Manny's 30 Hour - 3000km Cruiser Oddity...

[Mad Manny]

Manny's 30 Hour - 3000km Cruiser Oddity...
Introduction:
A mate of mine bought a 2013 Land Cruiser 79 Double Cab from a dealer in Cape Town.

He is NOT an Off-Roader, but enjoys Overlanding, he also is NOT a Cruiser type.
In fact his current ride was a Lexus RX350. He hasn't even owned a stick-shift vehicle for many years...

He asked for my views on the one he found (thanks Grips for your assistance) it looked like a solid deal.

So he sold the Lexus (like with all Luxo-Barges he took a bath on resale) & bought it.

The Cruiser:
2013 Land Cruiser 79 Double Cab V6 4.0 with 219 000km in immaculate condition with everything.
And I mean everything:
Full Adjustable Wild Dog suspension (Shocks, Leafs, Coils, the works)
A Lift (you jump down out of it).
Bull Bar
Winch.
HID Spots
LED Headlamps (in fact all globes are LED).
Rear Bumper with Spare Wheel Carrier & Jerry Can holder.
Full Rubber mats
Rubber dash protector with detachable leather pouches.
Leather hand gun pounches at seats.
5" Radio screen with everything.
Large Consul Fridge (works well)
Drawer system with Fridge slide.
Etc.

In fact, all it needs is:
12v power system.
Fridge
Solar charging.

[Mad Manny]

Manny's 30 Hour - 3000km Cruiser Oddity...
The Collection Oddity:
So he needed to collect it.

He asked if I'd come with & I agreed.

So on Friday morning AlleyG collected me & took me to Lanseria Airport. (Thanks Alley!)
Alley dropped me off at 11:00 & so began my 30 hour 3000km Oddity.

I flew to CT (my 1st flight in 10 years - I'd forgotten how uncomfortable flying in Cattle Class is.).
I pre-booked a seat RIGHT at the back. We landed at 14:08 & I was 3rd off the plane.
The only reason I wasn't first is I didn't know where to go & needed guys to follow.

At 14:20 I met my mate (Roo) @ Pick Up (P2) & at 14:30 we headed out.

Why the Rush?:
Roo had to be back home in JHB on SATURDAY night for a dinner he was hosting.
On Sunday he had to collect his elderly mother for Father's Day for a family Fathers Day, he was also hosting.
On Monday he was heading to his sister in Magoebaskloof to drop his mom @ his sisters then taking his son to KNP in the Cruiser.

So, with his schedule being so full, we had no choice but to haul butt back to JHB.

[Mad Manny]

Manny's 30 Hour - 3000km Cruiser Oddity...
The Trip Home: Friday
We stormed out of Cape Town international & headed north on the N1.

Side Note: The Western Cape really is looking lovely, clean & well maintained.
Clearly a well run province.

We hit a bit of traffic, they are doing a lot of maintenance in the WC.

We then hit heavy traffic at the toll gate at the Huguenot Tunnel.
It always amazes that people get to the Toll Booth then realise they need to scratch around for money!!!

The Hex river valley was stunning - I've forgotten how lovely it is.

We decided to overnight in Prince Albert. It must be a beautiful town, but we arrived in the dark.

We checked in, went for a very nice Steak & a really great bottle of Red & then to bed.

The Trip Home: Saturday
Saturday I got up at 04:45 & got ready. Thanks to the wooden floors I knew Roo was up too.
We fired the Cruiser up at 06:00 & headed, Via the N12 to Beautiful Beaufort Wes.
Pity we didn't have Theuns Jordaan on our playlist.
The sunrise was stunning.

We stopped for fuel (18.33L/100km 5.45km/L - but Roo was driving Hammer & Tongs on Friday.).
Saturday was to be little different - he kept pushing the pace..

In Colesburg I took the wheel & drove to Bloem.
Roo likes using Ultra City stops, I prefer One Stops...

En route I went through the service book, seems it started life in the Heidelburg Nigel area as a Company vehicle for acompany making Transformers.
They serviced it to 80 000km at Toyota.
It was then sold to a guy in Rustenburg who then stopped getting the services stamped - probably a farmer.
It then moved to it's 3rd owner in the Western Cape, Malmsbury area.
He is the guy who fitted all the extras & pimped it.
He then had a knee replacement op & could no longer drive a stick shift.
He traded it on a Cruiser 200 2 months ago.

