Re: Series III vs. Toyota FJ-40 Land Cruiser
Posted by Michael Leys on November 29, 1997 at 04:42:26:
In Reply to: Series III vs. Toyota FJ-40 Land Cruiser posted by Lars Young on November 25, 1997 at 10:27:03:
Hi I've owned 19 Land Rovers and O Toyotas but I've driven lots of both at work so here goes - Land Rover Advantages
1. Aluminium Body
2. Simple bolt/rivet construction
3. Strong rigid box section chassis
4. Galvanized steel parts
5. Well designed suspension - works well in rough country
6. Large shock absorbers
7. Simple economical (relative to Toyota) 4 cylinder engine.
8. Construction makes rebuild easy - everything unbolts.
9. Bullet proof transfer case
10. Bullet proof gearbox (Series IIa)
11. Large clutch
12. Large brakes
13. etc etc Land Rover Disadvantages. 1. Limited road speed (55mph is sensible)
2. English wiring (a real mess - at least it is colour coded)
3. Lucas (Prince of Darkness) electrics - generally good but ...
4. Series III gearbox needs respect - OK if used correctly.
5. Plastic bits in Series III eg Dash
6. Door tops rust - but are cheap to replace.
7. Large people don't fit very well - especially 88"
8. Noisy at speed.
9. Crude ergonomics (actually they don't have any)
10. Box section chassis can trap water and rust (but you can fix it)
11. Firewall /bulkhead can rust
12. Access to some components is poor making some repairs difficult
13. etc etc FJ40 Advantages 1. Big lazy engine
2. Tough gearbox
3. Fast on road (80mph if you are game)
4. Mechanically simple
5. Strong welded steel body
6. The roof doesn't leak (usually)
7. In Australia you can get Toyota parts at most outback butcher's shops (if you see what I mean.)
8. Japanese wiring and electrical components.
9. etc etc Toyota FJ40 Disadvantages 1. Crude suspension - jump all over the place on uneven surfaces
2. Tiny shocks
3. RUST - especially in body work difficult to fix because of spot weld construction.
4. Rust in chassis very difficult to fix (unusual)
5. Pollution controlled petrol engines burn valves.
6. Heavy
7. Transfer case prone to failure - case cracks - it is not supported, just hangs off back of gearbox.
8. Strange 2 and a half person front seat. (I'd hate to be the half person in the middle)
9. Springs collapse - no military wrap second main leaf.
10. and so on In short, its horses for courses. Either will do the job but for long distances, the Toyota makes an easier job of it. Off the road, the Land Rover has the edge though the later Toyotas are pretty good. The long wheel base Troop Carriers are pretty terrible in tough off road conditions but handle long distance dirt road touring well. Hope this helps - it is really up to you and your prejudices. If you like what you buy it will be good. If you don't really like it, you will end up hating it no matter what it is. We all tend to like what we know. See my home page for the terrible story of my Land Rover addiction. It may help explain the above outpouring. Michael
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