1HZ powered (or UNDERpowered?!) Landcruiser

You could consider leaving it NA and doing a Diesel / Gas conversion.

Know it kakes a huge difference to the Nissan 4.2

Check out the Diesel Gas people and look at the graphs

Dunedigger

Well Timbo, I just replied to you via PM, but for the benefit of anyone else interested in this thread these are my comments.

Positives of the 1HZ Cruisers
- Reliability
- Fine on the highway- 110 is no problem. Doesn't slow down unbearably on every gradient, only on the steep ones. Don't know if you'd consider it unbearably, you get used to it and it's fine- still goes faster than the big trucks!
- Beautiful cruising of bush tracks and rocky slopes
- Fine in sand, once you learn how to drive it (more skill required, honestly!)
- Fine around town. Takes a while to get up to 60 compared to a petrol car
- Gearboxes can have troubles, especially downshifting to second (though you might not notice this in a newer model for a while!). Many users solve this by changing the gearbox oil to Castrol VMX-M- great stuff :)

Negatives of 1HZ Cruisers
- You will think it's slow if you like to drive fast
- You will think it's especially slow if you want to tow a van.

As with any car, treat it well and it will treat you well. While some might consider it underpowered because it doesn't get to 100kph in 10 seconds (!!!!!), I haven't ever found it to be underpowered in an off road situation, nor while driving normally around town or on the highway. Mine cruises nicely up the hill out of Adelaide at 70-80 kph. If this is a problem for you, this isn't the car for you. If you don't mind, then once you get over the top you'll be just fine :)

Hi Tim,
mate had a troopy with the 1hz, after fiting extractors, bigger exhaust and snorke it use to surprise me how well it went. He use to use a diesel conditioner as well. Have you though about picking up an 02/03 wide track jack with the 3.5 dohc. No comparsion in power and torque to the 3.2. You can pick up very low k ones for less then $15000.To give you an idea how much grunt they have, out old 3lt paj could just stay with the Jack towing our 4.2 boat.And our old Paj felt more grunty then any 3.2 I drove(lower geared).
Sir kevs 1hz has no trouble siting on 110 or a bit more, but uses more fuel then my v6 doing so.
Cheers Pete

Just put a set of extractors and a good two and a half inch exhaust to give it a bit more low down torque . If you are into overtaking then the naturally exasperated 1HZ is not for you .

I have a 2002 stock standard 1HZ wagon - but installed aftermarket autron cruise control. I drove it from Perth to Brisbane across the Nullabor at times cruising at 135km & not a problem. Have taken it to Fraser Island fully loaded many times and only got bogged once as I was in the wrong gear.
It is a great machine. Do all oil changes myself, engine, transmission, transfer case, front & rear diffs, fuel filters & air filters on a regular basis.
Sometimes wished I had more power but that is a matter of choice. Will really test it towing a 2.8 ton caravan soon so we shall see.
In summary its a great vehicle - solid as...
hope this helps...

Have had both a 1HZ 80 & 105 series and although they are seen by some to be under powered they are more than capable offroad. What power they do have is well matched with the gearbox & has excellent low range reduction. Have to be patient when overtaking but generally highway speeds can be maintained even when towing. I ran oversized 285 tyres which increases the problem yet at the end of the day I always arrived at camp with everyone else :-)
Cheers Craig...............

Timbo,

I can answer your questions from the perspective of an owner of just such a vehicle.

I have a 2002 version of the HZJ105R and bought it at the auctions in Dec 2005 (from memory) with 40k km on the clock. It was ex DSE and used very lightly around the outer suburbs of Melbourne, so pretty much drove like new.
At the time I decided on the Landcruiser over the Patrol, due to 2 main reasons: they were a little better on the road, smoother and quieter and I felt the Toyota dealer network was more extensive and I felt had a better reputation than the Nissan dealers, particularly after I read the various forums about the 3.0l problems and the dealers almost complete lack of recognition and assistance.

The downsides I felt were the lack of bucket seats, the spare tyre location underneath the rear of the car and of course the lack of turbo, but I felt the overall reliability and simplicity of no electronics, carpet, electric windows etc was a bonus in terms of less to go wrong in remote areas.

In relation to these issues, I have added a Kaymar spare wheel carrier, bucket seats from the GXL version (wreckers $550 pair less $150 sale of original seats), centre console plus a host of other bits and pieces that would have been added to any car.

