The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

Ecky Thump · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 22:08 Post subject: My LC80

Just three of my beast....

47 foot of i'm coming through, like it or not!!!!

1600 miles over crimbo and still in one piece

Look mum, No chains.... (Sorry about the quality but it was poor light)

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Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)

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Wandering Willy · ******* Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 1016 Location: Norfolk

What's it like driving with the 'van on the back?

I have a horse box which is a similar width and I avoid country roads as much as possible when towing it. 'A' roads are usually OK but I try to avoid the nearside kerb as the local roads tend to have a lot of holes in them near the kerb which doesn't do the trailer suspension any favours.

My trailer is only about 15ft long so overall the combination is under 40ft. Does the extra length make a big difference?

Looks nice though!

Willy

Ecky Thump · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:32 Post subject:

To be honest, we almost took out a mortgage on the van and it was as high spec as possible.
It had a bendy chassis of some sort and it handled superbly. It took potholes in it's stride and with the beast towing it, I hardly knew the van was there.

I never had a problem with the length as I was a trucker at one time. Bending closer to the middle, it was easier to handle.

People we knew said double axles were terrible for moving about but I reckon it's just because they couldn't reverse with a van on.
We had that van and a newer version over four years and I couldn't fault the combination of LC & double axle Eldis.

The quality of workmanship in the vans,,,,,, Well that's another story!!!!!!!

I've towed a couple of horse boxes and found that without weight in them they are horrible but the suspension on them is much beafier and stiffer than a caravan.
_________________
Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)

Wandering Willy · ******* Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 1016 Location: Norfolk

I use the horse box to carry machinery for my smallholding - well more like an orchard at present. I've got a mickey mouse tractor (20hp) and a few tools to attach to it. The tractor weighs 500kg and a disk harrow which is about 100kg. Other bits are lighter but it all adds up. Therefore the horse box is carrying about 1 ton and it weighs about 2. It has 3 axles on rubber suspension blocks so the setup isn't that sophisticated. However, it is very stable and doesn't need legs to steady it when parked and you are inside.

The front of the trailer is a 2 berth caravan (beds, sink, stove fridge plus some cupboards).We use it to go to agricultural shows and to visit clients for my wife's business. My plot of land is 20 miles from home so we go there with some tools and spend 2-3 days 'farming' when the weather is reasonable. At present we are just doing day trips in the LC as the land is a bit boggy and 3-4 hours in the cold is enough to get you dreaming of home. But in a few weeks we will probably camp there.

Did you (do you) travel outside the UK with the caravan? I would make a great base for a holiday in Brittany or down the Atlantic coast of France. Outside the July/August period, it's quiet there (camp sites don't open till some time in June) and it's like Devon/Cornwall but with central heating!

Willy

Ecky Thump · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:02 Post subject:

Sadly the van has gone now, but we have gone back to a trailer tent. Far easier to stow at home and a damn site cheaper.

That's one hell of a horse box Willy. It looks posher than a lot of caravans I have seen.

We are now almost Southerners by proxy having lived in the south east for 10 years so hop over the water quite often.
However we don't go down the west coast of France much, simply due to the distances involved.

Where (ish) is your small holding. It sounds like a good idea, having a staging point.
_________________
Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)

Landcrusher · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:45 Post subject:

Ecky, how come yours doesn't have sliding rear windows? I though that was a feature of 80's. That's mostly how I tell one at a glance if I'm honest. Looks a lovely machine.

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

lucky · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:38 Post subject:

It's a JDM HDJ81. 5 Seater JDM models came with fixed side windows. I think there was a rare 8 seater which had the sliders as a JDM model but very rare.
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1999 Land Cruiser Amazon VX Active 4.2TD Auto
Gloucestershire 4x4 Response
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Ecky Thump · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:14 Post subject:

I've never quite sussed the motor out to be honest. The paperwork from Japan says it is both a 96 and a 98.
A VIN check says 96. An engine number check says 98. Gearbox and axle numbers also come back to 98.
Brake pads, discs and a lot of other bits are 98.

It looks like they had a 96 body sat waiting to be completed and it was maybe finished in 98.

Perhaps it was part of a special order that was never completed.

Loads of speculation but no way so far to verify. The Japanese paperwork says it was first registered in Feb 98.

I don't know about the JDM bit Lucky as my one says KC HDJ81V, But you are right about it being a five seater.

Whatever it is, it's a cracking motor apart from i've started to get big end knock over the past couple of weeks. Looks like i'll have to get the spanners out in anger for the first ever time with this motor.
_________________
Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)

Wandering Willy · ******* Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 1016 Location: Norfolk

My little bit of heaven (!?) is between King's Lynn and Norwich. It's a very rural area, house prices are modest (except near Sandringham or towards the coastal towns). Unlike the Fenland just to the west, it's rolling country, not hilly but not flat.

It's not on the way to anywhere much which may account for the relatively unspoilt nature of the place. However, there are several large military bases in the area. One for the Army which is a training ground for the lads off to fight the hordes and a couple of American/UK airbases which constitute medium sized towns. If you can cope with the sounds of an army at war and fairly frequent flyovers by Tornadoes, F15s, Harriers, KC35s converted to tanker or radar duties and Hercules off somewhere, if is really quite peaceful.

If you ever get in the area and the weather is not too bad, I would recommend Well-Next-the-Sea, Cromer, Hunstanton (in no particular order) for a pleasant stroll and a bag of shrimps with brown bread and butter (or crabs in Cromer).

But many of the roads are tiny so I don't take my trailer in that direction, just day trips.

Willy

Ecky Thump · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:37 Post subject:

Sounds idyllic (if that's how you spell it!) Willy.

I don't think the military would bother me much.
Having slept, worked and lived in a tin can at sea with the 4.5 front turret rattling off shots and the Sea Dart missiles rattling the whole damn thing, a few aircraft would be quite peaceful in comparrison.

Iv'e always fancied a holiday on a boat in the broads. Sort of halfway between being at sea in the Navy and the canal barges I used to work on as a kid.

We did Cromer, Hunstanton & Sherringham etc a few years back with an old caravan we had and I knew the area quite well when I was a truck driver. I have delivered to both East Dereham and Swaffham but don't really remember them as it was in the late 80's, early 90's.
There was certainly some interesting roads for a 40' trailer.
_________________
Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)