4 years in the making new 80 Series Owner (1 Viewer)

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Just ordered Land Cruiser Heaven complete Engine baselining kit, and gathering Part Numbers for the complete cooling system overhaul before summer hits. Then I will see if the Differentials need work, if not then it's on to body work (rust on rear tailgate and refreshing cosmetic things) and that OME factory height spring kit.
 
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Before you order from cruiserparts, read the reviews.

Order from McGeorge or your local dealer.

These are the part numbers I ordered for my 1996 LC (08/1995):
Belt Mouldings:
75710-60021 (Qty 1)
75720-60021 (Qty 1)
75730-60020 (Qty 1)
75740-60020 (Qty 1)
68170-60030 (Qty 2)
68190-60011 (Qty 2)

Of course, I also did my window run channels at the same time:
68141-60010, Right (Qty 1)
68151-60010, Left (Qty 1)
68142-60011, Right (Qty 1)
68152-60011, Left (Qty 1)

Order differential parts from Kurt at www.cruiseroutfitters.com @cruiseroutfit
 
Before you order from cruiserparts, read the reviews.

Order from McGeorge or your local dealer.

These are the part numbers I ordered for my 1996 LC (08/1995):
Belt Mouldings:
75710-60021 (Qty 1)
75720-60021 (Qty 1)
75730-60020 (Qty 1)
75740-60020 (Qty 1)
68170-60030 (Qty 2)
68190-60011 (Qty 2)

Of course, I also did my window run channels at the same time:
68141-60010, Right (Qty 1)
68151-60010, Left (Qty 1)
68142-60011, Right (Qty 1)
68152-60011, Left (Qty 1)

Order differential parts from Kurt at www.cruiseroutfitters.com @cruiseroutfit
Havent ordered the window kits yet, but I was slightly buzzed when I last posted, I ordered my Tune Up kit from Land Cruiser Heaven not Cruiser Parts. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Went to a local mechanic shop to get a good look over of the 80. They told me I needed a Valve Cover Gasket (I already knew) and they told me my rear U-Joints had to be replace as well as an Exhaust Hanger. The real kicker is that they told me I might need to rebuilt my front differential and the rear differential as well. They wont know until they take it apart. They basically told me to set apart 5-10k for parts and repairs. I know the Front Differential rebuild is common. She drives smooth going down the road, I'm going to get a second opinion. If I had a garage and weekends to work on the 80 I wouldnt be worried about working on it myself but time is hard to come by. I'm a UPS driver so I work a lot. I expect to drop serious coin for a revamp of the 80 series. Knew that going in. I get the feeling they dont want to work on it. For now I'm starting with an Engine Tuneup.
 
Change the gear oil in the diffs (take pictures and report back); find the breather off each diff and extend upwards and make sure air flows (search).

Get a grease gun and lube your u-joints and yoke (search) and report back.

Valve cover gasket is not too hard.
 
I know the Front Differential rebuild is common.

I don't think that is an accurate statement. Axle service, birfield maintenance, swivel hubs etc. or whatever you want to call it are common but is a completely different animal from a differential rebuild. Rebuilding either differential based on miles or time is not common. Regearing is common when changing tire sizes and ring and pinion replacements when gears have been trashed due to abuse.
 
Change the gear oil in the diffs (take pictures and report back); find the breather off each diff and extend upwards and make sure air flows (search).

Get a grease gun and lube your u-joints and yoke (search) and report back.

Valve cover gasket is not too hard.
They told me it was so rusty that they would need to rebuild the entire axle. It really isnt that rusty, I didn't get a good feeling about the shop after them telling me all of this. Then they told me I overpaid for the 80 series (12k plus tax and title). I already ordered the Valve Cover Gasket and it looks really easy to fix.
 
I don't think that is an accurate statement. Axle service, birfield maintenance, swivel hubs etc. or whatever you want to call it are common but is a completely different animal from a differential rebuild. Rebuilding either differential based on miles or time is not common. Regearing is common when changing tire sizes and ring and pinion replacements when gears have been trashed due to abuse.
I'm running 285/75R16 tires on her now, had 35s when I purchased. I dont hear any weird noises when driving around.
 
They told me it was so rusty that they would need to rebuild the entire axle. It really isnt that rusty, I didn't get a good feeling about the shop after them telling me all of this. Then they told me I overpaid for the 80 series (12k plus tax and title). I already ordered the Valve Cover Gasket and it looks really easy to fix.

