Please share your story as to how you came into your 80. #longlivemy80 (1 Viewer)

[MPolley]

My best friend introduced my to the world of wheeling Toyota 4x4s with a 94 pickup he borrowed from his grandfather while we were in college. He later replaced that with a 2nd gen Taco, and I ended up buying a first gen Tundra doublecab.

After owning the tundra for 3 years, It had gotten a small lift and 33s, and I never drove it because of the gas mileage. I was making a payment on a truck that only got driven to Home Depot on Saturdays, and that didn't make any sense to me. I was right side up on it by about 6 grand, so I listed it for sale.

I knew I couldn't go without a Toyota 4x4 in my life, so as soon as the Tundra got listed I started looking. I was looking at Tacomas, T-100s, 4Runners, and then realized Land Cruisers were within my budget. The day after the Tundra sold I was driving home my 96 LX450, back in June of 2017.

About 6 months after I bought it, something caused the engine to lose oil pressure and overheat. Over the next year I sourced a rebuildable core engine and built that up to put in. Since then it has been in a constant state of build, break, build, break and I absolutely love every minute of it

 

[TheLCProject]

I've purchased 4 80's, and still have three of them. One for wheeling, and two that are collector grade.

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Can we get more details on your slicktop?

 

[Marco Lau]

Feels welcome to be a part of the crowd. Glad I found y'all. A decade ago I walked passed these trucks thinking nothing of them. Strange how quickly the tides can change.

This is my unmolested, all the way back from 1997, triple locked pride and joy. 285xxx long miles here in the southwest region of the United States. She rolled around Texas until 2012, then she was sold to someone in Colorado, now in the 2nd week of 2023, she is officially a New Mexican desert rat.

I owned two 3FE models in 2022 thinking one would be better than the other, unfortunately those trucks felt very old, and unconfident on the highway. The interior felt too 1980s to me. Anyways, I had no trouble selling both of those trucks, and got some cash hoping the right 80 would roll down my direction. I ended up buying Tacoma. Unbelievably I made an even trade with my 333xxx miles having, super clean, 1996 4wd extended cab tacoma. The 80s previous owner wanted a stick shift 4wd Toyota so we had no trouble making a deal. I was practically singing and dancing while driving the truck back home.

How I ended up with what I wanted most so quickly blows my mind. Manifest destiny much?



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I am quite the opposite. I perfer the 3FE and love how simple and bulletproof it is and the cloth interior plus the utilitarian dash design is what sold it. I have owned it since 2014 and although it is no longer stock, a little thirsty, but will be here to stay for a long time.

 

[AgentOrange]

I grew up with my dad having FJ40s, FJ55s, an FJ60, and even an FJ45LV. I then had a couple 85 Pickups and 85 4Runners, then 3 FJ40s and and FJ55. I had an 87 4Runner and a 69 FJ40 when I went for a ride in a friends 80 series. I was sold. In 2015 I found one that had been lean sold with a salvage title from a front end collision, no a/c and clicking birfields, but it ran, was VERY cheap and not rusty. This is the longest I've ever kept a vehicle and I don't see myself ever selling it.

Before:

And now:

 

[Brindleboxer]

Where do I start…

My first recollection of a Land Cruiser was from when I was in college. I knew a girl that had moved from NJ to Florida and she would drive her father’s FJ-45 to school sometime. At that time, I wasn’t into trucks, heck I was young and in Florida and muscle cars was where it was at

We would go to the beach after class and it was cool, fast forward a few years and I was stationed in South Dakota. A coworker had an FJ55 and it was ugly but in all the right ways. It was his winter and hunting rig, it had rust and was slower than molasses, but it was cool. I know the 55 is polarizing but I am of the minority that actually likes them for all their flaws. At that time, I had an Explorer and it served its purpose but I ended up rolling in Wyoming and bought a slightly built F-150 and had that for another 10 years. Looking back, it was the most reliable low maintenance vehicle I have ever owned, and I would probably still have it today except…come on you knew it was coming.

