I think that the 100 series Land Cruiser is one of the best 4wd vehicles ever built. The GX part time 4wd version is great.

It has the best compromise available of all time for off road capability, on road handling and executive luxury appeal. It is the only large 4wd vehicle that could be armoured without any modification to the chassis and still maintained quite good handling capabilities with only up rated brakes and suspension.

Organisations throughout the world bought them. The UN alone still has thousands of them scattered around the globe.

For the conditions found in developing countries, this fairly simply built and very reliable vehicle became an icon. Nicknamed in many countries for its status and appearance. In Uganda they call it the Balloon and in Sudan they call it Monica! Rounded and curvaceous it is. Some would even say sexy. Better than the 80 series, also an awesome vehicle.

The 200 Series

So what are these many organisations going to do when it’s time for new vehicles? Go for the 200 series?

If they are after “Bling,” then why not.  Good looking with loads of plastic spoiler to get spoilt and expensive to replace. Packed full of electronics, with fancy key entrance and related push button start.  Independent front suspension which in my opinion won’t last the harsh driving conditions let alone the harsh drivers found in lower income countries.

Picture being stuck in the middle of the Sahel with this vehicle failing to start? Or the electronic management system going down. A twin turbo V8 diesel.  Great if you want to nip down the Autobahn. But you don’t need that acceleration rate and speed knocking around most of sub Saharan Africa unless you want to end up on your roof. The 1HZ is a great engine even though doing the valve clearances are beyond the capabilities of most workshops. It has some low down grunt, not the whiz bang wheel spin ability of the V8.

What were they thinking?

For the life of me I cannot fathom the reasoning behind the decision to end the 100 series. The 76 series 5 door doesn’t come any where near replacing it.

So what have Toyota been doing over the past few years or so?  Produced a new Hilux that doesn’t come up to the mark.  Got rid of the old model Hilux which even with independent front suspension (one of the best of the rigid front suspension systems out there) had a fairly good off road capability and reliability. And drove well on unsealed roads as long as you banged it into H4.

Made the 5 door boxy station wagon 76 series.  This will appeal to the NGO and maybe UN market. I don’t like it. It reminds me of that horrible Land Cruiser II that they had back in the early 90s. Gone the rugged 75 series.  But there’s the 78 series now you say. Still it’s not as popular as the 75.  Those front coil springs aren’t really up to the job if you ask me. If you are going to coil a vehicle, do it all round with decent springs that don’t knock the bump stops out within a short time.  At least Land Rover got that one right!

What’s the Alternative Now?

So enter Nissan.  I predict that they will probably take over the developing country, NGO and UN market in the relatively near future.  They already have with peace keeping missions for instance.

The new Nissan Patrol GX model in station wagon and pick up models is not bad at all.  I did a comparison for a client between the Patrol GX and the 100 series GX and the Toyota model just came out in front on drivability and service back up in most of sub Saharan Africa.  But if I had to do the same now the Patrol would be streets ahead for simplicity reasons alone. You can still do the valve clearances with a spanner, screw driver and a set of feeler gauges.  And the fuel system can take some abuse from poor quality fuel. I’m not sure that this will be so with the 200. It has a simple, strong and fairly flexible live axle beam suspension system front and rear that can and does deal with the rigors of driving in harsh areas. It also has a fairly good off road capability with LSD fitted in the rear axle.

Also, they can supply a rugged, simple double cabin pick up that comes with a rear diff lock as standard. The J83 model. This vehicle drives well and is simple to maintain. It just don’t look as nice as the Hilux. No Bling!!

Both of these models are ideal for field work in harsh environments with Patrol giving that executive appeal as well.  But then some organisations are governed by policy. For instance one organisation I was speaking to recently will only buy vehicles that have ABS and SRS for safety reasons. Both the Nissan models I have been harping on about may not come with those systems fitted as standard but a driver can be taught to carry out an emergency braking technique that can equal and if not better ABS on unsealed roads. And if a driver is taught and practices correct defensive driving techniques he/she stands a better chance of not needing SRS which once deploys in a remote field setting may be difficult to reset!

Conclusion

I have to thank my dear departed Dad for the title. He gave me two bits of engineering advice before I left home to join up. 1) is the title and 2) is “tight is tight too tight is broke”. Use a torque wrench. This is one that definitely applies to my neck of the woods. After joining up I came across the KISS principle which to this day I still try to follow.

Come on Toyota there’s a huge market for simple 4wd vehicles in the developing world why make it more complicated than it should or has to be?

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Q: I have question about our Toyota Hiace: The Toyota started to overheat – I was told this happened because the water pump was leaking. In the end, not a cheap repair as the engine head developed a crack. Could this problem have been prevented if the driver was paying attention to the temp gauge?

A: Good to hear from you. Sad to hear of your troubles.

The leakage in the water pump can cause this problem if it goes unnoticed; this leads to a loss of coolant which then leads to an over heating problem. When an engine overheats it can cause cracking but the most common cause of cracking the head is pouring water on it when it’s red hot!

The problem was avoidable if the vehicle had correct pre driving inspections done to it and if the driver monitored the gauge. Saying that, if the thermostat had been taken out of the cooling system then the gauge could still read ok when the back end of the cylinder head gets hot.

Water pumps generally last quite a long time if coolant is run in the cooling system and the drive belt isn’t too tight. These are 2 common problems which occur in this region. So, run coolant, drive belt at the right tension, thermostat in place, correct pre driving inspections.

