Is a three axle HZJ79 a good idea?

[Septimusus]

Hello,

first, I am new here and if I act against any written or unwritten rules I want to apologise for that.

My question is the following:

Is a 3-axle Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ79 a good or a bad idea?

I found this one for sale and from what it has it checks all the boxes for me (Sleeping, Working, Cooking, Hygiene and Launching)

It has been for sale for more than 4 Months and recently the seller dropped the price by 10.000€ to around 50 grand.
These facts and that I have never seen any other Land Cruiser built with three axles make me worry that this car is a really bad idea.

Thanks for your help and greetings, Alex

 

[smritte]

You need to see how the conversion was done. This also includes how the camper was attached. You also need to understand, when you buy something modified, you may end up buying a "Frankenstein". Custom anything is a crap shoot, even if done by a reputable company. If you have the skills to repair/rework any issues that pop up then your probably good.

BTW, is it 6wd or is the rear axle just a "tag" axle?

 

[Septimusus]

Thanks for your advice @smritte, on the sales page they state that it is an all-wheel drive 6x4. So maybe they don't know, that if it would be an all-wheel drive, that they should write 6x6 or it is really just a "tag" axle...

I definitively keep the question of who has done the conversion in mind, as well as that I can be lucky or doomed (I need to find out when I inspect the car which direction it goes...)

Somehow I should have the skills or at least be able to acquire them, but it will still be a huge challenge to fix major things on that rig by myself without a proper way to lift that ginormous car :D

May I ask why the way the camper is attached is important? They definitively removed the entire truck bed...

 

[genocache]

I'd have to ask why they felt the need to add another axle? If it is for weight of the camper, I'd walk away from it, 'cause likely it is top heavy, poor fuel economy and not able to get far off-road. If all you want to do is flattish dry dirt roads then it might be perfect! What engine is in it?

I only know 2 people over there, who might be able to help with an appraisal; El-Dracho on this site lives in Lampertheim and/or Christian on LRtime in YouTube, who knows nothing about Toyotas, He's a sharp guy!

 

[rgallant]

I am going with stay away, it looks like they added an axle to support the camper. It is really more of an RV than a camper, you can see the access from the cab. So it will be very underpowered, unless a significant engine upgrade was done

 

[smritte]

May I ask why the way the camper is attached is important? They definitively removed the entire truck bed..

The frame was not designed for the camper. The camper on the other hand may have been designed to drop on the frame. Odds are it wasn't. Most of the conversions I've seen that are done well, cant be done well enough to stand the test of time. Adding metal can create brittle areas, stress can be introduced in areas that were never designed to have them. Then we throw dirt roads into the mix and things escalate faster. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they dont. If the chassis was originally designed around the camper and designed for the dirt, it would be fine. Even with my 80 series, I need to know how to inspect the chassis for stress cracks. It would be worse if it were that heavily moded.

 

[El-Dracho]

I can only underline what some have already said here. I would look very closely at how the conversion was done. So let's see how it's done technically and how high the quality of the whole thing is. Has the frame even been extended here? Was this really very well done? I would also like to point out that such things are usually special conversions in which no standard parts were used. Spare parts supply is often associated with hurdles then, which is not a good idea when traveling. The cabin itself is in my opinion far too big for this vehicle, 3rd axle or not. Many pickup trucks with (too large) living boxes or cabins will sooner or later have problems when subjected to rough gravel roads for a long time, etc. My motto for an overlanding rig is less is more.

 

[Septimusus]

Hello everyone, thanks for the advice!

I finally collected all my questions and concerns and called the seller, this is what came out form it

PS: I found the car here on kleinanzeigen.de

• It is a 4x6 so the third axle is just a tag axle and no power is sent to it
• The engine is in stock condition, no turbo upgrade has been done
• The car with the camper weights 3660kg which is over the 3.5t limit of my driving license and way too heavy for the stock 1HZ (from my opinion)
• it eats 20l per 100km but I think this is conservative, I expect more like 25l/100km
• The camper is permanently attached to the car, but the seller was not sure how maybe with a wooden base plate?
• It has Frond AND Back diff locks (this is something good)
• The conversion has been done by the company "Reutter" in Allgäu, but the company doesn't exist anymore (so also a dead end)
• The back does not have leave springs anymore - the seller was unsure how it is working since it is air suspension
  
  I am looking forward to your advice, but I have a strong nono feeling from all this

 

[El-Dracho]

Hello everyone, thanks for the advice!

I finally collected all my questions and concerns and called the seller, this is what came out form it

PS: I found the care here on kleinanzeigen.de

• It is a 4x6 so the third axle is just a tag axle and no power is sent to it
• The engine is in stock condition, no turbo upgrade has been done
• The car with the camper weights 3660kg which is over the 3.5t limit of my driving license and way too heavy for the stock 1HZ (from my opinion)
• it eats 20l per 100km but I think this is conservative, I expect more like 25l/100km
• The camper is permanently attached to the car, but the seller was not sure how maybe with a wooden base plate?
• It has Frond AND Back diff locks (this is something good)
• The conversion has been done by the company "Reutter" in Allgäu, but the company doesn't exist anymore (so also a dead end)
• The back does not have leave springs anymore - the seller was unsure how it is working since it is air suspension
  
  I am looking forward to your advice, but I have a strong nono feeling from all this

Hi Alex,

If you have already identified so many points that don't suit you, I would follow the gut feeling and not do it. I'd also be bothered by all the unanswered questions. Plus - beside the driving license part, which can easily be solved - if you want to drive around Europe with it, then you'll have more hassle because of the weight exceeding the 3.5 tons (tolls, transit, etc.).

Bjoern

 

[rgallant]

@Septimusus Given the stock truck had a gross vehicle weight of 3200KG they added 460 KG before you put anything in the truck that engine and transmission are going to struggle.

But not knowing the construction method and having an unknown air suspension system, would be a hard pass for me.