Looking for advice for buying 80 series

[tone33]

I'm in the market for an 80 series. My budget is 4-6K. I would like to have lockers. I like the 80 because it rides nice on the interstate (compared to the 60 and ealier), will house my 5 family members on camping trips, doesn't have same issues with rust as earlier models, fairly cheap.

My questions:

1) Are there certain year models of the 80 series that are better than others?

2) Should i wait to find one one with lockers? I do want to offroad, and if I buy one without lockers I will eventually install some.

3) Are stock lockers hard to come by?

4) Any particular mechanical issues to be aware of in this series?

5) Anything else I need to be aware of?


Thanks,
Tone

 

[lacruiser]

at the very top of this forum, The first thread as a matter of fact, there is a link that will take you to several places with tons of info on the various incarnations of the 80-series.

"Thinking of Buying an 80? - Follow this link to helpful advice"

 

[tone33]

great thanks.. I found that just after i posted.

 

[elysium]

1) Are there certain year models of the 80 series that are better than others?

2) Should i wait to find one one with lockers? I do want to offroad, and if I buy one without lockers I will eventually install some.

3) Are stock lockers hard to come by?

4) Any particular mechanical issues to be aware of in this series?

5) Anything else I need to be aware of?

Tone

Some of your questions may or may not be in the thread, so here are a few items.

1) depends on what you mean by better. 91-92 (old 60 series engine), 93-94 (non-OBDII), 95-97 (airbags, different tranny, OBDII...starting in the late '95 models)

2) yes, wait for lockers. It's not that hard and worth it. (when you buy, make sure the lockers actually work).

3) lockers: not that hard to find. Yes, you may need to go through several rigs, but again, worth the trouble. Probably 20-30% have lockers.

4) headgasket. If the mileage is over 150k, best to try to get a rig where the headgasket has been replaced. That would be nice.

5) Budget like $1k to PM/baseline the rig after you buy it. There will always be something that needs fixing.

 

[tone33]

ok thanks this is good info. any pros/cons with the 60 series engine in the 91-92? i'm curious to hear your (and others) thoughts on pros and cons of any of the engines. Seems from my quick searches that price doesn't increase drastically between 91-92 and 95-96 models... maybe $2k or so.. also usually means less mileage on later models so the $2k extra is not just for the engine.

I do have experience off-roading, but zero experience with lockers - to test them out would i just engage them and make sure i can hear them engage? Or need to actually drive with them? I know this is a newb question, but I don't want to get duped on broken lockers.

 

[tone33]

I found a good link explaining lockers:
http://www.lcool.org/technical/diffs/diffs.html

So is the center diff lock the same as low range 4wd on my jeep wrangler i used to have?

Also, do some 80 series come with center diff lock and not front/rear diff lock? I saw one online, and can see a portion of a center diff lock, but can't tell if it also has f/r diff lock.

 

[spdwaver]

I've also seen something about center diff lock? I understand front and rear. front locks the front, and rear the rear, but what does diff do?

Read this, which I found in the FAQ; there is a good explanation of the center differential lock and what it means to your drive train.

Welcome to Land Cruiser Owners On Line

If you are referring to the word "DIFF" on the main rotary switch itself, it is an abbreviation for DIFFerential.

 

[tone33]

Read this, which I found in the FAQ; there is a good explanation of the center differential lock and what it means to your drive train.

Welcome to Land Cruiser Owners On Line

If you are referring to the word "DIFF" on the main rotary switch itself, it is an abbreviation for DIFFerential.

meant to ask what does CENTER diff do. I found that link... good stuff. thanks.