Mod Advice for 80 Series

[Rex]

I recently sold my 85 FJ60 and moved into a 96 LX450, which is more family friendly.

I'm beginning the process of modding my 80 (my 60 was stock by choice) and I'd like your advice.

A lift, new tires and shocks will be first on the agenda. Planning on a 2 inch with 35's. Any specific advice or direction on brands that you could give me? Still want it to be functional as a family vehicle but able to hit the moderate trails at Uwharrie National Forrest as well.

 

[scottryana]

What is your budget?

Is it a daily driver? Do you want an aggressive mud tire, do you want an all terrain tire? Are you going to be adding heavy armor and camping gear? More information and honest assessment of your use will get you a lot more proper advice.

 

[Kaninja]

For 2-3" lift I have heard good things about Tough Dog, Icon, Auto-Craft, Dobinson. Old Man Emu is still a solid option but not as comfortable as some of the newer set-ups. I am currently trying to decide myself.

As for tires, you can't go wrong with BF Goodrich TKO2 A/T. It is quiet on the hwy and a great all around tire, sacrificing mud performance for a more silent hwy ride. If you think you don't hate mud so much then the Mickey Thompson MTZ is another great durable tire. Not as good in the snow and a bit noisier on the road.

 

[sbman]

From my experience, you don't need a lift for moderate trails. 33" tires with stock suspension and some good sliders to save the body if you do get hung up on something. If the suspension is saggy then new stock height OMEs are good. If you plan to carry a lot of weight, then you need something heavier, but still don't need to go lifted for moderate trails. I run 285/75R16 and have not yet had a clearance problem. I've used the sliders a few times. I'm running stock height OME springs and fox shocks. Weight is becoming a problem as I've added bumper, winch, battery, etc... with full camping gear it's weighing the stock height springs down pretty good.

 

[Rex]

What is your budget?

Is it a daily driver? Do you want an aggressive mud tire, do you want an all terrain tire? Are you going to be adding heavy armor and camping gear? More information and honest assessment of your use will get you a lot more proper advice.

Great questions and thanks for your response - it's my daily driver, so an all terrain tire will make most sense. I'll be modding it slowly over time, so right now I'm not sure exactly where it's headed. I'm expecting around 1.5k-2k re: budget.

 

[Dragos80]

Your budget and purpose will dictate what mods to get.

If moderate trails are in your future (you have to publicly state, you will never ever venture into other trails and 37"s with 5.29 gears will never ever cross your mind), then you don't need the expensive suspension setups which offer you a drooling down travel. Stay at 2" or below and you will appreciate the caster correction trap, driveline vibrations, DC shafts, adjustable panhards, sway bar brackets and bump stops.

With 35"s you will need a rear bumper with a spare tire holder!!!! Money!

As sbman stated, 33" are a good choice for on the road and mild off road.
If you are like me and see pavement 99.99999% of the time, this setup is perfect.
I do take mine off road occasionally and I have 2 sets of tires, 33" and 35". Most of the time I use the 33" since it is more convenient, than having to get the 35"s out of the shed put them on, lift the heavy spare up on the bumper etc.

 

[Dragos80]

Great questions and thanks for your response - it's my daily driver, so an all terrain tire will make most sense. I'll be modding it slowly over time, so right now I'm not sure exactly where it's headed. I'm expecting around 1.5k-2k re: budget.

If you will include tubers in that budget, that's not enough. Suspension setup and tires will eat 50% of your budget. If you do all the work by yourself.

 

[Kaninja]

They don't lie. I'm on 33" TKO's with stock suspension right now with good welded on sliders. Great manners on the road, very capable off-road, and the stock gears move it along just fine.

 

[Rex]

This is all extremely helpful. Very much appreciated!

 

[scottryana]

Old Man Emu is a very iconic offering for what you are looking for and See Offroad is a great vender, I would just go with the Heavy kit, as the spring rate for heavy and medium are the same but the springs are slightly longer with the heavies. This kit is just under $1000.

If you would like to spend a little more money I would step into Icon's offerings and do their stage 1 which is about a 2.5-3" kit with a higher quality shock and it is around $1400-1500. You may be able to PM @DylanICON for questions and purchasing.

As for wheels and tires, the stock wheels are pretty good and completely fine for most. For tires I would look at

285/75 16
295/75 16
315/75 16


Least Offroad capable

Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 2
BF Allterrain KO2
Duratrac
Wrangler MTR Kevlar
BF Mud terrain KM2

Most Offroad capable

Great questions and thanks for your response - it's my daily driver, so an all terrain tire will make most sense. I'll be modding it slowly over time, so right now I'm not sure exactly where it's headed. I'm expecting around 1.5k-2k re: budget.

 

[sbman]

Your budget and purpose will dictate what mods to get.

If moderate trails are in your future (you have to publicly state, you will never ever venture into other trails and 37"s with 5.29 gears will never ever cross your mind), then you don't need the expensive suspension setups which offer you a drooling down travel. Stay at 2" or below and you will appreciate the caster correction trap, driveline vibrations, DC shafts, adjustable panhards, sway bar brackets and bump stops.

