62 vs. 100 series (1 Viewer)

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Chris Sandstorm FJ

Chris Sandstorm FJ

Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Threads
25
Messages
400
Location
Denver, CO
I recently had to replace my 4runner to a river crossing that went bad. We found
an 01 LC with low miles over the holidays, anticipating this would be our family wheeling rig and DD for my wife.

Well, the 100 turned out to be cleaner than anticipated and we are having pause regarding modding it and turning it into a wheeling rig, just yet..

I have always wanted a 62 ever sense one of my college buddy's father had one and we drove around in it one summer.

You all have 60s and 62s, you drive them a bunch, you know their ups and downs.

If you could do it all over again...Would you pick your 60/62 or would you mod a 100?

My needs are: my own rig, not a DD, something I can tinker with, I would take it on 3-4 desert trips a year from Denver to Utah and annually around Ouray/Telluride. Potentially Rubicon in a few years.. BTW, already have an 80 with FIL, so not looking to get another one.

Thanks for any feedback you can share.
 
Rubicon in a 100 would not be fun.
 
IMHO, the only advantage of a hundy is dd comfort. I like 60s because they are incredibly easy to work on, and there is no ecu. Plus, I like the round headlights. I also think the 60/62 can be customized to your liking better and for less $$.

My .02
 
Build a 60/62 for fun. The 100 for long road trips. Get a small car that gets good gas mileage for a DD.
 
I own both a 100 series and a FJ62. The only place I see a advantage offroad in the 100 series is on wash boards. It can handle them at greater speeds the FJ62. Offroad I have no problem with the auto in the FJ62. It's the power loss on the road I notice. Because we bought the 62 in the earlier ninties as a almost DD it made more sense to get a 62 with the atuo for my wife.
 
Honestly, most of us wont push a truck far enough to see the advantages of a solid front axle; so the 100 is capable enough.

If you drive long distances, NOTHING is as comfortable as a 100. They are a dream to drive; the V-8 is strong, the auto is good (even though I hate autos), and the seats and interior are great.

My 60 will hold more stuff, looks cooler, and might be more capable in really really rough stuff, but the 100 is fxxxing great.

My mom had a 62, it was a slow beast but pretty cool. I just prefer the 60 (2F, Manual trans, round headlights).
 
I have both a FJ62 (1989) and a UZJ100 (2001).

I won't wheel my 100 where I live. Things are too tight, too messy, and not worth trashing a nice truck. So I use my FJ62 for that. I also use the 62 for Home Depot runs and hauling stuff I don't want to to put in the hundy. It's slow, but it just lumbers along no matter how much its loaded down. It sucks gas, but it looks darn cool. It's not comfortable, but I still love the ride.

When I take the family on a long trip, I take the hundy. Like it was said above, nothing beats a 100 series on a long road trip. Where I live is the highest concentration of soccer moms in LX470s or UZJ100s in the whole country. So there's nothing special about it. No one asks me about my hundy at a gas station.

So basically, I'd get both. :D
 
I own both a 60 and 62. Loved the body style since I was a little kid. All I know of the 100 series is that they are larger and more expensive to modify for offroading, but great nonetheless and better to bring a family on the trail. The 60/62 series is, in my opinion, better for making a devoted trail rig out of cuz you can find them relatively cheap and working on them/building them is very easy. I prefer the auto on the trail and the manual on the street (just preference) because the auto is more forgiving on the entire drivetrain seems easier for steep rocky hill climbs. But I do have two wagons to appease my wants and needs. Also, the 2f can be converted to efi if you want fuel injection.
 
Thanks you guys!

All comments really helpful, just kind of doing a gut check on buying a 62. I have always wanted one, won't be in a hurry when i go on trips to care about the highway speeds, and need a home depot, wheeling rig.

I can build it up for the Con or just build it for my Southern Utah runs and CO mtn runs.

We love the 100 and it is super plush.. I also like the no ECU board of the 62s because that is what I fried getting stuck in the river...

