West Coast Cruiser

Originally Published: October 2010 Words: Tim Gibson Pictures: Steve Taylor

Lifting the station wagon an extra four inches in the general direction of heaven is a full Ironman suspension kit. As well as the springs and shocks that give it its extra height are set of adjustable panhard rods, castor correction radius arms, mounting plates and anti-roll bars. Paul has actually taken the latter off, because he rarely drives the Land Cruiser on-road – but he wouldn’t advise you to follow his lead if you spend a lot of time on tarmac. One thing that hasn’t been changed is the steering damper, which is a Toyota original – but again, Paul would upgrade this if he were going to use the truck more regularly on the black stuff

More of the same at the back, with plus-four Ironman springs and foam cell shocks backed up by an adjustable panhard rod to keep the axle centred. As you can see here, the four-link trailing arm set-up has been retained; it didn’t stop the 80-Series from flexing the opposition into oblivion back when it was new, and it still doesn’t now

35x11.50R16 Silverstone MP117 tyres are manufactured just around the corner from the Simex factory in Malaysia, though you’d hardly believe it when you see how radically different the tread pattern is. Not. The Cruiser currently runs standard 16-inch modular steel rims, but you can expect to see these being replaced with beadlocks in due course to prevent the tyres from being tweaked off when running at low pressures

Land Cruisers are big in Australia, so it’s no surprise that pretty much everything you see here came from down under. A 12,000lb Ironman front winch with remote control and synthetic rope adorns the front end of the 80-Series pick-up; mounted on an Ironman bumper, it’s been upgraded using Albright solenoids. A pair of Ironman spotlights completes the hardcore picture at the Land Cruiser’s sharp end

When Paul first built the vehicle, he was expecting to use it in off-road competition. Hence the roll cage, which he made himself. As it turns out, the pick-up is used principally as a tow barge, so the cage hasn’t been called into service very often. ‘I thought as I’d built it I may as well fit it,’ Paul laughs. ‘And besides, it’s good to know it’s there!’

The dropside rear tray comes ready-made from Australia, but don’t be fooled into thinking that meant the conversion was a simple bolt-up. The cabin had to be shortened and the rear window (with wiper and heated screen still in situ) incorporated into what has now become the truck cab. Paul received help from his friend Phil Jones with this part of the build, and is really pleased with the neat finish of the cabin, especially those graceful rounded lines where the B-pillar used to be. A further corollary of the conversion was extending the chassis by four inches at the rear, to make sure it stretched the full length of the load bay

The front winch bumper started life on the pick-up you’ll see elsewhere on these pages, but Paul moved it when he realised the station wagon was to be his hardcore off-roader. It’s tucked up really tight to the front end, giving a big improvement in approach angle. The winch is a 9000lb Come-Up unit that was also once installed on the ute. It’s mounted below the grille, and can only be accessed for maintenance if the bumper is removed. ‘That’s not an issue all the time as I’m only off-roading at fun days,’ Paul says. ‘But I might need to address it if I start competing in this vehicle’

It’s not every vehicle that can boast a multi-purpose bonnet, but this Cruiser’s does a whole lot more than just keep the engine hidden. Admittedly, the high-lift jack is actually mounted on top of the bull bar, but who’s asking? And besides, no man with a shovel strapped to his bonnet needs to be justified. Especially not when there’s a webbing net next to it for keeping your ropes and strops handy

Fitting a roll cage to the pick-up meant removing its Safari snorkel… which now sits proudly on the station wagon. ‘I reused a lot of stuff from the ute, which has kept the cost of this project fairly minimal,’ Paul says. ‘There’s no point wasting good gear!’

