What gives with the HDJ81 JDM scaremongering?

[george bluth]

I've continued to prepare for an eventual HDJ81 purchase, learning what to expect concerning baselining and preventative maintenance. Mud is absolutely the best resource for this, and while I see some write about positive examples of HDJ81 ownership and operation in the USA, I also see a fair bit of scaremongering.

There seems to be this ominous message from some that you better have a BIG BIG budget set aside for maintenance and repairs. Or...BEWARE...parts are either unavailable, prohibitively expensive (i.e. fuel injection pump $$$$$$), or they take forever to procure.

I get these trucks are old and getting older, and that they are not North American rigs...but if I didn't know any better I'd think purchasing an HDJ81 was tantamount to buying a ticking time bomb and setting your money on fire.

Give me some of your best HDJ81 success stories! I need some confidence and excitement this future purchase!

 

[nickolai]

It's not scaremongering, its factual. There's a lot of rose-tinted glasses being looked through for HDJ81 ownership. Wherever in the world you are, some things on these trucks are expensive to deal with ($NZD):
Injector rebuild $1000
Pump rebuild $1200-2000 depending on the state of the pump
Turbo rebuild $1000 for stock rebuild, $1500 for high flow

 

[mudgudgeon]

I get these trucks are old and getting older, and that they are not North American rigs...but if I didn't know any better I'd think purchasing an HDJ81 was tantamount to buying a ticking time bomb and setting your money on fire.

When s*** goes sideways on these, that's a pretty fair summary.

Parts are expensive, and slowly becoming NLA.

there's good after market support for some things, others not so much.
A lot of aftermarket stuff involves shipping from Australia. That alone is a good way to burn

 

[WiscoPat]

In my opinion, owning an HDJ81 is worth it if it's not your daily driver and you intend on keeping it for a long period of time.

I'll be coming up on two years of ownership with mine and, although it's been a great experience overall, it took a sufficient amount of planning beforehand and still to this day. Most of the parts you'll need are available (OEM/similar and aftermarket), but they have a cost and can take time to receive, especially if coming from overseas. If you're looking to modify the vehicle, then that can add up quickly too.

Owning my HDJ81 has definitely been a positive experience, allowing me to develop my mechanical skills, get out to explore, and continue to build relationships with excellent people. However, to echo what others have said, go into the purchase with both eyes wide open.

 

[ikarus]

I don't have too much room to talk cause I've only owned an 81 for a few days.. but I'm loving it. Having said that, I agree with the previous opinions. You have to go into it with both eyes open and treat it less like a daily driver and more like a classic car. If you've owned vintage BMWs or Porsches or whatever you know how it is - you need to have a daily, you need to know how to fix it yourself, you need tools, you need a garage and you need patience.

Personally I've wanted one for a long time but the timing wasn't right. Now that I don't have a commute and I have another daily, I decided to pick up a '97 HDJ81. Best case it runs flawlessly for the next few years, worst case I'll have to drive the daily for a while and wait for parts from Australia. Well absolute worst case I guess the engine blows and I'll have to pull it out and rebuild it. But that doesn't seem too different from most other 25+ year old cars.. just part of the love hate relationship

 

[nickolai]

Oh, and a lot of the MPG claims I see here and other places are pretty dubious.

 

[Dusten]

Oh, and a lot of the MPG claims I see here and other places are pretty dubious.

I've got a spreadsheet tracking 21k miles with pretty good stability on mine.

21 is my best tank.

18 was average when commuting to work.

15.5 is average city

14 is my worst tank

This is on 35s and corrected for the tires.

Injectors are about $600 USD to rebuild.
A turbo rebuild is $500 USD
Expect $1500 used to rebuild an IP.

But these are inline with any diesel really. So not scary.


Other than cruise control cable I've had zero issues getting parts.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Oh, and a lot of the MPG claims I see here and other places are pretty dubious.

Fuel economy is heavily dependent on how heavy your right foot is.

Drive them for fun, they'll suck down the Dino juice fast

Drive sedately they are fair for a big heavy vehicle

 

[Landseer]

An HDJ81 is just an 80 series with a different engine and the steering wheel 3 feet farther to to the right. Its still a 25+ year old truck with a (generally) unknown maintenance history, same as most US spec 80's out there. If you expect the HDJ81 to be as refined and maintenance free as a new 4Runner you're in for a bad time. If you're happy spending a few weekends rebuilding knuckles, replacing cooling system hoses, etc. you can get a very clean 80 with a very capable engine, not mention diesel cool factor, for a reasonable price.

As far as parts availability, outside of the engine and a few LHD parts an HDJ81 uses the same parts as an FZJ80. There probably will be a few parts you'll have to ship from Australia or Amayama/Partsouq but thats already pretty common these days for the US based 80's. You can't walk into an Autozone and find anything for a US spec 80 series anyways.

