I have the luxury of being a long term owner of both an 80 series, and a 86 M1008 CUCV - which is essentially a 5/4 ton chevy truck.
While the CUCV is durable (arguably the most ruggedly built chevy of the era), it doesn't hold a candle to the build quality of the FJ80.
I'll just use something basic, like the fasteners, for example. The fj80 uses fine thread bolts for everything. And you guys know, it's about 500 cranks to get anything unfastened due to the thread pitch - and if you're not precisely lined up, your bolt won't thread back in.
My CUCV on the other hand uses self centering coarse thread bolts for most of the body connections. Meaning, if you were to be putting on a fender you just get the holes close, slap the bolt in the hole, and the bolts are pointed to self center the parts. And they're coarse thread - I'm telling you it takes about 6 cranks to unfasten a fender bolt.
Does it make a practical difference? I'm not sure. But it seems like more precision was put into the FJ80.
While the CUCV is durable (arguably the most ruggedly built chevy of the era), it doesn't hold a candle to the build quality of the FJ80.
I'll just use something basic, like the fasteners, for example. The fj80 uses fine thread bolts for everything. And you guys know, it's about 500 cranks to get anything unfastened due to the thread pitch - and if you're not precisely lined up, your bolt won't thread back in.
My CUCV on the other hand uses self centering coarse thread bolts for most of the body connections. Meaning, if you were to be putting on a fender you just get the holes close, slap the bolt in the hole, and the bolts are pointed to self center the parts. And they're coarse thread - I'm telling you it takes about 6 cranks to unfasten a fender bolt.
Does it make a practical difference? I'm not sure. But it seems like more precision was put into the FJ80.