watch and learn Y

ou have to wonder why there aren’t more Toyota Land Cruisers being used in extreme off-road circles. When your choices include perhaps the most capable and reliable line of vehicles ever created, why would you go with anything else?

But brand loyalty is a funny thing. So too, in this sceptred isle of ours, is the effect of wrapping something in a Union Jack. And so for decade upon decade, Britain’s 4x4 enthusiasts have been so obsessed with one single manufacturer (see if you can guess which one we’re talking about) that for a long time, while Toyota was steadily taking over the rest of the world it didn’t even bother trying to sell the Land Cruiser here.

Words: Gary Noskill Pics: Steve Taylor

Go to Africa or Asia, travel the Outback in Australia, watch the Rainforest Challenge in Malaysia, spend any length of time in the wild parts of South America, and before long you’ll have seen more Land Cruisers than you thought existed in the world. In fact, it seems like the only two places where Toyota’s 4x4 hero isn’t totally dominant are here in Britain and over in America. I wonder why…

Yet over on the far side of the Atlantic, there’s a hardcore group of Cruiser fans who’d never touch a Jeep. And it’s the same over here; Britain’s Land Cruiser devotees laugh at the notion of owning a Land Rover. Once you’ve got a truck that’s known for not breaking, they argue, why on earth would you trade down to one that’s known for exactly the opposite?

At this point, let’s introduce Andy Laban. He’s a professional mechanic and a qualified offroad instructor, so he ought to know about this stuff. And he does. And he drives a modified 70-Series Land Cruiser. And he takes it offroading at least twice a month.

‘I can’t get enough of driving the car,’ he remarked to us. ‘It’s like a drug!’

Being a spanner man, he’s able to do most of the work himself. This of course makes a huge difference to the cost of a project – as in, unless you’re seriously well off it means you can actually afford to go off-roading at all.

The result is that Andy’s truck has more mods on it than he’d have been able to make if he’d been paying someone else to do the work for him. And there’s another side to this, too. ‘Because I’ve saved money by doing some things myself,’ he explained, ‘it’s enabled me to bring in the experts on other stuff.’

These experts include Jim Marsden, Pete Sylvester and Chris Ould. ‘Chris is a really talented welder,’ Andy enthused. ‘You only have to look at the quality of his work to see how skilled he is.’

Chris was responsible for the front winch bumper adorning the Land Cruiser, which was modelled on one that Andy saw on a Malaysian Rainforest truck in the pages of this very magazine. He took the photograph to Chris and within days the bumper had been made exactly as Andy imagined.

It features a massive recessed mounting plate for the front winch, which is a Goodwinch G12. This is capable of pulling about 12,000lb on its steel cable and Andy reckons the Land Cruiser could actually swing from it like a pendulum. It’s a challenge to think of a situation in which this would be useful, but it would look impressive.

Actually, given the prodigious terrain-bashing credentials of the Land Cruiser, it’s a wonder Andy feels the need for any winch at all. He chose the vehicle after a bad experience with a TD5 Defender 90 on the grounds that it would offer greater reliability than the Land Rover. It also provides a much nicer driving experience on the road.

The Land Cruiser underwent some modifications in the hands of its previous owner, including a suspension lift of sorts and a Superwinch X9 that was bolted directly on to the standard front bumper. Andy’s first task was therefore to undo all of this work and set about making the changes that suited him.

This involved replacing the Hi-Lux suspension components that had been used to increase ride height with a +2” Old Man Emu kit. Extended springs and shocks are included in this bolton kit, and Andy has augmented it with a set of 2” mounts for the shocks, enabling greater drop-out. He is more than happy with the set-up following these mods, although he is currently toying with the idea of three-link suspension to give him more extreme articulation. ‘There was a Land Cruiser on the Croatia Trophy that had a three-link configuration,’ he states. ‘I think it could make things pretty exciting!’

The lifted suspension creates enough room beneath the arches for a set of 35x10.50R16

Like most of us, Andy needs to be costconscious with his off-road toy – which is exactly what the Land Cruiser is, as he runs it as a second car. But while a chequebook build is something we all dream of, he doesn’t see reality as a burden: ‘It’s fun to develop costeffective solutions to problems. It makes you appreciate the car a lot more than if you could just pay your way out of trouble.’

Simex Extreme Trekkers. These are mounted on a set of 16-inch steel modular rims which are fitted with 35mm spacers in order to recover steering lock and maintain the car’s stability.

In order to limit the amount of damage his off-road activities cause to the surface of the ground, Andy also runs a set of 255x85R16 BFGoodrich Mud-Terrains for green laning and general use. ‘You can’t beat these for all-round durability,’ he explains. Moreover, they make for a much nicer performance on the asphalt than the Simexes.

