The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[modvrs]

Sounds very reasonable. The three currently on Autotrader are asking £3850, £7895 and £8995! I paid just over £2k for mine in 2013 (supposedly with a private plate worth £1200) and reckon it's still worth about that with an MOT. Hope it does a good job for you like mine has done over the years.
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1997 Toyota Land Cruiser Colorado 3.4VX

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[Vagabond]

Yes, I think that is an excellent price given the condition you've described. As you say, not much demand for a petrol 4X4, especially these days but for £3k that is still a lot of car for the money.  

The 3.4 5VZ-FE lump is actually a very decent engine and will run on and on, given proper maintenance. Look into getting some upgraded HT leads and spark plugs too - as it responds well to this upgrade.
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'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

[MikeJak]

Agree, a fair bit of car to the £
Had a poke around and no obvious surprises were detected.
Won’t be able to work on it much until late April, for now I’ve ordered a bit of bulbs, as a few were blown so went for led all over apart from headlights and fogs for now.
Fluid looked good, a bit of whirring noise from the power steering, the atf in it is not touching the dipstick at the moment so will add a bit and add some additive too probably, is that a good idea?

Transmission fluid and engine oil are fresh so next I’m thinking of refreshing front and rear diff and centre transfer.
Rear diff has not been touched in a while…

Brake pads and tyres and that should be all the essentials covered…
Then I can start thinking of mods and upgrades 😅

Regarding tyres and wheels I’m thinking of going 265/75 16 mt probably toyo open country M/t
As the current wheels are pretty corroded I’m considering steel rims too, 8j 16 I’m finding conflicting info regarding et offset… thinking of going negative offset would a -25 or even -35 cause issues without lift?

Thanks again for all the helpful advice.. as I gain experience I hope to be able to pay back to the community! 😁

[diggerdave]

Remember the old adage. Make sure that you can open the filler plug before opening the drain plug! The fillers/drain plugs can be a pig to shift if they haven't been touched for a while but respond well to a light tap from a hammer. I can't remember the size of the hex fasteners but some find that grinding the face of the relevant socket off ensures better connection with the hex faces, which aren't very prominent.
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1997 KZJ90 3.0d, 2" suspension lift, 235/85/16 Cooper STT Pros. 217k hard miles

[MikeJak]

Absolutely! Can never be recommended enough 😂
And while I’d rather drain I’m ready to pump out from the filler port if the drain plugs feel too solid.
Good tip about the hex face on the front diff, I have a good set but I’ll be carful, they are not in the easiest spot to reach so definitely not ones to ruin..

[MikeJak]

Also great tip Vagabond about the updated leads, I read the stock ones tends to degrade, any source you’d recommend?
Thank you!

[Vagabond]

I went with Magnecor a few years back and have had no issues. I also run LPG, so leads and spark plugs were upgraded as par for the course.

IIRC the front diff has a hex key type fill and rain plugs - 15mm and 17mm or 17mm and 19mm or similar - why they both aren't the same size.....?

The rear are 21mm socket, again IIRC - might also be an opportunity to wire brush and apply some rust converter and paint to the rear axle case while you're there.  
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'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

[MikeJak]

Heading back from a work trip now so finally can start some work on the new -to me-truck!
Next weekend I’ll be changing some fluids, transfer box oil and differentials first, engine oil and coolant look fresh so will leave it for now, need to top up the power steering that is a bit low and thinking of adding some additive too there.

I have been looking for steel rims and tyres, I can’t find definitive answers about bore size for the rims, some sites say 110 some say 108.7 ?  any tips on that please? Looking at fitting 265 75 16r mt (toyo open country)
Also I am planning to add some lift, both body and suspension, what Et works best on these trucks? I have a wide body (factory flares) I was looking at -20 or so but seems to be hard to get by, seem to find -35 but worries about rubbing?

Any good sources for steel modulars would be welcome…
Thank you!

[Vagabond]

I have 265/75R16s on 80 alloys and think they look the business (I would say that though, wouldn't I?   )

The 80 alloys are 0 (zero) offset and an inch wider (8 inches) than the 90 alloys' 7 inch width and -30 offset. So they fill out the wheel arch flares just right.

