Hi, I am in the market to purchase an 80's model BJ40 as a daily driver and my main considerations are reliability, low maintenance and fuel economy (the fuel economy would be relative to my previous truck, a '97 LC80 with 4.5L petrol engine which was hardly giving me 4 km/l in the city running A/T 33s).
I have found 40 I like and it's got a 1uz-fe with 33" M/T tyres and auto transmission. My questions:
1) what kind of mileage can I expect from the 1UZ-fe in this lightweight jeep. I am expecting 6 km/l for in city with the A/C on (which though not significantly better is still 50% better than my petrol 80)
2) the 1UZ-fe is not a jeep engine, would I face any issues touring and offroading? most of my travelling will be in the northern areas
3) the car doesn't have a catalytic converter at the moment; does installing one significantly improve fuel economy with this engine? should it be installed?
4) if I want to further improve fuel economy, what engine options do I have that I can exchange the 1UZ-FE (roughly in the same price range preferably) - I was considering the 5vz2 as it's reliable and I've heard it can give upto 8-9kmpl?
5) the jeep has stock suspension (leaf + shocks) & drum breaks. i have been advised to change to disc brakes. should the suspension be changed from leaf to spring/coil suspension sourced from a prado (have seen this done with many 40s and apparently it really improves the drive). i have been quoted 200k for this covnersion.
Any help to these queries from experienced members would be amazing!
thanking you in advance,
W.