In relation to the power of the car: in standard trim, with standard size tyres it is fine on the road....no racing car, but adequate. Once you start adding bullbars, winches, side bars, drawers, fridges, roofracks, dual batteries and lift the suspension, the power is less. Even with all this weight on the car, I find it a little slow, but adequate, expecially compared to my old BJ40 and even my previous Tdi Discovery.

I have driven this car up the East coast a few times, into Central Australia, across the Nullarbor to WA and up the West Coast, Gibb River Road, GCR and Gunbarrel Hwy and NEVER have I found it dangerously slow. You have to drive to the cars capabilities and I find it useful to communicate with the truckies if you notice them approaching fast. I let them past when I can.

I have more recently bought a camper trailer which weighs about 750kg unladen and upwards of a tonne leaded for a trip. I find it a little more frustrating at times, but like you I keep reminding myself that it's a holiday....what's the rush? I have also towed a 17' caravan for a more local trip (weight about 1700kg) and I wouldn't really want to tow something this heavy with the 1HZ more permanently.

Given all that I have said above, I am considering adding a turbo at the moment, but my thoughts are that I will need to keep this vehicle for the long term (10+ years) if I choose this path, due to the excessive cost to do it PROPERLY. From my somewhat extensive research, the 1HZ responds best to a Safari Intercooled turbo,larger exhaust and dyno tuned with appropriate EGT's in mind in order to maintain reliability. Even then, there are no guarantees that you won't damage the engine. If you research this yourself, you will uncover that there are literally thousands of 1HZ's with after-market turbos traveling all over the country without problems and a few horror stories of catastrophic failures, usually attributed to excessive performance modifications (over fuelling, boost and advanced pump timing), poor service history, especially oil and fuel system maintenance).

A couple of other 'issues' that you might like to be aware of include a slight weakness with the front diff, breaking the CWP, especially when reverse snatching or steep climbing when a front wheel may lift, spin them come down. This may be largely fixed with the addition of a locking diff and many also fit a solid pinion spacer in place of the crush spacer. They need to be set up by someone who really knows what they're doing. Also, the manual gearbox fitted to the HZJ105 is known as the R151 and is a lighter box that that fitted to the petrol and factory turbo diesel models. It has been known to fail if place under greater strain than that intended by Mr. Toyota, ie heavy towing or with aftermarket turbo.

i know there is a lot to consider, but the basic car is very reliable and I find quite comfortable and excellent for touring, provided you don't want to tow very heavy trailers/caravans and carry extreme loads.

One final point is that what I find acceptable performance, someone else would not tolerate, so there is a large degree of personal preference in selecting the right car. The 105 would have been perfect if Toyota had fitted the heavier duty H151 gearbox and the earlier 1HD-FT from the 80 series. (You could certainly modify the basic car with an engine and gearbox change as has been done by one of the members of the LCOOL group.

I hope this diatribe will help you make an informed decision.

Cheers,
Mark

Timbo,

We have a 2000 Troopy that we bought from new. We found it extremely sluggish when towing a van, particularly up a steep incline. In 2006 we fitted a Denco turbo and of course modified the exhaust system. We haven't had a spot of bother with it, get better fuel consumption and a lot more power. Those steep inclines aren't a problem any more.

Bruce and Di

Hi Timbo

You have already covered my feelings about them on the highway , but we have quite a lot of experience with them crossing the Simpson for example.

Mark E has put some useful points above , it addition I would say that they are a quite capable vehicle in the sand and are a good platform for modification.

The one we went with we had modified by fitting a hand made exhaust , retuning and it had some bits like front end strengthened.
These made a significant performance difference.
It had lockers , better breathing as well and in the slower sand country had more than enough power to pull its 285/75/16 Copper muds.

Since that trip the owner has gone with an aftermarket Turbo with low boost and its proving to be an effective modification.

Timbo,

I had a 99 GXL before my Patrols and found it a lovely car to drive. I towed massive loads with it a lot and as you said, I found it dangerously underpowered for this but for the average person this would not be the case as they would not have a 6 -6.5T GCM setup and ask it to sit on the speed limit all day every day but I did anyway hehe. This is probably a contributing factor to the only real problem I had with that vehicle and that was the 2 gearbox rebuilds I had to endure. When I heard the same sounds coming from the box for the third time, I flogged it off. It had 130 000km on the dial in 18mths so it had done a heap of work in the short time frame I had it. I would look at another for a tourer if I wasn't towing but it would have to be at the right price which is hard to come by seeing as it has a Toyota badge stuck to the front grill.

