You can buy them with the diesel already in them from Canadia.  They are old enough to be importable.  Lots of BJ60s on craigslist Vancouver, BC.

The FJ62 was my contending choice to the RRC when I bought it. I had at the time a 1980 Scout Traveler with the Nissan 3.0L turbo diesel, a T-18 4sp, Dana 300 transfer case, and Dana44 axles front and rear. Why did I sell that rig I will never know, exactly. I would love to have it back.

FJ62 vs. RRC:

- 4 leaf springs vs. 4 coils. they ride rough'r 'n all getout. about like my Scout did.
- huge tail, worse than the rangie - departure angle is poor. that's why you see so many on 35's.
- built like a tank. no change to RRC
- cabin isn't as well sealed.

Other than those little niggles, they're awesome trucks. Not sure about the availability of the diesel. All the US trucks were petrol I believe ... it should say in this link:

http://rustybrain.com/cruisers/faq.txt
 

edit:  missed Craig's post.  Wish that were true for LR's.   Diesel lightweight ... :drool:  the only one I've seen was left to remain registered in Vancouver.  Such a sweet little truck.

Darn it all.  I could have sold you my Taco Todd.  But it may have been a little more than you wanted to spend.

The D/C Taco's fetch high prices around here.  As long as you're patient one will pop.  I wanted one but after I sold my truck I was kind of in a hurry to find a replacement  '01-04 D/C  and settled for a 4runner Limited.  01- 04Taco D/C TRD's with 100k+ were going for $14-17k, too much if you ask me.  I bought a '99 4Runner with the center and rear diff locks for $10,000.  I'll make it work for the $4-5k savings!

I am going to agree with Larry and repost the Adventure Trailers bed conversion. An alternative to their off the shelf conversion is to build it yourself which is straightforward. I like the boxed frame of the Nissan vehicles as it is superior but lots of peeps have boxed the frame closed on Toyotas.

Mmm, Toyota. My build is similar to your's, Todd. I thought it would be cool to mount a bike rack and RTT on top of a tonneau cover. Put some rams or linear actuators under the cover for easy opening and have a pull out slide underneath with bed contents, including the spare. That would be so nice.

A

I've seen pics of this truck before and I've come to hate it even more the second time around.  In fact I hate everything about it and I hate what it represents.  It looks like somebody's wet dream of a Matchbox car come to life.    The jerry can holder on the side is pretty silly.  Side impact, anyone?   How much weight has been added by adding the trailer on top of the frame?  Seeing the truck's frame below it is not only fugly but they've also moved the center of gravity considerably higher than stock.  What is going on with the wheel arch?  It looks like the eve of a house.    The suspension and tires are also poor choices for any vehicle that hopes to cover a lot of ground.   37's and 3.7mpg?   care to flick that baby around a corner with all that weight?  I think not!  

And why go to all this trouble, anyway, to replace the stock bed of a pickup? It seems like a lot of work and expense for very little gain.   

ok.   breathing.   Yessss.... INNNnnn Ouuuttt...    *whew*!   rant over :D 

here we go ... this is more like it :) 

Here is an off the shelf bed slide product.

 This would be interesting, sorry not a Toyota, not even a good background either.

true, Andy.   I was purely reacting to the image.  Dave, I've had the same thought except on an RRC.   It would be an interesting project for sure - an Earthroamer type rig for a fraction of the price. 

I say - take the price of all this stuff and figure out what it will buy in gasoline.  How far can I go on $4000?  

Posted By Andy Berglund on 12/31/2009 2:37 PM

"I am going to agree with Larry and repost the Adventure Trailers bed conversion"

Posted By Isaac Fain on 01/01/2010 9:24 PM

"I've seen pics of this truck before and I've come to hate it even more the second time around...  (snip)   ...And why go to all this trouble, anyway, to replace the stock bed of a pickup? It seems like a lot of work and expense for very little gain."

I see two things when I look at the photo of the black Toyota with the AT bed conversion: The nice bed conversion which can fit on a stock truck, and the high lift, big tires and straight axle swap, which has nothing to do with the bed conversion. Yes, they are both on this truck, and no they don't have to be. The other photo of the silver Tacoma with the Flippac camper is nice and likely more in tune with "overland" travel, but the space in the sides of the bed is wasted. Maybe most folks might think it looks better with a stock bed, rather than fenders made from flat stock, but I still see lots of wasted space in there. How about a Flippac camper that replaces the Tacoma bed AND has outside storage down low? I'll take function over form for sure in this case.

Brian Rutherford