New Member Intro - deciding between 62 and 80 (1 Viewer)

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Love your screen name, dude.
 
I love the vintage look of the 60, but I don't like the horrible rear approach/departure angle. That rear overhang is just excessive. However, the 80's are just so much better vehicles in almost every way. (especially the LHD diesel models that are triple-locked like mine) 😉
 
@LLTB did you drive any 60 or 80 series already?
 
Get a 60/62 if you want an old school nostalgic classic. Go with a late model 80 if you want a modern truck that can be used daily. If you don’t mind crawling up inclines in the slow lane with the VW micro buses then the 62 will work for you😆
 
The third row seats of the 80 series are great if you have a big enough family to warrant it, or want to take your family plus kids. Safety aspect of the 80 is also probably better. 80s seem to deal with salt a lot better.

I had a 60 and liked it quite a bit, but mine was too down on power to be practical. I never looked into that. I did do a knuckle rebuild on it, although in retrospect probably didn't have to. I did get a lot of practice with balljoints that way!

Around here, the 80 is honestly a little bit big as a trail rig. But it depends on the roads and what you're doing. It makes a great, durable daily driver for gravel roads that would tear up other suspension setups.

The 60's suspension is not nearly as good, but it's still capable. And it's a little smaller. The split hatch/tailgate setup is fantastic. We have problems with regular hatches (4Runner and Sequoia) around here. They seem a lot more failure prone.

I do like having a manual. One option is to get a FJ80 and do a manual sway. You can do the same with the FZJ80.

We have a FJ80 and a FZJ80. We're thinking about pairing down to one. The FJ80 has a good motor and it's competent on the highway. It's not exactly a rig you pass cars with, though. I tow single axle trailers with both of them. I prefer the FJ80 and my wife prefers the FZJ80. A lot of that comes down to cloth vs leather, but also the paint.

The FJ60 is definitely more of a classic. I could never be happy with a FJ62 with an automatic, personally. I'd rather just have an 80 series. My FJ60 threw a main belt on my first drive. I found out that the accessory belts fit the essentials, so I was able to keep going. It was a $3k project rig. I do regret selling it, but the circumstances at the time made some sense. I moved to a place with emissions testing, and didn't want to deal with keeping a carbureted vehicle passing.
 
I've decided to pull the trigger on this 80 from RS6tofj80 . Erich and I are working through the details. I appreciate the input here guys. Been reading a TON on the forum trying to absorb info.

Looking forward to picking this beast up and bringing it back to Utah.

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