landcruiser help
 

i'm looking for a bit of help regarding the TLC. i believe the better model to go for is the 100 series (amazon) with the 4.2 diesel.
i looked at a 95 series (colorado)today and spotted an amazon. looking underneath i noticed it had a similar independant front suspension to the colorado, yet i thought these had solid front axles? it also had a drive in the colorado and have to admit that it made my 110 feel like a horse and cart.
the colorado seems to be the most available model of LC in the uk, and although a few amazons are around, they cost considerably more possibly due to the leather interior and electric everything.

also could i get some help with the auto and hi-lo lever.
i understand the D-P-R-N on the auto, but what about the 2-L?
the hi-lo lever, when engaged it crunched. whats the corect proceedure for engaging low drive? i expected it to creep forward in a similar fashion to the landrover once engaged, but it still shot off at a rate of knots.

also, the lever had 4HL and 4LL. i get the high/low bit but whats L (locked diff? centre?) plus a turn switch on the lower dash for (presumably) locking the (rear?)diff.

basically i haven't much of a clue and need help!

many thanks.

Hi Jasper,

I own colorado (prado, kzj95) and hdj80. My last trip with colorado was in Algeria in April and May and we did quite a lot of classical pistes and the car behaved really well.
I did some modification: replaced the original suspension with OME (6 cm lift), wheel spacers (3cm each), additional fuel tank (75 l).

Colorado is lighter and can not carry that much load as hdj80 but it is really pleasure to drive. Parts for colorado are easy to get and they are not that expensive. In my opinion colorado is quite underrated - the old engine 1KZ-TE is really robust and it is not sensitive to the quality of fuel - I have no experience with d4d engine

regards,
Tomaz

Jasper - I forgot to answer your question about transmison. In my case it is manual:

H - high gear - hard surface
HL - high with central differential locked (for pistes etc...)
L - low gear

my has rear differential lock.


hope it helps,
Tomaz

thanks Tomaz, so the colorado has centre and rear locking differnntials?
how much weight can it carry?

Hi,

The classic LC for overlanding from the UK is the 80 series, the fore runner to the 100 series Amazons - these have the fixed front and rear axles and are roughly the same dimensions.

You can get Amazons with fixed front axles, these are 105series, but were never available in the UK - they can be imported second hand from Europe, but certainly aren't cheap.

Price wise you are best taking a look at the 80s or Colorados, sticking to the 80 if you prefer the fixed front axle.

Most UK spec 80 series will have front, centre and rear diff locks as standard. There are a fair few Jap imports that only have the centre diff lock to try to avoid these, fitting 3rd party diff locks are expensive.

Hi Jasper,

regarding the wight - we were two persons with 350-400 kg of load (fuel, water etc...) and it was ok - but to be honest I don't know about the load limits.

Regarding the 105 series you have to be aware that the engine used in 105 is different then the one used in 100. But I'm sure that Julian is far more competent in that field then I am ....

Regards,
Tomaz

Jasper/Tomaz,

The 105 series have as standard the 1HZ diesel motor - this is a normally aspirated version of the block used in the 80 series. They are OK for a basic diesel, but many people stick a turbo on to it to get a bit more punch.

They are a great truck, and you will see a lot in places like Morocco, however they are expensive to bring over here to the UK. You can occasionally find them through auctions in Germany and I think Belgium, being sold off by the likes of the Red Cross or other NGOs.

We hired a 105 over in Aus to get up in the outback last year. Quite a good vehicle but the engine was fairly gutless. I tried racing a Defender TD5 130 Crewcab off the lights and up a long hill on tarmac over a mile and lost all the way. In addition, the Defender was a railway vehicle with the metal wheel assembly to allow it to run on tracks so was carrying a fair bit of weight.

That said, it was a good vehicle and have been considering buying one but would definitely bolt on a turbo.