12,000 THOUSAND dallars damage at 30 KPH

Yeh Peter,
Just another "proud" owner of a 100 series who is now running the numbers on how much better off he'd have been if he'd bought a Patrol!!! LOLOLOL

After all these years ,why couldnt they(Toyota) have kept a system like on the 4 Runners and Hilux's(dont think they changed the new Hilux's)Upper and lower stoppers,torsion bars along the top of the chasis rail.Has worked trouble free for years on these vehicles.

There is a similar story in the December 2004 edition of 4x4 Australia. They had to do some bush welding on the 100 series.

Gday all, I'm not a Toyota fan but i have to say i saw the best looking 100 series the other day in Parramatta. Black paint, polished to the max, gold door handles, badges and mirrors, tiny middle aged chinese lady driving, white knuckles and chin touching the top of the steering wheel and looking quite terrified. I wonder if that front end failure happens to her car, if she would notice or if she realised something was wrong, continue on and nurse it home???

WOW, lots of hatred in this post i feel. Personally i wont get involved in the "us or them" war cause i believe both vehicles are fantastic. Myself, I purchased the GQ's(2nd one now) because of an expierence i had first time 4wd'ing as a passenger back in 1989. We were in a brand new GQ 4.2 Diesel LWB, we went offraod with 8 other cars of all sorts. The impressive part for me was the fact that the GQ i was a passenger in at the time was the only vehicle to do the whole trip without getting stuck. I knew nothing about 4wd's then so that was enough to do the trick.
I will also say that IF i was in a cruiser at the time, maybe id be driving one today.

Dont forget one major factor in Toyota's excellent sales in Australia...."ADVERTISING", They hit us hard and used the best available people at the time to tell us that they were here. I cant imagine how much John Laws has done to keep them ontop. Like or hate the man, he sells products and Toyota struck oil when they signed him up.
As for Nissan...well, they just plodded along at the time kinda kicking back waiting for us to go to them. It backfired, although at the time the nissan GTR was impressing people but thats about all.
Its like anything really, if you want to be the best, you have to hammer it down our throats. Being seen and heard every minute of the day will eventually get you more sales.

But i do believe that I wouldnt have been able to afford a cruiser back then so i would have either moved onto another hobby and skipped all the 4wding completely OR i would have taken a chance and got me a patrol anyway. Cant change the past though. I am more than happy with the 2 GQ's i have had. Not the fastest things around but reliable......absolutely.
Cheers Angelo

Guys - methinks that johnno1 has changed his name again. Is he now TimgIobal? I thought the debate started out sensibly but it only takes one Troll to see it degenerate. IMHO ignore the troll - he will go away...............eventually.

BLOODY HELL have i opened up a can a worm,s i,m glad i own a pajero, now i know what ur all thinkin but it,s what you can afford at end of the day and my truck goes ok for what i want to do with it , i wish i could afford a TOYOTA but not possible ,i sopose after reading all your reply,s aspeacially ROACHIE and ANDREW having a dig at each other i,m now filling a little left out of the whole thing i am now going to go and sit in my truck and have a cry cheer,s GRENDOG

The story in 4wd monthly I find interesting, in the owners reflection of the incedent.

Firstly, if you new the shock was broken, why keep driving it, as this is only asking for trouble, and if he knew it was broken, which he must of, or how would he of known this was the cause after the car came to a stop, unless he isnt sure?

secondly, the ball joint only over extends, when the suspension is over extended, and if you knew the shock was broken, would you be driving the car in such a manner as to be over extending the suspension, if you couldnt fix it?

Then all of that begs the question, if aftermarket suspension was fitted, why did the people fitting it not recommend the extension limiter [aprox $55 per side adj] and should the manufacturer take blame for the concequences of an aftermarket part failure?

When on the CSR or the like you must keep your brain "in gear" and always keep in your mind that spares (unless you have got them) and repairs are at worst 2 weeks away and at best not local.

The number of vehicles you come across with broken springs and shocks spilt is incredible. The shock thing particularly where speed is the contributor.

I know the corrugations are bad but try getting up to speed (to glide over them) for a couple of kilometres and then stop and feel the shocks (if you can), you don't need a degree to work out where the next failure will be.

In the outback its "slow and steady" or you want to have plenty of spare $'s, and for that matter time (for the repairs).

Regards

The 100 series has always been a vey compramised off roader the ifs just makes it worse. It is just too big and heavy with too much exposed paneling. The last place I worked they would suffer significant damage before getting to the light duty stuff even. They are not a patch on the utes for serios offroading

Yeah i cant believe that there is no secondary failsafe design in place, not very 'unbrakeable' is it?

Whats the travell limiter someone spoke of ? is it a load strap style of device or a cable/chain? i assume it bolts on somewhere to stop it dropping right out.

geez i'm glad the jack has nice fat bumpstops each way :-))