Landcruiser Troopy Bushcamper - pre-purchase advice / checks

2 significantly different vehicles one being a 75 with all leaf springs and a stronger gear box and the other having coil sprung front and smaller gearbox

these types of vehicles can have had significant use so have alot of potentail to be pretty averadge

so the ks wouldnt be the deciding factor so much as which one is in best condition

i certainly wouldnt buy any vehicle sight unseen by myself

Hi Mark,
the 2003 with its coil front end is a much much more comfortable vehicle to drive especially on corrugated roads. both will be slow on road, how many people are going to call the bushie home ? any more than 2 will be a squeeze.
I would get the 2003 , enjoy your trip Ron

G'day Mark
I bought one of these a couple of years back and based on my experience I would agree with the other guys 100%. My answers to your questions follow.

Q. Is this wise ? or would I be better to spend the extra $5k to get the later one with less Km (and a more known service history)?

A. I would want to see both (and others to get a sense of the market) but would lean toward 2003 as these things ARE likely to be “well” used and the coil front end is more comfy.

Q. Are there any checks I can do to determine if anything is about to fail on the engine / drivetrain / suspension ?

A. Listen and test for the usual suspects – drivetrain whines and also clunks on take off – loose unis and input shaft play on the gearbox – see also next answer.

Q. Is it worth getting an RAC check on a vehicle like this with lots of Km on it ?

A. Yes. It surely won't tell you everything (and I've had 2 major problems it didn't/couldn't pick up) but still worth doing IMO. And try to speak with the tester and ask about how it felt to drive.

Q. Are there any known issues that I should check out for ?

A. The R151 gearbox in the troopies of the early 2000s is their weak spot. Specifically, input shaft play and 5th gear is prone to wear out. Your target vehicles are especially prone because of all the kms they have done in 5th on the tar. Different story for the 75 series.

Mark, I was buying one of these for different reasons and usages. I was after something for the medium to long term for repeated shortish fishing trips. That said, getting unexpected problems fixed has cost me c. $5k more than budgeted originally. It will take time to find and fix earlier abuse, neglect and incompetence. All this is my way of saying the budget might be a little optimistic for something like the big lap.

BTW, when I bought mine I was in a hurry because, to be blunt, I didn't know how much more time I would have to do trips and I wasn't going to waste some of it finessing the vehicle purchase. Under present circumstances I would a) buy the right troopy and then b) get the camper conversion done. It would cost more upfront but save long term and provide higher satisfaction with the fitout.

I doubt any of that will worry an 18 year old setting off on the big adventure. Best of luck to both of you.

Cheers
Mark

Update .. in case anyone is interested ;)

Well, had a look at the 75 series with 380,000Km.
It was better than I expected, started well and sounded good with minimal smoke and only normal diesel noises (I think).
Service history shows most oil changes at 10k mostly (not 5k) and a few issues that were immediately obvious were:
1. Some engine oil around the sump area (not dripping but certainly a small leak somehwere)
2. Some diff oil around the transfer case (again not dripping but certainly a small leak somehwere)
3. It then started raining and some water was getting in through the rubber on the top of the windscreen and dripping on to the steering wheel.
Closer inspection of this shows there has been some attempted repairs around the windscreen with signs of rust repairs and a load of silicone around the rubber.
I think this would be expensive to fix properly and will probably also mean it needs a new rubber when the windscreen needs replacing (as well as some rust repairs).

Also the "fridge" is a cheap thermo-cooler type .. not a refrigerative one and the dual battery rely on a manually operated switch to switch between (which I would probably forget to do .. and I know my son will !)

Going to look at the other one (78 series, 253,000 Km) on Sunday.
Its got an Engel fridge, new dual batteries that have an electronic controller and also has a solar panel. Looking more like the better option I think.

Thanks
Mark.