BajaNomad

Land Cruisers and peea Insurance in Baja.

MH_Stevens - 5-28-2005 at 08:03 AM

I've decided to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser for my Baja trips. Anyone have any comments about the suitability of this vehicle? I'm not sure what age to get. Must be '91 to handle the washboards, but I'm wondering at what age does the wagon become peea insured - unlikely to attract the eye of a Narco? I'm thinking '95 - '97

Mike Stevens

go pre '90

eetdrt88 - 5-28-2005 at 08:48 AM

why do you say it must be a '91 to handle the washboard??? i had an 84 4-runner that i took down to gonzaga bay a bunch of times and handled just fine....actually from what i've heard the older toyota's are more off road worthy than alot of their new stuff

mrchuck - 5-28-2005 at 09:03 AM

Lots of the older 85,86 models seen here. Heavy and sturdy. Not real good on gas milage, and also not very peppy, and all that vacuum hoses and smog lines scare me.
But the Mexican mechanics can "de-horn" the smog stuff for the rigs that stay here.
But brute strength with weldable chassis and frames makes it nice for a big winch on the front, or one of those 9000# Warn 2" receiver plug-in winches you can move about from the front to the rear if needed there.

Due to this weight, an onboard air compresser for airing back up the 4 tires when necessary is also a must!
Overall, a great, sturdy rig here for pulling out stuck HUMVEE'S.

Saludos,,,,mc

fo- runna

eetdrt88 - 5-28-2005 at 09:14 AM

cruising down past felipe during tropical storm "marty"....they said the road to gonzaga bay was washed out...we went anyway and made it,that was a trip to remember

MH_Stevens - 5-28-2005 at 12:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by eetdrt88
why do you say it must be a '91 to handle the washboard??? i had an 84 4-runner that i took down to gonzaga bay a bunch of times and handled just fine....actually from what i've heard the older toyota's are more off road worthy than alot of their new stuff


That's what they said over on the TLC forum. I agree about the basic reliability of the FJ60's but finding one affordable with miles left on it has prooved all but impossible for me.

Toyotas are Awesome

LaTijereta - 5-29-2005 at 08:33 AM

We have a 01', and get us all over Baja..

I also have a 90' Fourrunner, that stays in Loreto..
Retired with 230k miles on her, and running strong:biggrin:

Geothermal-Shane - 5-29-2005 at 11:12 AM

If you can find an FJ60, don't pass it up, regardless of miles...even an FJ62 would suffice...
as opposed to the pick-ups and 4-runners, these trucks are designed to carry weight through the worst of terrain, and is so equipped with a much bigger engine(4.2 liter/straight 6) and heavier suspension than the afore mentioned Toyota trucks, which are still very good trucks, depneding on your needs. Thus the Land Cruiser's need for poor fuel economy. It's been recommened that if you are looking at several thousand miles of overlanding, a deisel Cruiser(HJ60,HJ61,HJ62)is much better for fuel consumption. Unfortunatley these are virtually non-existamt in the states, but EVERYWHERE in the Sahara Desert. Nonetheless, if you need to get through the worst of grit and have a big load along, FJ60s are ideal. If the load is not as substantial, the early pickups and 4 runners will do, with much better gas mileage. All the FJ60s and FJ62s have the same old Willy's Jeep body style, good for pizza insurance. These things are NOT SUVs! The FJ90s and later models are however, along with the 4runners, etc.- better fuel economy but horrible for pizza insurance.

JESSE - 5-29-2005 at 12:04 PM

I owned a 94 Landcruiser when i lived in Cabo, it was the best damn car i ever owned for Baja, during the 95 hurricanes the roads where washed out, and i along with military humvees where the only ones that made it across to La Paz.

Its a great car.

Arthur - 5-29-2005 at 08:53 PM

Okay, I've got a Prerunner, but I've got to know: How do you tell what "FJ" series a Land Cruiser is, and what's the URL of the TL forum?

And what's "pizza insurance"?

Thanks --

Arthur

LarryB - 5-30-2005 at 09:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Arthur

And what's "pizza insurance"?


Your driving a pizza crap and no one would want to steal it!:lol:

MH_Stevens - 5-30-2005 at 09:48 PM

But I asked by what year is a land Cruise a Pizza crap in the Bajacalafornios eyes?

