming from an 80 seem to think the 100 is an improvement as far as road driving is concerned. Some countries also have the 105 which is a 100 with a solid front axle like an 80. We don't get them here. They are more solid and suitable for off road driving with less complications if you are miles out in the bush coping with rocks and sand dunes.

There must be a compromise with suspension and I guess the choice of IFS over solid axles is what gets you a better road journey.

The self leveling suspension gives you the option of running with it set low for high speed driving, e.g. motorways, so the car is more stable. The non-self leveling suspension is a compromise setting compared with the alternative.

Willy

[Frank Rabbets]

WW
Has yours ever lived by the sea?
Mine has and even the extra heavy duty bits are badly corroded.Mine was in Weston s Mare for the 3 years before I bought it.

Frank

[Wandering Willy]

Hi Frank

I was disappointed by the state of my car when I bought it. To explain: it was 5 years old with 58,000 miles and a full service history. However, the bodywork and trim were tatty so it had not had a lot of TLC. It came from the Manchester area which has a lot of rain (more than Norfolk where I live anyway). I suspect that the car had spent more time up in the Penines that by the sea so it may have seen a lot of road salt int the Winter.

Underneath, the back end in particular looked like it had been dipped in salt water every few weeks. The liner to the rear bumper was rusty all over and in some places was starting to look like it would soon come apart.

I bought he car in July 2007 so it was good weather and I used it to take off the rear bumper, spare wheel mount and the tow bar and paint them with Hammerite (primer plus 2 coats). Having these bits out of the way, I then painted a lot of the underside of the floor. Some of the corners were starting to rust although the paint was generally in a better state than the bumper liner.

I also poured into or bushed the inside of the doors, tailgate and sills with Waxoyl. They were all clean and dry but I thought this was another good thing to do at this stage (rather than be faced with repairs later).

I don't expect this will make the car last forever but it should last a bit longer! I hope to keep this one for 10 years if I can afford to run it (tax plus fuel costs!).

The other problem area regarding rust was the bolts fixing the underbody protection to the car. Most had rusted in making their removal a challenge. I just removed one at a time, greased it and put it back in. They can now be removed easily so that routine maintenance (e.g. greasing the front propshaft joints) is not difficult. Removal was aided by lots of WD40 and a good set of spanners.

I had hoped that the current Land Cruisers would be protected to a similar level as my old Saab This is now 16 years old and the bodywork has only a small patch of rust starting on the bonnet, none worth mentioning underneath. So the state of my Amazon was a disappointment. The point of this comment is that good paint etc. used by the manufacturer can produce a car that will last even if no further work is done on it to extend its rust-free life.

Having said all of that, the Amazon is very good so I am happy with the package.

Willy

[Landcrusher]

Frank, the std fit to LC's for some time has been the Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 or 21. I have found this to be an excellent tire for what you describe as your need. Now, I know that a 'rival' site picked up on a previous quote when I said this and based their whole opinion of TLOCUK on that one statement "A good tire- right, for driving to the shops" was their derisory response. Well, that's what they're for!

They are very good in the dry, excellent in rain, I was staggered at how good they were in snow, and in mud, I have crossed some bogs that left people speechless. They are NOT some chunky treaded bog snorkling tyre. They are a road tyre. As such you can pick them up quite reasonably. Very quiet and smooth.

LC
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HDJ 80 but still a 90 owner at heart (yeah right!)

[uk_vette]

Hi LC,

I am surprised you mention the Dunlop GT AT20 is a good tyre.
When I had them on, there was always a 'wallowing' feeling.
When I had 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 psi
The side walls feel very flimsy, and they give a lot of roll going into corners.

The BFG AT are so different, it is noticible in the first 2 minutes of driving with the different tyres.

My 2p

Graham

[Landcrusher]

Hi Graham, I agree 100% with the BFG comment - but that's not really what Frank was after. He wanted a road tyre like the LTX. Having said that, yes, I found the Dunlop to be extraordinary for what it was. I had them on 2 Landcruisers including my last 120. Even my Landrover mate was impressed when I got out of tight spots with them. Never found them wallowy, but if I'd had BFG first, I think I'd agree.

I had some Kumhos on a Sorento at one point. Now they really were *beep*. They had side walls and treads like paper. I wrote two off completely, one when a stone went straight through it. Diabolical quality tyre.  Difficult thing tyres, always good and bad experiences for everyone. I had good experiences. But as you know, I have BFG Muddies on mine now. Not a Dunlop in sight - I never said that I NEVER got totally stuck with them on   .

LC
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HDJ 80 but still a 90 owner at heart (yeah right!)