Are any of you daily driving their 80-Series?

[Cruzerman]

You say "not safe"....I disagree. Look at some of the threads on here that people walked away from. Mines a 96 with dual airbags.

I'm not saying that these vehicles are unsafe, but they have made significant improvements to vehicle safety in the past 20 years.

You say "not comfortable" I disagree. And I'm 6'-1" and a fat guy.

I'm not saying that these vehicles are uncomfortable. But they aren't the most comfortable either. With (IMHO) so-so seats, not the smoothest of rides (not too bad), not particularly quiet (not horrible), not the best HVAC, etc.

I have quite a few cars in my stable and each one has their place. For me, my cruisers' place is off the pavement, not taking me to work and back.

 

[UCLAcruiser]

It is not an image thing at all @Cruzerman. It is a choice. I have to drive through some of the worst parts of Los Angeles for my job. When I drive my wife’s 2013 sedan it is a vastly different experience than driving the 80. You can choose to drive a “bucket”, “beater” or whatever you want to call it. Take that thing and then drive it into the ground as your commuter. Every commute will feel like a chore or lack the fun of driving an 80. I choose to drive my 80 and smile every damn mile while driving through some of the worst roads and areas. Figure in the fact my 80 is modded lightly and purposefully for driving through poorly maintained urban environments as well as a rig to get me to campsites on the weekend. YMMV

 

[juanchogaviria]

I drive my 80 everyday. Love it
1994 vx. Fzj80

 

[Cruzerman]

It's all good. My only point is that for most people, I feel that these old Land Cruisers are a poor choice as a commuter vehicle. But people drive whatever makes sense to them. I actually like driving something that is sportier, gets better mileage, etc. Again, it's all good.

 

[graham5david]

I love cruisers. I own and have owned many for almost 35 years. My commute is around 50 miles round trip. I can think of no reason why I (or anyone) would use one of these rigs as a daily driver. They are neither economical, fun to drive, overly comfortable, particularly safe, etc. They have nothing I am looking for in a daily driver. Not that I am looking for all these items. For example, I can put up with poorer mileage if I get performance or something else in return. The only reason I can think of anyone using one as a daily driver is that either their commute is extremely short or it is an image thing. Flame suit on.

I daily drive mine to compensate for other areas in which I am lacking. Has nothing to do with image

 

[BILT4ME]

It's all good. My only point is that for most people, I feel that these old Land Cruisers are a poor choice as a commuter vehicle. But people drive whatever makes sense to them. I actually like driving something that is sportier, gets better mileage, etc. Again, it's all good.

If I could, I'd DD a 66 Cobra.

But I don't own one of those, it's not comfortable, it's loud, but DAMN it's fast! (Did I mention LOUD?) Also, not so good in the snow......

I drive what I like and what I own.

My DD used to be a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) because that's what I owned and I needed something to carry all my crap.

 

[graham5david]

No, to each there own. I daily drive my fj cruiser because it gets decent mileage, it satisfies my 4x4 need and it is by far the most dependable vehicle I have. However, I don't really enjoy taking it on long trips because of wind noise and the seats suck. I drive the 80 when I go camping or any time that I need to pack the whole family and a ton of luggage ang gear for the trip. Like our weekend baseball trips, I typically have my wife and kids, luggage, baseball gear, ice chests, and a small grill. But if it's a long trip greater than 200 miles I take the wife's 200 for the sake of my back. The real question I have is how do I talk my wife into letting me get a supra to daily drive.

 

[Marco Lau]

I daily drive all my project cars, I rank the 80s on the top of my list, easily the top 5 tho, surprisingly...My 3rd gen RX-7 makes 450whp on a 2800 lb chassis (11.6 @ 128mph in the 1/4), and that gets my #1 vote.

1. 1994 FD3S (3rd gen Rx7)
2. 1973 Rx-3
3. FJ80 - 3FE (not be mistaken for 1FZ-FE )
4. E30 325i Cabriolet - 5sp (DD)
5. E36 M3 -4dr/5sp

 

[PDoyle]

Got a 18 Acura MDX and the 80 rides better. I do buy new shocks about every 50-60k miles for the 80.

