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Jimbo's LJ78 'Cruiser

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Jimbo4x4
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Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 447
Location: Wherever my wheels have taken me today

PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 21:47    Post subject: Jimbo's LJ78 'Cruiser Reply with quote

Hi all, thought I'd start my own thread and just update it when I get new mods fitted to keep it all together. Enjoy Smile

Sooooo, here is my motor as I bought it:


"Rex" is a 1992 LJ78 Auto with the optional rear difflock and switchable sports shocks. I had to search high and low for this one but eventually found him on e bay and won him for £1910. He was imported over in 1998 from Japanland and the only owner between then and me used it purley to tow his caravan with. The plus side of this meant Rex only got used in summer and despite never getting undersealed he never got any rust. None. At all. Not a single spec. The downside of this was the previous owner obviously thought the sport button in the centre console was just that - it turned it into a sportscar. Erm no, of course not, it just stiffens the shocks but because of his belief he never touched it and the rear springs are very tired from all those years of towing without having enough support from the shocks. I find myself using the sport button just to support the weight of a couple of rear seat passengers more comfortably but nevermind. I'll get some uprated springs (possibly a lift?) sorted eventually.



The first modification was to raise the dixon bate ground anchor to a less performance hindering height. This in turn made the rear fog more vulnerable and also the exhaust. I cut the exhaust back so in the worst case scenario it would push up inside the bumper in the event of grounding out rather than get flattened against it. After completely obliterating the fog lamp I moved the wiring to the off side reverse pod and painted that reverse bulb red. It's done a cracking job!

Anywho, within a month of owning Rex I decided the skinny doughnuts needed replacing. Preferably with big fat ones. There was only ever one type of tyre I was going to fit to this, Cooper Discoverer STTs. Having previously owned two sets on other 4x4s and knowing first hand just how capable off and on the road, not to mention just how damn tough they are, there's no other 4x4 tyre I would ever buy instead. Silverline4x4 had them on offer and I picked up a set of 4 265/75/16s mounted to 16x8 steel rims for £575 delivered.







I was very pleased with the result and after also getting some deep mud mats and seat covers I was (after 3 years out of 4x4 ownership) once again ready to properly offroad Smile

I soon got fed up of loading my surfboards inside and decided that when on roadtrips I was going to need a roofrack to keep bulkier items out of the cab. A short browse through the interweb brought me to Direct4x4, who supplied me with a large aluminium roofrack with a 250kg payload for £160 delivered. This is a short term (read: "2 years or so") solution until I can afford/be bothered to get my own heavy-duty-rear-bumper-come-tubular-safari-rack made up.





After a some fairly vigorous off roading my exhaust started to look a bit tatty. My resident welder (my brother) fixed it up for the MOT and it passed with flying colours, but something definately needed doing about it. Put in a call to Peco exhausts in Rockferry (the same place Duffy sings about - damn that's gonna be in my head all night now!) on the Wirral and I have a custom stainless system sorted for £300. They tested three different designs on the rolling road before going for this one. They've really gone all out in making sure I get the best torque output. It looks great, sounds perfect - just a little bit meatier but not much louder than standard, performs better and best of all my economy has increased by nearly 5mpg! That's not far off an extra 100miles per tank! It splits in three places simply by loosening exhaust clamps so if I damage it off road or while overlanding I can pull the offending part off until I can find a garage. Top lads!







My latest addition to Rex is a Prime Tech rooftent. I had seen these on e bay a while ago and was a bit dubious about them simply because they're half the price of any others. I was holding out 'til I could afford a Howling Moon tent, which can be packed away for up to 4 weeks when wet without getting mouldy, but after speaking to some people on Difflock who have used the Prime Tech tents extensively and have nothing but praise for them I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. When I fitted it to my dads old roofbars from his Isuzu Trooper it was pretty obvious the bars weren't going to put up with the weight of me and my girlfriend at the same time, especially when me and my girlfriend are doing what boys and girls do when they're in bed together. I ended up joing the two bars together with scrap metal we had lying around and sitting one side of the tent on them. For the other side I cut the hoops down a little on the Direct4x4 roofrack and bolted the tent to the back of it. This turned out to be a great idea as it meant I could have the tent and the roofrack on at the same time.









Anyways, they say the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and I'm off to Cornwall all next week for my birthday when it will all get thoroughly tasted  Cool

I'll be sure to report back.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 21:47    Post subject: Google Ads keep this community free to join!


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ignat
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 23:43    Post subject: Reply with quote

notworthy  What a beaut!!!   Really lovely.   Oh, and nice car too.  Wink  

Those STT's really suit the car.   Please report back how the tent goes.  I've been debating getting that one for some time too.
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blobrob
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:38    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read somewhere, cant remember where, that the Prime Tech cover tends to rip fairly easily when forcing your way through thick bushes. What are your first impressions of the quality of materials used in the tent? I dont think i have read any other negative things about the tent, its just the fact that its less than half the price of most roof tents and only available on e bay that i have reservations about it..

