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[Stevemcnash]

Hello all. I'm on the final strech of finishing my restoration on a 74super beetle an I've been looking at ideas for my next project. For a long while I was thinking about another car, but then decided it would be nice to do something with offroad abilties, just to change things up.

After looking at a few options I settled on a classic Bronco. I fell in love with the look, and knew that I could build one into a total offroad monster. Well as I begain to budget, things started to look bad. In order to get it to where I wanted it would cost me +$35k.

My girlfriend's dad has a 97 locked, lifted, beast, and I've always liked it. So I thought, maybe I should look into a cruiser. Now I'm hooked. I plan to get one in the next few months, after I finish and sell by bug, and would like to say that looking on this forum and seeing how tight the comunity is around these amazing vechiels is a major reason for my decision.

My plan is to buy a locked LC between $9-11K, obviosuly with a fair bit of miliage on it. I plan to budget a few thousand on repairs. My question is how much? I know that alot depends on how well the LC was taken care prior, but assuming that the person didn't drive it with out oil, or drive around town in low gear, what repairs would I need to make? Or perhaps what I'm really asking, given that I'm willing to spend some money on repairs, should I buy a LC that needs some repair, and if so how much? The LC would probably be my DD so it needs to be in exelent running condidtion when I'm done with it.

Thanks
McNash

 

[concretejungle]

Steve, totally open-ended question. Short answer would be that you could budget whatever amount you wanted. $1,000 or go all out and do a frame off, add some turbos, new gears, lifts, armour, portable shower, rooftop tents, dual batterys, ect. . . . and then you would need to budget BIG $$$.

That's what is really cool about these rigs in my opinion. You could spend nearly nothing and still have a good quality rig that will take you places. Or, you could spend $50,000 and have a one-off unique rig that has every bell and whistle you can imagine. Sky's the limit with cruisers.

 

[Stevemcnash]

I realize that in terms on mods how much money that costs is up to me. What I want to know is what are the basic repairs that might need to be done to a LC to bring it up to daily driver status. Lets say I get a 97 LC with 148K on it. The guy took average care of it, didn't drive it to the ground, but wasn't changing the oil every 1k miles either. What types of repairs might I need to make, and what would a ballpark repair budget be? I realize that it differes from cruiser to cruiser, but what would an average be.
Thanks, and sorry if i was unclear before.

 

[Waggoner5]

You will most likely be looking at the DS heater hose replacement, Valve cover gasket, possibly a EGR filter and vac valve, and maybe axle bearings and seals. Total cost, probably about $500 in parts, labor $1000?. There is always something leaking, so clean everything up really well first, then drive it to make sure you know where the leaks are coming from. In other words an oily pan doesn't neccessarily mean replace the pan gasket.
Gary

 

[MLX450]

Don't forget in your search for a cruiser ........ the LX-450! pink panties!

 

[Stevemcnash]

Thanks a bunch, this is exactly what i wanted to know. Anyone else think of anything?

 

[LabRat11]

First - some light reading. Read the FAQ at the top of the 80 page. Go to the Slee site and read the 80 newbie guide.

For immediate PM needs 2 pop in mind quickly.....

1- Do a search here for PHH the dreaded pesky heater hose. Not too pricey - but as the name implies it's pesky.

2- Do a search here for the front axle service. About $500 in parts and a weekend worth of time.

First 3 things to buy....

1- TLCA membership
2- Mud silver star
3- Factory manual

Your newest best friend ....

CDan.

 

[Beowulf]

Without further ado, here's what rip-snortin' maintenance costs in parts: $1767.59
Here's what I got for that (all OEM from Cdan unless noted):
....

It's all here in this thread of Doug's.

-B-

 

[Stevemcnash]

Thank you so much. That is exactly what I wanted.
Thanks again

 

[sonoranfun]

My plan is to buy a locked LC between $9-11K, obviosuly with a fair bit of miliage on it.

At the upper end of that there's no reason in the world you can't get a locked rig with under 100k within a month of looking... Craigslist, ebay, autotrader and the local paper should about do it. Nobody can sell their rigs for those prices, I paid $10k for my locked 96 with 105k and I paid $5k for my locked 95 with 196k so finding a fair priced 80 should be easier for you!

 

[Beowulf]

That is exactly what I wanted.
Thanks again

I can't think of some search keywords but I know of a couple of other threads where we listed out those things a new owner might consider to bring an undocumented truck to 100%.

That list included a few things I didn't see in Doug's list: like new plugs, dizzy cap, rotor, plug wires, and some others. You might keep looking back through older threads as we have covered this a couple of times.

Maybe if you summarized what you plan to do then we could add items or comment on your choices. There are some things that we 'Mudders tend to do that are not specifically called for by Toyota. For example, the fuel filter is not a scheduled replacement item. The wheel bearings are to be inspected and replaced as needed. Many of us will replace these "while we're in there"; and incur the additional cost just for the peace of mind.

-B-

 

[Stevemcnash]

I don't really have a defined direction I would like to go, but I do know that I want it to be a great offroad performer and still be a reliable daily driver. I plan to go Slee 6" lift, sliders, ARB front bumper, Slee rear Bumper, skid plates, cdl switch, LineX'd tub. I don't mind giving up some comfort for offroad power, but I'll probably go with BFG AT tires. What I'd like from the cruiser would be a go anywhere do anything, and get me back home vehicle.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback, I'm hoping I can finish my other project soon and get started on my hunt for a Cruiser

 

[MTNRAT]

If you go for 35" tires you will want to regear.
Cheers,
Sean

 

[CruisinGA]

If you want to go anywhere, AT tires are not the right choice...

At least not anywhere but out where they wheel on miles of endless smooth hi-traction rock.

You can go a LOT of places without all that high-dollar stuff, justsoyaknow. I'd have some fun with the truck and get to know it before just droppin cash on it.

There are a lot of dudes who drop a lot of coin of stuff so that they have the ability to do certain things, but never actually do them.

 

[Stevemcnash]

Yea I'm definitly going to wait till I get the rig before I finalize my choices. I'm still learning alot about cruisers so i'll figure out what to spend my money on soon. The tires are far from my final choice, i might even have two sets of tires, one for street, one for offroad. The lift and bumpers are a definite, the LineX might wait till later, but who knows. I just want the ability to tackle any adventure I choose to go on.

 

[Stevemcnash]

By the way, I really appreciate all the feedback.

 

[Beowulf]

My girlfriend's dad has a 97 locked, lifted, beast, and I've always liked it. So I thought, maybe I should look into a cruiser. Now I'm hooked.

McNash,

Hey, you're already like family since you're dating a chick whose Dad has an 80.

-B-

 

[Stevemcnash]

LOL, thanks

 

[Rich]

Check on recent threads started by IdahoDoug. B is holding back. (and Doug's not smiling, at least not yet).

 

[Beowulf]

Gee Rich, the guy's barely got his feet wet and you want me to point him to that thread? Maybe later.

-B-