Rig goals and rambling

[pattho]

93 FJ80, 2" lift, both lockers, 33's, front winch, roof rack+lights

I really like my fj80 but somethings not right
I am frustrated thinking about it, looking at rigs, poking around on forums and classifieds so figured I would ramble

So I am thinking of my wants/needs

Street stuff
Must be street legal
14+ mpg @ 65mph on the highway
Listen to the radio while driving
Passenger in the front seat
Carry my baby kid in a rear center seat (basically rear bench) so she is safe incase of an accident
Comfy ride (like an 80's + vehicle)

Offroad stuff
35" / 37" tires (I want to fit in the garage without airing down thou!)
Winch
Front and Rear lockers
sliders/rock guards
Decent power
power steering
Roll cage to protect my life and passengers (no exo, hate the look)

Cool stuff
Rear tire mount
Front and rear flares
not a boat
classy/unique look
Removable top / soft top (bonus)
fold down window (bonus)

As far as the offroad stuff,
I dont want a built only rock crawler/buggy/chopped up beast
I also dont want to skip out on going to a trail because I cant handle it

Basically I want to be able to do like a fordyce level trail just as a good driver with good spoters without having to be an amazing driver


Then I wonder, why am I thinking about all this stuff?

The build is all pretty much the same for any of these
1. Obtain wad of cash
2. Lift (and cut if needed)
3. Tires
4. Lockers + gears (new axle as needed)
5. Bolt on accessories (bumpers/rails/winch)

done

But I am still frustrated.




And the is getting frustrated with my frustration and oogling

This is all I want, it should be super easy right?
Looks good
Is capable
Affordable
Comfy


So I have been thinking about a few body styles

Toyota
FJ Cruiser (entry cost too high)
FJ55
FJ80
FJ60
FJ40
FJ70 from Canada
4runner (IFS?)

International
Scout 80
Scout 800
Scout II

Jeep
Jeepster
4 door Wrangler (entry cost too high)

Land Rover
P38 aka 4.0/4.6 HSE
Discovery I or II
Defender 90
Series I II III SWB 88"

Ford
Bronco

Dodge
Powerwagon Carryall cira ww2


Althou I like the looks of the Jeepsters and 4 door wranglers I dont want a Jeep
I think it is part of my mental anguish as my needs/wants keep pointing me to a Jeep, but I dont want a jeep they are everywhere and cheap.... and I am a hater

 

[450 DUDE]

Get a Heep.

ken

 

[locrwln1]

Get a Heep.

ken

I have to agree with Ken, my Wrangler was probably my best "dual purpose" vehicle I have had. It was spring over on 35's and I could drive it for a week in the desert or go run any trail around (Fordyce, Rubicon, Moab). For all of the Jeep haters, they have a hard time admitting that they work. Mine was very reliable, I put 80k miles on mine and the only thing I ever had to do was replace a motor mount and the distributor (result of the motor mount breaking). Post run, I would wash it, vacumn the interior, grease the underside and I was done.

My 4runner (1st gen)as a little more comfortable stock, but once I SAS'd it, it lost some of the comfort and I always felt like I was having to tinker with it after every hard run.

I would look for a TJ unlimited. Good size, good motor and unlimited build potential. Room for your stuff and a kid.

Jack

 

[slvrbck]

Those unlimiteds are pretty nifty! I almost bought one when they first came out several years back. And there are a MILLION things you can do with them, with the majority being BOLT ON!!

 

[DirtyHarry]

To be honest you have pretty ambitious goals for one vehicle. I tried to do the same thing with my pickup, and it works OK at everything, but it is not great at anything. In retrospect I would have made it more of a dedicated rockcrawler since I have a tow rig and trailer now, and have made less compromises and spent less money.

What is it about the 80 that you do not like? I actually think that it is the best fit for your criteria, but I wouldn't really want to take one through Fordyce. If you need something smaller/more capable I think that a TJ Unlimited (like Jack said) or an 80s 4Runner would be the best choice for you. Many of the vehicles on your list (Land Rover Discoveries, Power Wagons, FJ60s) are not going to be more capable than what you have now without a lot of work.

 

[jon@svwbarchitects.c]

It all boils down to the dollar. You are starting to see a few year old TJ Rubicons popping up, and the parts available is hard to beat.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I like the Jeep Unlimited, it looks to be the right size. Not to big, but enough room for a family and their gear. Tons of after market support.

But for the dollar I think you could start with the 80 and get there a lot cheaper.

You would sacrifice the soft top option but with a fixed hard top the roll cage becomes a moot point. I really think that's the only compromise on your list. I'm also not sure you could build an 80 to take on Fordyce without a Pile-O cash, but I know for a fact you can build and 80 that will take on Rubicon with a reasonable budget.

 

[alia176]

You're off to a good start, talk to various people and get their opinions. James in the white 4Runner on last sat's run (MallCrawler or something like that) had an Unlimited so shoot him an email. He said something interesting while we were eating lunch - "I loved to look at my Rubi Unlimited, but I hated to drive it" as compared to his 4Runner. So keep that in mind!