I was stationed in WA and had a friend that had an 89 62 series that was a hand me down from his grandfather. I got the bug to start doing more off-road stuff and the F-150 was good but it was big and had the turning radius of a city block. While deployed one time he and I were talking, and I expressed interest to find a 45 or 55 (remembering the trucks from my past). He would search the ads and email possibilities, but they were almost non-existent as you could imagine. He did find a 97 40th in the sage green and I liked it and it fit the bill for what I wanted. I had him go look at it and over several conversations he struck a deal with the man for me to purchase. My buddy let him know that I was deployed, and he would be doing the purchase on my behalf but had to wait for a power of attorney. Turned out the guy was a retiree and knew the hardships of military life and just asked for a contract and non-refundable deposit and I could buy the car when I returned. That was and still is my wholly grail of the 80 series. I sold due being a new parent and having no time not to mention I was being deployed again and not want the wife to have to deal with everything. My consolation is the 97 went to a Mud member, and he has enjoyed it and given it the love that I could not at the time.

As many can understand, I regretted selling almost immediately. Upon my return I found a 94 that was listed with a bad motor. Upon disassembly, I found the HG was bad and the head was all that needed serviced, the seller was given a quote to rebuild the engine. I fixed that one and drove it for a couple months until I was on base, and a lady walked up to me while I was pumping gas and said her husband had seen me on base and really liked the “truck”. She wanted to buy it for him as a retirement gift and offered me enough to make it a no brainer to make his and her dreams come true.

Fast forward a couple years and I was deployed again and was searching CL for a Volvo V70R (what can I say I like Swedish bricks). I was doing a search of my local area and saw a clean 80 listed. I reached out but the seller really didn’t want to deal with me if I couldn’t buy in the next couple days because he had “a lot of interest”. I returned home but the market for the 80 started gaining steam and rigs that would have sold for $10k earlier in the year where $15k. I knew what I wanted and would wait. I was looking for an 80 with cloth interior and possibly a bad engine because during my deployment I read all the engine swap posts and was dead set I wanted an 80 with an LS. A year later (2020) I found out my shop was closing at my location and due to my medical profile (hurt while deployed) I would be forced to retire sooner than I had planned.

I had no job prospects, due to COVID, and wanted to focus on taking on an 80 while I was retired. At that point cars were stupid priced around here and not what I wanted to spend. As luck would have it, I had a buddy that was looking for a Tacoma and joined one of the social media groups in hopes of networking and finding like minded people. He told me about a kid that had received an 80 due to a relative passing away and he wanted a Tacoma instead. I talked with him, but the truck was running and short of maintenance seemed to be all there and way more than I could justify spending. About a month later I got a text from him out of the blue that asked if I would still buy the 80. He said he was driving it and the front wheel just fell off and he didn’t want to fix and remembered talking with me and knew I would bring it back to life. I declined but he said I could have it for a song and what can I say I couldn’t resist.

So here I am…I have a 94 FZJ80 with 328K and it runs well, and I am getting all the items together for an LS swap, but it runs so well I am finding myself dragging my feet. I did the typical Mud baseline (plus just getting the truck roadworthy and safe) and have since taught my daughter to drive in it and she takes it to school when she can afford the gas. I secretly hope she ask me if it can be her daily instead of some s*** box the wife wants her to have but I know if this happens I would need to help with the gas because on a good day it gets 12 mpg.

 

[ZCissner]

I grew up on a large property and my grandfather and uncles had a private junkyard of jeeps. the only thing that would never die was a 84 X-Tra cab 4X4 my uncle had (he still has it), that set the hook, Toyota forever. I purchased a 89 X-Tra cab when I was 16(18 years ago) for 1407$, every dollar I had at the time. Drove it into the ground, beat the hell out of it and just needed a wagon, so it had to be an old Toyota. I found a 84 60 series a collage kid was selling in Seattle for 2500$ in 2015 and I had to have it, hopped on a ferry and bought it on the spot, gave him the cash, shook his hand and he caught a bus and I got right back on the ferry. He called it the war wagon and I love that thing, when the 2F gave up and dumped its gut in the driveway , I put a OM606 in it, while I was preparing for the swap and gathering parts, I was looking for another LC. In 2018, I found one for sale on Vancouver Island and hoped on another ferry,13K and a handshake later, I drove back on the ferry in a 1991 HDJ81 locked and armored with a bunch of goofy RHD parts in the back. I still have a 89 X-Tra cab, the 60 and the 80, and am hunting for the right 100, looking like a 105 is in the future. Landcruiser's for Life, Toyota Forever.

