80 series running costs

[loudpipes]

Hello all...
I'm thinking of buying an 80 series to tour Australia towards the end of this year. Looking to get one with about 300-400k km and was just wondering what sort of price you'd expect to pay for one of these and what sort of running costs are involved for lets say a 30,000 km trip in a year. I know this is a bit of a shot in the dark as all trucks are different but I just wanted to see what different opinions were.
THANKS in advance.

 

[Tools R Us]

37" tyres are expensive!

 

[gummycarbs]

There aren't a lot of Australians here, so you probably won't get much useful information.

If you want to know about what parts are needed for common maintenance items, then 'mud can help. But everything you need to know is already in the FAQ and archives.

Short version: the most common major failure is the head gasket. The most unusual (and usually neglected) maintenance item is probably the front axle, which has to be cleaned and packed with moly grease regularly. It's essentially just an armored, heavy duty CV joint. Other than that, they're like most other vehicles, but on the expensive side because they're big and heavy.

 

[LS1FJ40]

I’m assuming you’ll buy a diesel. I don’t know a lot about them but have heard guys talk about bottom end bearings on the diesels. Don’t quote me on that. Head gaskets are a talked about “issue” on the 1FZ-FE.

Fuel will be your most expensive item. Not sure KM wise what the diesels get but it won’t be great. Better than petrol but will still suck.

I wouldn’t worry about maintenance costs. They are what any 25 year old vehicle will be. Anything you buy will probably have a lot of deferred maintenance.

Buy it. Drive it. Fix/replace what needs fixing/replacing.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Nimmity]

Hey there Aussie here! For that type of trip, I'd be getting a 1HZ DX model. I've known guys with up to 850000ks on that engine and still going. It is by far the most common engine for parts and service here because it is in the hzj Utes that every other farmer/Telstra/national parks ranger etc drives.
Your biggest cost would be fuel, the 1hz is really the most efficient and over 30,000ks would save you $1000's. without anything major going wrong it's just regular servicing stuff. Oil, timing belt if needed, axle stuff etc. having to do the injector pump would be one of the bigger costs.
Pay as much as you can afford for a well looked after machine and it will reward you with reliability and fewer big costs.

 

[midfat]

I purchased my bone-stock ‘97 80-Series with 199,000 miles two years ago. It needed a solid base-lining. Short of a head gasket, I’ve pretty much attended to everything else. I do about 50 miles per day commuting. Perhaps this will give you some numbers to crunch. (Note that these numbers include a Stage 3 Icon suspension kit and 5 35’ tires on 17x9 beadlocks.)

 

[loudpipes]

Hey there Aussie here! For that type of trip, I'd be getting a 1HZ DX model. I've known guys with up to 850000ks on that engine and still going. It is by far the most common engine for parts and service here because it is in the hzj Utes that every other farmer/Telstra/national parks ranger etc drives.
Your biggest cost would be fuel, the 1hz is really the most efficient and over 30,000ks would save you $1000's. without anything major going wrong it's just regular servicing stuff. Oil, timing belt if needed, axle stuff etc. having to do the injector pump would be one of the bigger costs.
Pay as much as you can afford for a well looked after machine and it will reward you with reliability and fewer big costs.

thanks for your advice! how do you determine which models have the 1HZ DX engine? Right now I'm looking at the FZJ80R

 

[rolliges]

The Aussies also have the cool looking 70 series Troopers.

Check this out:

 

[Nimmity]

thanks for your advice! how do you determine which models have the 1HZ DX engine? Right now I'm looking at the FZJ80R

So they'd be HZJ80. Fzj80's are great but the fuel use is monumental! HZJ105r are great too. Fairly similar to an 80.
Best of luck

 

[baldilocks]

If you have to ask, you can’t afford to do what you are looking to do. Being in the UK, I’d think that one of those Land Rover things would be your preference.

 

[shocktower]

Hey mate go into a Pub and ask the town drunk his bar tab

 

[cme4lyt]

Yeah, a Land Rover for you. Skip the LC.....