Caravan hauler cruises to million milestone
Trusty 80 Series LandCruiser tow vehicle has clocked up a remarkable one million kilometres, and counting, with its original engine
Second-hand Toyota LandCruisers are renowned for their bulletproof qualities and never-say-die reliability , but not many can lay claim to clocking over one million kilometres on the original engine.
Colin Muddle’s LandCruiser 80 Series wagon has done just that, achieving the milestone recently.
The 64-year-old bought his ’Cruiser wagon from a Brisbane dealer in 2004 with 151,000km on the clock, and converted it to run on gas 100,000km later in 2006.
Over the last six years he’s racked up the miles in his job collecting and delivering new caravans to dealerships.
Muddle, 64, leaves his Brisbane home unloaded and picks up new vans from the Crusader Caravans factory in Epping, Melbourne, delivering to Cameron Caravans in Adelaide, 7th Street Caravans at Boolaroo in NSW and Brisbane RVs at Slacks Creek in Brisbane.
The petrol wagon is regularly maintained and has caused few problems during his ownership; the only items requiring replacement being a water pump and thermal fan.
"I've never had to do a lot of work on the LandCruiser; the only work has been superficial stuff,” Muddle said.
"The gearbox, diff and transfer case; I've never had a fault. I change the oil and filter every 10,000km and rotate the tyres every 20,000km."
His trusty LandCruiser was originally bought because his Rottweiler dog Zena appreciated the sliding windows.
"I hope to keep this vehicle and replace the engine at some stage," he said.
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