Seriously look at the turbo 4.2 Patrols, they would more than likely be not much difference in price for a similar age and kilometer GXL Cruiser 1HZ but a world apart in terms of power (30% more on paper). Basically same fuel consumption from both vehicles as far as my driving goes.

Cheers, Trevor.

As has been said so many times above. What power do you feel you require?

I like the 1hz power becaus it's taught me a lot about my need for speed. I used to be 1 of those drivers racing to the next set lights to try and get 5meters on my "opponents". Now I just cruise to the next set of lights, someone in a WRX or someother lighter faster sedan will dart around me and I'll see them at the next set of lights and be amused because for the risk of a speeding ticket or worse clipping someone and causing an accident, what have they gained 5meters. WOW! : P

The biggest issue I can see for you is the most important part of your statement "commuting". That is the biggest factor. How far is it? If you are just doing short hops do not use your LC. Mine takes 5 mins to come up to operating temperature. (verified with digital thermometer)

Diesels survive the longest when operated at 80% power for 80% of the time.

We have a 2000 1HZ Troopy pop-top camper - all standard and love it. We know it does not have the power of a car BUT the power it does have is adequate. We can sit on 100/110kph all day with no problems using the after market cruise control and only rarely do we need to change down on hills.

We bought it in 2003 and intend to keep it for many more years and have an absolutely trouble free run except for the gearbox which gave problems in 2004 and now has noisy bearings after being filled with sand/water in a mud hole that shredded the seals.

The Troopy is great in all aspects off road incl sand and we have even towed a broken down Landie off the beaches through apporx 100m of soft sand with no problems when Landies accompanying us got stuck - an yes, I also own a Rangie. It is no where as good as the Troopy in sand, even with multiple times the horsepower and much wider tyres.

I also do like to drive fast as I raced cars for 27 years, but the Troopy suits me and my wife fine.

Stevesub

be prepared to get about 450-500km from 90l tank of fuel.
a bit extra money for factory turbo but they gat about 600-700km tank. after a while it will 'pay for itself'. and the factory turbo are a brilliant engine.(later ones)

Mine weighs in at 3800kgs all fuelled up and regularly gets 15.3 litres per 100kms...
When i am towing 1.5tonne boat or 1300kg off road trailer / boat combo it gives me 16.5 litres per 100km....
On the road not towing it is great...
And a little less great when towing...
Best car i have ever had..

Hi Timbo

I have a 2002 78 series Troopy had the same problem deciding which one to buy Factory Turbo or 1hz i didnt want electictonics so i went standard fixed the power problem with a after market Turbo and Intercooler.
Mr Denco came to the party and i never looked back done about 15000kms so far gos like a rocket i understand the gearboxs are a little fagile but if you dont drive it like your at bathurst im sure it will be ok and anyway the money you save by going 105 will pay for a gearbox the factory 100 are most likey the best engine put in a Toyota but the front end isnt if they had the 105 front end would be the best 4wd ever made on my test hill before turbo was 65kph in 3 gear and after turbo its 100kph in 5th and better on fuel
sounds like you have a thinking to do hope this helps lol

Glenn

Have you considered hiring one for the weekend or even a week?

You then can decide for yourself if the power thing is going to be an issue.

I have an '05 HZJ 105, with 1HZ n/a and I find it a bit lacking when its loaded, empty its ok, power is adequate, JUST.

Shane

Yes I went from a 2H HJ60 to a 1ktze prado i.e. 60 odd kw to 96kw....

OK the Prado can accelerate faster & overtake faster (safer?) but if your the type of driver that is happy to sit on 95-100km/h instead of 100-105km/h...then the 1hz will be fine.

Those extra 40kw allows me to climb a certain hill now at 100km/h whereas in the 60 series it was 60km/h nearly having to shift to 2nd!

Offroad it will be brilliant. The low gearing of the cruiser combine with the Diesel torque & engine breaking will mean it will be a pleasure to drive in the rougher stuff & the fuel economy will be excelent - My 2H was the same.

Sand for the 2H was an issue on steeper climbs on fraser...fully loaded she would run out of puff in 2nd low & 1st low had to selected. This ofcourse resulted in a stationary restart which could have resulted in the vehicle bogging down. I also had wide tyres on which don't help with the drag effect.

How many kw is the Jack? - is this enough for what you do or not?

Cheers