been a toyota guy for years. trucks only. baby on the way and the wife finally is "letting me get the cruizer I've always wanted", since we now need it.
done a lot of research for the last 2 years. know a lot about 60s and 80s. if this truck weren't going to be the wife's, I'd have a locked and loaded 60, but 80 it is, as she won't stand for the quirks of a 60 that we all love. I'm the sort that smiles wide when I know that I'm rolling down the road on fresh gears that I just busted knuckles putting in.
So I'm on the prowl for a solid 80 and any input on what to watch out for would be really appreciated! Here's my plan at this point:
1. '93 or later to get the 4.5L. the wife is most adamant about power. and I must admit: I have a bit of a heavy right paw. not that a truck needs to leap in front of a 911, but it's nice to have the extra 50 HP more than the 91-92 4.0L.
2. can spend about $10K (once the current truck is sold). if the right one came along for $8K, it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all, cuz then we've got an extra $2K to spend on lifting and goodies like ARB fr bumper etc.
3. I figure that 100K mi for $10K in GREAT condition is doable (have seen some in the ads). whack me if I'm wrong. and I've seen that 150K mi can be the start of major maint stuff (like new gear box etc). would be nice to have some time before that happens.
4. lockers are a must. living at Tahoe we get 4 feet of snow overnight and are not afraid to bury a vehicle in it if the backcountry beckons to us. oh, and the NV desert tends to beckon as well.... and we go it alone, so getting out of a spot on our own is often required. not that we're headed to the rubicon with our 80, but half the reasons 80 drivers look down on 60s is that 80 can come from the fact with lockers.... so why not have em'???
5. been working on my own vehicles since age 15, so not afraid to get greasey, (hence the liking of a 60 rebuild project). had plenty of "fix-em more than drive ems" so I don't want to spend the $1000 fixing things I could have avoided by getting the sage advice from folk like YOU.
6. don't much care about creature comforts like the bidet, remote explosion starting or front and rear microwaves, but I don't really want to spend the kids college fund on fixing window motors etc. i've heard that the roof rack rust is a thing to watch.... what else? does the 8-track deck tend to be as rock solid as the rest of the truck? wire harness burn up at 111K?
7. i can see from research that other than motor and tranny maint. it's crucial that the Birfs be looked after well. but if not, it seems they are an easy weekend fix... how about brakes???? do these trucks eat through pads and/or calipers, or is there a year to avoid?
8. and so that leaves me to ask: what else should I be looking for? like fuel injectors? valves? pulleys that cost an arm and a leg to replace....? quirky stuff that will just annoy the heck out of us???
any info is greatly appreciated
hoping to come on soon with a nice 80 to rant about with you.
done a lot of research for the last 2 years. know a lot about 60s and 80s. if this truck weren't going to be the wife's, I'd have a locked and loaded 60, but 80 it is, as she won't stand for the quirks of a 60 that we all love. I'm the sort that smiles wide when I know that I'm rolling down the road on fresh gears that I just busted knuckles putting in.
So I'm on the prowl for a solid 80 and any input on what to watch out for would be really appreciated! Here's my plan at this point:
1. '93 or later to get the 4.5L. the wife is most adamant about power. and I must admit: I have a bit of a heavy right paw. not that a truck needs to leap in front of a 911, but it's nice to have the extra 50 HP more than the 91-92 4.0L.
2. can spend about $10K (once the current truck is sold). if the right one came along for $8K, it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all, cuz then we've got an extra $2K to spend on lifting and goodies like ARB fr bumper etc.
3. I figure that 100K mi for $10K in GREAT condition is doable (have seen some in the ads). whack me if I'm wrong. and I've seen that 150K mi can be the start of major maint stuff (like new gear box etc). would be nice to have some time before that happens.
4. lockers are a must. living at Tahoe we get 4 feet of snow overnight and are not afraid to bury a vehicle in it if the backcountry beckons to us. oh, and the NV desert tends to beckon as well.... and we go it alone, so getting out of a spot on our own is often required. not that we're headed to the rubicon with our 80, but half the reasons 80 drivers look down on 60s is that 80 can come from the fact with lockers.... so why not have em'???
5. been working on my own vehicles since age 15, so not afraid to get greasey, (hence the liking of a 60 rebuild project). had plenty of "fix-em more than drive ems" so I don't want to spend the $1000 fixing things I could have avoided by getting the sage advice from folk like YOU.
6. don't much care about creature comforts like the bidet, remote explosion starting or front and rear microwaves, but I don't really want to spend the kids college fund on fixing window motors etc. i've heard that the roof rack rust is a thing to watch.... what else? does the 8-track deck tend to be as rock solid as the rest of the truck? wire harness burn up at 111K?
7. i can see from research that other than motor and tranny maint. it's crucial that the Birfs be looked after well. but if not, it seems they are an easy weekend fix... how about brakes???? do these trucks eat through pads and/or calipers, or is there a year to avoid?
8. and so that leaves me to ask: what else should I be looking for? like fuel injectors? valves? pulleys that cost an arm and a leg to replace....? quirky stuff that will just annoy the heck out of us???
any info is greatly appreciated
hoping to come on soon with a nice 80 to rant about with you.
...that should give you a good starting point. Once you get the rig, it's a good idea to swap out all fluids with new and tearing into the axles, repacking, rebuilding, etc. to get yourself to a good baseline.