These are relatively easy to work on.

Download your free FSM, then study what you need to do, search on here for tutorials or others that have done it, order your parts from supporting vendors or dealers and get after it!
 
These are relatively easy to work on.

Download your free FSM, then study what you need to do, search on here for tutorials or others that have done it, order your parts from supporting vendors or dealers and get after it!
Thank you very much! All a learning experience so thank you for your patience everyone
 
Installed new hatch struts in the dark! Was fun. Man is that hatch heavy.

20200203_194126.jpg


20200203_194059.jpg
 
Congrats again on a great looking 80. I dig the current stance and wheel/tire setup you've got going.

From what I've seen in this thread the truck runs well, drives smoothly and doesn't have any major problems currently. As long as you plan to use it on shorter trips for a while and don't need to head into the back country on a long self-supported trip I recommend you just focus on catching up on service and maintenance items, which seems to be what you are doing.

Regarding the axles, differentials often make noises as they are going bad. Bearing wear can allow the gears to run a bit out of adjustment causing whines and other similar noises. Sometimes a diff. will whine only on deceleration but not acceleration, etc. As said above, change the diff. oils and inspect the old as it comes out. Inspecting the old oil won't necessarily be conclusive but it can be if there are metallic chunks in it. Other scenarios could be thickened gear oil indicating failed hub seals that allowed the grease in the hubs to flush back into the axle/diff or mud/water contamination from water crossings or similar.

Extreme rust would be more of a case for axle replacement vs. rebuild in my opinion but we are talking rust-through that could cause leaks or structural failure. From what I saw in your pictures there is rust but it didn't look extreme and it also looks like efforts have been made to slow or stop the rust. Replacing some rusty hardware or cleaning/treating rust is a different process from "rebuilding" an axle and the two aren't really related until the rust causes structural issues in my opinion. We are getting into semantics but "rebuilding" an axle often means "servicing" it or attending to "maintenance". Servicing an axle with new lubes, seals and other wear items fall under regular (60-80k miles roughly?) intervals and isn't that big of a deal. You can DIY a full axle service in a weekend for under $500 if all goes well and you don't need to replace too many parts so if that's all you need maybe you can find a weekend this Spring and save thousands? It can get more involved though due to rust or broken components etc. so just keep reading up on it before you decide.

I think that a big part of the 80s appeal is it's reliability and ability to go anywhere a 4 wheeled transport can go. Both of those abilities are greatly enhanced by an operator that knows how to care for the truck properly so working on your own abilities to service the truck may be as important as fixing the truck itself. To that end, do as much work as you can yourself especially the easier stuff like fluid changes, small part replacements, etc. and hold off on any big ticket items until you know the truck better, if they aren't pressing. It seems like you are on this path already, but I wanted to restate it just in case you are worried about needing to do all of the work recommended by that shop. As you read on this forum you'll really get to know your 80 well and even if you don't do the work yourself it will put you in a good position to know and understand what the truck needs so that you are more likely to avoid having unnecessary or over priced work done.

Also, while in some areas/markets your truck may have sold for a different price in my opinion a few thousand dollars one way or another are pretty irrelevant on a one-time purchase of a truck you plan to keep long-term. Also of importance is the fact that prices on these have been going up pretty quickly and in your part of the country a solid example, like you have, is much more rare due to rust so the price seems pretty realistic in my opinion.

Post up more pictures of the axles, particularly around the rear axle which will be more rusty, if you want some feedback on the rusty axle topic. There are some rust experts here that will have good suggestions for what your truck may actually need.
 
Congrats again on a great looking 80. I dig the current stance and wheel/tire setup you've got going.

From what I've seen in this thread the truck runs well, drives smoothly and doesn't have any major problems currently. As long as you plan to use it on shorter trips for a while and don't need to head into the back country on a long self-supported trip I recommend you just focus on catching up on service and maintenance items, which seems to be what you are doing.

Regarding the axles, differentials often make noises as they are going bad. Bearing wear can allow the gears to run a bit out of adjustment causing whines and other similar noises. Sometimes a diff. will whine only on deceleration but not acceleration, etc. As said above, change the diff. oils and inspect the old as it comes out. Inspecting the old oil won't necessarily be conclusive but it can be if there are metallic chunks in it. Other scenarios could be thickened gear oil indicating failed hub seals that allowed the grease in the hubs to flush back into the axle/diff or mud/water contamination from water crossings or similar.

