[WinnebagoKing]

Hi, I am one of the newbies and have quite a mystery, maybe someone has run into this? We are in Rifle and work in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. Anyway, I found a 1991 Landcruiser with 13,800 original miles! It is so beautiful and was pristine as it was stored in a garage in Aspen its whole life. It now has 20.000 miles and something terrible happened. My fiancee was driving up a straight stretch of highway towards Aspen, as per usual she stuck it in 3rd so as to make it up the mountain at a reasonable speed, she then got up to speed and shifted back into drive, a few moments later, she said it felt like it shifted and jerked her forward, then something may have caught, jerked her back, then the landcruiser veered to the left, she slammed on the brakes, did a 360 and slammed into the guard-rail twice, an absolute nightmare, thankfully she was the only one involved and no one was hurt. Now this ultra rare gem is a wreck and I plan on fixing it, but we are all perplexed as to what happened or could have happened to cause this? Also, where can I find parts or a whole Landcruiser with a good body, tons of miles or non-running, so that I can piece our beauty back together? It even has the original windshield and tires, it was perfect and I need to figure out what happened and fix her up again. It is beige with the brown interior and we love it. Please help if you can and thank you for your care and time. Mark

[IdahoDoug]

The first thing you said happened was "it shifted and jerked her forward"? I don't get this so am puzzled. If she got jerked forward I'd say she accidentally put it in neutral and the immediate decel pulled her forward. The veering, slam on the brakes thing could easily be from the disorienting effect of that unexpected decelleration and this model was not available with ABS, so the 360 would be immediately on the menu.

Sorry to hear of the accident. That could have gone for a lot of money on eBay. Actually, it might still go for far more than it's worth depending on the damage.

DougM

[AfricanToy]

Find a very good body repair shop and start replacing every body panel...make sure you repaint with original color. Then maybe after about $8000 dollars you will have a nice FJ80 you can drive around and not worry about wrecking again because it will never be like the vehicle you once had before.

Good luck :(

[fj80toyman]

Darn shame that. Very likely DougM is right. Maybe even got shifted to N or R? Either way, it sounds like I would have the mechanicals looked at very carefully. Underneath exterior, I'd take a good look at the u-joints to see, in case the propeller shaft was locked up (i.e. suddenly stopped for whatever reason), and also a good look at the brakes.

Internal transmission, I'd have a competent mechanic go through and evaluate the shift feeling of the transmission as it shifted up through the gears, and from Neutral to Drive, Neutral to Reverse, etc. Maybe even go into an internal check depending on the evaluation drive. The transmissions are pretty tough, but if it got stuffed into R, or even from N to D under load, there could be damage.

BTW, did it get a basic fluids check before driving after having sat that long? I wonder if the ATF level was good? If you can smell it and it smells burnt, or nothing shows up on the dipstick, check that too!

Bad news for the car. Glad no one was physically hurt. Wallets and Ego's repair themselves over time.

Welcome a-board. Dan.

[BHMCruiser]

I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is:

Originally Posted by WinnebagoKing

My fiancee was driving

This is one of the most common causes of mechanical failure. Good luck with the repairs. Live and learn.

[WinnebagoKing]

AfricanToy is about right on with the $8000 in repairs. I can get the frame straightened for $800 or $900 so that I can at least move it around. I will then need both bumper sets a LH fender and rear quarter panel, I may also need a radiator/core support. Are all body parts from a 1991 to a 1997 the same? Does anyone have suggestions where I can find good used parts or even new? Any other recommendations are always appreciated. I wish I was a bit more helpful to you all, but unless it's a plumbing question or maybe a 71 GMC Jimmy question, which is my other toy, I just don't know a lot about these Landcruisers....yet! I think what you said, Doug M, just may be exactly what happened, thanks for helping me get it straightened out in my head. Oh, and I laughed my a** off at the fiancee driving evaluation. Thanks again, Mark.

[peepers]

have you checked www.cruiserparts.net for a body? you would be surprised at what those guys have...

[sseaman]

original tires?

[toylndcrusr]

Before you can sort out what happened, I think you will have to get it driving to see what it's doing.

[Martin White]

Does this make sense? 8000 in repairs for a truck that will not be worth all that much once fixed - my experience has been that big repairs like this make for a really hard sell down the road.

[BHMCruiser]

Just take the money from the 91 and put it into mods/service on the 94.

And buy the fiancee a bicycle.

[Grolar]

Photos? Just morbid curiosity.

[photogod]

I guessing she went from third to reverse. But... having that few miles on it and sitting for a long time, many things could have dried out. I don't think finding a vehicle that old and with that few miles is always a good thing.

[Kalawang]

I agree. Very old stuff should be used slowly and gently for a longer period of time than most would be comfortable with. It's usually a safer way of discovering problems.


Kalawang

[Darwood]

Dibs on the seats! Seriously if you do part it out I want the seats and door panels. I love the 91-92 seats and brown is what I need.

[Aussie cruiser]

Doesn't your insurance cover the repair bill?

[80 Cruiser Rod]

That's a pretty creative story. When you getting married?

[DanKunz]

sounds like someone smacked it into neutral reaching for the starbucks!