Buying a 60 in the future... is the idea of buying one somewhere else and driving it home retarded?

[JoeW]

I bought my 60 sight unseen in Reno and drove it 300 miles to Southern Oregon. It was SOA on 35s and worn steering bits. Aside from the radio flopping around and underestimating just how slow you could go over the Siskiyou summit, it did fine. A little temperamental cold but once the 2F got to temp, it puttered along fine.


Ive seen your thread in the 80 section and the other cars you've got. You'll be fine getting a 60 of unknown condition back up here. This sounds like a cool family project in the making. Best of luck

 

[Dusten]

All your fault lol

Oh for sure. We bought a running but rusty 66 f100. We stripped it to the frame. New metal. Crown Vic front end. Explorer rear.
I have a 351w with heads and a cam and a sniper ready to go in. 4r70w with a quick4 controller.

Been doing all this post divorce, single dad. Renting shop space. But I finally have my own shop now.

 

[Dusten]

 

[Dusten]

 

[Alex7]

I feel like these are some of the best adventures. Given, I've never done it to grab a 60 series, it was usually a return trip home in a more modern car that can go a lot faster - so dependent on how far you're going, I think it would actually be kind of exciting.

 

[JakeBP]

I bought a FJ60 from a member on here. I got my dad a plane ticket and we met in Texas, and drove it back to my place in Arizona 1000 miles. It was an excellent time. Highly recommend it.

I also have an F100, good taste!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Avoid the 3fe. There's a reason so many get swaps...their parts have become exceedingly hard to find, and costly as well. Of the 5 years we got them there weren't two years where everything was the same. They were cobble jobs out of the box.

60 is the way. '85 or later if at all possible. Main hard part that has become difficult to find on them is the cyl head. Many used ones are cracked. Get a good runner, confirm the head and hg are good, keep it cool, enjoy it.

 

[dawnpatroller]

I bought mine in east San Diego and drove it up to Los Angeles left it there for a week and drove it home north of San Francisco. I did it with my fourteen year old son. Took the scenic HWY 101 basically the whole way avoiding I5 and the grapevine just to be safe. Great memories.

 

[EWheeler]

Hes not into cars like me or my daughter, so this is just a driver for him.

4 runner

 

[Dusten]

4 runner

Why? He wants an fj62. I see no reason not to get one.

 

[zeeklafreek]

Why? He wants an fj62. I see no reason not to get one.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Depends on your risk tolerance. I would recommend it. Get some roadworthy status from owner, get a local cruiser head to do some sleuthing if possible. Brakes, good steering, decent tires, cooling system, good compression and vid of cold start/idle, warmed temp, are good initial checks. Carry a set of belts for sure.

Bought my HJ60 in Nanaimo, BC. Took the whole fam to get it. My boys had never been abroad, never had to change currency, get on a ferry, meet and do a deal with someone we have never met before, and drive it back to Texas through Yellowstone during Thanksgiving and through the worst Texas winter storm. Never put snow chains on before. Blew a water pump in Missoula. Had one shipped from Canada. Got it done in the freezing cold. Made it home. Made the most of every turn of the journey. One of the best memories my boys have with these old rigs. I love @dogfishlake’s signature line “Going on a living spree”. Safety first, the rest to the Merry wind.

 

[mongoose2231]

New Mexico to NY in sight unseen 60 in 34 hours. Three fellas driving. That 60 was a disaster too, no brakes, no ac, electrical issues, etc. Still never had a glitch on way home. All the issues were discovered after we brought it home. I guess these things can just keep on trucking if there's oil and they are kept cool.
Go for it.

 

[Skreddy]

Depends on your risk tolerance. I would recommend it. Get some roadworthy status from owner, get a local cruiser head to do some sleuthing if possible. Brakes, good steering, decent tires, cooling system, good compression and vid of cold start/idle, warmed temp, are good initial checks. Carry a set of belts for sure.

Bought my HJ60 in Nanaimo, BC. Took the whole fam to get it. My boys had never been abroad, never had to change currency, get on a ferry, meet and do a deal with someone we have never met before, and drive it back to Texas through Yellowstone during Thanksgiving and through the worst Texas winter storm. Never put snow chains on before. Blew a water pump in Missoula. Had one shipped from Canada. Got it done in the freezing cold. Made it home. Made the most of every turn of the journey. One of the best memories my boys have with these old rigs. I love @dogfishlake’s signature line “Going on a living spree”. Safety first, the rest to the Merry wind.

View attachment 4119165

This is the exact type of trip I want to do someday. Mishaps aplenty, but nothing that can’t be overcome.

Worst case, it gets towed home. (I mean, I guess real worst case is it ending in a fireball engulfing 27 other cars, but aside from that).

 

[tmxmotorsports]

This is the exact type of trip I want to do someday. Mishaps aplenty, but nothing that can’t be overcome.

Worst case, it gets towed home. (I mean, I guess real worst case is it ending in a fireball engulfing 27 other cars, but aside from that).

Finally destination #20 lol

 

[Seth S]

I have plenty of PTO and the ability to use it. So a time crunch won't be an issue. I earn like 5 weeks a year.

