Mileage is irrelevant, IMHO. @98 SNAKE EATER has something like 58 million miles on his 80 and it is one of the most impeccable 80s you will ever see. He drives it all over the place (thus the 149 million miles on it). He also meticulously maintains it. I've seen 100k 80s that I wouldn't risk driving across town without doing some serious maintenance to first. It's all about how the previous owner took care of it. When you buy one figure on spending $3-4k to have some maintenance done to it if you are going to pay someone else to do it. If you can read a book, lift a wrench, you can figure out pretty quickly how easy these trucks are to work on. And fun too. Then budget $2k. Buy about $500 worth of tools and put the remaining $1500 in the bank for "Just in Case". Just in case you need a new front bumper, lights, sliders, rear bumper, etc. And add a few hundred bucks to it each month.
The expensive part of owning an 80 isn't the maintenance of the 80, it's the maintenance of keeping up with your fellow mudders. Some of these guys have endless resources. I don't. Anymore. I just maintain my rig and wheel it on farm roads and going fishing and daily driving it. Good luck!
The expensive part of owning an 80 isn't the maintenance of the 80, it's the maintenance of keeping up with your fellow mudders. Some of these guys have endless resources. I don't. Anymore. I just maintain my rig and wheel it on farm roads and going fishing and daily driving it. Good luck!