97 FZJ80 pulls like a beast! + Quiz! (1 Viewer)

[Montana Cruiser]

Hey all. Just wanted to share with you what a great tow rig the FZJ80 turned out to be. I just made a 1300 mile trip from Minneapolis, MN to Missoula, MT with the 97' FZJ towing my FJ60 on a tandem axel trailer and was very pleased with the results. On the flats I could maintain 70 mph no problem and the mountain passes were slow, but the temp never made it past the half way mark! If I was towing all the time, I think I would like a Duramax or Cummins or something, but this works in a pinch just fine.

Quiz - Both rigs were FULL of camping gear, tools and other misc. items, so I was curious of the total weight, so when I got into Missoula, I ran past the lumber mill where my father works to weigh in. What did a FZJ80, FJ60, tandem axel trailer and assorted gear tip the scales at? Bonus point, what was my average MPG (remember I was pulling some serious hills on the Montana side)

..... more and more pleased with my Cruizers everyday!

 

[Brentbba]

Hmmmmm, total weight 13,000 lbs

average mpg 11

What did I win?

 

[hoser]

12,500 lbs
9 Mpg

 

[cruiserdan]

13,273 Lbs.....8.47 Mpg

 

[Rookie2]

13,272 lbs... 8.46 mpg

I've played this game before .

Rookie2

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

13274 lbs... 9.2 mpg

I like the idea of travling in pairs. So if the 80 broke you could switch the Cruisers and keep on Cruisin

 

[robbie]

12300lbs and close to 10.5 miles to the US gallon. Glad to see you used the trailer. later robbie

 

[Scamper]

Too many pounds...too few mpgs

 

[MrZumma]

12,380 lbs
10.6 mpg

Next time you are in Minneapolis, let me know...

 

[cruiserdan]

Um,


Fellow guessers, there is NO WAY that he got anywhere close to double digit fuel economy

A friendly hint: I got less than 10 pulling a 3700 lb boat before I added the blower...........


If it turns out that he ASSERTS that he did better than that I suggest to him that he NEVER, EVER opens the hood to touch the engine......

 

[ppc]

Agreed Dan. The only way that kind of fuel economy is going to happen with that weight is down hill doing 30 MPH.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Ok guys, it was exactly 12,540 pounds and I got 11mpg across North Dakota and Eastern MT, 9-10 over the passes and hills from Billings to Missoula and I never went more then a tick past the half on the temp gauge ( usually the truck runs a needle width below half) so I'd say that it went pretty damn good. My tires are only 275/70 r16 so I dont think that its far enough over stock that it would throw off my calculations that much .... or would it???? I think there were a few things that helped me though. I traveled in the EARLY morning until 2:00pm or so in the afternoon or late evening hours when it was cooler which helped with the temp, and ND and MT were unusually calm in the wind department ...... the wind tends to really kick up across eastern MT and ND in the afternoon. In any case, I was really pleased with the results. An added bonus is that after pulling the FJ60 and trailer 1300 miles, I took them off the 80 and it felt like a freaking sports car, I swear its in the 5 second range 0-60

Tomorrow I treat Junior (the FZJ80) to a tranny drain and fill, oil change, tire rotation and a nice new coat of wax for doing such a good job.

On a side note, some jackass in a F350 passed me ( in a construction zone that I was doing the speed limit in mind you) and kicked up gravel and put 3 nice size cracks/chips in the windshield. Checked around and have been quoted $538 for the glass ... ouch!! I'll be talking to a good buddy at PPG tomorrow

 

[hoser]

I guess I was closest on the total weight but 11mpg!!! I barely get 12mpg without ANY load!!!

 

[cruiserdan]

<<<"11mpg">>>


Down a mineshaft, in neutral...............

 

[IdahoDoug]

I get 9-10mpg towing a 6000lb boat at 70. That's great things went well and I'm glad you used the trailer as well.

DougM

 

[G-Cat]

Wow, 11 mpg. I once got 8.4 heading into a headwind with no trailer...sheesh.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I have wondered about the irony of using a 4.5L 212hp mill to pull a 6000lb object containing a 7.4L 330hp engine. Would it be too much to ask for someone to engineer a modular engine so you could use it to tow the engineless boat, then bolt it into the boat? Of course, getting the engineless tow rig and trailer up the ramp would be a bitch....

DougM

 

[GXO]

Ok guys, it was exactly 12,540 pounds....

I could load you up on a gooseneck and pull the full load with my GMC and get 18mpg.

My 3FE gets 12 city and 14 highway flat, 12 otherwise if I don't start rolling backward on steep hills. Towing with my cruiser? What's that?

I am still hunting for a trailer for the 3FE so I can tow it with the GMC and get to the trail with enough gas to run the whole time

 

[GXO]

I have wondered about the irony of using a 4.5L 212hp mill to pull a 6000lb object containing a 7.4L 330hp engine. Would it be too much to ask for someone to engineer a modular engine so you could use it to tow the engineless boat, then bolt it into the boat? Of course, getting the engineless tow rig and trailer up the ramp would be a bitch....

DougM

Just get a big tire to put on instead of the propeller and fab a mount out the passenger side to get ground contact to help you along

 

[mabrodis]

Wow that's great gas mileage! Just a FYI but our temp gauges are not very responsive...if it moved at all, even a smidgen then the engine is at like 230 degrees-ish I have heard from those that have compared it side by side with a real gauge, so good it didn't move, but I'm sure the engine was still hotter then 'normal' but not to the point of...BOOM..

I towed a trailer, probably about 3K lbs maybe a bit more from Denver to LasVegas...man did that suck, I was losing it in 1st gear before getting into Eisenhauser tunnel (11K feet elevation), I was already down in 1st and losing rpms, not a fun situation, loaded semis were passing me!

Amazing how much more power my Cruiser had in Vegas though, WAY different that Denver which I expected, but the change was more than I thought it would be...mine was almost peppy!