Tomorrow I will be driving 12 hours north in a fully equipped brand new Toyota Landcruiser (the original offroad model 76 that is not available in the United States due to safety standards). I don't know how this trip managed to come together. This is an unbelievable chance to drive this legendary vehicle in a bizarre landscape. It really sounds more like a magazine article than my life. It will mostly be onroad driving until the last couple hours, although onroad in Congo isn't much different than offroad. The cool thing is that I specified these vehicles for the embassy complete with upgraded front and rear bumpers, Warn winch, air locker, and a bunch of cool recovery gear. I didn't even think I would get to see one since we leave here in about a month and delivery times are outrageous. I hardly expected to be behind the wheel on an epic trip. I just drove one home from the embassy so that I can start loading up. The odometer currently reads 21 kilometers.
I have never been convinced that these are worthy of their legendary status. I think they are clunky, outdated, crude machines. Crude has its advantages for offroading, but my modern Xterra has done extremely well in some pretty tough conditions. It will be nice to make a direct comparison.
There are a couple things that I really do like. For offroading, I really like square vehicles with good visibility. My Xterra is pretty decent, but it looks round compared to this old Toyota box design. A big square hood out front really lets a driver see the edges of the vehicle for maneuvering in tight conditions. Vertical side windows allow you to see trees as you pass or back up.
I also like the diesel engine. It is a simple inline 6. The five speed manual transmission provides direct contact with the smooth torque and seemingly nonexistent power peak. It is not a turbo diesel, but fuel economy is still estimated at better than 20 mpg.
While dual tanks are no longer available in the short wheelbase version, the single fuel tank is about 35 gallons! This gives this machine a range of about 700 miles (well over 1000 km). I think we can do this trip with only one fuel stop. I had considered driving my Xterra, but it has only about half the range and the country has been having a gasoline shortage that would have made such a trip risky. When operating in undeveloped areas, range really does matter.
I won't return until Tuesday evening. I will try to get some cool pictures and share my impressions once I get back. I am getting pretty excited about this trip. It will include three of my favorite things, driving, wildlife photography, and fishing. Most of this tour has been torture. I can't believe I had to wait until the end for something like this to happen.
Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Moderators: MostMint, wxo, Fred32v, Basement Paul, ttamrettus
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Can,t wait for your return. Be careful, drive safe.
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Tim, I can't help thinking about your safety in that area. Do you pack any heat in case of trouble.
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
I do hope that you get some film footage! I'm sure your camera can
get some action video. I'd like to not only see the footage of you driving
in some tough conditions, but I'd also like to see a walk around of the
vehicle!
Enjoy that trip!
GM
get some action video. I'd like to not only see the footage of you driving
in some tough conditions, but I'd also like to see a walk around of the
vehicle!
Enjoy that trip!
GM
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
What an adventure! For a driving test, this was about perfect. I experienced approximately 3 hours of city driving. In Brazzaville, this means occasional near offroad conditions with giant potholes and unpaved muddy sections that sometimes swallow cars. This combines with aggressive traffic in an environment with essentially no traffic laws at all. Last night, I was noticing that the massive front bumper with the winch mounted on it was a useful intimidator as fewer people than normal tried me. The ones who did suffered from the confidence that the big diesel sound gave me; I felt like I was driving a military vehicle. The big square hood gave me perfect vision of the narrow extents of my vehicle. I never made contact with another vehicle, but I think I terrified a few other drivers with my willingness to thread some needles. This is a vehicle I would choose for such combat driving conditions. The only complaint for these conditions is that the unresponsive engine makes it difficult to quickly close gaps that others will exploit; my Nissan Xterra is much better at that.
I spent about 14 hours driving in two lane highway conditions. The two fixed axles handle pretty much as expected. The roads are mostly built by the Chinese who can’t seem to get anything right. Even the newest sections often feel a little lumpy and the fixed axles translate each lump into minor directional deflections that limit high speed confidence. We often had trouble going over 100 km/hr. One road that followed the Equator for about 100 km was remarkably smooth and I did max out at 135 at one point. At that speed, the wind noise and engine noise were both quite annoying, but the truck felt solid when the road was smooth. There wasn’t much in the way of twisty roads, but body roll for such a big vehicle seemed minor. There is one stretch of about 50 km where the potholes frequently send you weaving. The truck did not respond to quick requests as well as my Nissan has on that same stretch of road, but I managed to miss the worst of the holes and the few poor choices were not that punishing with the big tires and offroad suspension. It was often like a video game as we were dodging potholes while passing the small taxis and buses that couldn’t risk high speeds in those conditions. The frequent villages along the highway required constant speed changes that were mostly pleasantly accomplished simply with shifting; there is something satisfying about downshifting a noisy diesel engine. The engine noise was ever-present throughout the drive, but I actually enjoyed it. It reminded me of an old school bus so I was afraid I might just fall asleep like I did when I was a kid.