 

[AAMC]

Can we get more details on your slicktop?

Sure! '97 USDM poverty pack from CA/UT with 178k miles. I'm the second owner. Original owner ordered it with running boards, premium stereo, alloy wheels, floor mats, and security system. Probably the most original, best condition, and well documented, USDM 80 series base model out there.

 

[surfpig]

I never owned a 4x4 (except Subarus) until I bought this 1967 Jeepster Commando. And then I was off! Our little family quicky outgrew it, for camping and such, but I learned a lot about mechanical restoration and all of that. I sold a really nice Datsun 1600 roadster to finance the Jeep, which also had a removable top.

Anyway... One day I saw this immaculately restored FJ55 (I was also eyballing FJ45LVs), and went, "Oh, I must have one! They're so ugly they're beautiful!" So I went in search of one. I ended up with a kind of rustbucket basketcase, that I drove up from SoCal on 5 cylinders and maybe a gallon of oil and the obsession began.

So, ten years of that, a pretty good mechanical restoration and lots of journeys... One day I invited myself on a ride along with the Nor Cal Wagons on a Rubicon trip. I think it was October, 2007. The light went off: these things have air conditioning. Power steering! LOL

Eventually the opportunity came up to buy this one, well used, very low miles, but very mechanically sound. So here I am. Many adventures have ensued...

 

[TheLCProject]

Sure! '97 USDM poverty pack from CA/UT with 178k miles. I'm the second owner. Original owner ordered it with running boards, premium stereo, alloy wheels, floor mats, and security system. Probably the most original, best condition, and well documented, USDM 80 series base model out there.

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Thanks for sharing. That’d get more than MSRP on BaT I suspect. Very nice!

 

[COYS]

I went to a private school flush with MSFT money. My friend drove a new 80 series as his first car. I had no idea wtf it was other than it was nice.

He rolled it into a ditch near campus and I never thought about it again. Come to think of it, a couple of my classmates had 60s. Again, no care.

Eons later, I came across a FS ad here and bought one. It got totaled. Bought another one.

The end.

 

[gilmorneau]

The story of how I got into my 80 is an epic tale. Years in the making. Spanning the globe. Heartbreak and triumph.

Really.

Here's my truck:

The story is here:

Swiss Poverty Pack Barn Door HDJ80

I've been lurking here in the 80-series forum occasionally, but up until recently I mostly spent my time in the 70-series forum. Anyway, I've got an 80-series now, and thought I'd introduce it and myself here. I’ve been working on getting a car like this for quite a while, and now that I...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[amgraham]

The story on my current 80:

I had been casually looking for a more family friendly rig since we started having kids and my 4Runner is small and beat to hell. 95 FZJ80 popped up on craigslist like 15 minutes away with one crappy picture, almost no description, and an incredibly low price. Shot them a message and said I could come now with a trailer and they said ok.

When I get there it's sitting in a muddy back yard and I was communicating with the owner through a 12 year old translator because the owner didn't speak english. He said he bought it to do a diesel conversion and lost interest. It had 140K miles, a terrible respray, and was pretty scroungy. But, it fired up and ran reasonably ok, had a broken y pipe, the rear shocks were completely blown, tires were mismatched, and it looked to have had no maintenance other than oil changes done. Still had original plug wires, almost everything on the motor was leaking, and the front driveshaft u-joints were about to fall out. It needed all the normal baselining stuff too.

After giving it a good once over and spending a reasonable amount of money on it it's been my daily for about 5 years now. Has 200K on it now and due for some more service (power steering is leaking and whining) but still super reliable and fun to drive. My kids love it too.

 

[AgentOrange]

The story on my current 80:

I had been casually looking for a more family friendly rig since we started having kids and my 4Runner is small and beat to hell. 95 FZJ80 popped up on craigslist like 15 minutes away with one crappy picture, almost no description, and an incredibly low price. Shot them a message and said I could come now with a trailer and they said ok.