Arthur - 5-31-2005 at 09:20 AM

I don't know if they've been making Land Cruisers that long. :smug:

Why don't you get the one you want, then create some nice big patches of bare metal with an electric sander, and hit the body a few times with a big rubber mallet? And maybe spray some primer down below the doors and at the lower end of the fender wells. No one will want to go cruising in that, and your six-CD changer and on-board compressor will be safe.

There was a guy I knew at work who tricked out his new, super -expensive mountain bike with a bunch of torn-off stickers and paint and stuff, and no one stole it while I was there.

MH_Stevens - 5-31-2005 at 10:08 AM

So do you consider car theft/highjacking a problem in Baja?

Absolutely

jrbaja - 5-31-2005 at 10:17 AM

Car theft is a huge problem in Baja, unless they look like mine!:light:

Arthur - 5-31-2005 at 10:55 AM

If you're asking whether I (with about .001 of JR's experience in Baja) consider it a problem, no. But then I never lived in heavily populated and gringified parts of the peninsula, and I don't hang around TJ or Ensenada or Mexicali any longer than I have to. At a hotel I park in a secure spot if they have one, and we don't leave tempting items (like rare bamboo plants, say) showing. But out in the boonies where we like to go doesn't seem to be a favored spot of bad guys, and we've never had any problems with either rental cars or my own truck, and that squares with what I've heard on this forum. I was just riffing on how to make your Land Rover unattractive if that's what you wanted -- not saying that's what I'd do.

Geothermal-Shane - 6-3-2005 at 06:24 PM

The FJ series refers to those Land Cruisers which run on gasoline.
The LJ, BJ and HJ series refers to those Land Cruisers which run on diesel-
not sold in US.
The following number refers to the model. Both FJ & B-L-HJ's will have the same body and chasis- just a different engine.

The Land Cruiser was originally a Japanese military design from WW2- designed as a heavy duty all terrain troop carrier, with four wheel drive.
The design for the body was borrowed from the Willy's Jeep(so was the Land Rover), but greatly improved upon with a much bigger engine. The engine size of Land Cruisers has always been a definitive trademark- along with its poor fuel economy.
The first Cruisers issued for commercial sale were the short wheel base jeeps- FJ40s, with front winch, big engines, and I think the older ones are 3-speeds. The only disadvantage is a lack of space to carry a lot of weight or bulk(or troops!). These were issued in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and early early 80s.
According to information written by Chris Scott- the FJ55 was the earliest Land Cruiser sold in the US. They look like a combination of the 40 series Land Cruisers, and a Land Rover. For whatever reason, their production was very limited, and in 1980, Toyota intoduced the 60 series, considered their best vehicle ever.
Toward the end of the 1980s, the 60 became the 61 or 62, and by 1990 the production halted altogether. Then came the 80, 90 and 100 series', commonly seen in modern SUV format all over the place,

note: the 70 series was a hybrid pickup-jeep-wagon produced in the mid 1980s, but I don't think ever available here in the US.
It's kinda sad that such an extensive variety of these great trucks were made, but all we can get here in the US is the gasoline 40s, 60s and the modern day Land Cruiser.

MH_Stevens - 6-4-2005 at 07:54 AM

Go-Thermal speaketh true. EG the trucks made for Austrailia and Africa are superior to the ones for the US, indicating our frontier is disapearing - hence Aqui en Baja!

Packoderm - 6-4-2005 at 08:26 AM

Here is a classified ad website for Landcruisers. It has catagories for FJ 40, 45, 55, 60, and so on. Many of the ads have pictures, so you can see what an FJ 45 looks like for instance. http://ads.cruizers.com/classifieds.cfm?catID=0

Geothermal-Shane - 6-10-2005 at 09:26 PM

...oh...some of the older models may have dificulty passing smog inspection in California...like mine...

MH_Stevens - 6-12-2005 at 07:06 AM

Well contary to my original intentions I bought a NEW type Land Cruizer, a Lexus LX470 (LC with fancy trim and hight control). I'm hoping to stay well south of Ensinada so I don't get carjacked and with all those onboard computers I hope they don't give a blue screen in the outback. Will I make it or was this a really bad choice?

Cheers,

Mike Stevens

Pappy Jon - 6-13-2005 at 06:48 AM

Great choice, though I would have gone with an older LX 450 :cool:. Except for the gas mileage, and range, the Land Cruisers are great. Toss on some OME springs and Slee armor and you are good for just about anything Baja can toss at you.