1993 FZJ80
The important stuff
Old Man Emu 850/863 N73/N74E Heavy Lift
295/75 R16 Nitto Terra Grapplers
Aussie Locker rear differential
Flowmaster muffler
Slee front bumper
Slee rear bumper & tire carrier
Warn XD9000 winch
Custom roof rack
Custom rear storage drawer
Custom audio crap
Eclipse CD2000 receiver
Focal Polyglass 165 separates up front
Kicker coaxials in rear doors
Viper 500.4 4-channel 75W RMS amplifier
JL 8W3v2 8" woofer in a custom enclosure
JL e1200 monoblock 120W RMS amplifier
Other mods and tweaks
Speedo sensor correction gear for larger tires
CDL switch with pin-7 mod
Cab-mounted kill switch for winch
Diffs, t-case, and tranny breathers extended to engine bay
Reinforced lower rear control arms
Front swaybar disconnects
Slee upgraded headlight harness
Toshiba HIR low- and high-beam bulbs
One Land Cruiser bottle opener a'la Cruisercrap
The links above lead to previous write-ups.
If there is any other junk I'll add it later
I bought my 1993 FZJ80 in January of 2004 when my wife and I decided that we needed a second automobile that could carry the whole family (me, wife, 1 year old son, and future 2nd son).
At the time, the garage contained a Suby and a 1979 FJ40 that I had owned for 5 or 6 years. It was trusty ol' beast that never failed, had more rust than sheet metal (you could see the highway through the tub), and I loved it. Not a very practical family wagon though. I hadn't yet mustered the ambition (or confidence) to give it the restoration it deserved, and we concluded that we couldn't keep it sitting around. It was sold for $2,000.
I DID convince my wife that what we needed was a NEWER Land Cruiser. I looked at a few 62's, made my first foray into the MUD forum with questions, and eventually concluded that an FZJ80 was what we needed.
I bought it from its second owner with 109,000 miles. It was very clean and in good shape as far as my untrained eye could tell.
Over the last three years the 80 has become an obsession that keeps me warm and drives my wife crazy . Thorough front-end service, baselined and regularly changed fluids, etc. etc. It gets it all.
Issues I've had include:
A dead starter.
A couple worn u-joints.
Leaky front inner axle seals.
A bad ECU.
And a little rust beneath the rear window seal.
Although I don't know the details, I know that the head has been off sometime in it's former life--so I figure the head-gasket has been replaced.
Nothing out of the ordinary--except for maybe the ECU. I was able to get a used ECU (newer, upgraded version) for $140.
I've put quite a bit of time into keeping it looking nice as well.
This summer I ponied up to get the rust fixed by a body shop.
I spent way too much time refinishing the center caps, but they look really nice. I even indulged on a fifth center cap with a custom TEQ logo for the spare.
After getting the rear gate de-rusted, I replaced the Toyota logo with a Land Cruiser emblem from a 60-series.
On the more functional side--after having them both ripped off at the Wasatch Cruisers Fall Moab Run--I trimmed and remounted my mudflaps. Had to rebuild the fiberglass portion of the mount on the flare too. They look nice and should stay out of the way except in extreme cases.
I've been incredibly happy with all the mods.
The heavy OME setup has been awesome with the already heavy truck loaded down with the family and a weeks worth of camping crap.
Slee's stuff is bomber. I drug that big 80 ass all over Fins 'n' Things this fall and really started to get a kick out of it. Nothing but beauty scratches on the bumper.
The Aussie Locker has only been on a few months, but I had it on for the WC Moab Run, and it rocked.
I'm also really lucky to have a great copilot and navigator on board.
These guys go everywhere with me in the 80.
The best praise I could give my 80 is the fact that it took my family and all the necessary crap through 5 days and 200 miles of dirt roads and rough (up to probably grade 3) trails in the remote Maze district of Canyonlands last spring--and EVERYONE had an outstanding time--even the 9-month old.
I've posted it before, but here's the video again:
Hayes Maze
And if you're in the mood for more feel-good wheelin' movies, here's one from the Wasatch Cruisers Fall 2006 Moab Run.
Ryan
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