There are areas I'll exclude because rust isn't an option.

But it seems most people I've talked think it's a decent idea. Having never driven a 60 I wasn't sure how they did on the

I’m 6’3 and here’s what I can say about driving the 60 2000 miles home. There is no cruise control so your foot is on the gas pedal all the time. The stock seat
And seating position are horrible….lacking in both support of your upper body and in legs. Your foot gets quite tired
And I had to get very creative in propping up my leg to hold my foot at the skewed angle for hours of endless driving. The steering wheel is also quite tiring to hold onto. The stock wheel starts to feel like a thin wire after a while because it’s quite thin compared to most other steering wheels. The trick is slow and you’ll be in 3rd gear limping over mountain passes with the big trucks. You also have to accelerate down most hills

If you can…bring the steering wheel from an FJ62 and swap it on for the drive. That will help a bunch. Consider installing a different seat before you set off as this will also make life a lot better. Also consider setting up a hand throttle as a makeshift cruise control.

Noise wise my truck was very quiet but the tires that were on the truck were horrible. I even stopped in one city and had a shop rebalance them but that really didn’t stop the issue. When I got home I replaced the tires and it was much better. In hindsight I should have replaced the tires on the way home as it would have made handling and life a lot better.

 

[sogafarm]

Would recommend! Back in 2007 i bought a 1982 fj60 on ebay for $2500. It had 269k but was in good shape. I bought a on way ticket from Denver to Washington state. The seller picked me up at the airport and we drove back to Cordelaine, ID where she lived and did a quick inspection and money exchange. It took two days driving through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, back to Vail, CO. Only issues were a broken headlight, and found out later the tires had 90 psi in them. It did drive rough but got 17mpg! Great trip though!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

No, it isn't. I flew to Petersburg, Alaska to buy mine, then put in on the ferry to Juneau about 25 years ago. Not a real "road" trip but it would have been fine on a long drive too.
I will second that they do have surprisingly poor legroom for a tall person, in case anyone who will be driving falls in this category. The 60 is probably louder on the highway than a 62. Otherwise I didn't object to the ride quality of my 62 on road trips, after getting seat extensions. Having owned a 2F powered 40 along with the 3FE 62, IMO the fuel injected engine is far preferable. Unfortunately the 62 comes with a bad auto transmission, problematic power windows and the less attractive 4 headlight grille. 60's are also more abundant on the market, so if doing it over I'd probably end up biting the bullet and going for a 60. My ideal 60 would have the 3FE and a manual transmission. In any case they all will deliver dismal MPG.

 

[Dusten]

I’m 6’3 and here’s what I can say about driving the 60 2000 miles home. There is no cruise control so your foot is on the gas pedal all the time. The stock seat
And seating position are horrible….lacking in both support of your upper body and in legs. Your foot gets quite tired
And I had to get very creative in propping up my leg to hold my foot at the skewed angle for hours of endless driving. The steering wheel is also quite tiring to hold onto. The stock wheel starts to feel like a thin wire after a while because it’s quite thin compared to most other steering wheels. The trick is slow and you’ll be in 3rd gear limping over mountain passes with the big trucks. You also have to accelerate down most hills

If you can…bring the steering wheel from an FJ62 and swap it on for the drive. That will help a bunch. Consider installing a different seat before you set off as this will also make life a lot better. Also consider setting up a hand throttle as a makeshift cruise control.

Noise wise my truck was very quiet but the tires that were on the truck were horrible. I even stopped in one city and had a shop rebalance them but that really didn’t stop the issue. When I got home I replaced the tires and it was much better. In hindsight I should have replaced the tires on the way home as it would have made handling and life a lot better.

I'm quite a bit smaller and me and my son would split driving.

That said I've done 1000 miles in a 66 f100 and I've road tripped sport bikes for 500+ so I'm sure I'll manage the driving situation ok.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

I’m 6’3 and here’s what I can say about driving the 60 2000 miles home. There is no cruise control so your foot is on the gas pedal all the time. The stock seat
And seating position are horrible….lacking in both support of your upper body and in legs. Your foot gets quite tired
And I had to get very creative in propping up my leg to hold my foot at the skewed angle for hours of endless driving. The steering wheel is also quite tiring to hold onto. The stock wheel starts to feel like a thin wire after a while because it’s quite thin compared to most other steering wheels. The trick is slow and you’ll be in 3rd gear limping over mountain passes with the big trucks. You also have to accelerate down most hills

If you can…bring the steering wheel from an FJ62 and swap it on for the drive. That will help a bunch. Consider installing a different seat before you set off as this will also make life a lot better. Also consider setting up a hand throttle as a makeshift cruise control.

Noise wise my truck was very quiet but the tires that were on the truck were horrible. I even stopped in one city and had a shop rebalance them but that really didn’t stop the issue. When I got home I replaced the tires and it was much better. In hindsight I should have replaced the tires on the way home as it would have made handling and life a lot better.

Sounds like you need to get into the old Lincoln boats at 6’+