Like many of the components featured on the vehicle, Andy saved money by purchasing the tyres second hand. He is proud of the fact that the car has not been developed with an open chequebook, as it adds to the challenge of getting things right.

It helps that the Land Cruiser’s Japanese build quality means running repairs are kept to a minimum, and even when they are needed Andy says that the work tends to be pretty straightforward. A cam belt change, for example, takes around twenty minutes according to Andy. Moreover, he reports that undoing nuts on a Toyota is the kind of experience of which most mechanics can only dream. They twist off with no problem, he reports, and the same components can be used again and again because they don’t corrode… Land Rover owners, take note.

Engine-wise, this Land Cruiser is completely standard, though Andy has fitted a replacement lump since buying the car. Ironically, given the strength for which this 3.0-litre unit is renowned, a problem developed with the crankshaft. When Andy opened it up, he found that the whole engine was on its last legs. ‘It obviously had a new head at some point,’ he explained, ‘but needed a lot more work even then. The fault was due to poor maintenance rather than anything inherent in the engine.’

He decided the best response was to source a new power plant and duly set about ringing around the breakers’ yards.

Keen to fit the right Toyota lump for his L-registered car rather than fiddle around with

Front bumper was made from scratch by Chris Ould, using a photo of a Rainforest Challenge vehicle as reference. Its huge recessed mounting plate is home to a Goodwinch G12, which Andy reckons is so strong you could hang the truck from it a conversion, Andy eventually found a 40,000mile unit for just £800. Given that he was able to fit it himself, this represents an extremely inexpensive engine transplant and it has given the Land Cruiser a whole new lease of life. You could say it is now back to being everything a Toyota should be in terms of reliability.

The rear winch set-up is a testimony to the advantages of custom-built modifications. The bumper is a home-made component that incorporates light pods and a mounting point for the X9 that was originally on the front of the truck. It features quick-release bolts which enable him to remove the winch when it is not needed in order to ensure the truck’s departure angle is not permanently encumbered. Similar mounting points are located just inside the rear loading area, and this is where the winch is kept for the majority of the time. When Andy thinks he may need it in place, it’s a one-minute job to switch its mountings and he is then able to hit the trail with no fear of being caught out.

Not that there’s likely to be much call for self-recovery when Andy also has front and rear ARB Air-Lockers on his side. ‘You don’t realise how good these are until you’ve had them,’ he remarked to us; he wasn’t the first off-roader we’ve heard saying something like that, and he certainly won’t be the last.

Other typical extreme off-road mods include a Safari snorkel, with raised axle and gearbox breathers for deep wading ability, and a pair of Varta batteries to power the winches. The configuration here is rather unusual, because the G12 front winch is a 24-volt unit. As such, Andy wired the twin 12-volt batteries to a separate charger box; this combines the feed from each to produce a total output of 24 volts, which it then delivers to the winch. The box only cost about £110, Andy told us, so this was by no means a big-money job to complete.

Elsewhere in the sparky zone, Land Cruisers of this era were fitted with heavy-duty alternators as standard. So Andy saw no need to fit an upgraded unit. The cooling system is also completely stock and never fails to keep the engine bay at a steady temperature in a variety of conditions – even the hardest offroad use doesn’t shift the needle.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the vehicle is also still running on its original brakes. Well, four-pot calipers up front are all it should ever need, but even with 11-inch shoes the rear drums might sound ripe for upgrading when what they’re trying to stop turning is a 35” Simex. The one mod he has made here is to fit Goodridge extended hoses to account for the extra height of the suspension.

Of course, another good thing about lifting your truck is that all its mechanical components are further away from the ground. As such, with the exception of the radiator skid plate that is integral to the front bumper design, Andy has not seen the need to spend any money on underbody armour. ‘I think the best form of protection is common sense,’ is his sagacious opinion. ‘If you think you’ll damage the car by taking on an obstacle, it’s probably better to avoid the obstacle altogether.’

Nonetheless, when we met him he was planning to reposition the fuel tank into a more central location where it would be less vulnerable. A welcome side-effect of this move would be to improve the truck’s centre of gravity, too.

This modification wouldn’t normally be possible, because the exhaust would be in the way. But Andy had already replaced the standard system with a side-exit set-up, with Chris Ould once again responsible for the welding – and as well as being less vulnerable, he said it had led to a significant improvement in performance, especially in second gear.

A side pipe is a common mod on off-roaders, but not many people think to fit brushed aluminium pedals. If you’re rolling your eyes, stop it right now: Andy said that these provide much better grip for muddy boots – and because they have holes drilled through them, they allow muck and grime to pass through.

These are the details you only think of when you know your subject inside out. And they’re the kind of thing that makes the difference between a good truck and a great one. And the fact is, very few people know off-roading the way Andy Laban knows it – and very few know more about how to prep a vehicle either.

And he’s one of the few who chose to do it in a Land Cruiser. Watch and learn