Cheers,
Mick

When talking of the double cab pick up (dcpu), most of us in this region automatically think of the Toyota Hilux. The first 4×4 double cab version was made available in South Africa in 1984. I’m sure that any 4×4 enthusiast remembers the original leaf sprung model. Its robust reliability spoke for itself. It was a good, strong, simple vehicle. This made it popular with UN and other humanitarian organisations and commercial enterprise. This is the model that the gang on Top Gear tried to kill through various different methods.

It produced a great compromise between a passenger vehicle and a pick up. It became an icon and the most popular choice of bakkie (Afrikaans) in South Africa to the Ute (Utility) in Australia.

It had a tendency to roll over if driven badly and was wrongly blamed for many a death/injury of UN agency and humanitarian staff. In my opinion the vehicle behaved well when driven on unsealed roads correctly.

Rumour has it that Toyota changed the front suspension design to independent after a threat from the UN that it would stop purchasing their vehicles if they did not make them less likely to roll over. Although I would like to think that was true, I think it’s one of those myths that go around. Anyway, the commercial sector has so much more purchasing power than the UN.

The change in design did make the Hilux easier to drive but did have an effect on it’s off-road capability and robustness. The vehicle handled brilliantly on unsealed roads with H4 engaged. This took away the chances of the empty back end swinging around on rough and corrugated roads. Cornering was now a pleasure. There was no over-steer or under-steer to worry about, it was fairly neutral. You felt safe in it as long as you didn’t go too fast of course.

The 4wd Manufacturers

This great compromise led to the majority of 4wd manufacturers coming up with their own versions. All pitting for the same market. Trying to outsell each other with different features. Great for the consumer. But which one to buy has now become something of a debate. Everyone seems to have an opinion on which one is the best. Including me.

Land Rover even came up with one. It was dubbed the Tomb Raider after the one that was used in the film. It didn’t have much success though as with the majority of the Land Rover range these days. It seemed that after decades of development (or not) they still couldn’t make one that didn’t leak and cats could not still escape from when locked inside.

Anyway, the Japanese (purveyors of reliable vehicles with little personality) cornered the market again. Ford has had a pretty good bash at making one with the Ranger but it still is not as popular as its Asian cousin.

So, enter the new Hilux and its fight to keep supremacy in an ever increasingly competitive market. Well, in my view they made a bit of a hash of it. Yes, the low centre of gravity makes it less susceptible to roll over but it lost a lot of its off road capability. In some areas it’s being offered with a lockable rear differential to compensate for this. Also, as with the majority of other double cabin pick ups, it under steers.

Over-steer /Under-steer

With my job I get to drive the majority of 4wd vehicles that are on the market in this region and we do put them through a fairly stringent test as the drivers have to understand the limitations of their own particular vehicles. One of the exercises we do on our High range course, for example, is the slalom (weaving in and out of traffic cones). This doesn’t sound like much fun but come along and do it and you won’t want to stop.

We slowly increase the speed at which the exercise is done and we get to a point where for one reason or another, the driver doesn’t make it through the exercise. One the main factors for the DCPUs not making it are under-steer.

• Under-steer is when the front tyres use up all available traction to steer the vehicle and doesn’t respond to driver steering input.
• Over-steer is when the rear wheels lose all available traction and the back of the vehicle starts to drift to the outside of the corner.

Now, under steer is built into a vehicle as it’s deemed to be easier to control than over steer. All you have to do is decelerate rather than counter steer as well. But why make it under steer so early? I can understand that if you are driving on a tarmac road (have adhesion going on) with all your lane to play with then under steer would be easier to correct. But in this region where 80% of roads are unsealed (no adhesion) which are narrow and lined with, at times, severely negatively cambered shoulders; having a vehicle that under steers early may lead hitting that negative camber before having a chance to decelerate leading to disastrous consequences.

The under steer is there whether the vehicle is in H2 or H4.  Although in my view it’s more apparent in H4 which is a shame as H4 is supposed to give the driver more control in circumstances like this!

It’s a sad day when I can take my old high center of gravity Defender through the slalom at the same speed and not lose control but this is what we get with the majority of DCPUs.

So, which one is the best these days (2009)?

Before I give my opinion let me say that I have been doing some promotional work along side the Nissan dealer here in Uganda and it is having no bearing on my opinion.

• Toyota Hilux – under steers
• Mitsubishi L200 – under steers.
• Ford Ranger – under steers.
• Nissan Hard body J86 – under steers.
• Nissan Navara  – under steers.
• Nissan hard body J83 – great.

There are some that I haven’t mentioned (Wingle Great Wall, I’m not going there!); but I just wanted to cover the most popular ones.  Is it a coincidence that all the under steers are turbo charged engines and have fairly wide tyres (read less tread focus when driving on unsealed roads)?

In my view the J83 model goes back to simplicity, which for this driving environment is ideal. No electric windows or central locking to fail in the field. No flimsy plastic to vibrate loose. A good, reliable normally aspirated diesel engine that still gives adequate performance and relatively good economy. It handles well on and off the tarmac. It has a lockable rear differential to compensate for its lack of off road capability.

But it still is not as popular as it should be and the answer to that it has no bling value. Along side its J86 sister and the Hilux it looks pretty mundane, no personality whatsoever. But if I had to get more bang for my buck and want a simple vehicle for light duty field work this would be my vehicle of choice.