With 35"s you will need a rear bumper with a spare tire holder!!!! Money!

As sbman stated, 33" are a good choice for on the road and mild off road.
If you are like me and see pavement 99.99999% of the time, this setup is perfect.
I do take mine off road occasionally and I have 2 sets of tires, 33" and 35". Most of the time I use the 33" since it is more convenient, than having to get the 35"s out of the shed put them on, lift the heavy spare up on the bumper etc.

The 33" fits under in the spare tire area but there is NO space left for bigger, I don't know if the 'spare tire leveling kit' makes a 35" fit or not. The rear bumper/tow hitch/tire are the limiting factors off road until you get them out of there and add some kind of armor back there instead. A rear bumper alone exceeds your budget and you won't have a place to put a spare. I've kept the factory tow bar in place to protect the spare tire, it drags all the time, on everything. if the tow bar wasn't there I would have shredded that spare several times over by now. Until there's more clearance in the back, I couldn't use the extra clearance provided by 35's even if I wanted to. Plus the gearing and lack of power on 33's is already pretty bad. Haven't had to deal with bump stops or any of that lift specific stuff, castor correction, etc...

 

[NLXTACY]

The 33" fits under in the spare tire area but there is NO space left for bigger, I don't know if the 'spare tire leveling kit' makes a 35" fit or not. The rear bumper/tow hitch/tire are the limiting factors off road until you get them out of there and add some kind of armor back there instead. A rear bumper alone exceeds your budget and you won't have a place to put a spare. I've kept the factory tow bar in place to protect the spare tire, it drags all the time, on everything. if the tow bar wasn't there I would have shredded that spare several times over by now. Until there's more clearance in the back, I couldn't use the extra clearance provided by 35's even if I wanted to. Plus the gearing and lack of power on 33's is already pretty bad. Haven't had to deal with bump stops or any of that lift specific stuff, castor correction, etc...

Very very few 35s fit and the ones that do actually measure out to 34.25"

The trailer hitch is on one side and the panhard is on the other.

 

[Kaninja]

The 33" fits under in the spare tire area but there is NO space left for bigger, I don't know if the 'spare tire leveling kit' makes a 35" fit or not. The rear bumper/tow hitch/tire are the limiting factors off road until you get them out of there and add some kind of armor back there instead. A rear bumper alone exceeds your budget and you won't have a place to put a spare. I've kept the factory tow bar in place to protect the spare tire, it drags all the time, on everything. if the tow bar wasn't there I would have shredded that spare several times over by now. Until there's more clearance in the back, I couldn't use the extra clearance provided by 35's even if I wanted to. Plus the gearing and lack of power on 33's is already pretty bad. Haven't had to deal with bump stops or any of that lift specific stuff, castor correction, etc...

With the leveling kit the maximum is 34.25" tire. There is also a kit to mount up to at least a true 35" tire inside the back. In that case, if you don't need to tow, you can remove the tow hitch and tire from underneath gaining a lot of clearance.

Joey ninja'd me.

 

[Dragos80]

Or simply read post #9 here and swear that will never happen to you.

Decent deal?

 

[NLXTACY]

With the leveling kit the maximum is 34.25" tire. There is also a kit to mount up to at least a true 35" tire inside the back. In that case, if you don't need to tow, you can remove the tow hitch and tire from underneath gaining a lot of clearance.

Joey ninja'd me.

I Ka-ninja'd ya

 

[sbman]

Or simply read post #9 here and swear that will never happen to you.

Decent deal?

That's great! I could see that happening to me.

 

[ThomasMore66]

Here's a totally stock (complete with damage multipliers cause the wife likes 'em) 94 on 285 BFG KO2's. I could go most everywhere I want to go in this. I have a 97 with OME lift and the same tires. Once I get sliders on the 97, I'll go more places. And it's parked at the gas station where you will go with some regularity.

Gassing

• ThomasMore66
• Jan 31, 2017

This is where you spend a bunch of time on any trip in an FZJ80

97 for compare. Almost the same shot.

Day 1 - Stop at the gas station

• ThomasMore66
• May 11, 2017

 

[Heckraiser]

Also consder 255/85r16 tires if you like the skinny look. A little taller than 285's and a little lighter, but might look goofy with the Lexus "widebody" plastic cladding.

 

[Comet]

I just got back from Uwharrie. I ran easy to difficult trails for the first time ever. I have a stock 97 LC unlocked on tired springs and 10 year old Firestone A/T in the 285 size with an ARB front bumper and an ENGO 12K winch. I had no issues with the difficult trails (probably the spotters I had) and the truck is a beast. If I were to offer any free advice based on my limited experience, I would go (in order) sliders with CAT protection, tires, front bumper, winch, rear bumper. I have driven fire roads and Power line right of ways for decades on family property and have yet to see the need for a lift. Your mileage may vary and you may have other ideas on the matter though.