Selling my FJ, is an 80 series next? (1 Viewer)

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Apr 3, 2019
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Location
Utah
New member here in need of some new perspective. Have had my 2010 FJ for 6 years now, modified it heavily and did lots of offroading with it. I am now to the point where I need a change. A lot of the offroading I do is rock crawling stuff in Southern Utah and such and the limits of the IFS have become evident. Looked at doing the solid axle swap but financially it just makes no sense (axles, supercharger to run 37-39" tires, and the like). Plus, the FJ has relatively poor trail visibility so I don't think that will be improved with a solid axle. The question is what to get next. I'd like something as close to a family buggy as possible while staying road legal. Solid axles of course with the option of fitting 37-39" tires without demolishing half the body of the car. I thought of a 1st gen Taco with 4 doors, easy to supercharge, relatively easy to do an axle swap, bonus having a bed. Also thought of an 80 series Land Cruiser. Comes with good stock axles, cheap to lift, available supercharger and bonus 3rd row. An acquaintance is selling his clean stock 1996 LC with a factory supercharger, no lockers, so I am going to go look at it and see what the rust situation is like. I understand getting ARB lockers while regearing for big tires is not much of an issue. Please give me some ideas. No, getting a Rubicon is not an idea :wink
 
Sounds like you've got it figured out.
I've had both trucks you mentioned (first gen 4 door with solid axle swap) and now my 80.
My 80 has never failed an obstacle I've pointed it at. I will say that I'm very glad that it's not my daily driver. I currently have 4" flex coils and 37" tires for what it's worth.
 
Sounds like you've got it figured out.
I've had both trucks you mentioned (first gen 4 door with solid axle swap) and now my 80.
My 80 has never failed an obstacle I've pointed it at. I will say that I'm very glad that it's not my daily driver. I currently have 4" flex coils and 37" tires for what it's worth.

Thanks for your perspective. Do you think I should hold out for a locked one or the ARB lockers will be just as good if not better? Do you think the supercharger and the stock axles will be enough to spin 37s or 39s? I want reliability, broke several half shafts on the FJ and I am over that.
 
To fit anything over a 37" you'll have to do considerable trimming. I have removed my fender flares and trimmed a little off the front fenders near the cab mount. I still hit a little but it's not bad and only at full stull and full lock.
As far as the ARB / already locked discussion; I'd go for whatever you come out cheaper doing. I had ARB lockers in two of my last Tacomas and this 80 has the elockers. They've all worked fine for me.
To spin the tires I dont think you need a supercharger. I have 5.29 gears with these 37s and it turns them just fine. I do feel like power is lacking but its a 6k pound vehicle with huge tires and 314k miles on the clock. One day i'll put a v8 in and not think about it anymore but until then what i've got works great.
 
Thanks for your perspective. Do you think I should hold out for a locked one or the ARB lockers will be just as good if not better? Do you think the supercharger and the stock axles will be enough to spin 37s or 39s? I want reliability, broke several half shafts on the FJ and I am over that.

ARBs hooked up to an OE switch are great, I don't see a downside. That blown '96 sounds like a great starting place for what you want to build...if it is straight.
 
why not a Rubicon unlimited? For rock crawling, it is far superior than any 80s.
I stuffed my 37s with fender flares and no rubbing.
 
No jeep because The lack of reliability really scares me, I looked into 3rd gen 4Runners but putting big tires on them requires tons of fabrication
 
ARBs hooked up to an OE switch are great, I don't see a downside. That blown '96 sounds like a great starting place for what you want to build...if it is straight.
Talking about the frame? Is this a known things for 80s? How can I tell when I go drive it?
 
No jeep because The lack of reliability really scares me, I looked into 3rd gen 4Runners but putting big tires on them requires tons of fabrication
any newer Jeeps will be more reliable than a 25+ yr old 80 series IMO. To get an 80s reliable enough to wheel, you will have to spend close to $6k to properly baselined anyways, so factor in that.
 
Talking about the frame? Is this a known things for 80s? How can I tell when I go drive it?
Nope, by straight I meant the overall condition being excellent. Clean CarFax, no rust, nice original paint, clean interior, doors all work nicely, lovingly maintained with OE parts, etc... :)
 
No jeep because The lack of reliability really scares me, I looked into 3rd gen 4Runners but putting big tires on them requires tons of fabrication
I'm gonna have to agree with you here. I would never own a Fiat / Chrysler product. I've personally experienced the extensive QC checks that go into Toyota vs other manufacturers. And just based on certain "on the road today" stats I won't ever own BMW / Mini or Fiat. It's slowly becoming only Toyota for me. And my 3rd vehicle with 300k+ miles has led to this.
 
