Looking to Buy a FJ60 and I’m nervous about a few things

[Ztaylor3]

Hi Enthusiasts -
So, I’m a complete nob and have never owned an FJ60 but I’m interested in purchasing one. The one I’m looking at has an image of what looks to be something leaking from underneath the car. Can you guys help piece together what could be happening and how much it would cost to fix? Also, if you have any advice of what to look for / watch out for would be fantastic... thanks in advance.

 

[BGarcia88FJ62]

Top of the page there’s a FJ60 FAQ page, in there is a section regarding buying an FJ60-62 a lot of good reading. Also keep in mind your considering to purchase a vehicle pushing +30 years old it’s bound to have leaks. Most importantly is how the truck was maintained by the previous owners.

 

[g-man]

transfer case leaking a little (edit) as in seeping. Pretty normal. If the gear oil in it is low you may hear some unusually loud gear noise under the shifters. If the owner will let you take it to a shop and have them check the fluid levels in the t'case, trans, and axles. It should run out slowly...or you should be able to put your finger in the hole and feel the gear oil. If it gushes out violently it could be a bad seal between the transmission and tcase and fluid is migrating. Frame looks solid but we need to see the inside of the frame as well as the rear inner C channels.

 

[g-man]

and look over this thread regarding common rust repairs for places to look.

common rust repairs

This thread is intended to show new or prospective buyers where they should look for rust in a 60. Hopefully it will become a sticky in the FAQs. Please post up pictures of your rust. Close ups are OK, but make sure you have an image that is far enough away to easily show the general area...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[OSS]

After owning one for thirty years, my recommendation now, (over 32 years since the last one rolled off the assembly line) is...

Only buy one of these things if:

1. You're mechanically inclined and have the courage and ability to take apart or remove anything on the cruiser.
2. You're OK with the fact that Toyota doesn't have parts for these vehicles anymore except for a few doo dads that are also used on other Toyotas
3. You don't mind driving the slowest car on the road. You will always be the slowest vehicle on the road.
4. You're fine with electrical troubleshooting
5. Dealing with rust doesn't bother you
6. You don't mind a bumpy riding vehicle
7. You don't care about mpg.
8. And most importantly- IT WILL BE YOUR SECOND VEHICLE

 

[Seth S]

The underside of that one looks very nice. What does the top look like and what’s the asking price?

 

[John Staton]

After owning one for thirty years, my recommendation now, (over 32 years since the last one rolled off the assembly line) is...

Only buy one of these things if:

1. You're mechanically inclined and have the courage and ability to take apart or remove anything on the cruiser.
2. You're OK with the fact that Toyota doesn't have parts for these vehicles anymore except for a few doo dads that are also used on other Toyotas
3. You don't mind driving the slowest car on the road. You will always be the slowest vehicle on the road.
4. You're fine with electrical troubleshooting
5. Dealing with rust doesn't bother you
6. You don't mind a bumpy riding vehicle
7. You don't care about mpg.
8. And most importantly- IT WILL BE YOUR SECOND VEHICLE

Agree, but you can replace 1-3 with "you have a fair amount of disposable income to get someone else to do the major fixes". I spent the same amount I paid for mine to get it to a nice daily driver state with no leaks and a 5 speed. If I had done the majority of work myself I would have saved around $5-6K. Just be ready to spend some $$ either way. Your skill level will dictate how much.

 

[g-man]

You can always learn as you go. But we are to the point where you are going to struggle to find qualified techs to work on them. And parts are diminishing. But the positive side is that this forum is an incredible resource. You can find and download service manuals, look at videos of common repair jobs, see what everyone is using to fix a part that is NLA..no longer available.

 

[batthewmrown]

I agree with most everything said here. Being in Portland, having a 2nd vehicle may not be such a necessity with your guy's public transportation.

That being said, 60s are an incredibly romanticized vehicle, especially now. Are they dependable? Hell yes. But (for the most part) they're old and rolling on worn-out 35 year old components. Things are bound to break and it isn't going to happen when it's convenient. Get some tools and be ready to bust your knuckles and get dirty. Next, download or, if you can afford it, buy a couple of FSMs. Read them in the morning, read them at night. Lay under the truck and take it in. Open the hood and stare. Indentify all the major components and learn what it does and how it relates to everything else. If you take care of your Cruiser, it'll take care of you.

Additionally, your whole frame of mind has to be ready to handle people treating you like a traffic cone. If you take getting passed on the freeway personally, walk away now and save yourself the spike in blood pressure.

My best advice if you're entering uncharted territory is to get whatever truck you're looking at checked over by someone familiar with these. You're in a good place where there are plenty of qualified LC specialists. It may not be cheap, but it'll be cheaper than dropping several thousand dollars on a turd.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Best advice I've seen in this thread is to make sure your 60 is not your daily driver.

You'll be much happier with a small and efficient daily driver in addition, for when the 60 is down, or waiting for parts, or you need something while working on it.

And yep, get used to the right lane. You really can't hurry a 60. You are buying the gas hog of all times too. Get used to 10mpg in town and 12 on the highway. This is real.

