New Landcruiser ute
Submitted: Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 19:15
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Member - Desert Storm (QLD)
does anyone have a new landcruiser ute that they could tell me about? I am thinking of getting one, but 'once bitten twice shy' as they say. I need to know how it pulls loads up hills. do you have to work the gears to pull the load, or does it have that much power you can leave in 4th/5th and sit comfortably doing 80/100 km going up
hill?
the other thing is...are the new ones called 76 or 79 series?
John
Reply By: Mick O - Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 19:32
Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 19:32
I have a 70 series ute (2010 VDJ79R) that is a little over 18 months old. Very happy with it and have a comprehensive blog on why I chose the ute and what I have done to it.
Building the dream off-roader
Image Could Not Be Found
Image Could Not Be Found
Cheers Mick
AnswerID:
466702
Reply By: Member - Anthony W Adelaide - Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 20:48
Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 20:48
Hi Joihn,
I have a VDJ79R 2008 model Cab Chassis. (76 is the station wagon) The V8 has plenty of power in its standard form and only gets better with an after market exhaust etc. They are a great tow/load carry vehicle. As I understand it the gearbox has been improved as
well and can cope with being left in 5th much more due to a few internal changes.
Check out LCOOL.org (Land Cruiser Owners On Line) which is a goldmine of information and has a whole section on 70 series vehicles.
Cheers
AnswerID:
466716
Reply By: Member - Alan John C (WA) - Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 21:46
Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 21:46
Hi
John,
We bought ours in December 2010 and have changed the exhaust and fitted chip and changed
snorkel intake. We go 6tonne when van on have toured Tasmania and Queensland with van now has60k on clock the thing I like is the only time I need to change gears when starting and stopping. Inhave been as low as third in couple of occasions . I am averaging around 15lts to 100 klms and main down side has to be turning circle and the
suspension which has now been replaced.
AnswerID:
466723
Reply By: JimDi - Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 22:44
Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 22:44
Have a 79 series purchased 2011 and plated March 2011. So far so good. As regards load towing I am not sure what you mean but I tow an off road van that would come in close to 3tonne. Ute has about 15000klm on it, a third (about) of that towing the van. Uphill over the
Toowoomba range was okay as was down
hill. Been thru the
corner country as
well as down the south coast of NSW. Browns mountain to be exact. Okay under load both up and down.
As for 4/5th gears up
hill at high speed with a load as you say.
Well it will never be done in this ute. Gears are gears for the use of.... as they say. But I do tow in 5th gear which is a bit different from the previous 80 series.
Speaking to a truckie on the way up
Toowoomba range he advised he had a similar ute and had chipped it and added a three inch exhaust which greatly improved pulling and efficiency with his caravan. He said it enabled pulling up the range in 3rd. I found myself alternating between second and third. But had a fair bit of traffic around me.
Hope that helps.
Jim
AnswerID:
466734
Follow Up By: Member - Desert Storm (QLD) - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 13:27
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 13:27
thanks for that Jim,
but i am now a bit suss about the truckie chipping and opening up the exhaust...? does it not have enough power as it is, and it needs chipping?
John
FollowupID:
740865
Follow Up By: JimDi - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 14:22
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 14:22
John, I dont think he is the first bloke to chip and change exhaust. As for me it has enough power and I do not intend to spend more money in that area.
Not sure what you should be suss about. Eg, I have made a number of changes to our
suspension simply because I intend to whack a Travelander slide on onto its tray. So the vehicle is for
recreation and not work.
Indeed purchased the vehicle specifically for
grey nomadding in this fashion. We live in a unit and have nowhere to store our Kedron when at
home.
Have taken advice from other people on this and have done this because I dont want to be one of those blokes driving around with a loaded ute that has its arse dragging and thus affecting safety etc. Not to mention it looks uncool as the younger say.
I guess at the end of the day manufacturers cant please all of us. Hence the large after market industry in this country.
I have owned three diesel vehicles in my lifetime and must admit that this is the first one that does not have that sloppy pick up in the lower gears.
Jim
FollowupID:
740869
Reply By: Rockape - Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 23:07
Monday, Oct 03, 2011 at 23:07
John,
Most know what I think about the new 70 series vehicles and many disagree with me.
This is how it is from driving and being around tojo's for many years. This is a round up on the V8 utes.
Gearboxes are great.
Diffs are good
Driveline is good
Body- not as good as the old 75/78 series. They don't last as long in harsh environments.
Radiator- Again doesn't last as long in harsh environments as the old series..
Air/con- is the same as above and the condensers are not the same quality as the old ones.
Alternators- fail where they are mounted if used for what they are designed for.
Engine- get yourself a coolant level alarm. Trust me.
Starter motor- don't do one in the scrub, 8hrs to change and that is if you have all the gaskets and a spare.
Some use oil and some don't, Toyota monitor and will fix. They fix but see nothing wrong with one using .5l to 1l a 1000k.
This is not a Toyota bagging. It is just an accurate account of what they suffer from or what happens over time. The vehicles I refer to are
mine vehicles and all you do is get an excelerated look at the life of the vehicles. These are washed twice a day and serviced once a week.
In our application they use the same amount of fuel as the old 1HZ's.