I have both. Love both. 80 is my go to though for hard wheeling with the family. The fjc is great and honestly goes anywhere I want it to but the 80 has room for everyone and the visibility is way better. I can fit the wife and 4 kids in the 80 plus camping gear.
 
Since nobody has mentioned it, the TRD superchargers are NLA. If you really want one and found a truck with one already installed then that's a big factor.
 
Thanks for your perspective. Do you think I should hold out for a locked one or the ARB lockers will be just as good if not better? Do you think the supercharger and the stock axles will be enough to spin 37s or 39s? I want reliability, broke several half shafts on the FJ and I am over that.
Arbs are stronger then the factory elockers, if your gonna run 37 and up I would go arb lockers, when done correctly you’ll have years of trouble free service, I can’t rember exactly but I think I did mine 2011 with 5.29s on factory switch no issues
 
My thoughts:

The 80 is a great family wheeling platform to start with. I have the 80, a 4th gen 4Runner (wife's daily), and a 1st gen 4Runner. The 80 has plenty of room and comfortable on the trail for the family. The 4th gen is capable but gets cramped quick when you pack for a week (we've taken it the last several years to the beach and it's packed to the gills plus roof and hitch rack with only one kid haha). The 1st gen I just beat mercilessly on tight east coast trails and would never take the family with me.

If you find a deal on a factory locked 80, so be it. Just remember that the lockers are as old as the truck and the ones that weren't used on a regular basis can be sticky and need rebuilds. Plus the premium they normally command more than offsets buying an unlocked rig and installing ARBs or Harrops (Harrop is an electronic locker so you won't have to deal with the air system like the ARBs). Most people I have talked to that have the factory lockers said they wish they just bought an unlocked rig and put modern lockers in. You will probably want to regear running as big of tires as you're talking about so you're already paying or doing the labor, just have to add the cost of the lockers.

Less rust the better. It's easier to work on and less problems. Any vehicle will run into this. Look at the frame, especially at the suspension mounts, body mounts, around the windows, etc. Be wary of fresh paint.

If you land the supercharged one that's cool, but again there are more modern options. They are not terribly hard to turbo or swap a more powerful motor in. Still with proper maintenance you should be happy with the supercharger.

Quick story on the Rubicon option. I helped a buddy of mine buy a 2010 Rubicon Unlimited last year. He found one with 80K miles, 6 speed, on spacers and 37s that he had to have (looked like it had never been wheeled). Paid $22K for it and we drove it about 2 hours back to my shop. The syncros were already going bad in the trans and it was pretty sluggish with the 37s. I've had to do about $2300 worth of work to it since just to keep it going (pinion bearings, multiple wiring issues, repairing the less than a year old electric sway bar and it still won't work right, airbag issues, broken bolts and wheel studs, etc.). It leaks so much with the hard top he just leaves it off and only drives it when it's nice out. Plus every time I test drove it I had every idiot in a Jeep waving at me.. That got old quick haha.
 
Well I went to see it. It has 165,000 miles, engine internals rebuilt by Toyota dealer at 135,000 miles after the dealer grease monkey forgot to replace the oil drain plug. Head gasket replaced less than 1000 miles ago by Toyota dealer. In the last 2 years it has had a new starter, new power steering pump, bunch of radiator hoses replaced, brake service. All maintenance done at Toyota. SC was installed by dealer when new, never serviced. Did not see any records for transmission service. There is a note somewhere in the maintenance record saying to keep an eye on the cats. It appears owner took it to Toyota a few times complaining of shaking, one time they found a cracked plug, other time could not replicate the problem. Interior is in great shape. Exterior is not bad, amount of rust underneath is not bad, engine bay is very clean. Clear coat wearing off on the hood and the roof. Never lifted or tinkered with. The bad: it has a shake/rumble when pushing the RPMs above 4500, feels like engine shake. Perhaps engine mounts? Or the supercharger needs a rebuild? At idle is also kinda a little roughish, not sure if the supercharger affects this or not. I also found that the brakes are kinda weak, at least compared to my FJ, pedal has more travel and the brakes just don't bite very hard. Local LC guy can't look at it for me for a while unfortunately.
 
Just saying... The TRD supercharger became available in 2000 so it could not have been installed when what I would considered as new. Unless you have proof of services performed and who performed them I would be a bit skeptical of what is claimed.
 

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