Around 2007 I became involved in the white water kayaking scene, and my current mode of transportation was a Nissan Maxima. I strapped the boats on top of that thing for a year, but eventually the plastic started shaking off the interior trim from all the wash board roads and I began my search for a mountain beater.
I talked with my dad about the situation and he mentioned he had a friend looking to sell a 4wd truck, said it was a land cruiser and is "bullet proof" but maybe I should look into the galley plug fix. Sounded like snake oil but most of the trucks I was looking for had similar caveats. I didn't have much for cash at the time, but was able to trade my atv for it and thought that was a fair deal.
I'd never heard of a land cruiser, but I do remember looking up pics of the 60 series and hoping that the one that my family was bringing up would have circular lights, cause that looked cool. Instead, it came to me in a dull gray, square light configuration.
Not having any real 4wd experience prior to this truck, I took it to a nearby lot, made sure it was driving straight ahead, and put it in 4wd. It started bucking and hopping. I asked a bunch of people if that is normal and of course they all told me to get off of pavement in 4wd, but eventually the rising sun group helped me realize I had different gears front and rear, and that was corrected. Apparently one of the previous owners had blown the rear diff, and I'm assuming the mechanic that fixed it thought that the fj60 diff is the same as the fj62 and that is what he used.
My next two off road adventures did not fare much better.
Trip 1) Voltage regulator went out and the battery boiled over while trying to make contact for help
Trip 2) Went exploring around Silverthorne, had to put it in low range, and it didn't want to come out. Low range from Silverthorne to Aurora is not fun, though I was able to keep up with traffic.
I was getting to know it better. The truck had issues, but always got me home. More than I could say for some of the newer vehicles I had been driving at the time.
Once it came time to get Colorado plates, the real fun began. It didn't pass emissions, not even close. I took it to a local Toyota shop and the quote was 4k to get me where I would pass.
4k to get an old engine to pass made no sense to me, so I figured I'd swap in a vortec. I had just seen Marco's fj60 on the ghost town run and he walked me through the process a little. Seemed like a no brainer, so I went for it.
I talked with my dad about the situation and he mentioned he had a friend looking to sell a 4wd truck, said it was a land cruiser and is "bullet proof" but maybe I should look into the galley plug fix. Sounded like snake oil but most of the trucks I was looking for had similar caveats. I didn't have much for cash at the time, but was able to trade my atv for it and thought that was a fair deal.
I'd never heard of a land cruiser, but I do remember looking up pics of the 60 series and hoping that the one that my family was bringing up would have circular lights, cause that looked cool. Instead, it came to me in a dull gray, square light configuration.
Not having any real 4wd experience prior to this truck, I took it to a nearby lot, made sure it was driving straight ahead, and put it in 4wd. It started bucking and hopping. I asked a bunch of people if that is normal and of course they all told me to get off of pavement in 4wd, but eventually the rising sun group helped me realize I had different gears front and rear, and that was corrected. Apparently one of the previous owners had blown the rear diff, and I'm assuming the mechanic that fixed it thought that the fj60 diff is the same as the fj62 and that is what he used.
My next two off road adventures did not fare much better.
Trip 1) Voltage regulator went out and the battery boiled over while trying to make contact for help
Trip 2) Went exploring around Silverthorne, had to put it in low range, and it didn't want to come out. Low range from Silverthorne to Aurora is not fun, though I was able to keep up with traffic.
I was getting to know it better. The truck had issues, but always got me home. More than I could say for some of the newer vehicles I had been driving at the time.
Once it came time to get Colorado plates, the real fun began. It didn't pass emissions, not even close. I took it to a local Toyota shop and the quote was 4k to get me where I would pass.
4k to get an old engine to pass made no sense to me, so I figured I'd swap in a vortec. I had just seen Marco's fj60 on the ghost town run and he walked me through the process a little. Seemed like a no brainer, so I went for it.