Extreme rust would be more of a case for axle replacement vs. rebuild in my opinion but we are talking rust-through that could cause leaks or structural failure. From what I saw in your pictures there is rust but it didn't look extreme and it also looks like efforts have been made to slow or stop the rust. Replacing some rusty hardware or cleaning/treating rust is a different process from "rebuilding" an axle and the two aren't really related until the rust causes structural issues in my opinion. We are getting into semantics but "rebuilding" an axle often means "servicing" it or attending to "maintenance". Servicing an axle with new lubes, seals and other wear items fall under regular (60-80k miles roughly?) intervals and isn't that big of a deal. You can DIY a full axle service in a weekend for under $500 if all goes well and you don't need to replace too many parts so if that's all you need maybe you can find a weekend this Spring and save thousands? It can get more involved though due to rust or broken components etc. so just keep reading up on it before you decide.

I think that a big part of the 80s appeal is it's reliability and ability to go anywhere a 4 wheeled transport can go. Both of those abilities are greatly enhanced by an operator that knows how to care for the truck properly so working on your own abilities to service the truck may be as important as fixing the truck itself. To that end, do as much work as you can yourself especially the easier stuff like fluid changes, small part replacements, etc. and hold off on any big ticket items until you know the truck better, if they aren't pressing. It seems like you are on this path already, but I wanted to restate it just in case you are worried about needing to do all of the work recommended by that shop. As you read on this forum you'll really get to know your 80 well and even if you don't do the work yourself it will put you in a good position to know and understand what the truck needs so that you are more likely to avoid having unnecessary or over priced work done.

Also, while in some areas/markets your truck may have sold for a different price in my opinion a few thousand dollars one way or another are pretty irrelevant on a one-time purchase of a truck you plan to keep long-term. Also of importance is the fact that prices on these have been going up pretty quickly and in your part of the country a solid example, like you have, is much more rare due to rust so the price seems pretty realistic in my opinion.

Post up more pictures of the axles, particularly around the rear axle which will be more rusty, if you want some feedback on the rusty axle topic. There are some rust experts here that will have good suggestions for what your truck may actually need.
I appreciate you taking the time to give me advice on my 80. I planned on taking a trip down south to Missouri this summer, but I suspect I will have most everything buttoned up by then.

When I read about purchasing an 80 series I read a lot about baselining and why it's so important for these vehicles. These were $45-50k brand new in '95 that is equivalent to a brand new 200 series now.
I do want to change the gear oil in both diffs as a baselining, since I dont drive this everyday I can afford to have it in pieces during the week and work on it as time and weather allow.
Many people including you have told me that what I paid is roughly market price for the conditon this rig is in. These are worth investing money into repairs, they'll always get you home no matter what. The mechanic was worried that if he opened the diff it would fall apart and would need parts that are hard to find. I know he doesnt know about Mud and the various parts suppliers for these vehicles. I was worried about parts availability before I purchased but it seems parts are plenty available for most things.

I did work on her tonight and all weekend as a matter of fact. I missed working on things I can handle and learning as I go. I intend to keep this for many many years to come. I want to replace everything with OEM or near OEM quality, buy once cry once as the saying goes.

I will post pictures at some point this week of my differentials. Thank you again for your advice.
 
That is the axle housing not the differential. Mostly surface rust that can be sand blasted and repainted or some other alternatives. The biggest concern are the knuckle balls at the end. They show lack of maintenance, insufficient amont of grease. At this point a complete axle service is recommended, checking brakes, rotors and bearing condition.
 
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I agree with PPC on the need for a full front axle service and I'm sure the rear needs it too. There's a ton of information on this site on axle servicing and again, it's typically a weekend job even if it's a dirty one. This search in Google will lead to a ton of info on this topic:

fzj80 axle service site:forum.ih8mud.com

You photos are informative and give me a sense of the scope of rust in that area. Your pictures don't show any terminal rust in my eyes but there is enough rust that I think that rust removal, treatment and prevention is one of your top priorities with your truck. There's likely to be a bit more rust as you move aft on the undercarriage towards the rear axle/bumper so you may need more rust work in some areas back there than you do up front. There are a lot of options for dealing with rust from diy with a wire brush, "rust converter" and paint/sealer to paying a service to do some version of cleaning/treatment/sealing for you. Fortunately you don't have to fix it all immediately to enjoy your truck but rust never sleeps and if you don't get the rust stopped in the next year or so the damage will only get worse and could end up being terminal long before you are ready to stop using the truck.