You obviously need a 4door so that'll narrow the choices down quite a bit. Having owned RRCs in the past, I'd highly suggest that you stay away from any LR products. The Series LRs were/are basically tractors with heaters. They drive like one, sound like one and with a PTO attachment would make a great post hole digger Post hole diggers can't maintain hwy speeds. I don't think you're made of money so owning a LR is like Jack going snow wheeling w/o tire chains - an exercise in futility

We're all biased toward Toyotas but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better family friendly wheeler that can do the Rubicon, get some "Crack" in Moab or drive over the washboards in Death Valley for hours w/o falling apart and still return home while keeping the family safe and comfortable.

"This too shall pass"

 

[krokarthecrooked]

I would have to agree i am a jeep hater as well but they are capable rigs no question there but you already have a very capable rig but as stated you might not be able to do fordyce but you can do pretty much anything else with it and you have your base already for what your looking for. now i own several Yota's and i can tell you the 80 is an aswome long range rig and so is the 60 series cruiser but you Sacrafice some ride comfort there but it also has the about the same attributes as the 80 roomy and capable for long runs. But not to sure i would try fordyce with one without some serious mods something along the lines of Chicago's rig and then i mught be leary. i also have an Fj 40 its awsome for just about everything but long rang your not gonna have the comfort or space for the Family i love all my rigs but realize that they fit for somethings just not all of them but then again i have an adventure trailer to tow behind my 40 or whatever im in. i also have a Mini good truck but not real family friendly but very capable just the same and has that long range capability with some work so what im saying is you need to look at all rigs and figure out what you wanna give up to get most everything else. Wether it be Jeep or Toyota and i agree with Ali rovers are nice and capable rigs but drive like a tractor and i wouldnt reccomend the Dodge either Hope this Helps. Also that Bobbed 55 would make a nice rig and prolly meet most of your criteria but not so hot on the gas i would think



Dan

 

[chicago]

Id look for a 3rd gen 4 runner that is mostly built. There are lots of em popping up, even SAS'd.
Its got the 4 doors, a decent motor and you can customize them to what you need and they can be had cheap.
Ive always really liked those and may build one myself one day.
Those Rubicons are VERY NICE for a capable out of the box wheeler for sure. It seems to me that if you got anything other than the Rubicon, youll still be doing a lot of upgrades as with any other rig, but you would have great aftermarket support.
Ive had an up and down relationship with my 62...mostly out siders perspectives affecting my view of it. Its kind of the "ugly step child" of the cruisers... Last year, I was seriously thinking about selling/ trading mine cuz I was told it was basically too big and heavy. Jack actaully set me straight one day. Maybe your 80 isnt as bad as you think...

Good luck in your decision.

K

 

[chicago]

However....
Those diesel 70's are NIIIIIIIICCCCCE!

K

 

[pattho]

So I drove a YJ, TJ and JK this week

Man my 80 rides nice, don't think I will be going the wrangler route unless the 4 door but the price jump from an fj80 (5-8k) to a 4door JK rubi (22-26k) is a whole crap ton of fj80 upgrades

I do need to compromise on what trails I can do, hopefully will grab an empty seat for the trails I cant do


p.s.
Took a trip from Reno to past S.Tahoe this week and got 13mpg with my 33's

 

[alia176]

So I drove a YJ, TJ and JK this week

Man my 80 rides nice, don't think I will be going the wrangler route unless the 4 door but the price jump from an fj80 (5-8k) to a 4door JK rubi (22-26k) is a whole crap ton of fj80 upgrades

I do need to compromise on what trails I can do, hopefully will grab an empty seat for the trails I cant do


p.s.
Took a trip from Reno to past S.Tahoe this week and got 13mpg with my 33's

See, we told ya so

With some creative mods and proper tire selection, there is no reason why you can't achieve 16-18 mpg with 33"s and 4.10. That's what my wife's 80 gets on a regular basis, driving around 65-70 mph. She's on 2.5" with 285 ATs plus the usual armament.

 

[pattho]

I think the cheapest quick mileage upgrade I can do is probably remove the top rack

My lights are attached to it so will need to buy a light bar

Currently with the roof rack I ding the hangers in the airport parking garage which is annoying, and on 33's I cant fit in my garage

CARR Light Bars
Seems to be the only one I found, I like it because I can rotate it down to get into garage

Anyone know of any other good bars I could get in town?

 

[alia176]

I think I saw a hole on your roof for the roof rack light wiring but have you given any thought to mounting a pair of light on the ARB bumper and do away with the roof lights? A totally clean roof will do wonders for wind noise and mpg

 

[450 DUDE]

I think I saw a hole on your roof for the roof rack light wiring but have you given any thought to mounting a pair of light on the ARB bumper and do away with the roof lights? A totally clean roof will do wonders for wind noise and mpg

What he said....

ken

except with the Yak box its a wash for me.

 

[pattho]

Already a set of lights up front, I dont need this many lights thou so I may just remove all the cabling all together and seal that hole

 

[krokarthecrooked]

Well the lights up front are nice but its also nice to have some light up high. but if your going to take those lights off the top i think i can make some adjustments to your bumber to add some of those extra lights to big question is do you use them if so then the bumber deal might be what you wanna do if not no big loss i myself like to have alotta light when wheeling and deff and night if i dont know the terrain so you have to ask yourself if you wanna give up extra light up top to gain what you want.


Dan

 

[alia176]

The 80's have a decent set of head lights IMO. The John Deere HIR bulbs are very efficient at light output and will prolly take care most of your lighting needs. However, a pair of pencil beams are nice to have on the bumper for those high speed trail driving.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Darkness is for sitting around camp drinking rum and eating ginger snaps.