Well now I just have to be patient and find the right one for me, which is not going to be easy.

One question I have is cabin air quality. I had an 89 Alfa Spider, i know not really a comparison..but the cabin would some time fill up with bad air and I would routinely smell like an exhaust pipe or fuel smell.. I had a buddy tell me I would get the same from a 62. Any truth to this comment? Wondering if this is common for older vehicles or just an isolated issue with Alfas?
 
Chris Sandstorm FJ said:
I also like the no ECU board of the 62s because that is what I fried getting stuck in the river...

.

One question I have is cabin air quality. I had an 89 Alfa Spider, i know not really a comparison..but the cabin would some time fill up with bad air and I would routinely smell like an exhaust pipe or fuel smell.. I had a buddy tell me I would get the same from a 62. Any truth to this comment? Wondering if this is common for older vehicles or just an isolated issue with Alfas?
Click to expand...

The FJ62s have a ECU. It is mounted below the glove box. If you get it wet on a river crossing you probably have more problems than just the ECU. I picked up a spare ECU for mine shortly after I bougth mind. Seeing the price for new and what SOR wanted used figure better to get one cheap before I needed it. Almost twenty years later and still running original. Plus picked up a second spare with a huge pile of 62 parts I bought cheap. Unlike the 100 series you can get cheap spares for the 6X series. The 100 are just now getting to the age where it doesn't take a major accident to total them. Problem is there are many more electronics in them to go bad. But come to a road trip I'll take the 100 sries over the FJ62 any day.
 
Chris Sandstorm FJ said:
One question I have is cabin air quality. I had an 89 Alfa Spider, i know not really a comparison..but the cabin would some time fill up with bad air and I would routinely smell like an exhaust pipe or fuel smell.. I had a buddy tell me I would get the same from a 62. Any truth to this comment? Wondering if this is common for older vehicles or just an isolated issue with Alfas?
Click to expand...

Not a valid comparison. Keep a good exhaust system on the Cruiser and there will be no problems.
 
I know that I'm not that experience in the cruiser world but here is my input...

My father has had countless cruisers, an 80 a 62 a 100 a 60 an 80 that we lost in a garage fire :( and then the 62 he gave me 4 years ago.. I'm almost 18 now, so I have spent 4 years with my 62 and I have to say I love it... the first 2 years it sat up and didn't get much done to it, but for my 15th birthday my father gave me a 1" lift and 33x10.5x15s and then for my 16th birthday it was a roof rack :) now I am taking over the mods myself and I'm getting into doing some cool stuff...

For seeing all of my fathers cruisers that were mostly DDs I have to say my favorite by far is the 60/62s.. the body lines of the 60/62s are just so classic :) I love them.. I drive my 62 everyday and I can't complain about anything, the ride is not uncomfortable and I love the way that people look at my rig ;) their jealous.. its not the prettiest rig but when I started taking it out with all of my football buddies they joked about how I didn't have a winch and how many times I would be asking them to pull me out of the mud... So far I've been the one who pulls them out of the mud ;) the 60 series tanks can't be beat by a hundy in the world of off road.. and you don't have to worry about keeping that expensive hundy clean on the interior when you go mudding (not that I neglect my 62's interior, but the 62 is made for all of that and I would feel a little weird in a 100 offroad getting mud on the mats and all)

The 100s are more of a DD but if you want offroad go with a 62 :) Dependable and easy to work on and modify :) I love it :)
I clearly have cruiser fever ;)
 
Hey pal!

Hey Chris, great to see you over here. and I couldn't argue with anything said here....I will re-iterate the rear seatbelt thing on the 62's. My 60 doesn't have them and with the same number of kiddos to tote around it would be reeeaaallly nice to have rear shoulder belts.

Of course...my heart is with the 60 (and you CAN fit rear shoulder belts in a 60) ;)
 
my 62 doesn't have the rear seat belt, not a problem though... I DONT plan on hauling kids around anytime soon!
 
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