When it comes to serious off-roading, it’s hard to go past a Toyota Landcruiser 80 series, especially the fully optioned Japanese imports – there’s a reason you’ll see so many still on the tracks 30-plus years since they rolled out of the factory.
Yes they are ridiculously solid but time touches everything. Three things that will eventually happen are peeling clear coat, a crack in the chassis near the steering box, and a failure in the centre diff lock switch.
A wrap or a repaint are the only remedies to the first of these. Or you can just ignore it – if you leave a layer of dust on the truck it’s not so noticeable.
You can’t ignore the inevitable crack in the chassis but a certified weld will fix this forever.
The first time the centre diff lock on my 1996 LC80 caused issues was when it wouldn’t disengage after four days in low-range in the Clarence Valley, inland from Kaikōura. To get home to Christchurch without damaging the transmission, I removed the front driveshaft and turned 4WD to 2WD. My mechanic quoted $1800 for an OEM centre diff lock switch. I opted for the cheaper ‘good clean’.
About 18 months later, the switch failed the other way, not engaging when it should have. I was cast in a West Coast waterhole, unable to get sufficient drive to the front wheels while the rear wheels sent up rooster tails.
Time to bite the bullet and spend that $1800 on a new switch. Problem was, Toyota had meanwhile declared the part obsolete and no longer available. That meant finding a second-hand one or getting my one rebuilt. Neither option addressed the part’s fundamental flaw.
That’s when I heard about a solution that Nathan Hammond at KRAE 4X4 in Kaiapoi had been working on. It involved pairing a small ARB compressor under the bonnet with a custom air-powered switch on the transmission in the place of the factory electronic switch.
One of the perils of being an early adopter is that you can also be a beta tester. So yes, I identified a couple of issues. Finding a home for the compressor means relocating the starter relay. Make sure this is upright in its new position, so any water that gets into it can drain out. How I identified that issue is a whole other blog.
One day I will get a transmission cooler fitted to the truck. In the meantime, it can run pretty hot under the bonnet on a big climb. So hot that the tubing running air from the compressor got soft and popped (it was a very big climb). The remedy was a heavier grade of tubing – problem solved.
Since the teething issues were sorted, I have had over a year of listening to the reassuring ‘fart’ sound that the compressor makes as it tops up the pressure to the centre diff lock. And of watching the diff lock indicator light on the dash go out after the air is turned off. Meanwhile, I know fellow owners of mid 1990s Toyotas – LC80s, Prados and Surfs – who end every trip hoping their electronic switch will do the same. Peace of mind is a wonderful thing, especially when you are a long way from home.
‘Fart’ switch a fix for Toyota LC80’s failed centre diff lock
