LandCruiser Ute, why no 4 door?

[Lachie1]

The hilux's have become a lot softer in recent years, so has nearly every other vehicle manufacturers alternative... However the $30k - $40k + (lets face it - it's toyota and they can charge what they want) difference in price that would be between a dual cab hilux and a 4 door cruiser ute would be too much too justify for most mines/contractors etc. Yes these guys actually have budgets and alot of them wont pay the extra to have them thrashed by workers.

The only way they will get a better lifespan out of vehicles is change drivers attitudes. Probably not going to happen. Not when no one is looking anyway "It's not their own vehicle - it's a mining company's vehicle so they can drive it however they want and the rich mining company will just fix it up" Prove that attitude doesn't exist

Mining companies aren't gonna buy cars with "nice" interiors either - coal dust and a lack of tlc does amazing things

I wouldn't say you're stuffed if you're a tradie with kids and a big boat, plenty of people i know in that situation and plenty of different options. The tray size of a dual cab ute is never really big enough to put all your tools in anyway - even with the larger tray most always end up with a trailer.

Thats what i reckon anyway lol

[Lovey80]

Lachie, they are currently buying dual cabs with "nice" interiors that are buckets of crap meant for the hard top and the occaisional beach run. I somehow doubt a decent interior is going to ward them off buying a more robust dual cab ute.

A mate of mine is a plasterer. Had a very nice 4.2L Patrol ute and loved it. Spent heaps of dollars on it to get it how he liked it. Then a baby came along and he had to sell. He went to a Triton. First trip up to the gulf towing a tinny and a bit of gear and this was the result.

[MyWay]

heres the article i read
jim

i drove one of this last year in Europe for very short time and
I did not like it , could be something to do with steering on wrong side
and my cousin say: he wish he did not sale the patrol

[Lachie1]

haha that is f&cked! Who knows if a hilux would do the same thing though? Thats the kind of point i was trying to make earlier about the companies out in the desert that bought a heap of other brands then went back to toyotas. Land cruisers aren't as tough as everone thinks either, although they are slightly stronger than the hilux's.

Mine sites have low speed limits and decent enough roads and all that sort of stuff its what people do to the vehicles moreso in their own time and so on which causes the damage..

A fair few companies bought the 70 series wagon as crew cars etc. Horrible to drive and more primitive than an early 80's hilux. They are slightly stronger underneath but that is mainly due to their clearance. The fact is that if there was a better alternative it would be as widespread as the hilux is now.

[trueblue]

The hilux's have become a lot softer in recent years, so has nearly every other vehicle manufacturers alternative... However the $30k - $40k + (lets face it - it's toyota and they can charge what they want) difference in price that would be between a dual cab hilux and a 4 door cruiser ute would be too much too justify for most mines/contractors etc. Yes these guys actually have budgets and alot of them wont pay the extra to have them thrashed by workers.

The only way they will get a better lifespan out of vehicles is change drivers attitudes. Probably not going to happen. Not when no one is looking anyway "It's not their own vehicle - it's a mining company's vehicle so they can drive it however they want and the rich mining company will just fix it up" Prove that attitude doesn't exist

Mining companies aren't gonna buy cars with "nice" interiors either - coal dust and a lack of tlc does amazing things


Thats what i reckon anyway lol

You might be surprised what mines would pay for. (and there is a lot more to mining than coal where it is just a pitwagon.

4 door ute as suggested would get more passengers to where they need to go in one vehicle instead of 2, and wouldn't cost as much as 2 vehicles. (We had time and time again where we would use 2 utes where we could have taken one bigger vehicle) and driving any distance in a troopy was crap, and then you had to try and cram your gear in the back with extra passengers

and a mine vehicle is just a consumeable item, used till no good then replaced. Thats just how it is.

[Lachie1]

4 door ute as suggested would get more passengers to where they need to go in one vehicle instead of 2, and wouldn't cost as much as 2 vehicles. (We had time and time again where we would use 2 utes where we could have taken one bigger vehicle) and driving any distance in a troopy was crap, and then you had to try and cram your gear in the back with extra passengers

and a mine vehicle is just a consumeable item, used till no good then replaced. Thats just how it is.

A) Thats why Toyota released the 70 series wagon is it not? Works well for the companies too.

B) And being a semi consumeable item is while i reckon most of them will stick with hiluxs as most people are pretty happy with the shit they cope with compared to whats around and for the price.

Just going on my experiences though, good to hear what others reckon

[rooboy98]

Lovey80, mate I get where you are coming from.

