Unobtainum

[tacollie]

Why on earth would he have bought it then?

I hear the first cut is the deepest 🤷‍♀️

 

[charlieaarons]

The popup/expandable trailer, owner is diesel mechanic from Limpopo area.
And our immediate neighbors in the campground, veterinarian and his wife from the Cape.

 

[nickw]

Longevity.

The landcruiser is comparably rough, crude and bouncy.
But they will carry heavy loads over rough country for a lot longer than the comparably lighter duty American trucks.
Picture really don’t accurately show chassis wall thickness and other details.

We mostly use light duty hilux and fully expect 500000km before major engine gearbox work. Landcruiser is another step ‘tougher’.
If you need to carry a tonne of service gear over crap roads and off road plus a trailer, landcruiser is your tool.
I don’t read into this forum that sort of robustness out of US trucks.
But the US trucks are a lot more comfortable. Think Unimog vs a normal road truck


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The clear up confusion - we have the mid size trucks like the Tacoma, which is a lighter duty version of the Hilux but very sim....then we have full size trucks in two flavors, light duty "consumer" daily driver types (150/1500) then the "commercial" types (250/350/2500/3500). The commercial vehicles we get are quite a bit heavier duty than the Landcruisers, much larger components overall, full float axles and solid front axles, large displacement engines, etc...relatively speaking they are much larger trucks too. I have a 2500 and it has the same components as a 3500 but softer suspension and is rated to carry 1450kg but the 3500 versions in many cases are 3000kg+ with towing capacities of 15,000kg+:



There is probably an argument to be made that a 70 series, 'relative' to it's size and weight, is more overbuilt than the heavy duty US trucks, but for overall capacities the US trucks are clear cut winners.

 

[nickw]

View attachment 839328
So this is our guide for the day and grandson in front of the most ultra basic cheapest LC (pickup version) possible, in northern Namibia near Epupa Falls. It’s recent, has 5-bolt wheels.
V6 rather than inline 6 gasoline engine. Rear diff lock only. The usual very HD rear leaves and coil sprung but solid front axle. Maybe US$35k in this country.
Options include 4.2L 6cyl and 4.5L V8 diesels, the latter with turbo, and front diff lock, and double cab version.
I didn’t even know they’d switched the gas version to V6.

The 4.2 is still the straight 6 as far as I know. I do know in some markets you can get the 1GR in Landcruisers which is the same engine we get here in the states which is a 4.0 V6. Aren't all 70's 5 bolt wheels?

 

[nickw]

100 hard, off-highway miles a day; 6 days a week; every week; for 10 years. That would amount to the expected 500k kms mentioned before major engine or trans work - and that's for the lesser vehicle (LC reportedly would be longer)

I'm thinking Toyota doesn't think there's enough use case in the USA to offer this unobtanium in the US market. Is there indeed sufficient recreational use ?

For commercial, what do outfits use in the US for severe service use ?

I've seen a lot of domestics in the resource sector in my own small part of Canada. I'm sure economics and availability plays a large part.

We have full size HD pickups that can haul much more than the LC's so myself, along with many others, don't see the point of Toyota offering a small HD pickup from a business perspective. A 70 would be cool, no doubt, they are small, overbuilt and would be great for offroading, but for commercial use I don't think they'd sell....they'd likely be the same price as a domestic HD rig with much less power, payload and towing capacities.

In the US it's the Ford F250/350 and Ram 2500/3500's, HD, robust. These guys have used Ford for YEARS for international travel:

Turtle Expedition » Vehicles

www.turtleexpedition.com

 

[DaveInDenver]

I understand all of that. But I live at 7,000 ft elevation and generally camp higher. It's hard to find level, smooth ground. It rains. It snows. Spending a lot of $ on a nice vehicle that can take you to great places makes sense (to me). Paying it to store a ********-ton of stuff in fancy compartments on your rig but sleep in a ground tent doesn't IMHO.

At least put a RTT on the thing. I can set one up faster than their bivy sack, and in about 1 minute you can level a vehicle with a couple pieces of lumber or rocks. Then you've got a level, dry place to sleep on an actual mattress. (And I think I see a soda vending machine, so the guy we're talking about looks like he's in a commercial campground )

Sure, some do it that way. The same pros and cons for it down under as here or anywhere else.



Going into the 3rd decade using an WilderNest on my truck, I like being off the ground, too.



There's reasons that i still have ground tents on the shelf and not just backpacking trips. Sometimes I'll bring a tent instead of uaing the 'Nest. My locale is the windy desert and wind in any RTT is tough. So if the weather looks to favor a tent I'll do that.

I don't really understand using a swag or bivy with a truck but a bivy works when I do a two-wheel trip, either on the moto or bikepacking. I've never been to Australia to ask the reason for a swag and awning over a RTT or proper tent. Maybe it solves something, I dunno.

There isn't one ideal way to do this. Perhaps instead of always trying poke holes in someone's choices ask why they did it that way?

 

[nickw]

Sure, some do it that way. The same pros and cons for it down under as here or anywhere else.