I found a strange device in the Cubby & sent a pic to a few guys (see below).
Bugjuc & Douw replied saying it was a TPMS display.
I Solar charged it for a few hours & got it working after a few hours.
It showed the rear left at 2,5 & the other 3 tyres at 1.7/1,8. Perhaps it was faulty as...
...I had told Roo to pump the tyres on collection, but he hadn't.
We checked the tyres in Colesburg & the TPMS was correct, So we pumped to 2.4bar.
I took the wheel & it felt better.
Roo confirmed this when he took over again in Bloem.

The Cruiser has ample power & thanks to the Tough Dog set up & 285/70 R17 tyres, its very comfortable.
But you do need to keep a firm grip on the steering due to the height & the muds,
The Grip Max muds are NOT quiet!

At Bloem Roo took the wheel again - I kept to a true 120, but I think Roo felt I wasn't hammering it enough.

Roo wanted to be home, in Parkview, at 17:00, but we only got to my house at 17:15.
I unpacked my stuff & finally had a look around the vehicle.
We opened the back & checked out his drawer system & saw that the previous owner had removed the battery & 12v system.
Here are a few pics of the TPMS & the Cruiser...

The TPMS Display - before I knew what the hell it was!:





The Cruiser at the Ultra City in Bloem:





The 10-Leaf Tough Dog rear suspension:

[Mad Manny]

Manny's 30 Hour - 3000km Cruiser Oddity...
One last Anecdote:
When I got to the Cruiser at the airport, I asked Roo how his day had gone.
He had flown down at 06:00 & landed at 08:30.
The dealership had collected him & taken him back to do all the paperwork.

All he had to do then was fill up (& pump tyres which he didn't) & fetch me.

I had estimated that he must have had two or three hours to kill waiting for my flight.
So I asked him if he'd found something to do to fill the empty hours...

The Fokker had gone to Van Rhyns for a Brandy tasting!!!

[Bugger]

Well you see

Brandy makes you
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Late

[Trolly Fan]

So tell us,

Having done a long haul, how does the comfort compare to your old trusty Fearless?

[AndreasR]

Sorry you had ro go through that ordeal. Flying cattle class and then hopping into a 79 Cruiser for a long trip must have been hell. Give me a shout if you need a good chiropractor.

[Mad Manny]

Trolly Fan, it is NOT a high speed long distance tar toad traveler.
As I said to Roo, we did a trip that is exactly what the Cruiser was not designed to do.
Not it's ideal environment.

But, it did very well, was very comfy for a passenger, driving is easy, but at the speeds we were doing with the lift and muds, you need to hold the wheel.
The drivers mirror was loose and dropped once you got close to 120kmph, that was more of an irritation than anything else.
That V6 4.0 with a straight pipe has plenty grunt.

Comfort was not an issue.

That plane flight was uncomfortable...

[Douw]

Was the suspension hard or with that upgrade a soft ride ?

[Mad Manny]

Douw, we drove on smooth tar. It was very comfortable. There were a few speed bumps and it went over therm like it had independant suspension.
But we were largely unladen.
Might be different with 2 additional passengers and a few hundred kilograms in the back.
I can't comment on what it must be like on bad dirt roads or Off Road.

Roo is in KNP next week, I'll get feedback from him

[Dirk Schubert]

Nice report and have a good rest now. That is a long haul.
I did that in one day in my Syncro but I was a lot younger then and only got home by about 10pm.
Jhb-CT in two days now, no matter in the vehicle...

[HenriSteyn]

Manny made typo!
Manny made typo!
Under "The Cruiser" heading, the Cruiser gained 10 years of youth!
Other than that, thanks for the story/trip report. Well written.

[grips]

Some useless comments. I bet that there were no caster correction done after the lift. The reason why you need to grip the steering wheel.
Also 285 / 70 /17 inch tyres are not ideal on the v6 and will hurt consumption. Best is to stay with the OEM 265/75/16.

Glad you survived to tell the story after a 1500km trip in a 70 Series Cruiser.

Last note. The 79 is better on dirt roads than on tar

[HenriSteyn]

A bit off topic:
How did you land up at Prince Albert for a night stopover?
That is quite a way off the N1 beaten track.

[Mad Manny]

Manny made typo!
Manny made typo!
Under "The Cruiser" heading, the Cruiser gained 10 years of youth!
Other than that, thanks for the story/trip report. Well written.

Phuck. OK I Phixed it...