Most Important Mechanical Fixes/PM for FZJ80?

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You guys are awesome. Thanks so much!! Ok here is my current list then of things to do, ranked in order of importance. I may not necessarily get to them in order..

#1 GAS! and new fuel filter :)

#2 PHH, Coolant Flush, Thermostat, radatior hoses

#3 All the fluids. Brake, power steering, transmission, tcase & diff fluids.

#4 Replace Starter

#5 Valve cover & oil pan gaskets (both leak)

#6 New fan belts

#7 Change spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor.

#8 Change out brake lines

#9 Check rear brakes, fix handbrake

#10 New exhaust & Cat

#11 Air freshener (For butt smell)

#12 All new bushings, Motor mounts, Transmission mount, Springs



extra:

carry some heater hose to bypass the heater valve and/or rear heater lines if they fail on you

Buy a good set of tools!

Buy a spare set of fusible links
 
There's a lot of little coolant hoses, they would all be done if mine. Most other failures will not lead to the potential repair coast of a badly overheated engine. It can all be done in an aftern,oon if you get everything together ahead of time.
And buy one of these to get and reset the clamps by the firewall.

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Go ahead and order a knock sensor for knock sensor #2 when you break it while changing the fuel filter. And search the replacement procedure for the fuel filter. It sucks but not horrible. You'll want to notch out the one hole so that it is a "C".
 
Go ahead and order a knock sensor for knock sensor #2 when you break it while changing the fuel filter. And search the replacement procedure for the fuel filter. It sucks but not horrible. You'll want to notch out the one hole so that it is a "C".

or a pair of channel locks, lol. It does look cool though
 
Oh yeah...

U joints
All new bushings (this is not cheap...)
Motor mounts
Transmission mount
Springs
Shocks

Holy crap. I'm glad I'm not keeping track of costs on the 93...
your not kidding being a nervous nelly because I tend to leave the highway in areas Ive never been before with a paper map, I started looking at all the "preventive" Ive done in just 5 months and I literally have 2 fzjs
 
You guys are awesome. Thanks so much!! Ok here is my current list then of things to do, ranked in order of importance. I may not necessarily get to them in order..

#1 GAS! and new fuel filter :)

#2 PHH, Coolant Flush, Thermostat, radatior hoses

#3 All the fluids. Brake, power steering, transmission, tcase & diff fluids.

#4 Replace Starter

#5 Valve cover & oil pan gaskets (both leak)

#6 New fan belts

#7 Change spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor.

#8 Change out brake lines

#9 Check rear brakes, fix handbrake

#10 New exhaust & Cat

#11 Air freshener (For butt smell)

#12 All new bushings, Motor mounts, Transmission mount, Springs

If you dont have one already buy and carry the toyota FSM ebay has em for like a hunny

extra:

carry some heater hose to bypass the heater valve and/or rear heater lines if they fail on you

Buy a good set of tools!

Buy a spare set of fusible links
 
your not kidding being a nervous nelly because I tend to leave the highway in areas Ive never been before with a paper map, I started looking at all the "preventive" Ive done in just 5 months and I literally have 2 fzjs

In fairness, my most recent 80 is a 93 that I purchased with 312k on the odometer. Nearly everything NEEDED to be replaced. The fuel filter looked like it was pulled out of tar sands. Every seal leaked, profusely. Every bushing and motor/tranny mount was split, rotted, and/or missing.

She had been neglected.
 
#4 Replace Starter

#8 Change out brake lines

#9 Check rear brakes, fix handbrake

Wheels, bearings, hubs and tires take priority over all others.
Chassis, suspension, steering, brakes are highest priority.

When working on vehicles, all repairs take priority over maintenance. Especially preventive maintenance.

Do #9 first, since it's a repair.
 
The ones you need.....

Not a single person here can do a decent once over of your Land Cruiser over the internet. I would find a good Cruiser Mechanic, I have heard there are one or two in Colorado. Go for a short drive stay a day or two let them look it over and give you a prioritized list. You can then tackle it as you can.

Some of the lesser known 80s mechanics in Colorado are Beno, Robbie, Slee, etc.
 
One of the most relevant posts for mud members.

I too have a 93 model and whilst mine has never been put through its potential offroading (thanks to the PO) i only have 93000 miles on the clock. My question would be, at what stage do you replace some of the PM components. Its so hard to determine sometimes what needs to be changed due to miles or by biological age!