View attachment 839737

Going into the 3rd decade op using an WilderNest on my truck, I like being off the ground, too.

View attachment 839738

There's reasons that i still have ground tents on the shelf and not just backpacking trips. Sometimes I'll bring a tent instead of uaing the 'Nest. My locale is the windy desert and wind in any RTT is tough. So if the weather looks to favor a tent I'll do that.

There isn't one ideal way to do this. Perhaps instead of always trying poke holes in someone's choices ask why they did it that way?

I read Tom Sheppards book - I was surprised, he always preferred a cot outside by his truck, light, simple, 2 minutes up and down:



Sometimes I feel like we've made life so complicated, Tom had zero stuff on outside of truck, 265/75 (32") tires, fuel cans inside, cot + bag, small easy to eat food....no fancy anything he liked light, easy, fast and under the radar....

 

[charlieaarons]

1) yes on LC 5 bolt wheels
2) re US “HD” pickups, they can TOW more. Mainly due to 6-7L engines.
Regarding what you can actually put in the bed, I will try to get a picture of the rear leaf springs tomorrow (FF axle of course).

 

[nickw]

1) yes on LC 5 bolt wheels
2) re US “HD” pickups, they can TOW more. Mainly due to 6-7L engines.
Regarding what you can actually put in the bed, I will try to get a picture of the rear leaf springs tomorrow (FF axle of course).

HD US pickups have significantly higher GVWR and Payload capacities than LC's....no argument there, models vary, but you can easily get a common domestic truck with payload 2x+ of any LC70 before stepping up to the "Heavy" HD trucks like the 450x/550x trucks which are 5,000KG+. It's a combination of engine size, frame size, axle size, brake size, etc.....they are HD through and through.

If keeping it to the common pickups I could go buy today, my Ram 2500 for instance, has a 11.5" rear diff vs LC70 @ 9.5", both full floater, which is the same difference between the light duty 2wd Hilux rear diff and a Landcruiser.

 

[IdaSHO]

There is good reason why these Landcruisers are never compared to proper 3/4 and 1-ton domestics. Instead, they are compared to the 1/2 ton F150 or as of last few years…. the ranger.

As sturdy as it may be, from the ground up a modern domestic 3/4 or 1-ton simply out-classes a vehicle like the LC in question.

Though Im sure ‘yota fanboys will always claim otherwise. 😆

 

[AJM]

There is good reason why these Landcruisers are never compared to proper 3/4 and 1-ton domestics. Instead, they are compared to the 1/2 ton F150 or as of last few years…. the ranger.

As sturdy as it may be, from the ground up a modern domestic 3/4 or 1-ton simply out-classes a vehicle like the LC in question.

Though Im sure ‘yota fanboys will always claim otherwise.

Thank you for straightening out this fanboy’s ignorance.
Every man is predjudiced by his own experience. Mine includes “robust is as robust does”.


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[IdaSHO]

Thank you for straightening out this fanboy’s ignorance.
Every man is predjudiced by his own experience. Mine includes “robust is as robust does”.


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In a situation like this, prejudice need not apply. Simple facts like GVWR and axle ratings are all that are needed.

 

[nickw]

Thank you for straightening out this fanboy’s ignorance.
Every man is predjudiced by his own experience. Mine includes “robust is as robust does”.


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I don't think it's fanboy ignorance, at least that's not how I read this thread, many are just not familiar with our HD pickups. I've ignored @IdaSHO for months now but I'm sure he had some color commentary on the subject.

For their size, LC70's are awesome and overbuilt and you could argue power to diff size/drivetrain strength nothing beats a 130 HP 1HZ 70 series pickup, doesn't have enough power to hurt itself very much unlike a 9000 lb 400+ HP HD 1-T truck with 40's and a heavy foot.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Longevity.

The landcruiser is comparably rough, crude and bouncy.
But they will carry heavy loads over rough country for a lot longer than the comparably lighter duty American trucks.
Picture really don’t accurately show chassis wall thickness and other details.

We mostly use light duty hilux and fully expect 500000km before major engine gearbox work. Landcruiser is another step ‘tougher’.
If you need to carry a tonne of service gear over crap roads and off road plus a trailer, landcruiser is your tool.
I don’t read into this forum that sort of robustness out of US trucks.
But the US trucks are a lot more comfortable. Think Unimog vs a normal road truck


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My apologies as I am not so worldly as some others, but from what I have seen and read, to equate the Land Rover and "longevity" is a rather dicey statement. Some would say worse reliability than some other brands.


I dont know, because I've never owned one, I'm genuinely curious if it is really a matter of reliability or more because they are pervasive throughout Europe and Africa and parts are plentiful?

 

[IdaSHO]

For their size, LC70's are awesome and overbuilt and you could argue power to diff size/drivetrain strength nothing beats a 130 HP 1HZ 70 series pickup, doesn't have enough power to hurt itself very much unlike a 9000 lb 400+ HP HD 1-T truck with 40's and a heavy foot.

That's brilliant!

Lets all stick a potato in our tailpipes, our trucks will be invincible!