If you can make time to read up you'll start to see that there are a lot of different rust treatment approaches and products and many of them are the "right" solution for any given situation. You can learn about your options and then decide what approach works best for you and your 80. Drop the following into Google to get you started into seeing what others on this site have done or recommend:

80 rust treatment prevention removal site:forum.ih8mud.com

I know very little about your truck or you but from what I know the approach I'd take would be to:

-keep the undercarriage rust coated in your preferred flavor of undercarriage spray either diy or using a local service
-as time allows clean, treat and seal small areas of the frame/etc. using various techniques that you read up on online or on this forum. Keep in mind that with a simple wire brush and a bottle of "rust converter" you can make a serious dent in your rust situation with just a handful of hour or two work sessions. I'd at least DIY this for a few hours here and there to get a sense of how the process works and also to get informed on the scope of the problem and work needed on your truck before you hire it out. You'll learn how to understand the services being sold and how to evaluate work completed, etc. and while you are at it you'll be improving your 80. This work may also fit your busy schedule better than a lot of other baselining tasks as you can go outside and treat as little or as much rust as you want in a given time and there's a lot you can get to without any disassembly/re-assembly parts ordering, etc.
-I'd consider setting aside the time or $$ to remove the axles from the rig (possibly one at a time if you DIY) to treat them since that will make it a lot easier to clean/treat/seal the axles vs. doing it while they are in the truck. That would also be a good time to replace all of the hardware (bolts / nuts), brake components and suspension bushings etc. The suspension bushings particularly are a great baseline task to knock out as it really tightens up your handling unless they've been done recently. With the axles out is also a good time to work on cleaning/treating/sealing undercarriage areas that are easier to get to with the axles out. This could easily snowball to include drive shaft service work, motor mount replacement, engine resealing, etc. but that's because if you can pull it all off at once it's easier to knock it out while it's apart vs. going back in later, etc... The risk of excessive spending or downtime for the rig is real though so any number of other options including just spraying the heck out of it periodically until you are ready to dive in further may be appropriate in your situation. Also, if there are a number of expensive issues on your axles it's possible that simply shopping for replacements could make sense but that seems unlikely with the front axle at least given the pictures and that it drives well now.

I should also add that I've done most of what I recommend above on my 80 even though it has barely any rust on it. I still crawl around periodically with a small wire brush and some rust converter looking for spots because I've learned the hard way that it's easier to stay ahead of it than to repair the damage it can do if ignored for a few years. The other important thing to keep in mind is that most of the work/spending listed in the final/snowballed task above is typical to any 80 that hasn't been baselined somewhat recently.

I guess I should add the somewhat obvious disclaimer that while this forum is super informative and the folks on it are great it can lead to excessive while-you-are-in-there-itis. The great thing about it though is that you can get informed on someone else's dime thanks to the many folks that share here and their collective experience and then you just cherry pick the ideas and approaches that work for you.
 
I agree with PPC on the need for a full front axle service and I'm sure the rear needs it too. There's a ton of information on this site on axle servicing and again, it's typically a weekend job even if it's a dirty one. This search in Google will lead to a ton of info on this topic:

fzj80 axle service site:forum.ih8mud.com

You photos are informative and give me a sense of the scope of rust in that area. Your pictures don't show any terminal rust in my eyes but there is enough rust that I think that rust removal, treatment and prevention is one of your top priorities with your truck. There's likely to be a bit more rust as you move aft on the undercarriage towards the rear axle/bumper so you may need more rust work in some areas back there than you do up front. There are a lot of options for dealing with rust from diy with a wire brush, "rust converter" and paint/sealer to paying a service to do some version of cleaning/treatment/sealing for you. Fortunately you don't have to fix it all immediately to enjoy your truck but rust never sleeps and if you don't get the rust stopped in the next year or so the damage will only get worse and could end up being terminal long before you are ready to stop using the truck.

