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Project LXXIV - 1988 BJ74 Land Cruiser Build

theferg

theferg

DD for Life
Location
Southern Utah
And back to LXXIV, was super fun hanging out and working on this thing. Pretty damn clean and I always love the Cruiser Outfitters style of outfitting a rig. I'm really working hard to get me one of these bad boys.
 
cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
chans said:
So when these rigs get a certain age they can be imported into the US? Just curious, can you register them for the road by getting a waiver for I/M or do you need to make them OHV?
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Yes, 25 years is when the EPA exempts them from being a type certified motor in the US. Any earlier than that and they would need to be both EPA and DOT approved which in short isn't happening. These do have to be DOT compliant and pass any applicable state and local safety and emissions rules. Mine have all had zero issues with safety and obviously diesels don't need a sniffer test in SL County :cool:
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Hey Steve, I know it's pretty roundeye and not very JDM of me to ask, but can you guys import any LHD diesel cruisers? Please say no so I'm not tempted. I realize japanese ones are RHD, but do you guys ever import from south america or other places with LHD? I'm not cool enough for RHD.
 
cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
LHD models are tough to find, not that they don't exist as they were imported as close to home as Canada in the mid-80's. However the markets that did use LHD, are those that use and abuse the Cruisers as the workhorses they are and thus after 25 years, they chances of finding clean bodies are pretty rare in those area. That said, we are always shopping the globe for those that meet the criteria for import.
 
theferg

theferg

DD for Life
Location
Southern Utah
There is a long-time Cruiser purist/importer/know-it-all/old-crotchety-bastard on IH8MUD that has stated several times that there is no such thing as a LHD BJ74. Though a handful of them surfaced in France or somewhere. They (LHD BJ74s) do seem to be pretty damn rare. A LHD diesel 70 hardtop on the other hand (or a gasser 70 hardtop) can be found a lot easier.

I used to be hung up on the RHD thing myself but after a couple drives around town, I became super comfortable and think its NBD.

And if you really are stuck on the RHD thing, that 70 Kurt just posted up there is a freaking bad ass machine....
 
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spencurai

spencurai

Purple Burglar Alarm
Location
WVC,UT
The RHD is not a big deal...I got used to shifting after about 30 seconds. The hardest part really is the turn signals because they're on the other side of the steering column. RHD would not keep me from buying one which will probably happen later this year!
 
cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
Where to begin? Our build night was an absolute success. While I had planned to be working through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, we took it for a post build voyage just after 11PM with 6 gents crammed into the rig. :D

I'll try and document each major component of the build, the truth is I was literally just bouncing back and forth finding nuts/bolts and looking up torque specs while my crew did the grunt of the work :cool:

Step one was the front suspension. We quickly broke the lug nuts free and had the front end on jack-stands while the front bumper crew started test fitting the bumper and sourcing hardware for the bumper brackets. James at ExpeditionOne literally built this bumper in a two-week period and it is still a working prototype they don't have instructions or hardware kits set up quite yet, no biggie we had it covered.

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Bumper getting test fitted by committee

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ExpeditionOne Bumper ready for install

While they were working out the brackets, the suspension was getting installed. Full OME package in the front, Emu Dakar leafs, Nitrocharger Sport Shock, anti-inversion greasable shackles and pins, u-bolts and the steering damper.

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Old Man Emu suspension complete, new tires and wheels installed

All finished with the front for the night :cool:

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Matt inspecting the finished product, QC.
 
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