 

[george bluth]

When s*** goes sideways on these, that's a pretty fair summary.

Parts are expensive, and slowly becoming NLA.

there's good after market support for some things, others not so much.
A lot of aftermarket stuff involves shipping from Australia. That alone is a good way to burn

What parts are becoming NLA?

What is there good after market support for, and what is there not good after market support for?

It's funny, my parents have an '93 FZJ80 that has been in the family since new. Thirty years later it is still reliable and has been relatively cheap to maintain. I'm just surprised to hear HDJ81s viewed as money pits (my words, not yours, I know), even given their age.

I don't mean to sound as if I'm clinging to a rosy view of owning/driving a JDM Cruiser in the States, I'm just surpised that it seems to be a more tenuous pursuit than I would've initially thought given my positive, pretty easy experience with an 80 Series over the decades. I know there is no escaping reality.

What kind of $$$ should one expect to pay to baseline an HDJ81 that looks to be in pretty good condition? $6K? $10K? I know there is no way to know for sure, every truck is different. I just really do want to go in eyes open.

I will say: I am lucky to live near a mechanic who knows diesel Cruisers very well, so I'll have someone knowledgable doing the work.

 

[nickolai]

Fuel economy is heavily dependent on how heavy your right foot is.

Drive them for fun, they'll suck down the Dino juice fast

Drive sedately they are fair for a big heavy vehicle

Yeah, totally. Claims of 25 MPG are dreamland stuff

I've got a spreadsheet tracking 21k miles with pretty good stability on mine.

21 is my best tank.

18 was average when commuting to work.

15.5 is average city

14 is my worst tank

This is on 35s and corrected for the tires.

Injectors are about $600 USD to rebuild.
A turbo rebuild is $500 USD
Expect $1500 used to rebuild an IP.

But these are inline with any diesel really. So not scary.


Other than cruise control cable I've had zero issues getting parts.

I don't routinely track my mileage but we're in the same ballpark.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I will say: I am lucky to live near a mechanic who knows diesel Cruisers very well, so I'll have someone knowledgable doing the work.

There's your first money pit.

What kind of $$$ should one expect to pay to baseline an HDJ81 that looks to be in pretty good condition? $6K? $10K?

Yes. The first number of you do it yourself, the second number and some if you take it to the money pit above.

 

[mudgudgeon]

What parts are becoming NLA?

What is there good after market support for, and what is there not good after market support for?

It's funny, my parents have an '93 FZJ80 that has been in the family since new. Thirty years later it is still reliable and has been relatively cheap to maintain. I'm just surprised to hear HDJ81s viewed as money pits (my words, not yours, I know), even given their age.

I don't mean to sound as if I'm clinging to a rosy view of owning/driving a JDM Cruiser in the States, I'm just surpised that it seems to be a more tenuous pursuit than I would've initially thought given my positive, pretty easy experience with an 80 Series over the decades. I know there is no escaping reality.

What kind of $$$ should one expect to pay to baseline an HDJ81 that looks to be in pretty good condition? $6K? $10K? I know there is no way to know for sure, every truck is different. I just really do want to go in eyes open.

I will say: I am lucky to live near a mechanic who knows diesel Cruisers very well, so I'll have someone knowledgable doing the work.

You want a list?

There's a loooong thread on what's NLA


Just because your parents got 30 years trouble free from what was a fresh vehicle, doesn't mean you should expect another 30 years trouble free of if a vehicle that's already 25-30 years old.

Yeah, there's 10s or 100s of 1000s that fit that 30 years trouble free description, but the fuse was lit 30 years ago. The older the car gets, the shorter that fuse gets.
You can slow the fuse down by paying in with lots of PM. Neglect that, all bets are off. Even with solid PM, all bets are off.

You should buy a 30 year old vehicle expecting that at any point from today out, you could have a major unexpected failure that sees you needing to dump in 10-20-30-50% of what you paid for it back into it or abandon it.

 

[nickolai]

There's a loooong thread on what's NLA

The Ultimate 80 Series Parts Discontinued Thread

I figured it was time to start this thread since there are threads like this in the older Land Cruiser series iterations. While the other threads reflect parts that are still available, I would like this thread to reflect parts that are no longer available from Toyota in the North American...

forum.ih8mud.com

The best thing you can do when baselining an 80 is to buy a cheap Corolla to run around in while you're waiting for parts. Even here where diesel 80s are native you still have to wait for parts, given the state of global supply chains. Can you tollerate waiting a couple of weeks for stuff from Amayama and Partsouq? Because like most of us you'll end up odering from there because a) the dealer can't source what you need or b) the prices are terrible.