I speak of things like this:

a) U-joints
b) oil pump gasket
c) main seal
d) radiator & hoses (Replaced 90000 miles))
e) Oil cooler gasket and cover (replaced 90000 miles)
f) Diff oil
g) dizzy cap & rotors
h) Alternator
i) Fan/fan clutch

I spose the others are no brainers like PHH, brakes etc but the ones above. When i look at the service schedule it doesnt mention these specific items (im sure there are many more, sensors etc)
 
The ones you need.....

Not a single person here can do a decent once over of your Land Cruiser over the internet. I would find a good Cruiser Mechanic, I have heard there are one or two in Colorado. Go for a short drive stay a day or two let them look it over and give you a prioritized list. You can then tackle it as you can.

Some of the lesser known 80s mechanics in Colorado are Beno, Robbie, Slee, etc.

Best advice yet.

I hope he caught your sarcasm. "Lesser known..." All of those guys would be excellent at giving a current status of a Land Cruiser.
 
I've got @cruiseroutfit up north and have gotten a few parts from him. We are having this event soon (CruiserFest 2017 - CruiserFest 2017) and I might just offer free drinks to whoever is willing to take a look (and maybe a spin) to give me tips & recommended repairs.
 
Yeah Kurt is a great asset too. But my advice is still the same if you are new to cruisers. A lot of guys just start throwing parts at them, and at first if your mechanical skills are not up to par you could cause more issues than you fix. The 80 is an amazing truck to easily wrench on but it does have quirks.



I've got @cruiseroutfit up north and have gotten a few parts from him. We are having this event soon (CruiserFest 2017 - CruiserFest 2017) and I might just offer free drinks to whoever is willing to take a look (and maybe a spin) to give me tips & recommended repairs.
 
There's a lot of little coolant hoses, they would all be done if mine. Most other failures will not lead to the potential repair coast of a badly overheated engine. It can all be done in an aftern,oon if you get everything together ahead of time.
And buy one of these to get and reset the clamps by the firewall.

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I have one of these and really like it.
 
If it hasn't been done already I'd swap out the brake lines. These are often overlooked and can eventually fail (I had a stock OEM brake hose fail recently). The previous owner replaced all of the outer hoses with braided but forgot to replace the inner front hoses.

Think about what would be a major pain to fix on the side of the road and work your way backwards from that point. Also be sure to drive it as much as you can locally, this will bring any issues to the surface for you to notice.
 
...and at first if your mechanical skills are not up to par you could cause more issues than you fix.

Some examples

1) Check engine light is on so search internet and find a bunch of videos of people decarbing the engine with sea foam. Dump bottle in intake, smoke out the neighbors only to find out you probably just fried the O2 sensors.

2) read up about MAF sensors, decide to clean it only to find when you took it apart you may have just destroyed it

3) everyone puts a new air filter in when they buy a new car. Now car runs worse than before, WTF?
By doing both of the last "fixes" you have now torn the intake boot on the truck

4) just realized the coolant overflow tank is empty, WTF?
When doing the first "fix" you didn't realize that you cracked the little nipple coming off the top of the radiator.

5) you replace the torn intake boot to see if that will fix the running like crap condition, replace the radiator that you broke, start the car and WTF NOW. massive coolant leak in back of the engine, WTF?
When replacing the intake boot, you accidentally put too much weight on the water heater valve and broke it.

6) decide to tackle up the infamous knuckle overhaul you have heard so much about. Proud of yourself, take the truck for a spin and out of knowhere the front right tire locks up and you almost fly off the road and die. WTF?
Didn't torque the brake calipers correctly, it came loose and wedged itself against the wheel locking it up.

7) same scenario above, but the wheel doesn't lock up, instead you loose all ability to steer the truck and almost fly off the road and die, WTF?
Didn't torque the steering arm knuckle threads correctly

There's more, so many more.

I am sure others will be able to add more....
 
Buy an EFI Relay and keep in the glove box along with extra fuses. Replace the fusible link with new put spare in with EFI relay. Check battery cables, ground and also harness wires on the back of the engine bay behind #6. Add heat shield to protect those wires. If it wasn't mentioned, extend diff / axle breathers / tcase into engine bay and or rear cargo area. Check torque on lower knuckle studs.
 
Funner said it all. Drive it. Don't get into taking stuff apart in a big rush. Learn how to check fluids, pressure test your rad,check for leaks and soft hoses, grease your knuckles,basic stuff. Find a mechanic that you can trust and afford(not so easy)listen to your truck it will tell you what it needs.
 
This is off-topic, but what tire size are you running... the one in the picture of the first post?
 

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