The highway was a bit of an experience in itself. We all had too much coffee for our 4:30 AM departure from Brazzaville so we were making frequent stops throughout the morning. There is no such thing as a rest area so you just look for a wide spot to pull over. Most of the drive was through the scrubby savannah so there wasn’t much privacy. Kris found enough bushes for her own relatively low level of modesty, but our companion and I have taken to the African way of just standing along the side of the road, the difference being that we don’t yet do that in the busy city of Brazzaville (which is normal). The roads are relatively untraveled so it was easy to look both ways and realize you had plenty of time.
Beyond the village of Etoumbi, after paying $20 to cross a bridge that was nothing more than a rusting floating barge with two ramps built on top, we left pavement behind. It was about 3 hours from there to our furthest destinations (6 roundtrip) and we drove easily another 6 in the area over the four days in the park so we spent a good 12 hours in conditions that ranged from bad dirt road to extreme trail. There is not much rockiness to the area so the main obstacles were severely eroded roads, huge jungle roots, mud pits, and sand. There is a natural bit of confidence that comes with driving the exact vehicle that everyone else is driving up there. When the ruts become deep and you are cruising at 50 km/hr, you don’t have to worry if you have enough ground clearance since the lack of a drag mark in the elevated middle tells you the ruts are not as deep as they look.
The most notable positive of the offroad experience is dampening. I never pack well enough and things like fishing rods are known for their ability to create constant annoying rattling noises. These Toyotas seem remarkably rattle free on washboard like conditions. Under such conditions, it also seems that everything they lack in directionally stability on paved roads completely vanishes.
There were plenty of tests of the off road abilities. I exceeded the articulation capability one time, as the touchdown clunk of the elevated wheel confirmed, but it didn’t seem like it was situation where keeping all four on the ground was likely. Through a few other similar real world tests, the vehicle remained well connected in what looked like extreme conditions to me. I am a complete chicken when it comes to tipping situations, but the vehicle is probably capable of much steeper side-inclines than we encountered even though I gasped a few times. The conditions at this time of year allowed us to use the tall skinny tires to contact a firm bottom in even the deepest of mud pits, some with water that came up to the bumpers. We have been told that lighter vehicles with wider tires do better when things are wetter. One water crossing did bring the water level up over the bumpers, probably a good 27 inches in depth.
One thing I really liked was having a diesel engine for offroading. The smooth delivery of torque at super low rpms kept me from switching to four low in conditions I would normally switch with my gas engine Nissan. I usually could just creep along in first gear, although the engine braking going downhill was not as much as the smoothness lead me to believe. I used four low a couple of times. There was one really steep eroded climb on the way back to one of the lodges that also turned to a scary descent on the way back out. There was one stretch of mud pits tucked between jungle roots that went on for probably a quarter mile where it was just more comfortable to creep through the constant jarring and rocking. There was one annoying thing at low rpm. When the air conditioner compressor would cycle, the engine rpms would bump up slightly. This happened on that scary descent and that momentary feeling of speed increasing, even slightly, was a bit discomforting. Knowing that, a driver could turn off the air conditioner, but it was the hot humid jungle out there.
I joked with Kris that the vehicle has all the finest technology of the 1960’s. The plastic interior is not much to look at. The sliding climate controls are quite familiar to anyone over 50. The 60/40 split front bench covered in vinyl was not uncomfortable, but not a form fitting bucket seat, either. For the passenger side, the seat did not recline enough to allow Kris much sleep. The truck does have power windows and locks, but no remote for the locks. The windshield wipers are either on or off. The sprayer for the windshield is completely independent; I sprayed to clear a bug at one point and all I did was completely block my vision until I realized I had to turn on the wipers. I really could have used cruise control, not because there were long stretches of continuous speed, but simply because fourteen hours is a long time to not move your right leg; I actually slid my left foot over to the gas pedal a couple times just for a few seconds of relief, even though that added some strange contortions to elevate my right leg over the transmission hump.
