Newest 80 in our family and some observations.

[IdahoDoug]

Well, here is a shot of the "twins" after I got most of the initial items installed on the '97:

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting


And a closeup of the extremely cool badges both rigs now sport on their fenders. They're from http://homepage.mac.com/paintlab/teq.html
and the workmanship is truly outstanding. There are a lot of things on both rigs, but I am compelled to say that the addition of these badges yesterday ranks as one of the coolest things I've done.

Some observations about the 97 are that it is strikingly smoother in all respects of operation. The A343 tranny is clearly well matched and tuned for the 80. It makes the 97 feel 1000lbs lighter when driven around town due to its quick and responsive part throttle downshifts, and what *seems* to be a lower ratio first gear or some torque converter stall speed changes. Ironically, the 97s steering feels heavier at idle. Without question the 97 has more soundproofing and the ride is smoother - I suspect the engineers did a bit of spring/shock tuning more toward road comfort with the new tranny and frankly I applaud it.

Anyone know of a good summary of the technical differences between the 93/94 models and the 95-97s for capacities and such? There will only be a few, but things I know of are tranny drain/fill capacity, lug nut torque, cooling system capacity, etc. Wondering if anyone's compiled what should be a fairly short list. I'd like to advance the basic timing a bit - what's the procedure for the OBDII?

Thanks in advance!

DougM

 

[MoJ]

Lookin good Doug! One blue, one green?

 

[Scamper]

Hi Doug,

Sweet looking trucks! I keep trying to convince my son to buy an 80, and think I have him convinced. But now he wants me to spring for the cash. Haahaaa...fat chance. Told him to get a job (he's in school).

As far as the timing goes, I've heard people talking about advancing the timing of the earlier years (OBDI presumably), but AFAIK, if you advance it on the '97, the ECU will recalibrate and send it back from whence it came. At least within some window of change which is probably within the range you want to change it.

I too would be interested in whether you can manually change the timing on a '97.

 

[CDN_Cruiser]

Doug:

They both look very nice! What is the meaning of the 'pig'?

PS - if I could trouble you, can you post a few shots (close ups) - head on and side on - of your Hellas? I have mine mounted in a similar manner, but had to shim them to get them level - and I still think they are dipped down too much. I feel like the should be throwing more light than they are at this point.

Cheers, Hugh

 

[cruiserdan]

Interestingly enough the 442 has a lower 1st gear than does a 343......

I can't wait until Beo gets a hold of your transmission comments..

 

[ginericLC]

Doug:

They both look very nice! What is the meaning of the 'pig'?


Cheers, Hugh

FJ55 Land Cruisers are known as the Iron Pig because of their snout. It seems some people seem to think the Pig can symbolize any Land Cruiser. I don't see any resemblence between my 80 and a Pig. Other than the amount of fuel it eats. 55s are however my favorite model Land Cruiser. It is what I learned to drive in. I run a 55 4wd emblem on the back of my 80 instead of the fulltime 4wd stock emblem. That is my tribute to the 55.

 

[LX_TREME]

Congrats by the way on the 2nd pics, Do you just wax the LC??? Well if you do at least use the tootbrush to get rid of the wax left over between the fender flares and the rubber molding....

 

[IdahoDoug]

Hmm, I'll do some research on the timing advance thing - unless someone knows definitively. Hugh, the '93 has Hella 3000s on it and I don't recall having to do anything at all to achieve the aim when I put them on 12 years ago.

You're correct that the 4000s required some fiddling. I overestimated the clearance the back of the lights would need to avoid contacting the grille, so drilled the first set of mount holes in the bumper too close to the front of the bumper. As a result, they indeed were pointed too far down and I could not adjust them far enough down the road. So, I drilled another set slightly farther back and due to the bumper's front edge rounding down and the rearward movement to a more horizontal plane they now are aimed correctly. Had I not been able to move them farther back, I'd have used a ball peen hammer to pound a small section down to achieve the more level plane and you shouldn't be afraid to do the same as the mount will cover the area cosmetically, and there are bumpers available for free around here if you mess one up or change your mind. What lights did you mount?

As for wax in the cracks, I haven't been able to cosmetically go over the blue 97 yet. I'm having a couple dings and a scratch tended to by a body shop in a few weeks, then spring will be here and she'll get a serious cleaning.

Those badges are perfect. They're discreet, but anyone eyeballing your 80 will run across them and get a funny smile. They say "CruiserHead Forever", "Toyota LandCruiser" and have the red "TEQ" graphic on the pig's rump. It's a great conversation piece and already a 40 guy spotted the pig and had a good laugh about them. Kinda crosses the gap from heritage of the early Cruisers to the 80 Series in a respectful way that those of us "in the know" can appreciate.

DougM

 

[NorCalDoug]

FJ55 Land Cruisers are known as the Iron Pig because of their snout. It seems some people seem to think the Pig can symbolize any Land Cruiser....

I like to think of the 80 series as the grandchild of the 55 series. With the 55 being the Iron Pig...wouldn't that make my 80 an Iron Piglet?


