I haven’t noticed that.
80s from western states can commonly be found with no rust.
370,000 Miles...Too Many?
- Thread starter GraniteChief
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80s from western states can commonly be found with no rust.
There out there !!Where are you finding 26 year old 4wd’s with no rust? Aside from the hole on the passenger floor I thought it was pretty minimal. I was looking at Tacomas a few weeks ago and 5/5 had rust bad enough to not warrant buying or fixing. I’d love to find an 80 without rust but I figured I could fix the rust on this one in a couple weekends. The frame has none. Oh, and he said he can do 10k
When you say rust through to me that’s to much rust !
My 94 has zero rust and it makes it so much easier to work on.
We’re a visual group post pictures so we can see what your talking about.
But for me to take on a 370 k rig it would need to be rust free
Just hard to visualize rust through on the floor and a clean frame
Rust is like cockroaches if you see them on the surface there’s more hidden underneath.
- Thread starter
- #23
I’m in a western state at 5k feet elevation. We get snow November-May. I guess the more coastal parts of the west and the more southern deserts aren’t as likely to have rust. California doesn’t get much rust but wow are they expensive there. Do you still think 10k is too much? It has about that much in aftermarket parts on it.
- Thread starter
- #24
I know what you mean. Old cars sometimes rust in weird ways out here. Rust where the salt spray from the tires hits the body is common but it’s not like Michigan where everything rusts.There out there !!
When you say rust through to me that’s to much rust !
My 94 has zero rust and it makes it so much easier to work on.
We’re a visual group post pictures so we can see what your talking about.
But for me to take on a 370 k rig it would need to be rust free
Just hard to visualize rust through on the floor and a clean frame
Rust is like cockroaches if you see them on the surface there’s more hidden underneath.
The hole is directly above the exhaust so I’m guessing the heat from the exhaust combined with salt spray is what did it. The rust on the lift gate bothers me the most though since it’s cosmetic. I’ll have to remove the plastic Lexus trim piece which will probably break, wire wheel it to bare metal, and put rust converter on it. The rust behind the tires only bothers me because the pinch seam is rusty, but I think a similar approach would fix it. I would monsterline the whole rig, probably this summer if I buy it.
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Sounds like one to pass up
- Thread starter
- #27
The overwhelming consensus here seems to be no. I’m torn. Buying one rust free and building it to the same point would set me back 20-25k. I guess the question is can I actually fix the rust that easily 
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
Talk is talk pictures would be really helpful.
Tommy
Tommy
Buying one with minimal rust that someone else spent thr money building will set you back less than you realize, not to mention less than buying above vehicle and fixing rust.
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
Dude they are out there just keep looking don't get hung up on one. The guy isn't willing to work with you he is probably in the same boat trying to figure out what to do with his rusty 80 with tons of miles trying to get put from under it before the engine blows then he is stuck with a rusty blown up s*** box with all kinds of bolt on"s that he will more than likely part out. I own 4 and two of those are triple locked one I drive daily now that my 2wd raco blew up when I bought it had blown head gasket leaking roof racks ome lift 190k fixed the head gasket myself temporarily fixed leaking roof racks put a set of 305 tires on it good to go . The other 95 triple locked stock no lift some aftermarket rims and tires witch I hate but my girl likes them I bought it for her the engine is blown piston out tye oil pan blown . Been looking for an engine for a year cam across another 95 wrecked but low mileage 137k lifted 35 tires using that drive train in my girls 95 triple locked. The other is a 92 s*** box parts truck. You don't even want to know how much I have into all that. KEEP LOOKING!!
Tommy
Tommy
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
Oh and the only one that has rust is my 94 on the roof from roof racks and driver bottom of door witch I have a replacement from the 95 I just got . When looking ask about or look for rust on the roof rack holes not an easy fix to do it the right way.
Pictures or it didn’t happen
A few people have already asked !
If you really what help post some picture’s
If you have made up your mind just buy it.
A few people have already asked !
If you really what help post some picture’s
If you have made up your mind just buy it.
Bought mine in Sacramento w/372k miles. No rust was imperative for me and worth a premium price. During my complete rebuild (I put up a thread previously), I broke exactly zero bolts.
That alone made the "premium price" cheap.
This is what I’m talking about!!