I am lukewarm on the drivetrain. The engine is not very powerful and required quite a bit of planning for passing maneuvers. The lack of a tachometer is an annoyance, especially when trying to learn a new vehicle. The five speed manual shifts far more like a big truck than a sports car, often costing noticeable momentum when shifting on climbs. Fifth gear seems a little low and I suspect I was nearly topped out at 135. The clutch is fine. It was getting a bit heavy in the huge traffic jam last night, but it was two hours of aggressive bumper to bumper. The transfer case has a strange feature, a pushbutton to switch between 2WD and 4 high. The old fashioned stick was there to change the ratio and that worked very nice, not even requiring a completely dead stop to switch. My Nissan has electronic switching for everything which is a pain, particularly when you want to quickly move between high and low ratios. I do not understand, though, why Toyota went half way. I really prefer the old manual stick for all changes in the transfer case. The manual locking hubs used to be a feature I would specify as I never trusted automatic hubs, but either I have gotten lazy or I consider it a mature technology as I now like having four wheel drive available without having to get out of the vehicle. For this trip, it wasn’t a problem as it really was a long on road drive that abruptly switched to a long off road drive.
The best feature of the vehicle really is the range. On the way up, the gas gauges between the two vehicles matched exactly and appeared quite linear. Every step of the way, my calculations were showing a range of over 1100 kilometers. We refueled in Etoumbi. We figured we would be good for the rest of the trip, but we did far more driving in the park than expected and the fuel economy is not good in such conditions. We were already well over a quarter tank down after probably 250 km of off road so we topped off in Etoumbi on the way back out. My calculations at that point put us close to making it back without refueling, but it was a good time to take a break after three hours of intense driving and it is better to be safe than sorry. With the traffic in Brazzaville, I am now certain we would have needed fuel before getting home. Still, it is amazing how far a tank of fuel can take you in this vehicle. While fuel economy approaching 20 mpg is not all that impressive when you factor in the higher energy content of diesel fuel, the last time I had a 35 gallon fuel capacity was in a vehicle that struggled to stay in the double digits in mpg. I wish more vehicles were built for range as living in remote places like here and Alaska have made fuel planning a bit of a chore on numerous trips.
I have lots of pictures and video to get through over the next few days. I will post some of them here. If you want to know more about the other amazing parts of the trip, primarily wildlife photography and fishing, I will be posting on my website (www.knapp.rinestock.com) in the coming days, as well.
After writing this, my internet connection died. During that time, I took the vehicle back to the embassy and picked up my Nissan. Wow, what a contrast. The Nissan feels so much more like a car. It provides a much more relaxed sitting position in a far more comfortable seat. The drive train feels downright civilized while being clearly more powerful. I really like my Nissan. I can’t imagine myself living in a situation where I would be wishing I could own a Toyota LandCruiser, but I can imagine living in a situation where another Xterra would make sense to me. Still, this trip will make me look at LandCruisers with a big smile in the future. It was really cool to be able to put one through its paces on a trip like this. Long after the tsetse fly bites have stopped itching, I am sure I will be contributing to its status as a legend.
I spent about 14 hours driving in two lane highway conditions. The two fixed axles handle pretty much as expected. The roads are mostly built by the Chinese who can’t seem to get anything right. Even the newest sections often feel a little lumpy and the fixed axles translate each lump into minor directional deflections that limit high speed confidence. We often had trouble going over 100 km/hr. One road that followed the Equator for about 100 km was remarkably smooth and I did max out at 135 at one point. At that speed, the wind noise and engine noise were both quite annoying, but the truck felt solid when the road was smooth. There wasn’t much in the way of twisty roads, but body roll for such a big vehicle seemed minor. There is one stretch of about 50 km where the potholes frequently send you weaving. The truck did not respond to quick requests as well as my Nissan has on that same stretch of road, but I managed to miss the worst of the holes and the few poor choices were not that punishing with the big tires and offroad suspension. It was often like a video game as we were dodging potholes while passing the small taxis and buses that couldn’t risk high speeds in those conditions. The frequent villages along the highway required constant speed changes that were mostly pleasantly accomplished simply with shifting; there is something satisfying about downshifting a noisy diesel engine. The engine noise was ever-present throughout the drive, but I actually enjoyed it. It reminded me of an old school bus so I was afraid I might just fall asleep like I did when I was a kid.