When I get there it's sitting in a muddy back yard and I was communicating with the owner through a 12 year old translator because the owner didn't speak english. He said he bought it to do a diesel conversion and lost interest. It had 140K miles, a terrible respray, and was pretty scroungy. But, it fired up and ran reasonably ok, had a broken y pipe, the rear shocks were completely blown, tires were mismatched, and it looked to have had no maintenance other than oil changes done. Still had original plug wires, almost everything on the motor was leaking, and the front driveshaft u-joints were about to fall out. It needed all the normal baselining stuff too.

After giving it a good once over and spending a reasonable amount of money on it it's been my daily for about 5 years now. Has 200K on it now and due for some more service (power steering is leaking and whining) but still super reliable and fun to drive. My kids love it too.

These rough Land Cruisers make the best long term finds. Like rescue dogs. So happy and loyal now that they have a good home. Not to say a clean one isn't wonderful, but there are some real gems out there waiting to be found

 

[TexasJack]

Back during the Gulf War in the early 90s, reporters were bonkers on the Landcruiser's ability and comfort. I was looking to get a vehicle I could use as a daily driver, deer hunting truck and off-road adventure rig. The Landcruiser appealed to me because of the rugged nature coupled with nice luxury for the day. I bought mine in 1997 from an elderly gentleman who had owned it for 2 years and put 20,000 miles on it.

I drove it stock from 97 till 2010 when I retired it from being a daily driver. I was tired of sometimes having to dig myself out of mud so I did a 4 inch lift, went to 35s, added sliders, snorkel, front (with a 12,000 war winch) and rear bumper, lockers and regeared from 4.11 to 4.88. I have added a lot of other stuff since but that initial build is what I am still driving today. I now have just over 300,000 miles on it. This truck has proven to be everything the reporters said it was and then some. I have no regrets and intend to drive it until I am no longer physically cabable of making the short hop to get into it. I am hoping that is years away!

 

[greentruck]

Bought the first Land Cruiser, a 1976 FJ 55, after deciding my first new car, a 1976 Subaru 4x4 Wagon, just wasn't big or capable enough for my needs. Here's it is in the pic my avatar is clipped from in Animas Forks, Colorado in 1977 at the farthest end of a week long 'wheeling trip.

Here the 55 is navigating around Arizona on a 1978 road trip visiting my brother.

I loved the truck, as did the Midwest salt. I regretfully sold it in 1984 and decided to try Isuzu for awhile. Admittedly puny and less capable than the 55, it nonetheless got me everywhere I needed to go.

After 120,000 miles I sold it to a friend and stuck with Isuzu, buying a 1993 Rodeo.

With a V-6 and the factory big tire package, it was somewhat more capable than the Trooper II and served me well. In 2009, it was edging up on 150K and was getting a bit long in tooth. The wife said to look for a replacement. I really hadn't gotten serious about the search when I was driving down the local main drag, passing the Midas shop when I noticed that among his small selection of used vehicles was a green 80 series.

Now, I had never been much inspired by 60 series at the costs asked for them new, as well as by their less inspiring than the 55 series styling, which is why I'd never taken the dive on another Land Cruiser. The 80 series was a lot more inspiring in the visual sense, but the cost involved was outta my range. The old sticker on this one was $50,000+, but as a used truck in the middle of the Cash for Clunkers era, this one was only $7,200, just $1000 more than the new price of my FJ 55, plus the 80 was green. After a quick lookover, I went home to do some internet research. And that's where I found MUD...

Despite it being the first primary vehicle I'd bought used, having an auto tranny (yecch! also a first for me), and regrettable fuel mileage, what I read on MUD, as well as the supportive community that it clearly sustained, led me to quickly get the final OK from the wife and it was ours. Wow, what a feeling to be back in a Land Cruiser!

It has served me faithfully ever since, never stranding us even on the rare occasions when it was clearly having a bad day.

 

[ZIFFFZJ80]

I was in to camel trophy years ago and really wanted a defender, but ended up with a discovery 2 as my first real 4x4. I built it up, but it was really unreliable, so I sold it to buy a discovery 1 which I had convinced myself was better. Obviously it wasn’t, so I swore off Land Rover and began the hunt for a Land Cruiser instead. I ended up finding a one owner 3x locked 97 up in a mountain town a few hours away. When I arrived, he basically treated it like an interview to see if he wanted to sell it to me. The truck meant a lot to their family and they wanted to see it off to the right home. I’ve had it for about 7 years and 70k miles now and it’s never left me stranded.

