Finally Found One! My FJ80 Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[coilysammy]

Coilysammi,

You should definitely sell the pickup. The 80 series are so nice. I bought mine coming from a sweet Sami hardtop with spools and an exo cage. It was the best thing I ever did. I have put 12k miles on mine with only a belt change and two oil changes. 80 s are by far the best truck ever built bar none.

That's the kind of feedback I like to hear! I think I may just have to start looking for one. There have been quite a few online lately that appear to be in decent shape and have the factory lockers but most have north of 250k miles already. I think I might hold out and find one with under 200k. I've been looking at some of the suspension systems available and it doesn't seem like you get a whole lot for the money. Do most of you guys buy whole kits or piece together springs and shocks and stuff seperately?

 

[arndog123]

I'd keep the '85 and buy an 80 too. They're great in the snow 'cept for deep snow. As you already know they're heavy vehicles and tend to just sink into the deep stuff. A shovel, winch, strap and friend's rig takes care of that though. Gas mileage sucks too but I'd still recommend getting one.

 

[coilysammy]

I'd keep the '85 and buy an 80 too. They're great in the snow 'cept for deep snow. As you already know they're heavy vehicles and tend to just sink into the deep stuff. A shovel, winch, strap and friend's rig takes care of that though. Gas mileage sucks too but I'd still recommend getting one.

I would love too! My wife has different ideas though

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to sell the samurai and the toyota before I can really start another project. I may have put a little too much money into the extra cab over the past year. :whoops:

 

[sleeoffroad]

Get a decent battery tie down. A bungy cord is not going to hold that battery down. I have seen quite a few 80's that caught fire due to the battery bouncing and then shorting out against the hood. Optima does make a spacer to raise the battery so you can use the stock tie downs. It is cheap insurance.

Have fun with the new truck, but fix this.

 

[Joe Link]

It's good to hear you guys think I got a good deal on it, I'll be sure to show the girlfriend!

Good Buy !! I bet you had fun at Brown's Camp, that's a fun place to wheel ! As far as the size, I know what you mean. I went from a 40 to my 80, I'm finally getting used to it. I do like the comfort factor for sure !!

Yeah, we had a great time at Brown's. I can't wait to get out there with some other FJ80 guys who know the area better than I do. Avoiding Jeep trails is difficult when all your buddies drive Jeeps.

How do those KM2's sound? Are they loud? do they handle well.
Nice to see that you got that rig, it looks great!
Keep it moderate. These things are classy, not to be trashed by hard-core wheeling. (my .02$)
I look forward to seeing this transform.

I really don't have anything to compare them to, but I will say on our drive home both my buddy and I were surprised at how quiet everything was. Overall I'm very happy with the tires, and I'd buy them again.

Very cool cruiser! The more of these I read about the more I want one. I am kind of going through a similar process trying to decide how and what to build in order to hit some trails but not have something so extreme that it drives terribly on the street. I started out with a samurai that I built from the ground up with linked and locked yota axles and a motor swap etc. and just got bored with it when I really couldn't drive it on the road. Then I bought a 85 toyota extra cab and rebuilt the 22re, locked it, hydro assist etc etc. but it just doesn't have much power. I'm really thinking about selling it now and buying an 80. I just wonder how these things do in the snow with all the extra weight?

Go for it! I've owned an FJ40, three Toyota pickups, three 4Runner's, and a Tacoma. I can honestly say that the Land Cruiser is in a class of it's own.

Get a decent battery tie down. A bungy cord is not going to hold that battery down. I have seen quite a few 80's that caught fire due to the battery bouncing and then shorting out against the hood. Optima does make a spacer to raise the battery so you can use the stock tie downs. It is cheap insurance.

Have fun with the new truck, but fix this.

Thank you very much for pointing that out to me. I was hoping by posting so many photos that someone might catch something I really needed to fix. I don't know if the factory battery tie down is still there, but I'll check tonight. If not I'll get one coming as soon as possible, and definitely before I go wheeling again.

 

[Joe Link]

Saturday I spent nearly the entire day trying to track down the power door lock problem, which I wrote about in another thread I created specifically for that issue. Basically every time I close a door, the door locks lock and then unlock.

Another major issue I discovered is a leak in the bottom passenger corner of the windshield seal, and from what I gather that's pretty common. It's completely soaking my passenger floor and causing a pretty strong odor. I dried it out completely, both the carpet and the padding, then tried sealing it with silicon. Unfortunately, that didn't hold, so I'm going to try some of the black polyurethane stuff that was recommended in another thread.

None of this stuff was major enough to keep me off the trail this weekend, when we made a run up to Hillock Burn for some wheeling and shooting