The highway was a bit of an experience in itself. We all had too much coffee for our 4:30 AM departure from Brazzaville so we were making frequent stops throughout the morning. There is no such thing as a rest area so you just look for a wide spot to pull over. Most of the drive was through the scrubby savannah so there wasn’t much privacy. Kris found enough bushes for her own relatively low level of modesty, but our companion and I have taken to the African way of just standing along the side of the road, the difference being that we don’t yet do that in the busy city of Brazzaville (which is normal). The roads are relatively untraveled so it was easy to look both ways and realize you had plenty of time.
Beyond the village of Etoumbi, after paying $20 to cross a bridge that was nothing more than a rusting floating barge with two ramps built on top, we left pavement behind. It was about 3 hours from there to our furthest destinations (6 roundtrip) and we drove easily another 6 in the area over the four days in the park so we spent a good 12 hours in conditions that ranged from bad dirt road to extreme trail. There is not much rockiness to the area so the main obstacles were severely eroded roads, huge jungle roots, mud pits, and sand. There is a natural bit of confidence that comes with driving the exact vehicle that everyone else is driving up there. When the ruts become deep and you are cruising at 50 km/hr, you don’t have to worry if you have enough ground clearance since the lack of a drag mark in the elevated middle tells you the ruts are not as deep as they look.
The most notable positive of the offroad experience is dampening. I never pack well enough and things like fishing rods are known for their ability to create constant annoying rattling noises. These Toyotas seem remarkably rattle free on washboard like conditions. Under such conditions, it also seems that everything they lack in directionally stability on paved roads completely vanishes.
There were plenty of tests of the off road abilities. I exceeded the articulation capability one time, as the touchdown clunk of the elevated wheel confirmed, but it didn’t seem like it was situation where keeping all four on the ground was likely. Through a few other similar real world tests, the vehicle remained well connected in what looked like extreme conditions to me. I am a complete chicken when it comes to tipping situations, but the vehicle is probably capable of much steeper side-inclines than we encountered even though I gasped a few times. The conditions at this time of year allowed us to use the tall skinny tires to contact a firm bottom in even the deepest of mud pits, some with water that came up to the bumpers. We have been told that lighter vehicles with wider tires do better when things are wetter. One water crossing did bring the water level up over the bumpers, probably a good 27 inches in depth.
One thing I really liked was having a diesel engine for offroading. The smooth delivery of torque at super low rpms kept me from switching to four low in conditions I would normally switch with my gas engine Nissan. I usually could just creep along in first gear, although the engine braking going downhill was not as much as the smoothness lead me to believe. I used four low a couple of times. There was one really steep eroded climb on the way back to one of the lodges that also turned to a scary descent on the way back out. There was one stretch of mud pits tucked between jungle roots that went on for probably a quarter mile where it was just more comfortable to creep through the constant jarring and rocking. There was one annoying thing at low rpm. When the air conditioner compressor would cycle, the engine rpms would bump up slightly. This happened on that scary descent and that momentary feeling of speed increasing, even slightly, was a bit discomforting. Knowing that, a driver could turn off the air conditioner, but it was the hot humid jungle out there.
I joked with Kris that the vehicle has all the finest technology of the 1960’s. The plastic interior is not much to look at. The sliding climate controls are quite familiar to anyone over 50. The 60/40 split front bench covered in vinyl was not uncomfortable, but not a form fitting bucket seat, either. For the passenger side, the seat did not recline enough to allow Kris much sleep. The truck does have power windows and locks, but no remote for the locks. The windshield wipers are either on or off. The sprayer for the windshield is completely independent; I sprayed to clear a bug at one point and all I did was completely block my vision until I realized I had to turn on the wipers. I really could have used cruise control, not because there were long stretches of continuous speed, but simply because fourteen hours is a long time to not move your right leg; I actually slid my left foot over to the gas pedal a couple times just for a few seconds of relief, even though that added some strange contortions to elevate my right leg over the transmission hump.