 

[SNLC]

I got some money when I was 18, back in 1990, from some family passing away. I bought a 1987 FJ60 with 40,000 miles on it.

A very good friend of mine got a big settlement when we were 20, from an accident. When we were 20 in 1993 we walked on a Toyota lot and bought a brand new 6m1 with leather and diff locks. He is gone now but I carry a little piece of him (his ashes) with me in my 95 6m1 with diff locks.

Fond memories from when I was young.

I have had a bunch of Cruisers since, I think I am on my 4th or 5th 80.

Cheers

 

[b56tc]

I’m on my 4th 80.
After having a 92 and a 93 bought new (traded up for more power), later in the 90s i bought a 94 because I missed the first two. It left for a super 100 that literally gave its life for mine. Found a great 60 that was sitting for 7y after a divorce battle, and grabbed a 200 when I heard they were the last of the US breed, but I still missed those 3 white 80s. I found my current 96 while driving down the street and saw a lady washing it in front of her house. I think it spoke to me, maybe because it was white, but whatever the reason I pulled over on impulse and asked her if she would consider selling me her 80. And she said yes. I guess you never know in life unless you ask the question, and if you never hear no you’re not asking enough -

 

[gomie434]

My grandpa and my dad were both LC guys. In the 60s my grandpa had three FJ40s (red, green, white) which all stayed in the family for a while.

When I was in high school I was determined to by an FJ60 for my first truck. My dad was a great sport driving me across the Midwest to test drive land cruisers from craigslist. Looking back, he took me for the memories. There's no way at the time that he would have let me buy a 30 year old truck for my first car.

Fast forward to after college -- I kind of give up on finding a land cruiser. Right when I was in the market is when 60 series prices seemed to take off. I end up with an LJ for a few years, that was fun.

Life happened and needs changed so the jeep had to go, but a few months later we were in a position to buy a car, one that wasn't going to be shared with my wife so it could be an older 4x4. The derecho of 2020 hit Iowa and put lots of damaged cars on the market. I got lucky and found a 1999 100 series for $2k with a crack in the windshield and a hole in the exhaust. After that I knew I was sold on land cruisers. I had never even wanted a 100 series, but I was in love. This rekindled my passion for LCs and got me looking for an 80 series.

I got lucky in the middle of pandemic price insanity. My LX450 was listed at 10 am on a Saturday on a dealerships used car inventory with no pictures for $9k (170k). The only information on the ad was make, model, miles. I found the ad an hour after it was posted and put a deposit down even before I asked anything about it so it wouldn't get snatched up.

I found out the story of the truck (owner of the dealership bought it new in 96) and that it was triple locked and in good shape. The next weekend I drove my straight piped 100 series six hours to see it. By the time I made it to Pilson Ford, there was a wait-list of over ten people who wanted to see it/buy it sight unseen.

I drove the truck home overnight, cruise control at 85, got home at 1 am with my nerves shot from cannonballing a truck I had bought hours before.

I only had the 100 series for about two months before I traded it for my LX450. I was very sad to see it go, but it was the catalyst that got me into my 80. Now my dad helps me work on the truck -- something he never had time for growing up. We have a shared love of old land cruisers which I'm thankful for.

 

[Tachycardic]

I never considered a 4x4, prior to moving to Nevada. After driving around national parks in a Mazda 5 (great vehicle btw), my wife and I decided to get a used 4x4 so we could take on trails that the minivan couldn't manage. One day, I drove by the lemon lot at Nellis and saw 2 vehicles--a 2017 4Runner TRD Pro and a 1994 LC80. I was immediately drawn to the 4Runner and called my wife. She said fine as long as it had 3rd row seats. Dang. No 4Runner. I started doing some research on the LC80 and that's how I found MUD and OTRAMM. I was sold.

It's the vehicle that I learned to wrench on. I never even performed an oil change prior to the 80. Like everyone else, it's taken my blood, sweat, and tears, and I have an irrational love for the darn thing. I've taken it out of the desert southwest and it's in the UK with me right now. New adventures await--I hope!