Will A Ke70 Survive A Trip Adelaide To Sydney?

[Tally]

Hey guys

 

Wanting to head up to sydney next couple of weeks.

 

Everyone says fly down its cheap rah rah rah but I hate planes and think its boring.

 

So I was thinking id go up in my KE70.

Ill have my AE86 suspension and brakes in before I go aswell as my manual conversion.

No way ill drive up in the auto... it would blow up, 100kmh = 5000rpm lol

 

I'm pretty confident the 4K can handle it... I mean at highway speed it handles well... got new tires..

 

Drove down to Victor Harbour, and also up to Nuriootpa few times, everything sweet.

 

Basically just be me and a mate and some luggage...

 

or ill have to resort to my dads old 95 Hiace... probebly a better option...

[LukeAE71]

Whether or not it would survive depends on its overall mechanical condition.

 

Do you know of any cooling issues etc? I seem to recall you posted another time that you had a radiator issue or similar. Any issues like these will be brought about quite quickly again on a long road trip.

 

As an example I drove my MX73 Cressy to Melbourne. They are notorious for blown head gaskets. Whilst this thing had not been overheated at all I suspected that the head gasket was on the way out. City driving and it was fine. As soon as I took that long trip it shit itself outside of Horsham, 300ks into the trip.

 

Other than that if the car is in reasonable mechanical condition and you have recently serviced it there should be no reason why it won't survive.

 

What do you think people drove back in the 80's. Granted they were like new then and we are 25 years or so down the track but still.

 

It will be a slow and boring trip though :)

[BReNt]

I reckon you'd be fine. Even if it did break down they're pretty simple to fix.

[sammo[RL]]

Why not?

As said if its in good nick, and its been serviced, i say go for it.

 

Ive taken my ke30 from Canberra, to sydney, cooma, southern highlands, all at least a 200km round trip. Used a bit of oil, but thats it.

[Queen20v]

Go for it. We've driven several of ours interstate, up the river in summer, down to Victor many times with no troubles. You'll be right. Just take the usual- coolant, a spare hose or two, oil. If anything breaks, they're pretty much a piece of cake. :)

[drc_ke20]

fuel price bro!i would fly,it would only take 1hr and 45 minutes?but if you love cows and sheep and trees and flat roads drive!

for sure both cars can make it?but i would take the car instead of the van,van seats are not comfy and will burn your bum during the looooong trip!see you in Sydney?

let us know when you get here?

[fusion]

My brother was off his L's and just onto his P's (by about 2 - 4 weeks) and drove all the way to Newcastle from Adelaide.

 

It was a KE70 with about 100,000KM on it. Before he left I changed all the cooling system, got a full service, changed the rear shocks (had a leak) and got all the brakes checked.

 

He said it went absolutely great and couldn't of asked for better :(

 

So I reckon you should be fine :)

[Raven]

I had issues when I drove to Victoria in my last KE25. A trip to Victor or up the river doesnt suffice in knowing your car will make it or not. Its the constant speed and rpm that can cause issues.

 

First 45 mins into the trip, the keyway for the rotor button let go.

 

I suggest you take a spare.

 

Also, the little bolt next to the carb at the front of the engine bay on the manifold worked its way loose and that caused a shitload of headaches.

 

But in saying that, I patched it up and made it back home.

 

I'd suggest redoing your dizzy cap, rotor button, leads, spark plugs, points (if you don't have an electronic dizzy), fuel filter, air filter and an oil change.

 

Should be right to go after that :(

[OBSCENE]

I always take a tool kit with a few spare plug leads, points and a few tools.

I have driven a 67 KE10 from Tassie to Townsville no problems.

[camerondownunder88]

My KE30 I use for a daily has 500,000KM on the clock and travels 600KM a week min to and from work so a ke70 in average to good mech order will be fine. Just don't try to set any records..lol

[seabiscuit]

In my KE70 I drove 150k's on the highway to my uncles farm (at 110-120km/h and speed-tested it to 155!) and found out that there

was no oil in it when I got there... I hadn't checked the oil for about 2 months so it could have been running on no oil for god knows

how long... It still purred like a kitten!

 

My answer to you is............. YES!

 

But yeah, if it's in good working condition go for it. Just another story at the pub if it breaks down.

Edited March 26, 2009 by seabiscuit

[Rich_Rolla]

Get a service, get em to check everything out and go for it.

[Tally]

cheers for the replys guys.

 

anyway...

 

yea my car has hit 160k.

ive maintained it new oil/coolant every few months.

has new points, plugs, coil and battery.

doesnt burn oil but i have a slight thought one or two cylinders are down on compression...

 

so yea will replace stuff like leads, fuel filter which are basically the only stuff i havent changed.

my fuel pump gasket leaks so will replace pump.

apart from that its a clean greaseless engine.

got brand new kyb shocks all round to go in aswell as rotors

[Tally]

pads and brake fluid.

 

alot of work to before i go lol.

 

only reason i ask is cause everyone says it wont last. i guess cause they think its a shitbox, but its overrated i say.

 

its just id rather drive through the country then fly over it.

 

also i get approx 550kms to a tank.

 

Toyota reliability is in favour i guess...

[Valandor]

full service. prepare for the worst and youll be fine.

my t18 easily made the trip from adelaide to my folks in gipsland. roughly 2000 k's there and back driving straight through.