I am lukewarm on the drivetrain. The engine is not very powerful and required quite a bit of planning for passing maneuvers. The lack of a tachometer is an annoyance, especially when trying to learn a new vehicle. The five speed manual shifts far more like a big truck than a sports car, often costing noticeable momentum when shifting on climbs. Fifth gear seems a little low and I suspect I was nearly topped out at 135. The clutch is fine. It was getting a bit heavy in the huge traffic jam last night, but it was two hours of aggressive bumper to bumper. The transfer case has a strange feature, a pushbutton to switch between 2WD and 4 high. The old fashioned stick was there to change the ratio and that worked very nice, not even requiring a completely dead stop to switch. My Nissan has electronic switching for everything which is a pain, particularly when you want to quickly move between high and low ratios. I do not understand, though, why Toyota went half way. I really prefer the old manual stick for all changes in the transfer case. The manual locking hubs used to be a feature I would specify as I never trusted automatic hubs, but either I have gotten lazy or I consider it a mature technology as I now like having four wheel drive available without having to get out of the vehicle. For this trip, it wasn’t a problem as it really was a long on road drive that abruptly switched to a long off road drive.
The best feature of the vehicle really is the range. On the way up, the gas gauges between the two vehicles matched exactly and appeared quite linear. Every step of the way, my calculations were showing a range of over 1100 kilometers. We refueled in Etoumbi. We figured we would be good for the rest of the trip, but we did far more driving in the park than expected and the fuel economy is not good in such conditions. We were already well over a quarter tank down after probably 250 km of off road so we topped off in Etoumbi on the way back out. My calculations at that point put us close to making it back without refueling, but it was a good time to take a break after three hours of intense driving and it is better to be safe than sorry. With the traffic in Brazzaville, I am now certain we would have needed fuel before getting home. Still, it is amazing how far a tank of fuel can take you in this vehicle. While fuel economy approaching 20 mpg is not all that impressive when you factor in the higher energy content of diesel fuel, the last time I had a 35 gallon fuel capacity was in a vehicle that struggled to stay in the double digits in mpg. I wish more vehicles were built for range as living in remote places like here and Alaska have made fuel planning a bit of a chore on numerous trips.
I have lots of pictures and video to get through over the next few days. I will post some of them here. If you want to know more about the other amazing parts of the trip, primarily wildlife photography and fishing, I will be posting on my website (www.knapp.rinestock.com) in the coming days, as well.
After writing this, my internet connection died. During that time, I took the vehicle back to the embassy and picked up my Nissan. Wow, what a contrast. The Nissan feels so much more like a car. It provides a much more relaxed sitting position in a far more comfortable seat. The drive train feels downright civilized while being clearly more powerful. I really like my Nissan. I can’t imagine myself living in a situation where I would be wishing I could own a Toyota LandCruiser, but I can imagine living in a situation where another Xterra would make sense to me. Still, this trip will make me look at LandCruisers with a big smile in the future. It was really cool to be able to put one through its paces on a trip like this. Long after the tsetse fly bites have stopped itching, I am sure I will be contributing to its status as a legend.
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Walt,
Security concerns are real. In fact, our trip up there was partially to investigate the security situation in the village next to the park as a threat of violence from a machete wielding mob sent a few of the managers running last year. This event was really more about local economics combined with personalities that created tension. The managers who contributed to the personality issues are gone, but the locals with their personalities are still there and the economic challenges still exist. Luckily none of that would be directed at us.
We don't have the extremist groups of northern Africa, but there is a war going on in the neighboring country where the primary parties do differ in religion. This is complicated war that has little to do with the Islamic State, but you never know who might be hiding out in the jungle.
Another part of the security situation relates to elephant poaching. Terrorist groups are sometimes a part of that chain, using the profits to fund their activities. They are rarely the people on the ground as they can usually talk locals into killing elephants for pennies on the dollar for the ivory. Still, they help arm the locals with automatic weapons to make their work easier. Another big part of our trip was visiting the base of operations for the eco guards who go out into the bush to arrest poachers. Just visiting parks in Africa risks coming in contact with well-armed criminals, but this risk comes with the popular places as well, like South Africa or Tanzania.