 

[Kernal]

I still drive one or the other of two 80's daily and prefer driving them over everything else. For long drives out of State I'll often use a rental
vehicle that gets 30+ mpg, and never drive either of my 80's in the Rust Belt during the winter. FWIW

 

[Mohi Tanvir]

Every day, every night. Always gets me wherever I need to go!
Put in about 7k earlier this year when it was at 298,xxx. Planning on keeping it for a very long time.

 

[juanchogaviria]

I can only say life is to short to not drive a land Cruiser...

 

[Cruzerman]

Even though these things are tough and reliable, wheeling a rig that has to get me to work on Monday seems foolish. And not wheeling a land cruiser seems just wrong. I guess that's why so many of us have backup rigs or only use these for recreation.

 

[Cruzerman]

I daily drive all my project cars, I rank the 80s on the top of my list, easily the top 5 tho, surprisingly...My 3rd gen RX-7 makes 450whp on a 2800 lb chassis (11.6 @ 128mph in the 1/4), and that gets my #1 vote.

1. 1994 FD3S (3rd gen Rx7)
2. 1973 Rx-3
3. FJ80 - 3FE (not be mistaken for 1FZ-FE )
4. E30 325i Cabriolet - 5sp (DD)
5. E36 M3 -4dr/5sp

With that list of vehicles, the FJ80 would not be at the top of my list either. Or second. Or third.

 

[surfpig]

Even though these things are tough and reliable, wheeling a rig that has to get me to work on Monday seems foolish. And not wheeling a land cruiser seems just wrong. I guess that's why so many of us have backup rigs or only use these for recreation.

Honestly it’s really fun showing up late to work on Monday morning (or Tuesday...) straight off the trail, truck all muddy and beat up, sway bars strapped to the roof...

“Sorry I’m late, did I miss anything?”

 

[lumbee1]

With that list of vehicles, the FJ80 would not be at the top of my list either. Or second. Or third.

@Cruzerman we get it. YOU don't like to daily drive YOUR 80. However there are many of us that do, have to, or would like to. I have a built 80, a tuned GTI, and a 1st gen Tundra. The Tundra is boring to drive and while the GTI is quite good and economical and fast and fun, I actually would prefer to drive the 80. I love the lifted view, the noise, and the mechanical visceral driving experience. While driving, the Cruiser feels ready to put in 300 miles of highway or dive into the woods on a fireroad. My radius arm and control arm bushings are shot and my head needs to be rebuilt so I have to take it easy but yes I would DD my Cruiser if I could and get 30 miles to the gallon.

 

[weak-link]

over the past 10 or so years I daily drove a 40 then a 60 and now an 80. I feel like the 80 is making me soft.

 

[RobE30]

I drive it every day. For the past month I've been sharing it with my girlfriend which means I've been driving my 87 BMW 325is (fun and fairly quick but stiff coilovers make for a tiring drive).

 

[Sc0-]

Mostly DD my FZJ80 until my VW TDI is roadworthy again. When nice weather moves in then it's a motorcycle day...

Mileage sucks but have an almost 0 tendency to speed in it and most other drivers think twice before trying to occupy the same space in a lane or do a brake check... It's true that it won't crumple like a modern car would if involved in an accident BUT, as long as I don't hit anything more solid then I will be able to drive home...

 

[TexasJack]

You know what’s funny? I put some Techron in it from Costco a few weeks ago, and now once in a while it’ll start with a low idle and die - then when it restarts it’s fine. Wondering if that’s from blowing some built up deposits out of the injectors that hasn’t burned off yet. All the tuneup stuff has been done recently, so I’ve just been using it as a reason to mash the skinny pedal a little more to get that stuff through. Never had an issue with it in any other vehicle.

Run another bottle through and make sure there is only 12 gallons of gas or less in tank. The difference will be noticeable. I used to do this fairly frequently and then noticed my gas milage dropping.