Really nice 70...
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97 HDJ80 Manual, Safari snorkel, 33" BFG AT, Wildsmith sliders, lift coming soon... to find out if I got that lift or made it Mongolia use a search engine Wink
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24Seven
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 17:30    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice truck and great write up  Very Happy
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Jimbo4x4
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Joined: 27 Apr 2009
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Location: Wherever my wheels have taken me today

PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 17:45    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the compliments guys, especially ignat Razz

So far I'm pretty happy with the tent on the whole. It's perhaps not as well sealed as it could be from the midges, there's no covering where the floor splits to close and it leaves small gaps when open, there is fabric there to cover it but it only relies on the wieght of the mattress to hold it in place. I might fit some velcro to combat this. It seems very sturdy and well made, although one of the eyes in the skirt that allow the sprung steel stays to hold in the base is badly aligned and that stay needs to go under the skirt, but I'm just being picky there.

I've not had any problems with the cover so far, I would imagine any roof tent would have problems in that department? I plan to do a bit of laning on my way to, from, and in Cornwall so will report back on that. I mounted it sideways so it would be narrower on the roof (120cm as opposed to 140cm) and also protected a bit more by the roofrack.

They're not solely available from e bay, http://www.landroverrooftent.com/ sell them for a little more but that price also includes the annex which comes with it whether you want it to or not. Also, they're based in the UK so I imagine it would be easier to contact them in the case of a problem.
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Gavlad
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:51    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Jim, the rigs looking great there now dude - good work.  When are you off to Cornwall?  I thought you would have been & gone by now...

I hope to have my truck's lift dialled in soon so when you get back, gis a shout & maybe we can go hit some trails...

Cheers
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'98 90 - family truck, 275x75 BFG AT's, homebrew aloominium roofrack
'94 HDJ80 - homebrew rear bumper fitted (but not quite ready to recover off!!!), +4 IronMan & 35 MTs ON!!! - front bumper still in the offing...
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Daz
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 15:08    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dont get many of these shape in Aust, but I think I saw a few in NZ

Nice one Jimbo
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Daz

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Jimbo4x4
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 0:55    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thought I'd give a little update for those who wanted it, I'll do a writeup of the week in the laning section when I get the pics off Laura's laptop.

Rex performed faultlessly on his 1500mile roadtrip through wales and cornwall, about 4 hours of which were off road Smile Although if anyone's in the cambrains any time soon can you keep an eye out for my front number plate? Embarassed
And they say toyota's are indestructible Rolling Eyes

As for the rooftent, the only gripes I have are the amount of condensation we got due to poor ventilation, and the stitching on the travel cover isn't up to scratch. We had no problems with the cover from low trees, it brushed them off quite well. It was with day to day use that some of the stitching has come away. I know someone who makes boat covers for a living and will hopefully be able to bring it up to standard for me. I think the thread used is just poor quality. A shame really as otherwise this tent is great value for money. To combat the condensation issue I plan to make an inner tent to hang from the frame out of curtain liner. This can just be used in cold conditions and in warmer climes I will just remove it and leave a window open a smidge.

Back soon, Jim.
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Weave
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 21:55    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice old skool ride mate - your chick looks fine too!   Cool

I seriously love the tent on the roof!
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x_shaun
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:14    Post subject: Reply with quote

that one clean looking cruiser
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Jimbo4x4
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Location: Wherever my wheels have taken me today

PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 22:26    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comments gents Smile

Just to say I've had to order another travel cover for the RTT from Steve at landroverrooftent.com as mine went brittle in the cold snap and lost all its flexibility. If you hold it up to the light now you can see lots and lots of little (and some big) holes where it's tried to flex in the wind and simply torn instead Rolling Eyes

Steve tells me his tents are OzTent as opposed to PrimeTech but made to exactly the same pattern, and the OzTent covers are supposedly better quality and made with a slightly thicker material, so hopefully this will be the end of that problem. Cover is just £45+p&p which I was pleasantly suprised at, it includes a new zip too.
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Jimbo4x4
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Location: Wherever my wheels have taken me today

PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2010 17:12    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a few shots of my LJ78 now I've fitted the snorkel, thanks goes to Gavlad for his help with this Smile






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Jimbo4x4
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PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2010 17:19    Post subject: Reply with quote

And a few pics from a little before it was fitted, greenlaning in Wales:








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African Drifter
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PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 10:38    Post subject: nice truck Reply with quote

Hi Jim.

Very, very nice cruiser buddy!!
Sure looks like you're having a lot of fun with her.
The new snorkel looks good and do you have a cb radio in there, spotted the aerial on the front bumper?



African Drifter
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Jimbo4x4
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PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 18:01    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh, the "aerial" was just a marker, so the vertically-challenged (got to be P.C now) Jap's who couldn't see over the steering wheel could tell where the corner of the car was. I slid off the bonnet when trying to climb it in socks and promptly snapped the thing off Laughing

I have a CB and a mag-mount aerial which I just put in for the bigger greenlaning trips. I'll get 'round to a more permanent installation eventually.

Jim.
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