getting the 80 itch. (1 Viewer)

[B Legit]

So I will be upfront and say that I own a 60, and a Subaru Outback. Originally, when I made these choices I was thinking commuter + fun truck equals perfect driving scenario. However, I just got a job where my commute is 3 miles away from my house. I am thinking that if I sell the Subie and the 60 I could get an 80 and everything will be all zen-like. I don't do much offroad, just fireroads and stuff for camping. I am thinking a 1fz, or 3fe if I can find a good one, and a mild lift will suit me just fine. Anyone out there do the same thing and ditch their commuter and wheeler for an 80. How practical is this? I have done all of my own work on the 60 (with the help of my buddy Matt who is also a recent 80 convert.) I am trying to be sensible here but I'm not sure that it is in my nature.

 

[lndcruz]

Should do fine. I dd my land cruiser, not the most economical thing but I love it.

I would go for a 95+ since it has the slightly more efficient 1fz(well i guess you could say 93 and up) + more power + air bags and i think the 95+ has a better dash.

93+ also have diff lockers as a option

 

[arndog123]

I would keep an extra vehicle for when you're doing maintenance on the Cruiser. It's nice to be able to take my time when working on a vehicle and not worry about not having something to drive the next day. Right now I'm in the middle of doing a front axle/birf job on my wife's LX so she gets to drive my 80 'til hers is done.

 

[Lc80series]

Got rid of my 86 4Runner DD for a 93 80 DD. Slowly adding mods and love driving my 80! My power antenna took a dump a few days ago though

 

[Trapper50cal]

DD my one and only vehicle, A 94 fzj80...Love it, it does horrible on mileage...I'm lucky to live in a small town where "across town" is 4 miles....

 

[ShawnTRD]

I agree with everyone that say have two cars. The 80 and a backup. With a older LC you don't know what your getting until you go thru it completely.

 

[7schulz]

I agree with everyone that say have two cars. The 80 and a backup. With a older LC you don't know what your getting until you go thru it completely.

X2
I had two cars and LS400 DD and 93 fzj80. The Lexus wasn't me so I put it up for sale. The week a guy flew in from NC to buy it I went to add my OME springs and ended up snapping off both front shock bolts and one eye bolt on the rear lower shock mount. Needles to say I'm driving a rental car this week waiting for new shocks and bolts and a drill/tap to show up. Guess you could say bad timing. I am looking at grabbing and old accord to keep around.

 

[Schwein]

i dont drive to work, but my 80 is my only get around after work / weekend vehicle ( averaging 13.1 mpg mixed highway city driving )

 

[brian]

keep the 60 series....and get an 80.

 

[Impreza]

My 80 will never be an only car just because it's not a manual. I need a 3 pedal fix at any moment. And no, I'm not swapping!

It's also 15 years old despite the fresh motor is completely rebuilt with all new OE parts.

 

[80t0ylc]

I agree with the idea if you do your own work, keep another rig for transportation. Also, that 3 miles to work everyday is going to kill any DD, eventually. Unless it takes you 30 minutes to drive that 3 miles, the engine just doesn't run long enough to properly warm up. I'd keep the Suby for the DD around-town thrasher, sell the 60 and get an 80 for fun and a backup DD.

 

[B Legit]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Well, one my major gripes with owning three vehicles,( my wife has a car as well) is that our insurance gives us a deal for two rigs but sticks it to us on the 3rd. One major appeal about an 80 is that my wife could drive it as a backup as well and I could take the train or ride the bike if I needed. Teaching my wife to drive a stick sounds like the worst time in the world for me, followed by the second worst time of subsequently swapping in a new clutch. One thing we have going for us here in Seattle is that there is no shortage of land cruisers to pick from. I might try to sell the 60 and see how much I can get for it and go from there.

 

[Impreza]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Well, one my major gripes with owning three vehicles,( my wife has a car as well) is that our insurance gives us a deal for two rigs but sticks it to us on the 3rd. One major appeal about an 80 is that my wife could drive it as a backup as well and I could take the train or ride the bike if I needed. Teaching my wife to drive a stick sounds like the worst time in the world for me, followed by the second worst time of subsequently swapping in a new clutch. One thing we have going for us here in Seattle is that there is no shortage of land cruisers to pick from. I might try to sell the 60 and see how much I can get for it and go from there.

Sounds like you should call up other insurance companies and get new quotes. I don't get how getting an extra old car would do all that much to the premiums.

 

[aclos3]

Coming out of college, I had a job lined up that was two miles from where I lived. I made the decision to buy an 80 after looking at 4Runners and Xterras. Gas was over $4.00 a gallon, so prices for LCs were very low. I was ok with this arrangement because I could ride my bike to work if I wanted (and often did) and use the 80 to go skiing, etc.

I now live about 8 miles from work through stop and go traffic. I still DD the 80! In fact, my 80 gets used ALL THE TIME. Whether, my friends and I are headed out to bars, or going on a ski trip, we always end up taking my car. It is large and comfortable and its a lot more fun to take one vehicle than to split up into two cars.

Just let this be a word of warning to you -- if you buy a nice 80, you'll likely end up using it for a lot more than just the daily commute. That being said, I wouldn't choose anything else.

 

[Grolar]

I honestly don't think that a 80 as a DD makes much sense. Mileage is terrible. It's more like a leisure/weekend vehicle nowadays. My $0,02

 

[superjuice]

(X whatever) on keeping a second rig, i never end up having all the parts needed to finish the job, no matter how much i plan

 

[aclos3]

I honestly don't think that a 80 as a DD makes much sense. Mileage is terrible. It's more like a leisure/weekend vehicle nowadays. My $0,02

You're probably right. But you've got to factor in the extra costs of insuring, licensing, maintaining and storing two vehicles vs. one. I've done the math on the fuel I would save by picking up a vehicle that gets 30+ mpg on the freeway and these savings would not make up for all of the extras mentioned above. This doesn't even take into account the upfront cost of buying the extra vehicle.

 

[superjuice]

I would like to add that %90 of the time my 80 is down, its because i'm doing mods and %10 pm. I dont think i ever had the truck actually stop working on its own But get an 80 and just try to keep your hands off of it, I promise it won't be an easy thing to do

 

[aclos3]

I would like to add that %90 of the time my 80 is down, its because i'm doing mods and %10 pm. I dont think i ever had the truck actually stop working on its own But get an 80 and just try to keep your hands off of it, I promise it won't be an easy thing to do

I agree. A well taken care of truck is just not going to break down very often. The only stuff I've head break on mine was self inflicted, and even that has been very rare. I've never had it in a non driving condition.

 

[B Legit]

I am on board here. My subaru gets around 20 because of the allwheel drive and it being geared so low. my 60 gets around 10 because of the 33's and it being a beater. An 80, getting around 14 or 15 minus the cost of extra insurance makes a lot of sense to me. And, if it is ooc I can still get to work. Might see some photos soon if I can sell my two rigs. Probably sell the 60 first since subarus are about as easy to sell in seattle as space heaters in alaska.