I have just bought another 105 series Cruiser. I really wanted a dual cab this time round but after test driving a few of them (after owning my last Cruiser for 8 years), I couldn't do it and bought another cruiser wagon. I have bought this one to possibly convert to a dual cab in the future.

Give me dual fuel tanks, live axle suspension, a vinyl interior, 4 wheel disc brakes and enough room inside to seat 5 adults comfortably any day of week.

Why Toyota didn't put together a full size dual cab ute together with the turbo 4.2 litre donk is still beyond me. They would still sell, just like the wagons always have, despite their price.

Cheers,
Roo.

[Dan5]

Pricing is not the issue for mining companys.......The Granites gold mine bought 30 0dd 105 series cruisers back in 07 and had all of them chopped into D/C utes.

As far as the newer 76 series 4 doors......well other countrys have had them for years.....I was recently in Timor for work and the place is full of 75 series 4 door troopy's with the old 1hz donk in em.
I dunno why we never had these models in Australia.......Toyota does what it want's to i suppose we're not really a market leader thats for sure......There's heaps of variant toyota 4by's that we don't get,in PNG last year i saw a new 70 series short wheel base with the V8,but all of their new 70 series variants don't have turbo/intercooler same with the hilux it's a d4D but no turbo.....go figure.

Dan

[STUIE63]

some of the mines are using these . don't know if they are registerable though
http://www.kowari.com.au/mine-vehicles-trucks.html
they started life building bull catchers out of old toyotas and found a niche in the market
Stuie

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Back to the original question.

The reason is that if you take the back end off a Land Cruiser but make it capable of carrying 5 adults it will probably be over-weight on the front axle. Toyota will tell you that they have a HiLux that will do the same job - but they don't really know what the job is.

Same goes for Land-Rover. The Defender 130 is possibly the best boat tractor and LWB off road vehicle in the world but nobody can live with the cab unless you are a deformed dwarf (no offense to all the deformed dwarfs out there).

If Land-Rover fitted a crew cab version of the Discovery 2 body to the 130 chassis it would sell like hotcakes. It was a product development project back in the late 1980's. Now that Land Rover is owned by the Indians it might happen, but it is more likely that they will find ways to put chrome highlights on the Defender. We will be impressed ... Yes? ERR - NO.

Regards,

White Pointer

[Lovey80]

Lovey80, mate I get where you are coming from.

I have just bought another 105 series Cruiser. I really wanted a dual cab this time round but after test driving a few of them (after owning my last Cruiser for 8 years), I couldn't do it and bought another cruiser wagon. I have bought this one to possibly convert to a dual cab in the future.

Give me dual fuel tanks, live axle suspension, a vinyl interior, 4 wheel disc brakes and enough room inside to seat 5 adults comfortably any day of week.

Why Toyota didn't put together a full size dual cab ute together with the turbo 4.2 litre donk is still beyond me. They would still sell, just like the wagons always have, despite their price.

Cheers,
Roo.

Thats exactly my point. Add all the offroad features like LSD's and they would be a serious off road option that has pleanty of towing capacity and load. They would certainly compete with all of the current soft roaders if they had a decent dash and seats also.

[Lovey80]

Stuie that is the ugliest truck i have ever seen, no wonder they are just for the mines.

[STUIE63]

but built tough

[TheRealAndy]

For me, a dual cab ute is great. I can throw all my tools and dirty crap in the back when working on the boat in the hardstand. I can throw eskies and fish bait and other wet and stinky things in the tray when I go camping. I can put 3 people in the car when I do my fishing trips. I can put my clothes and waeco in the back seat and other shit I dont want stolen when I go solo.

The only problem is, try towing a 2.5t boat any decent distance with a 2.5l turbo diesel. yup, they do it but they rev their ring off when evey you go up the slightest incline and surely that cant be good for the engine or the feul economy.

So step up into the 3l dual cabs and all of a sudden you no longer get the cab space you get in the hilux and navara, because for some reason they think only migits and kids will sit in the back

Now how good would it be to get a larger 4l diesel dual cab you can do all that in and tow a decent size boat with, plus get a decent size feul tank or two and still have room for a second battery under the bonnet. It would tick all the boxes for me.

If toyota had a dual cab cruiser I would place an order tomorrow.

[Lovey80]

We are on the same page Andy, I think I would buy one too. While a 3L dual cab will tow my large boat to the ramp just fine I wouldn't want to tow it long distances. Then when I want to hook up the webster/camper and spend a month up in the gulf or cape or where ever, a wagon doesn't have enough room or extra weight that supporting such a trip is needed.

A large dual cab would suit me perfectly. I don't think the F150 even comes in a diesel.