RA.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Anthony W Adelaide - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 00:18
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 00:18
Rockape, I know what you mean about the alternators. Its not a very smart place to put them in an off road vehicle that is likely to see a few river crossings etc.
Have you seen the water cooled fully submersible ones available for about 4k? (alternators that is)
When you say coolant level alarm, it sounds like you have had a bad experience with this?
Why do you reckon its a good idea to get one of them? Do they leak coolant under certain conditions or something?
I have had a good run with
mine so far but I must admit it gets a pretty easy life. No oil useage or anything yet at 70,000
Do you think the factory fuel filter system is adequate or have you seen any problems with them?
Cheers, Wooly
FollowupID:
740835
Follow Up By: Rockape - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 07:22
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 07:22
Wooly,
I will start with the coolant level. We have engines that have seized because of slight coolant leaks from the valley mounted fuel coolers. The valley holds water and no coolant is noticed on the ground. The coolant bottle stays at the same level because it can't draw back into the radiator because of the leak. Radiator is difficult to
check due to it not having a radiator cap.
They still get the fuel coolers leaking due to our corrosive water that gets in there from underground. Since fitting the low water coolant alarms the problem has been solved.
One engine just failed and the vehicle was sent away and came back with a repaired engine from Toyota. No explanation was given as to what went wrong with it.
We have done some injectors but I don't know if it is fuel related. I don't believe they need extra fuel filters as it is just random injectors that fail. Although our fuel is clean, all sorts of crap goes in when they are being filled + the odd bit of water, so I believe the filters are doing their job.
All the best,
RA.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Anthony W Adelaide - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 14:48
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 14:48
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Thanks for your response RA.
Its very ineresting to hear from someone that spends a good deal of time around these vehicles.
We are hoping to take ours on an extended outback trip next year and are a bit worried about dirty fuel and water ingestion. At the moment I am thinking that if I learn to chage the factory filter elements and take a few spares along that we will be OK
Cheers, WoolyImage Could Not Be Found
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Patrol22 - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 18:54
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 18:54
Wooly - I'm paranoid when it come to water contaminated fuel and have fitted a
Water Watch alarm system. Thus far it has save me twice. The latest case resulted in a >$800 bill to remove my long range tank and flush the fuel system upstream of the water watch. Aactually flushed upstream of the rail but didn't really need to because nothing got past water watch. Cut the fuel filter open as
well and no evidence of water there. Now the tank.....
well that was another matter entirely. I also carry a
Mr Funnel when travelling but these can be a bit of a PITA as you have to manufacture a hose that will allow it to mate with you filling point.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: pop2jocem - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 23:40
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 23:40
Just a bit curious RA about the "no radiator cap" comment, not trying to be a smartarse but how do you get coolant into the system other than the recovery bottle?
Cheers
Pop
FollowupID:
740921
Follow Up By: pop2jocem - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 23:47
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 23:47
Just a bit curious RA about the "no radiator cap" comment, not trying to be a smartarse but how do you get coolant into the system other than the recovery bottle?
Cheers
Pop
FollowupID:
740922
Follow Up By: Rockape - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 03:52
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 03:52
Pop,
They are a sealed system and to top them up you have to remove a plug on top of the radiator using a tool.
Bugger....... I gotta go to work now.'
Have a good one,
RA.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Anthony W Adelaide - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 17:13
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 17:13
Hi Patrol22,
I was under the impression that the factory filter on the toyo v8s collects water as
well as impurities.
That Mr Funnel thing looks like a good idea. Does it work as
well as their website says?
Cheers, Wooly
FollowupID:
740974
Follow Up By: Patrol22 - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 17:56
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 17:56
You are right Wooly that the OEM filter will catch impurities and it will trap a very very small amount of water. There are heaps of instances on the various forums where people lament the water in fuel problem....especially with common rail engines. The fix is often >$5K and some are upwards of $7K. So for peace of mind I fitted the water watch and this thing really does trap some water.
Mr Funnel works just like the video but like I said in the earlier post you have to manufacture a hose of some sort to use it with the car. I tend to use it in conjunction with a jerry and if the first 10 or so litres is clear of water and crap I then fill directly from the bowser. I bought
mine at the local BCF store and got a carry bag from the folks at
Punkin Head Air Sports.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Anthony W Adelaide - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 18:26
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 18:26
It is a very expensive repair isn't it? Not to mention stuffing up a good trip. I am starting to think this may be good insurance. Peace of mind in outback areas is priceless and sure helps you enjoy the ride a bit more.
Thanks for your response mate, I will take it on board.
FollowupID:
740979
Reply By: Bob Y. - Qld - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 22:20
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 22:20
John,
Don't have one of the latest V8's, but there is a bloke in town(
Winton) that must have got one of the first ones available, what 5 or 6 years ago?
He drives flat out everywhere, has had some big expenses (read here lack of maintenance generally) but has just clocked up 500K!!! To my knowledge, he has had no trouble with the engine, and doesn't use an abnormal amount of oil.(
well maybe he didn't
check it between
services???)
It would have to be the best advertisement for Landcruiser V8's in the country.
Bob.
AnswerID:
466811