If you can make time to read up you'll start to see that there are a lot of different rust treatment approaches and products and many of them are the "right" solution for any given situation. You can learn about your options and then decide what approach works best for you and your 80. Drop the following into Google to get you started into seeing what others on this site have done or recommend:

80 rust treatment prevention removal site:forum.ih8mud.com

I know very little about your truck or you but from what I know the approach I'd take would be to:

-keep the undercarriage rust coated in your preferred flavor of undercarriage spray either diy or using a local service
-as time allows clean, treat and seal small areas of the frame/etc. using various techniques that you read up on online or on this forum. Keep in mind that with a simple wire brush and a bottle of "rust converter" you can make a serious dent in your rust situation with just a handful of hour or two work sessions. I'd at least DIY this for a few hours here and there to get a sense of how the process works and also to get informed on the scope of the problem and work needed on your truck before you hire it out. You'll learn how to understand the services being sold and how to evaluate work completed, etc. and while you are at it you'll be improving your 80. This work may also fit your busy schedule better than a lot of other baselining tasks as you can go outside and treat as little or as much rust as you want in a given time and there's a lot you can get to without any disassembly/re-assembly parts ordering, etc.
-I'd consider setting aside the time or $$ to remove the axles from the rig (possibly one at a time if you DIY) to treat them since that will make it a lot easier to clean/treat/seal the axles vs. doing it while they are in the truck. That would also be a good time to replace all of the hardware (bolts / nuts), brake components and suspension bushings etc. The suspension bushings particularly are a great baseline task to knock out as it really tightens up your handling unless they've been done recently. With the axles out is also a good time to work on cleaning/treating/sealing undercarriage areas that are easier to get to with the axles out. This could easily snowball to include drive shaft service work, motor mount replacement, engine resealing, etc. but that's because if you can pull it all off at once it's easier to knock it out while it's apart vs. going back in later, etc... The risk of excessive spending or downtime for the rig is real though so any number of other options including just spraying the heck out of it periodically until you are ready to dive in further may be appropriate in your situation. Also, if there are a number of expensive issues on your axles it's possible that simply shopping for replacements could make sense but that seems unlikely with the front axle at least given the pictures and that it drives well now.

I should also add that I've done most of what I recommend above on my 80 even though it has barely any rust on it. I still crawl around periodically with a small wire brush and some rust converter looking for spots because I've learned the hard way that it's easier to stay ahead of it than to repair the damage it can do if ignored for a few years. The other important thing to keep in mind is that most of the work/spending listed in the final/snowballed task above is typical to any 80 that hasn't been baselined somewhat recently.

I guess I should add the somewhat obvious disclaimer that while this forum is super informative and the folks on it are great it can lead to excessive while-you-are-in-there-itis. The great thing about it though is that you can get informed on someone else's dime thanks to the many folks that share here and their collective experience and then you just cherry pick the ideas and approaches that work for you.
Thank you again for your advice, I did spray the entire vehicle with Fluid Film and I'm thinking a wire brush is in my future as a lot of the rust is surface rust and that elbow grease will go a long way. I try not to drive it around this time of year as I live in the rust belt. I'm budgeted for a full baseline of the truck as I previously budgeted for car payments. I like to think of it as saving money versus buying a brand new car. 40k would go a long way for the 80 series.
 
No problem, I hope the long posts are helpful. It seems like you have the right attitude and approach to 80 ownership and I look forward to following your 80 as you dial it in. Based on the pictures you've shared you got to your 80 in time, before the rust got bad, so you are really saving it from what would have happened in a handful of years if it had gone unchecked. :)

$40k would indeed go a long way if spent on an 80 and if spent tastefully most of that money will stick around in resale value in a very different way that it would if spent on a typical, new $40k auto. Fortunately for most of us we get adequate return on investment from our spend in the fun of owning, driving and wrenching on our 80s.

OK.. back to more pictures of and updates on your rig :)
 
They told me it was so rusty that they would need to rebuild the entire axle. It really isnt that rusty, I didn't get a good feeling about the shop after them telling me all of this. Then they told me I overpaid for the 80 series (12k plus tax and title). I already ordered the Valve Cover Gasket and it looks really easy to fix.
Yeah, I think they are lying or don't know what they are doing. None of that sounds right.

Also, that looks like a sweet rig for the midwest. I am north of you and there is nothing as nice as what you have up here, other than my truck ;)

You could have that little bit of rust knocked down in a weekend. If you get an air compressor, also get a needle scaler and a cheap paint spray gun from HF and start spraying Woolwax on everything underneath and it won't rust anymore.

Check for leaks before you do that though as they are harder to see once you have your Woolwax game rolling.
 
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