Now that leak your looking at is normal and doesn't even look that bad. The motor has several cork gaskets that leak, the seals leak, the transmission can leak, the transfer case can leak and my guess is all 3 are leaking to some degree. Check your fluids and see what's low and that will likely identify where the leak is coming from.

Just from a quick look at your photos, that truck looks good underneath. The East Coast and mid west guys would kill for a chassis that clean and rust free.

 

[Spike Strip]

The few pix you show the truck looks very clean - California desert-car clean. Certainly a great car to own if you're willing to learn how to repair it and have a garage to work in (not a deal-breaker). Also, you will find IH8MUD is an incredible resource -- Far better than just about any other automotive forum I've been on. Everything you will need to do to your truck has been done before and documented here.


Every FJ60 made leaks. We call it rust protection, if it's oil. It's most likely a rear main seal or T'case or something around there. Cost to have it fixed is expensive because there's a lot of labor. But fixing those leaks also will lead to new clutch, and everything associated with that and if there's a lot of miles, probably a t'case rebuild (don't forget 30+ years old)... So be prepared to spend a few thousand if you're going to have it done (that's worst-case excluding replacing vs rebuilding).

Even better if you're in an area where you can remove the smog equipment. Don't know what Portland is like except your Mayor is s*** and lets patriots and journalists get beat down

 

[BlackCat]

Put a couple of garage mats down on the garage floor and your cruiser won’t leak anything.

 

[Gretsch]

Best advice I've seen in this thread is to make sure your 60 is not your daily driver.

You'll be much happier with a small and efficient daily driver in addition, for when the 60 is down, or waiting for parts, or you need something while working on it.

Having a 60 series as a daily driver like I do, the reality is they are horrible at it. I love mine and driving it daily. But as @Cruiserdrew and @OSS mention they just are not good as daily drivers. Even being willing to get in and work on it to save some cash is still not enough to keep it as a daily driver. Waiting on parts has been my biggest issue. And you have to plan any work that needs doing to make sure you get it back on the road. None of the small list of projects I have tackled has worked out correctly despite months of planning and my truck has been off the road for much longer than it should as a daily driver. It just always takes longer than it should. A combination of my lack of experience and just scheduling not working out. And don't underestimate the worry of someday not being able to fix it if an old part fails. I find myself worrying all the time any minute mine is going to break down. That weighs on you over time. The engineering is reliable, but the 30 years on the clock isn't. I have no idea how guys can own one of these without doing work themselves. The few mechanics that claim to work on these around my area are either 8 weeks out on backed up work, or waaaay too expensive as to be usable to me. I don't necessarily relish working on my 60 series, but have no idea how else to do it. I would go broke having others do the work. This forum will certainly help you out with lots of it but you still have to do the work.

Its fun to think about one of these as a daily, and I hate admitting that they aren't good as a daily. But they aren't.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Funny-My daily driver (though I don't drive most days) is my FJ62. With the fuel injection it starts and runs so easily that it's almost always ready to go, and the 5 speed is icing on the cake. Still gets terrible fuel economy though but not as terrible as an FJ60. But as long as you have a good running second vehicle, any amount of downtime is OK.

An alternative to having a fuel efficient daily driver is to have more than 1 Land Cruiser. And then you need to be rigorous, but never have more than 1 down for projects at any given time. Ever. If one goes down, work on it and only it until it's back up. Mine are all "up" at the moment.

I did DD my FJ60 before the spring over for about 4 years. It was OK, but the noise, faint smell of gear oil and the rough ride meant even my wife never wanted to ride with me. Since the Spring over, I rarely drive it at all. It's just too big for anything but the Rubicon trail.

 

[desmocruiser]

All great advice and looks pretty solid and consistent with most.

Be ready to invest patience, sweat equity, and repair costs that send most other lesser vehicles to the scrap yard!!

Good luck, enjoy the ride, they are like listening to your favorite song, can't explain why you like it, you just do!!!

 

[87CRUSR]

Important issues have been stated. Patience and $$ to replace aging parts as needed and more $$$ if you start modifications and upgrades.

 

[cheeese]

One thing to consider about Oregon is a non-daily driven 60 series is eligible for special-purpose plates, so you won't need to DEQ the truck nor do you have to pay annual registration dues. You'll need to maintain a club affiliation (eg TLCA) but this is the avenue for classic reg in OR.

 

[Beerfix]

That's a feature included on most all older Cruisers. I like to call it auto corrosion inhibitor. Yes, I also have leaky t-case seals..

 

[Hojack]

One thing to consider about Oregon is a non-daily driven 60 series is eligible for special-purpose plates, so you won't need to DEQ the truck nor do you have to pay annual registration dues. You'll need to maintain a club affiliation (eg TLCA) but this is the avenue for classic reg in OR.

I need to do this

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

Open the hood and stare.

i love this comment...I do this often!! I open the hood and just look around / follow hoses and lines, sniff for the smell of coolant, look for leaks (not hard to find those). I often lay underneath it (especially after I swapped in the 5 speed) and just touch everything. I put a wrench on bolts just to make sure.

it's "fun" <-- fun being a loose term here:

The Fun Scale: Understanding Types of "Fun" | REI Co-op Journal

What is your idea of fun? Kelly Cordes details The Fun Scale, measuring the degrees of fun activities in the outdoors.

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