Same with mine the hole suspension has been gone through without ever breaking a bolt and without using penetrating oil
mudgudgeon
Resident galah
Don't be seduced by the aftermarket stuff.
It's fairly typical to spend about $5k over the first year or two catching up on overdue PM, repairs due to general age and wear and tear on these 30 year old trucks.
If you have to do any engine work, add another $3-10k.
If you have to repair rust and body work, add another few $k, plus hours of aggravation fighting with siezed and busted bolts every time you do anything more than charge spark plugs.
You'll spend more than you'll save on that $10k worth of aftermarket stuff.
There's no such thing as a cheap 80 series (unless you get exceptionally lucky).
You either pay upfront for a refreshed rig, or you buy knowing your going to put several $k into refreshing it yourself, or let shìt ride, and get nickel and dimed by all the small things a 30 year old vehicle needs. . .
and then, spend time on ih8mud, catch MudOCD, AND add on a bunch of aftermarket gear you never knew was essential just for a drive to talk shìt at rigs and coffee . . .
And, now your wallet is empty and your missus insists that 5 landcruisers is a touch too many
^^^ This !
Azca
If there is a harder way - I will find it...
Great advice above. Search for a SW or So Cal rig. I would not touch a rig with rust. Mine has 245k and no rust. Watch Bring a Trailer for rigs, they seem to have quite a few running through them with a significant number of rust free rigs.
Head gasket is the most common big issue. The trans, xfr case, axles are practically bullet proof, provided they were maintained. The engine was designed to be rebuilt twice, most don't even need looking at until 300k. I rebuilt mine when I did the head gasket.
Parts can be very spendy, and as stated above, 5k in parts for these rigs is not unusual. They aint cheap but like a good woman, she will always put a smile on your face!
Head gasket is the most common big issue. The trans, xfr case, axles are practically bullet proof, provided they were maintained. The engine was designed to be rebuilt twice, most don't even need looking at until 300k. I rebuilt mine when I did the head gasket.
Parts can be very spendy, and as stated above, 5k in parts for these rigs is not unusual. They aint cheap but like a good woman, she will always put a smile on your face!
- Thread starter
- #38
So, a few things:
1) The rig is an hour drive away, not in my driveway. I therefore cannot go snap pictures to post up. The listing pics don't show any rust spots.
2) The guy is willing to work with me. He knocked 2k off the price. That's a 17% price drop.
3) It's not a rust bucket with rusty fasteners. The entire suspension has already been removed and replaced. It has a 4" Ironman lift with Ironman trackbars and Fox shocks. The frame is pure black with original chassis paint, not rust colored. I passed up 5 rust bucket 2nd get Tacomas before I started looking at 80 series cruisers. Now those things are nearly all rusty junk out here even though they cost more
. I'm talking badly rusted frames, chunks falling off when you poke them with your finger, holes you can see through, in need of a whole new frame and not worth fixing the existing one.
4) The whole "expect to spend 5k catching up on preventative maintenance any 80 you buy" doesn't seem relevant here. The current owner is a young mechanic who I'm certain has been on here religiously for the past 3 years and spent part of every paycheck his first year working to buy something for this rig. He replaced all the wheel bearings, the birfields, the radiator, the water pump, bumpers, suspension, etc. It does need a new seal for the oil pump but that's it as far as I can tell. He's probably watching this thread and getting nervous lol.
5) "Buying one with minimal rust that someone else spent thr money building will set you back less than you realize, not to mention less than buying above vehicle and fixing rust." Um, I'm calling BS. They're a minimum of 20k already built and rust free with 200k+ miles. Mostly I'm seeing them in the 20-30k range. That's 2-3x the price of this one.
6) I don't see how engine work would set me back 3-10k and rust another 10k. I'm not paying anyone to do this work for me. An engine rebuild kit is $900, and I'm guessing the machine work would set me back another ~1k. The transmission is the only thing I might pay someone to rebuild, but I would be pulling and reinstalling it myself. I still might try rebuilding it myself if it needs it (gotta learn sometime, right?).
Rust work is actually pretty cheap when you do it yourself. I can weld upside down and blindfolded while shotgunning a PBR. It's a PITA to fix rust, but it's actually pretty darn cheap...maybe $100 for rust converter/rustoleum/undercoating. The most expensive part is bed liner to replace the paint ($400) and a new windshield to access the rust to fully convert all of it (another ~$400).
