Fj80 as daily and wheeler and fzj axle swap

[southerndisco]

Im finding it hard to get a fzj that fits my budget and is low mileage enough, but I do see many fjs that do, plus the classic 2 tone is beautiful, I know the basic differences like the semi float and the 4.0 but how would a fj be compared to a fzj as my daily and wheeler? Looked at axle swaps to the ff and fzj front and looks like it’s bolt on aside from some of the electronics, is this true? And does the fj80 share the same suspension as the fzj80? And how would the fj80 fair as a daily? Planning front and rear bumpers, sliders, 37s, gears, and a 4 inch lift, my daily drive is bout 20 miles round trip and 65 mph, would it be able to stand up to constant high revving? I was completely discrediting 91s and 2s until realized how much cheaper they are. Thanks in advance for any help and yes I know its not smartest to be a daily on 37s, I like my money burnt on 4x4s just like the rest of y’all.

 

[Squeegee]

Im finding it hard to get a fzj that fits my budget and is low mileage enough, but I do see many fjs that do, plus the classic 2 tone is beautiful, I know the basic differences like the semi float and the 4.0 but how would a fj be compared to a fzj as my daily and wheeler? Looked at axle swaps to the ff and fzj front and looks like it’s bolt on aside from some of the electronics, is this true? And does the fj80 share the same suspension as the fzj80? And how would the fj80 fair as a daily? Planning front and rear bumpers, sliders, 37s, gears, and a 4 inch lift, my daily drive is bout 20 miles round trip and 65 mph, would it be able to stand up to constant high revving? I was completely discrediting 91s and 2s until realized how much cheaper they are. Thanks in advance for any help and yes I know its not smartest to be a daily on 37s, I like my money burnt on 4x4s just like the rest of y’all.

I sometimes daily my fzj80 on 37s. I’d put the money towards full float axles and make sure you gear it as deep as you can. Stick to a 3ish” lift, do caster correction plates, and a panhard correction thingy for the rear.

These are pretty easy to build

 

[highharrison]

Im finding it hard to get a fzj that fits my budget and is low mileage enough, but I do see many fjs that do, plus the classic 2 tone is beautiful, I know the basic differences like the semi float and the 4.0 but how would a fj be compared to a fzj as my daily and wheeler? Looked at axle swaps to the ff and fzj front and looks like it’s bolt on aside from some of the electronics, is this true? And does the fj80 share the same suspension as the fzj80? And how would the fj80 fair as a daily? Planning front and rear bumpers, sliders, 37s, gears, and a 4 inch lift, my daily drive is bout 20 miles round trip and 65 mph, would it be able to stand up to constant high revving? I was completely discrediting 91s and 2s until realized how much cheaper they are. Thanks in advance for any help and yes I know its not smartest to be a daily on 37s, I like my money burnt on 4x4s just like the rest of y’all.

I can't speak to regearing with 37's, but coming from stock gearing with 33's, I think it could be manageable with a 3FE, assuming you don't have many hills in your commute. Acceleration is pretty bad after about 15 mph, and I routinely found myself flooring it (and clenching my buttcheeks) when trying to merge onto the interstate (even at like 55mph). I could cruise at about 70 mph around 2500 rpm and outside of the dead of summer, the engine ran fine. Now, the engine did end up blowing up in spectacular fashion at 308k miles. (To my knowledge, it's pretty rare for 3FEs to fail, so mine blowing up was most likely due to the way I drove it.) I have since done an LT swap and it's so much more fun, much less, manageable to drive as a daily. (highly recommend a swap if you go with 3FE.)

I have also done a rear axle FZJ80 swap to give me disc brakes and FF in the rear. Can confirm it is plug and play. The FZJ has ABS wires, but the FJ body doesn't, so no need to worry about them unless you want the headache of ABS for some reason. I thought the FJ came with FF front axles, but could be wrong.

TLDR: 37's could be a lot for the 3FE to handle, might consider an engine swap if you go that route. Axles are plug and play.

 

[Malleus]

Swapping the 1FZ-FE for the 3FE isn't plug and play. Unless you have a manual transmission. I bought my first 80 (1994) after I sold my last 62. I have never missed that 3FE one day.

 

[Marco Lau]

have my FJ80 for over a decade now and it started off as a bone stock rust free rig. Its on 37s, 4.88. high and low range underdrive, Nomad HD valve body and a 3.5"-4" lift on 37s and i agree with the above, make sure you have enough gearing to run 37s, 5.29 or higher is better. I have ARB lockers and i think Semi float is solid and i have yet to break an axlei n 10 yrs, been thru many Rubicon trips, Fordyce and Moab and all. So I things i find based on my experience. 3FE has a bullet proof bottom and top end for the most part and it wont require you to change out your HG if you take good care of it. Beef up your cooling system is the key and i am glad mine is a 3F-E and not a 1FZ.
cheers.