So, yes, there is risk in venturing out in these places. We travel as diplomats which generally means hands-off to all but the worst of humans. I am not authorized to carry a weapon in this country, but that doesn't mean we don't have some contingencies in place for security. Your concern is appreciated, but unfortunately the risk is a reality of the lifestyle we have chosen. In reality, I felt no fear on this trip and the risk is probably no higher than many things people do in life. Coincidentally, a rare rioting event took place in Brazzaville while we were out of town because the country's soccer team lost to the country across the river. As a result, we were probably safer out in the jungle.
Security concerns are real. In fact, our trip up there was partially to investigate the security situation in the village next to the park as a threat of violence from a machete wielding mob sent a few of the managers running last year. This event was really more about local economics combined with personalities that created tension. The managers who contributed to the personality issues are gone, but the locals with their personalities are still there and the economic challenges still exist. Luckily none of that would be directed at us.
We don't have the extremist groups of northern Africa, but there is a war going on in the neighboring country where the primary parties do differ in religion. This is complicated war that has little to do with the Islamic State, but you never know who might be hiding out in the jungle.
Another part of the security situation relates to elephant poaching. Terrorist groups are sometimes a part of that chain, using the profits to fund their activities. They are rarely the people on the ground as they can usually talk locals into killing elephants for pennies on the dollar for the ivory. Still, they help arm the locals with automatic weapons to make their work easier. Another big part of our trip was visiting the base of operations for the eco guards who go out into the bush to arrest poachers. Just visiting parks in Africa risks coming in contact with well-armed criminals, but this risk comes with the popular places as well, like South Africa or Tanzania.
So, yes, there is risk in venturing out in these places. We travel as diplomats which generally means hands-off to all but the worst of humans. I am not authorized to carry a weapon in this country, but that doesn't mean we don't have some contingencies in place for security. Your concern is appreciated, but unfortunately the risk is a reality of the lifestyle we have chosen. In reality, I felt no fear on this trip and the risk is probably no higher than many things people do in life. Coincidentally, a rare rioting event took place in Brazzaville while we were out of town because the country's soccer team lost to the country across the river. As a result, we were probably safer out in the jungle.
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
This post was like reading an article from Road & Track! Nice! Reading about how
crude the Land Cruiser was, reminds me of our International 4900 truck at work.
No frills at all except power steering, air brakes and an air ride seat. I love that! It
is also pretty underpowered for what we do with it, and it causes you to shift and shift
and shift. 5 gears with a splitter rear end for Hi -Lo. Your left thigh is burning after
driving in traffic. Experiencing the crudeness that makes a vehicle never break down
really makes you appreciate modern amenities.
GM
crude the Land Cruiser was, reminds me of our International 4900 truck at work.
No frills at all except power steering, air brakes and an air ride seat. I love that! It
is also pretty underpowered for what we do with it, and it causes you to shift and shift
and shift. 5 gears with a splitter rear end for Hi -Lo. Your left thigh is burning after
driving in traffic. Experiencing the crudeness that makes a vehicle never break down
really makes you appreciate modern amenities.
GM
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
What a trip! Looking forward to pictures of the village of Etoumbi. 
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Tim, you are an excellent writer. I felt like I was riding shotgun with you on the trip. Send pictures & video. Your fans are waiting...
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
I haven't even looked at any of the video yet, but here are a couple of stills. Here is the vehicle while it was shiny and new, stopped at a rest area along the highway.
Here is the companion vehicle driving through some deep water.
Here is the companion vehicle driving through some deep water.
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
Here is one of the dirty truck after the trip in front of my house (yes, this is really what my house looks like from the street)
And the front view
This is another brand new one at the embassy. They managed to get one of the roof racks installed while we were on our trip. The roof rack has brackets for fuel cans and a spare tire.
And the front view
This is another brand new one at the embassy. They managed to get one of the roof racks installed while we were on our trip. The roof rack has brackets for fuel cans and a spare tire.
Re: Driving the classic Toyota Landcruiser across Africa
I've always thought that the "stack" air intake tube gets installed on trucks
like this one. I've seen machines blow up because they didn't have this provision
on them. I also find it interesting that the wheels are only 5 lug and not 6 or
even 8. Typically, a heavy duty vehicle ( or trailer ) will have more lugs with
such stout suspension. Interesting.
GM
like this one. I've seen machines blow up because they didn't have this provision
on them. I also find it interesting that the wheels are only 5 lug and not 6 or
even 8. Typically, a heavy duty vehicle ( or trailer ) will have more lugs with
such stout suspension. Interesting.
GM