Doug - great pic of the twins

 

[bjowett]

FJ55 Land Cruisers are known as the Iron Pig because of their snout. It seems some people seem to think the Pig can symbolize any Land Cruiser. I don't see any resemblence between my 80 and a Pig. Other than the amount of fuel it eats. 55s are however my favorite model Land Cruiser. It is what I learned to drive in. I run a 55 4wd emblem on the back of my 80 instead of the fulltime 4wd stock emblem. That is my tribute to the 55.

Nice twins!

Thread hijack

The 80 is a second gen pig.... I think it's heavily influenced by the 55 series design.... pretty much an evoloution of it. Look at the shoulder line and the way it carries down along the front fender into the valance. Give it a narrow hood and flat top fenders and loose the outer main part of the headlamp.... see it???

 

[Kalawang]

FJ55 Land Cruisers are known as the Iron Pig because of their snout. It seems some people seem to think the Pig can symbolize any Land Cruiser. I don't see any resemblence between my 80 and a Pig. Other than the amount of fuel it eats. 55s are however my favorite model Land Cruiser. It is what I learned to drive in. I run a 55 4wd emblem on the back of my 80 instead of the fulltime 4wd stock emblem. That is my tribute to the 55.

Not to start a side issue or an argument, but I think the 80 cruiser looks like a long pig in stock configuration but is like a swan once you put in a 2" lift.

As for the gas consumption, I find that rather surprising, but then my direct experience and that of close friends is with the Deisel which gives me 8 kilometers per liter highway and 6 city. I really thought their gas engine would give much the same mileage.


Kalawang

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Yaw Doug,

Great looking Cruisers on your driveway! You just gave me the motivation to look for another 80, preferably locked 40th Edition. The blue is really a rare color.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I have to say that in pretty much every way I lead a charmed life, but for the last couple weeks it has been the highlight of my life to walk into the garage to run an errand and stand there for a second with a keychain having both keys and go "Eeny Meeny Miny Moe..."

No matter where I go now, I'm motoring around looking out over that classic long hood and feeling that supple suspension absorb driveway aprons, curbs, and - well, whatever I feel like driving over. Can't wait to get the manly tires on the 93 this coming week as it's my DD. My wife's 97 will stay with summer Michelins and winter Michelins for ultimate smoothness and safety onroad and mine will be more capable of handling Search and Rescue missions and horsing around, towing, etc. It's strange to say this, but I've had 6 straight tough SUVs under my as a DD until the Subaru for the last two years and I can't believe how much I missed that "ready for anything" feeling. Yee-haaa!..

DougM

 

[Beowulf]

Anyone know of a good summary of the technical differences between the 93/94 models and the 95-97s for capacities and such? There will only be a few, but things I know of are tranny drain/fill capacity, lug nut torque, cooling system capacity, etc. Wondering if anyone's compiled what should be a fairly short list.

Actually, the list would be fairly long between a 93 and a 97.

Off the top of my head...

Transmission
Interior
Air bags
Fuel metering
Wheels (flat vs conical)
Mud flaps changed
Flares (fiberglass vs plastic)
Antenna
Badging changes
Brake pads
Front diff breather (you've already discovered this one)
Cats

If you want a comprehensive list then get on the Toyota Tech manuals site and download the New Car Features for each year.

-B-

 

[IdahoDoug]

Beo,

I am looking for more technical/maintenance items. Such as the different tranny drain/fill quantities, the different wheel torque, ability to alter base timing on the OBDII, etc. I'll go through some stuff, I guess.

DougM

 

[Beowulf]

Doug,

http://www.safari4x4.com.au/80scool/tech/timing.html

* I am pretty sure this procedure will work for your '97.
* 95-97 alloys are torqued to 76 ft/lbs.
*Tranny drain fill is the subject of long discussions.

It seems the FSM and OM are both wrong and one (or both) have used imperial qts or something. We've also had a big difference in what guys have reported as their drain/fill quantities.

We discovered another torque setting difference not too long ago but I can't recall what it was. The parts were the same; just the torque setting. Does anyone remember?

-B-

 

[IdahoDoug]

Found another difference - the fender flare clips. I have a loose one on the 97 and in looking at it the clips are not the same and apparently they're made of a different material. Hmm, what else am I gonna find?

DougM

 

[CruisinGA]

I've also noticed a marked difference in off the line acceleration between my '93 and my mom's 97.

Like you mentioned stall speed on the torque converter comes to mind. I've also wondered if the difference in airflow meters has anything to do with the generally better responsiveness of the 97 motor.

This is all supposition, but could it be that the electronic MAF is more sensitive than the impeller-electro-mechanical design that the 93-95's inherited from the 3FE? Allowing a quicker fuel increase and hence a more powerful throttle response.

 

[paulj]

What's the difference in fuel consumption between the FJ 80 and the FZ? For that matter what does the diesel get mileage wise? In MPG please!

 

[Beowulf]

Stock FZJ80's (US Spec) get ~12mpg city and ~16mpg highway. YMMV.

Someone else will have to supply the other numbers.

-B-