Why a Land Cruiser TroopCarrier?
Ever since I saw a Land Cruiser Troopcarrier in Malaysia whilst on the original Antipodean Adventure with my friend Dwyer Rooney, I know I wanted this machine. It's handling is terrible; it has the acceleration of inebriated cow; the turning circle is pathetic; and the ride reminds me of climbing aboard an elephant in Nepal: after the initial excitement and exhalation, a few hours later the buttocks start whimpering immeasurably. However, they are renowned for being - hopefully - unbreakable. Everything in them is manual, much like my old Land Rover Defender 127, except this one has a straight six diesel engine. I swear if our Land Rover 127 hadn't broken down once a week every week for 52 weeks, our year long adventure would have been completed in a weekend.
Inspections
Well I had a choice of several Landcruisers, most of which were rusted out with a chassis made of putty. Each time one came up (usually on gumtree) I had a local mechanic or the RACV check them out, even the one that was in Geelong. It was an hour away, but each time the vehicle inspection was carried out, the mechanic came back with some superbly detailed info. Since I had a tonne of these, I would highly recommend Todd from Autoinspections.com.au - am not getting paid from Todd and in the end I didn't get the vehicle that he reviewed in Perth, but my god it was detailed. Not only did he send an inspection report - a few companies just send a one pager, he sent five - but he included 85 photos of the vehicle. 85!!! He catalogued absolutely everything so if you're looking for a vehicle way out west, go with this guy as you'll get what you pay for.
The Troopy
In the end I went way over my $13k budget, quite simply because I got tired of finding vehicles that weren't all they were cracked up to be. Since I was going for cars over 25 years old, most were going to have some damage to them at some point, but I tried to get the best I could for my money to ensure that after 1 week my wheels didn't fall off like some kind of comedy clown car. . . this still could happen mind you, but not in the first week. As per my blog post here I bought 'Izzy' with a rebuilt engine on a camper bed on the top. Each of these in itself cost about $8k and $7k each respectively, and therefore to my mind (needless to say, tiny mind) I was buying a Landcruiser for $5k. Chuck in a fridge, solar power, dual batteries, immobiliser and a brand new winch, and I was cooking on gas. Although I had to buy the cooker. . .
She arrived on a flatbed at the end of the June, after about 10 months of solid searching. In fairness, I had some criteria across all the vehicles I saw:
It had to be a 1HZ and over 25 years old, which gave me a narrow band of 91/92/93 models
Preferably two single driving seats
Two long range fuel tanks (mine has two 90 litres)
It had to be Diesel instead of petrol or gas - simpler the better
Snorkel for cooler air intake
Air Conditioning was a must - without it I'd roast . . . like I did last time
Full Service History if possible. As it was, mine came with about 10 years
Roof Rack if possible as that extra storage helps. For me, with the Trakka tent on top, the roofrack became secondary
Light bars could fit myself, but prefer if it already came with then great!
Under 400kms - 1HZ can do 700,000ks, but if I could get one below 400 I'd be happy. As it was, the engine was 425km with a full engine rebuild at 330.
Tinted Windows - Yup!
Solar System - Yup! Two 100W solar panels....which gave up on me and had to be replaced!
Dual Battery Set-Up - Yup, although thanks to Century Batteries, I got two replacements anyway and sold the others
No Rust - or as little as possible. Surface rust is ok, chassis rust is a no-no. Izzy is very clean and has a rust-stopper built in - no idea if this works, but it's on and has no rust . . . sooooo
Rego - had to be in driveable condition
Drawers at Back - an optional extra, but no room in the end
Bull Bar - for obvious reasons
Fridge -if possible, mine came with a Waeco 40 litre fridge freezer
Cruise Control - a luxury but alas not this time
Winch - came with two winches, one rusted out heap of junk I sold, and another brand new one I fitted
She arrived on a flatbed at the end of the June, after about 10 months of solid searching. In fairness, I had some criteria across all the vehicles I saw:
It had to be a 1HZ and over 25 years old, which gave me a narrow band of 91/92/93 models
Preferably two single driving seats
Two long range fuel tanks (mine has two 90 litres)
It had to be Diesel instead of petrol or gas - simpler the better
Snorkel for cooler air intake
Air Conditioning was a must - without it I'd roast . . . like I did last time
Full Service History if possible. As it was, mine came with about 10 years
Roof Rack if possible as that extra storage helps. For me, with the Trakka tent on top, the roofrack became secondary
Light bars could fit myself, but prefer if it already came with then great!
Under 400kms - 1HZ can do 700,000ks, but if I could get one below 400 I'd be happy. As it was, the engine was 425km with a full engine rebuild at 330.
Tinted Windows - Yup!
Solar System - Yup! Two 100W solar panels....which gave up on me and had to be replaced!
Dual Battery Set-Up - Yup, although thanks to Century Batteries, I got two replacements anyway and sold the others
No Rust - or as little as possible. Surface rust is ok, chassis rust is a no-no. Izzy is very clean and has a rust-stopper built in - no idea if this works, but it's on and has no rust . . . sooooo
Rego - had to be in driveable condition
Drawers at Back - an optional extra, but no room in the end
Bull Bar - for obvious reasons
Fridge -if possible, mine came with a Waeco 40 litre fridge freezer
Cruise Control - a luxury but alas not this time
Winch - came with two winches, one rusted out heap of junk I sold, and another brand new one I fitted
