Struggling to choose between two Land Cruisers I’ve been eyeing and wanted to reach out for some of your opinions.
First one is a 1996 HDJ81 1HDFT RHD. Non-locking version. About 125,000 miles on it. Body is in great condition. Timing belt done at 188km and did a full top to bottom service when he got it a little less than a year ago. Owner before him didn’t have any maintenance records but stated that it was regularly maintained. Videos and pictures of it look great, no rust, sounds good, etc. unfortunately I’ll have to fly out to this one and then drive it back 25+ hours. Currently has a 2” lift with 315s so a regear and elocker would be done in the near future if I got it along with other upgrades. 10/10 exterior and interior condition. From what I’ve seen and heard, engine looks good too.
Second one is a 1991 RHD HDJ81, 1HDT (BEB were done before being imported at like 100k km~. Currently at around 150,000 miles. This one is triple locked BUT the front and rear lockers don’t engage. CDL still engages. He said that the they didn’t break while he was using the cruiser while locked, it just didn’t engage one day. Which reading through some old forums the fix could be anywhere from something really easy to getting an entirely new actuator for like $1,500 (depending on what the actual problem is). This one already has a pre-turbo EGT gauge in, snorkel, and airbox which saves some money since I plan to do that anyways and obviously this one being triple locked (when working) saves the money of having to install an elocker on the other. Front suspension was rebuilt with chromoly birfields, bearings, and new power steering. Lifted and on 35” tires. Actually has the paint and wheels that I want too. This one is in good condition too, rust free, cold start sounds great, etc. 8/10 interior and exterior. Good news with this one is that it is about 6 hours away which is a MUCH easier drive.
So which would yall lean towards? Considering this won’t be a daily driver. Will be used to take the dog back and fourth to do bitework and any other time I take it anywhere in its crate (won’t fit in the car) and will be doing big camping/overlanding roadtrips with it quiet regularly. At least once a month or every other month there would be a week long trip with other smaller trips between that. Majority of those trails/roads are forest roads that don’t need lockers but I do have plans to hit some more remote locations where lockers would be extremely helpful. No plans to do any rock crawling or anything like that. The first one is $6,500 more than the second one plus plane ticket and 20 hour longer drive. Looking forward to hearing what other people think of this situation.
First one is a 1996 HDJ81 1HDFT RHD. Non-locking version. About 125,000 miles on it. Body is in great condition. Timing belt done at 188km and did a full top to bottom service when he got it a little less than a year ago. Owner before him didn’t have any maintenance records but stated that it was regularly maintained. Videos and pictures of it look great, no rust, sounds good, etc. unfortunately I’ll have to fly out to this one and then drive it back 25+ hours. Currently has a 2” lift with 315s so a regear and elocker would be done in the near future if I got it along with other upgrades. 10/10 exterior and interior condition. From what I’ve seen and heard, engine looks good too.
Second one is a 1991 RHD HDJ81, 1HDT (BEB were done before being imported at like 100k km~. Currently at around 150,000 miles. This one is triple locked BUT the front and rear lockers don’t engage. CDL still engages. He said that the they didn’t break while he was using the cruiser while locked, it just didn’t engage one day. Which reading through some old forums the fix could be anywhere from something really easy to getting an entirely new actuator for like $1,500 (depending on what the actual problem is). This one already has a pre-turbo EGT gauge in, snorkel, and airbox which saves some money since I plan to do that anyways and obviously this one being triple locked (when working) saves the money of having to install an elocker on the other. Front suspension was rebuilt with chromoly birfields, bearings, and new power steering. Lifted and on 35” tires. Actually has the paint and wheels that I want too. This one is in good condition too, rust free, cold start sounds great, etc. 8/10 interior and exterior. Good news with this one is that it is about 6 hours away which is a MUCH easier drive.
So which would yall lean towards? Considering this won’t be a daily driver. Will be used to take the dog back and fourth to do bitework and any other time I take it anywhere in its crate (won’t fit in the car) and will be doing big camping/overlanding roadtrips with it quiet regularly. At least once a month or every other month there would be a week long trip with other smaller trips between that. Majority of those trails/roads are forest roads that don’t need lockers but I do have plans to hit some more remote locations where lockers would be extremely helpful. No plans to do any rock crawling or anything like that. The first one is $6,500 more than the second one plus plane ticket and 20 hour longer drive. Looking forward to hearing what other people think of this situation.