One thing to note is that the Toyo MT are heavy tyres and with steel rims will increase your unsprung weight a fair bit. So upgrading your spring and shocks will be a good move. You'll also notice the 3.4 won't be as enthusiastic to pick-up as it is now, not to mention it's healthy appetite for unleaded!        

Look forward to seeing some pick of your progress  
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'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

[MikeJak]

Mmmmh good point about tyre weight, looks like the toyo are about 5kg heavier then a maxis bighorn and others… I was attracted to those as they seem pretty decent mixed use tyres for a m/t.
I like the alloys from the 80 series but I have only seen on sale (on the bay) in sets of 4 and quite dear for the conditions.
Weight wise the steels don’t seem to weight quite as much as one would expect, from what I’ve seen they are few kg heavier but not a huge difference.
Decisions decisions!

[Vagabond]

I've seen a D4D Colorado with 285/75R16s on steel rims and must admit it did look awesome. However fitting 285/75s involves some modding to the inner wheel arch, whereas the 265/75s don't.

Also the diesels have sufficient low down torque to cope with the larger/heavier wheels, the petrol whilst plenty powerful, doesn't have that low down grunt and needs a bit more push to overcome the extra inertia.
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'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

[MikeJak]

Agree, that was part of the thought process and not going much bigger on tires,  265 75 16 should be a touch over 31” and look pretty proportioned. I have ordered some parts from millers, lower ball joints to be preventive and the body lift for now.

Planning on redoing suspensions next but want to have a good think about spring rates. I would like to fit a winch possibly on steel bumper and I have seen a nice rear matching bumper and would need to account for those weights in the sud lift….

For now the body lift should help and gives me an excuse to check and treat the surface rust on the body mounts….

Am I right that Mitsubishi rims should fit? Jimny bits has some shogun steels with the triangle pattern and -20ET that may be the ticket….

[Vagabond]

I think Mitsubishi do use the same stud pattern but you may find that the hub (can't remember the technical term) opening is either too small or too big.

Wheels from later model Hiluxs/Surfs and 120 series Landcruisers will all fit too - though the latter are 17", which limits tyre choice vs 16".
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'97 VZJ95 - Colorado 3.4V6 with LPG, 40mm Ironman SL, full SS exhaust, 265/75R16 Hankook Dynapro RF10s on 80 alloys and 195k+

[MikeJak]

Yes, the centre bore is where my research seems to get a bit confusing…. Most wheels sold as compatible have a centre bother (nominally at least!) of 110mm.
Specs for the Prado show 6jx16 et 30 for the narrow body/no flares
7j x16 et 15 for the factory flare model. Centre bore 106.1

Mitsubishi Pajero and pajero dport have the same pcr but centre bore is 108.1

Very confusing… 😅

May have to order a steel and in case return it..

[MikeJak]

Started some work on the landcruiser finally, looking ok-ish on the rust front, will need to start treating it… Por15 ?(or what would work best?).
Changed the diff oils, rear was clearly in need while front was fine. No stripped plugs and fitted brand new ones just to keep them nice and unstuck. Used Liqui moly oil for the diffs in 80w90
Topped up the steering fluid and cleaned up a bit the engine from both above and below. Looks like a lot of the engine oil staining may have been mostly from previous oil filter changes..not in an easy place to reach in and perfect to drip everywhere!

Got some silicone tubing to extend the breathers, planning to pop the original spring loaded cap and attach to that directly. Will probably extend transfer case and gearbox breathers in the same way once I fit the body lift so there is some more room to get to the breathers..it’s tight under there!

Coolant and engine oil were ok so next will be brakes and tyres/wheels. Finding the right rims is quite tricky but 80 series alloys are silly expensive on e bay..

I had a bit of off road driving are weekend. Nothing serious, just farm tracks and was very impressed. Was good to get the low gears engaged and disengaged to smooth out from lack of use…and even the rear locker was behaving engaging and disengaging perfectly…lucky on that front!

I have received some bushings from millers and will progressively swap all out. Starting with the easy ones…
Also ordered the 1,5” body lift from milners…will fit as soon as I have time..