Landcruiser 70 Series Ute

G'day Will, I too have a spraying business, boom only, & use Hiluxes. Fortunately
I have the last of the leaf sprung front ends, a 96 model 2.8 diesel, & I expect it
will see me to retirement. I have uprated springs both ends & carry 800 L plus
the weight of the rig. I doubt the current Hilux would handle the job, too low &
too susceptible to front end damage. Good leaf sprung ones are in demand for
sprayrigs for those reasons. I cant comment on the 70 L/C specifically, but all
Toyotas suffer spring sag when operated for extended periods with big loads.
Not a criticism as the other brands are worse, & not expensive to cure with leaves, dont know about independant. I have not heard of overheating with the
70, but local owners are concerned with oil consumption & poor fuel economy.
I dont know of anyone using a 70 for spraying, most around here stick to their
old leaf models, &, like me, use them as dedicated sprayrigs, not general use
vehicles. I would have concerns also about turbos & their suitability for constant
low rev operation, but I have no evidence this may cause problems......oldbaz.

Hello Will
I had until feb this year a 75 series L/C for my work vehicle and travelled quite extensively throughout WA (approx 355,000 K ) in that time a turbo motor was fitted and then an 11 leaf rear suspension with airbags and found this vehicle quite adept at both on and off road with my equipment in the back ( approx 900 kg ) at any given time.
Then to tow a tandem trailer onto some minesites it proved well and truly past
all my requirements.
I did make the mistake of fitting 15" wheels to it until I needed to get a standard jack under it with that amount of weight it proved that 16" wheels are fitted for a reason
Cheers
Paul

Hi there Will

I have a toyota LC70 ute for work - fully loaded and towing a large heavy trade trailer. No problems - heaps of power and never had an overheating issue. At about 30000k had an oil consumption issue which toyota have acknowledged and fixed under warranty - faulty seal in the sump pump - some cruiser have it others not.

There is a regular poster on the LCool website who runs a boom spraying business with an LC 70 V8 working out of New Zealand. If you log onto Lcool and ask for him you will get a quick reply - I am sure he could answer all your questions.

Although I am a cruiser man - always have been - my research says the Nissan 4.2 ute is the better one for boom spraying. My cousin has run a boom spraying business for years and only used 4.2 nissans. They have a stronger gearbox and running gear. Also hear a lot of farmers moving to nissans as they seem to be tougher - or it could be in hard economic times they are just cheaper.

On the other side it is rare to find nissans out on minesites and the miners will tell you they just don't last in the rough element of minesites. Minesites can afford the extra for toyotas.

Hope that helps a bit.

Look up that guy on Lcool.com.au

David