I appreciate the advice, but some of it is making me question the rest of it. You guys had me leaning heavily towards not buying it until I saw the responses this morning. Now I don't know what to think. My biggest concern at this point is the owner has been having a hard time selling it, which means I'll probably have a hard time too if I ever need to sell it (say, for example, I get laid off and my mortgage payment is due). It sounds like nobody is coming out to look at it, so the mileage is probably the scare factor, not the rust.
One more thing, I'm curious to hear people's opinions on this: he cut off the last few inches of the frame to mount a custom high clearance rear bumper. Being a Jeep/pirate4x4 kinda guy, I didn't bat an eye at this. I'm currently building a hybrid HP D44 front and I'm chopping off the inner C's, shortening the tubes, rotating the C's for caster and pinion angle, and welding a custom truss to it. Probably gonna have to build a custom control arm or two. None of the axle project has phased me. Thoughts? Do ya'll cut and weld on your 80's much?
1) The rig is an hour drive away, not in my driveway. I therefore cannot go snap pictures to post up. The listing pics don't show any rust spots.
2) The guy is willing to work with me. He knocked 2k off the price. That's a 17% price drop.
3) It's not a rust bucket with rusty fasteners. The entire suspension has already been removed and replaced. It has a 4" Ironman lift with Ironman trackbars and Fox shocks. The frame is pure black with original chassis paint, not rust colored. I passed up 5 rust bucket 2nd get Tacomas before I started looking at 80 series cruisers. Now those things are nearly all rusty junk out here even though they cost more
. I'm talking badly rusted frames, chunks falling off when you poke them with your finger, holes you can see through, in need of a whole new frame and not worth fixing the existing one.4) The whole "expect to spend 5k catching up on preventative maintenance any 80 you buy" doesn't seem relevant here. The current owner is a young mechanic who I'm certain has been on here religiously for the past 3 years and spent part of every paycheck his first year working to buy something for this rig. He replaced all the wheel bearings, the birfields, the radiator, the water pump, bumpers, suspension, etc. It does need a new seal for the oil pump but that's it as far as I can tell. He's probably watching this thread and getting nervous lol.
5) "Buying one with minimal rust that someone else spent thr money building will set you back less than you realize, not to mention less than buying above vehicle and fixing rust." Um, I'm calling BS. They're a minimum of 20k already built and rust free with 200k+ miles. Mostly I'm seeing them in the 20-30k range. That's 2-3x the price of this one.
6) I don't see how engine work would set me back 3-10k and rust another 10k. I'm not paying anyone to do this work for me. An engine rebuild kit is $900, and I'm guessing the machine work would set me back another ~1k. The transmission is the only thing I might pay someone to rebuild, but I would be pulling and reinstalling it myself. I still might try rebuilding it myself if it needs it (gotta learn sometime, right?).
Rust work is actually pretty cheap when you do it yourself. I can weld upside down and blindfolded while shotgunning a PBR. It's a PITA to fix rust, but it's actually pretty darn cheap...maybe $100 for rust converter/rustoleum/undercoating. The most expensive part is bed liner to replace the paint ($400) and a new windshield to access the rust to fully convert all of it (another ~$400).
I appreciate the advice, but some of it is making me question the rest of it. You guys had me leaning heavily towards not buying it until I saw the responses this morning. Now I don't know what to think. My biggest concern at this point is the owner has been having a hard time selling it, which means I'll probably have a hard time too if I ever need to sell it (say, for example, I get laid off and my mortgage payment is due). It sounds like nobody is coming out to look at it, so the mileage is probably the scare factor, not the rust.
One more thing, I'm curious to hear people's opinions on this: he cut off the last few inches of the frame to mount a custom high clearance rear bumper. Being a Jeep/pirate4x4 kinda guy, I didn't bat an eye at this. I'm currently building a hybrid HP D44 front and I'm chopping off the inner C's, shortening the tubes, rotating the C's for caster and pinion angle, and welding a custom truss to it. Probably gonna have to build a custom control arm or two. None of the axle project has phased me. Thoughts? Do ya'll cut and weld on your 80's much?
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
The rear bumper of an 80 is the frame. No big deal probably a 4x4 labs rear bumper witch is a really nice bumper.
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
Now we need pictures of you upside-down welding shotguning a pbr or it didn't happen....