Custom rock sliders are designed to protect the bottom of the plastic wheelarch trims. They also raise the height of the sill by around four inches, eliminating what can never help but be a vulnerable spot on such a long-wheelbased vehicle

You can see the filler cap for the mid-mounted fuel tank just below the front edge of the load bay here. Note also the leftover portion of the floorpan from the vehicle’s days as a station wagon: this holds the fuel tank in place, and shows that despite the major surgery, much of the VX’s original body and chassis remains in place

The spare wheel is tucked up neatly beneath the pick-up bed. Paul fabricated the mount out of a spare piece of Land Cruiser chassis – it keeps the wheel out of harm’s way and in a place where it won’t interfere with the vehicle’s ground clearance or departure angle

Seen from above, it’s apparent just how big the Land Cruiser’s pick-up bed is. Remember, that’s a 112-inch wheelbase you’re looking at; carrying home the requisite sheet of 8x4 is unlikely to give Paul a headache

The Land Cruiser used to have a Safari snorkel, but this wouldn’t fit flush to the A-pillar once the roll cage was installed. In consequence, Paul made this item out of three-inch stainless steel tube – it won’t shrug off knocks the way the tough plastic Safari unit would, but then it’s a whole lot less likely to get them in the first place

Check out the size of this intercooler. It’s an Allisport unit, used in conjunction with a variety of other engine mods to squeeze nigh-on 200bhp from the Cruiser’s engine. ‘The intercooler transforms the car,’ reports Paul. ‘It generates much more power, which is great for both on and off-road driving’

The Cruiser’s heavy-duty rear bumper is available as an off-the-shelf purchase from West Coast 4x4. A NATO hook provides a sturdy anchoring point for recoveries, as well as allowing maximum pintle action for towing trailers on rough ground

It might be one of the heaviest 4x4s around, but romping up sky’s-in-your-eyes hillclimbs is a piece of cake for the Land Cruiser – more so than ever on this one, as it happens to be one of the few that were fitted with Toyota’s cheerfully revvy 4.5-litre petrol engine. You can get your fuel consumption into gallons-per-mile territory during an off-road thrash, but with the four-speed auto box doing all the thinking you can pay more attention to grinning a lot. The engine and transmission are completely standard and no less reliable for it, though a ring-and-pinion job’s on the cards to compensate for the tall tyres. New CV joints are likely to arrive at the same time, as these are about the closest thing to a weak point you’ll find on an 80-Series

Paul admits that your first experience of driving an 80-Series can be a bit daunting, but remains adamant that you soon get used to its bulk. ‘There aren’t many places you can’t access in the Land Cruiser,’ he remarks. ‘You just have to learn how to manage it. The factory-fitted diff-locks in both axles make a lot of difference’

The ground anchor and spare wheel are strapped down in the boot, preventing them from shaking around when the vehicle is in use. A heavy duty cargo guard ensures that if they do manage to get free, Paul and his passengers still needn’t worry about wearing them on the back of their heads. As you can see here, the station wagon doesn’t quite have the load carrying capacity of the pick-up – but there’s not a lot of vehicles that could carry five people in comfort while at the same time making a 35-inch tyre look this small

The intercooler comes with a fair amount of extra pipework, which you can see across the engine bay in this picture. Paul has installed a new pump and injector, too, and opened up the fuel pump settings to increase the rate of combustion. He’s also fitted a straight-through exhaust, and plans to source a larger turbo in the coming months

This is a bonnet riser, designed to increase airflow in the engine bay at speed by lifting the bonnet’s trailing edge and making it easier for ram air to escape. ‘It’s a bit of a gimmick, really,’ Paul admits, ‘but it only takes ten minutes to perform the modification.’ No substitute for having the right radiator, obviously, but it does help free up air flow through the front panel – and it shouldn’t do a bad job of helping defrost the windscreen on cold mornings, either

The 80-Series Land Cruiser was never less than a legend for its articulation, but with two-inch lifted springs and Ironman foam cell shock absorbers all round it has the ground clearance to mock its hefty wheelbase and huge rear overhang, too. Paul has fitted spacers to the front end in order to level it with the rear, which has lifted on its springs as a result of losing all that weight. He’s also installed castor-corrected bushes to compensate for the new suspension angles, and fitted 35x12.50R15 Maxxis Bighorns on 8.5x15 Compomotive DWFs. Despite their mud-terrain pattern, Paul reckons these are perfect for general-purpose use. The transmission is running its original ratios, even though Paul modified it to suit 37-inch tyres some time ago; he finds the 4.2-litre diesel can pull the 35-inchers with little difficulty, and prefers Toyota’s factory set-up for the axles

Paul Lundstrom likes 4x4s so much, he’s got three of them. One’s for work, one’s for play and one’s his family car. And each of them is a Toyota Land Cruiser.