Buy the diesel 80 and baseline it. Enjoy it. Just bare in mind that you will be spending $$ on it and that finding parts (even where they're native) can be an adventure.

And unless you have a very healthy bank balance I wouldn't consider paying someone else to do it.

 

[george bluth]

You want a list?

There's a loooong thread on what's NLA


Just because your parents got 30 years trouble free from what was a fresh vehicle, doesn't mean you should expect another 30 years trouble free of if a vehicle that's already 25-30 years old.

Yeah, there's 10s or 100s of 1000s that fit that 30 years trouble free description, but the fuse was lit 30 years ago. The older the car gets, the shorter that fuse gets.
You can slow the fuse down by paying in with lots of PM. Neglect that, all bets are off. Even with solid PM, all bets are off.

You should buy a 30 year old vehicle expecting that at any point from today out, you could have a major unexpected failure that sees you needing to dump in 10-20-30-50% of what you paid for it back into it or abandon it.

My apologies, I realized there is a list of NLA 80 Series parts maintained here, I should not have asked that question.

You are correct. These cars are old, and getting older. The mystique of toughness and dependability is hard to shake, and I just want a fun 80 of my own that benefits from being diesel-powered. I appreciate the reality check, even if it is hard to hear.

 

[MonsterCruiser]

It is definitely a good idea to go into a purchase understanding the potential risks and not maxing out your budget so you have finances to do repairs that will inevitably come up; however, once you have the truck baselined, purchase some extra parts and plan out when you will do maintenance running and maintaining these HDJ81's isn't that bad. In addition, you need to be willing to do your own research and get your hands dirty doing your own repairs or owning one of these rigs will definitely get expensive really fast.

There also seems to be a lot of comments that people don't want to DD these trucks and I don't really know why. I've been DD'ing mine for 13 years and don't have any near term plans to stop. I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't been able to drive my truck due to it "breaking down" in my time of ownership. Funny enough, most of those issues were electrical (batteries dead, starter dead and alternator died).

 

[Douglas S]

There also seems to be a lot of comments that people don't want to DD these trucks and I don't really know why. I've been DD'ing mine for 13 years and don't have any near term plans to stop. I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't been able to drive my truck due to it "breaking down" in my time of ownership. Funny enough, most of those issues were electrical (batteries dead, starter dead and alternator died).

I just stopped using my HDJ81 as my dd a few months ago, after more than 10 years and 100,000km. It wasn't reliability that stopped me either, more just life changes (newborn) and the desire to protect my 80 from winter road salt. Still planning to use it as my summer occasional daily and camping vehicle. It has broken down on me only once due to a failed starter in all that time.

80's are robust and can put up with a lot of deferred maintenance while staying reliable, not that I would recommend that approach.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I appreciate the reality check, even if it is hard to hear.

I've had 3 Landcruisers. Each of them has had significant failures. Either through age, PO neglect, my neglect, or abuse, or a combination of all the above.

They are great machines. I'm still obsessed (questionable sanity aside), I still enjoy owning my current one even though it's been off the road for a long time.

My reality check has been delivered via my wallet, more than once.

All mine have been daily drivers. As they get older, having a plan B for a daily driver is a good idea.

I think they are more and more a lifestyle choice.
Add wheeling into the mix, and that's even more true

 

[Squash]

I currently run 3 diesel cruisers.
My HDJ81 has over 300,000 on the od. This thing has run for 44hrs continuously when my son and I would road trip to backcountry ski British Columbia. Beauty is nothing on tires could get you as high up the mountains as this thing and chains.
Hzj75 close to 500,000 kms
Bj74 162,000.
I can hop into either unit and drive across the country and do without worries.
I just pick one and off we go.
The 81 just completed this in October.
I will never waste my time or money on a modern vehicle.

 

[nickolai]

My HD81 sees mixed use as a daily, boat hauler and camping rig. Part of the issue with the term daily is that it varies greatly for everyone. I work from home a lot and my wife has a company car. Most of my daily trips are 10 minute return school runs. A corolla is just a better tool for that job. It's less cool, but it works for that. When i do have a longer commute trip i still take the corolla - it's just better in traffic, and we pay tax per KM on diesel here so the corolla is cheaper.

For every other trip I'll take the 80, and it's ready for dailying if needed. Call me OTT but ours is always fuelled and prepped ready to go for whatever happens and whatever trip we want to do.

If you can afford the upfront cost, not having a car payment and considering that as your operating cost is a good way to look at it. Plus even the cool stuff toyota makes these days is boring, Yaris and Corolla GR excluded.

All cars are prone to sudden and catastrophic failures. Maintenance and inspection is your insurance against that. A back up daily keeps you mobile while you go to therapy and remortgage to afford the repair (joke). More importantly it keeps whatever flavour of life partner you have at least partially happy with you. That's all you can wish for.