People own Toyota Land Cruisers for a lot of reasons. Their strength and reliability, for example. Or their off-road skills and reliability. Or what about their practicality and reliability?

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t help but respect the Land Cruiser in all its many forms. Built to put up with way more than even a dedicated off-roader is capable of throwing at it, it’s among the strongest, most unbreakable vehicles in the world. It goes places most cars couldn’t – and it comes back again, too. Make no mistake, these things are practically indestructible.

If you doubt the Land Cruiser’s reputation for toughness, take a trip to Africa. The Toyota badge is ubiquitous out there – so much so that the generic term for ‘4x4’ among many Africans is ‘Land Cruiser’. Given that this continent contains some of the planet’s most hostile terrain, that’s a pretty good indicator of the big truck’s ability to handle the rough stuff.

It’s always been a bit of mystery that the Land Cruiser hasn’t enjoyed greater popularity in the UK. Few if any vehicles available here hold their value better on the second-hand market – yet this is in part down to the fact that despite its awesome reputation, it has never done as well as it should from new.

As a result, the Cruiser is something of a rarity on these shores. There are dedicated enthusiasts, of course, who can keep you amused for hours with tales of their vehicles’ derring-do. But by and large, a Toyota Land Cruiser is by no means a common sight on UK roads.

Not, that is, unless you happen to live anywhere near West Coast 4x4 in Lancashire. You see, Paul Lundstrom, who helps his father run the business, is a real champion of the Land Cruiser’s cause. He’s owned all manner of off-roaders, and is convinced that the Toyota is the best available.

‘I’ve had a lot of Land Rovers,’ Paul reports, ‘as well as Suzukis, Daihatsus – the lot, really. But nothing can touch the Land Cruiser when it comes to all-round performance and reliability. I can’t imagine driving anything else now.’

No surprise, that, because he owns not one but three of the things. In addition to the standard Land Cruiser Amazon that he uses as a family car, Paul owns the two trucks you see here: a petrol-powered 80-Series station wagon and a 4.2-litre diesel that has been converted into a pick-up.

The latter vehicle has been in Paul’s care for five years, and has existed in a constant state of flux throughout that period. When Paul bought it, the car was a standard five-door VX, but he converted it into a ute so he could transport his motocross bikes around in the rear. As for the red station wagon, it is a newer addition to the Lundstrom driveway; Paul bought it a year-and-a-half ago, and uses it as his off-road plaything.

‘I love modifying off-roaders,’ Paul says, ‘so any vehicle I own is always being improved. I’ve lost count of the number of changes I’ve made to the pick-up: it’s probably the most versatile car I’ve ever had.’

Foremost among Paul’s reasons for staying loyal to the Land Cruiser brand, however, is that epic reliability. Despite its over-sized tyres and suspension mods, the station wagon has been used with its standard transmission set-up since Paul bought it. And so far, not a single thing has gone wrong with it.

That’s an eloquent witness to the vehicle’s abilities to withstand no small amount of hardship. It’s what makes it such a popular choice among those who drive in the world’s inhospitable places. And, as far as Paul is concerned, it is a strong reason to choose the Land Cruiser over some of its more popular rivals. As he says: ‘If you don’t want your 4x4 to let you down, this is the vehicle to go for.’ And whatever you drive, you’ll struggle to argue with that.

LAND CRUISER, IRONMAN SUSPENSION, DIY ROCKSLIDERS, SAFARI SNORKEL, LC80, IRONMAN WINCH, IRONMAN WINCH BUMPER, ALLISPORT INTERCOOLER