I currently have an '86 4Runner that I love, but am considering selling it and buying a fj60. I know nothing about the 60's, but want to learn and I knew everybody here knows more than enough about them. If you all could help me I would appreciate it. What are some good web sites that give a lot of information on the fj60's? What are the pros and cons of owning one? As far as lift's, lockers, parts in general, and other off roading accessories, are they expensive are hard to come by? And last, it will be my daily driver, but I still want it to be an aggressive toy off road. I love Toyota, and don't see myself buying anything else.

The 60 is a perfict rig to build to wheel hard but still be able to drive on a daily basis. Some of the pros of the 60 is of course space to put all of your junk, lockers, gears, suspension, othe stuff is easy to come by but it is a little more expencive than toyota truck stuff. V8/tranny conversions are easyer cause of the size of the engine compartment and the lenght of the rig makes drive line angles good. 107.5 inch wheel base is a good all around wheel base little long for some tight trails but it kicks ass in MOAB! some cons are the fact the truck is really heavy around 5800 pounds stock. Top heavy lots of body roll with SOA conversion, Long rear overhang, 2F motor is a boat anchor but it is really relible.

I've got an '84 (bought new) and an '82 FJ60. They take me anywhere I'd like to go. Both stock except for BFG 33X9.50 ATs on stock rims. The 33s really helped with ground clearance, including the rear departure angle issue. No lift needed if your springs aren't sagging badly.

They carry a lot of gear, and are comfortable on the highway. The '84 gets 15 to 17 mpg at 70 to 75 mph, the '82 a little less. A lot of guys are going to the H55f 5-speed, but I've found a way around the extra expense. I get the overdrive effect with the 33s, but lose power and acceleration in town and on hills. When I need to replace the clutch I plan on putting in a low-ratio Toyota H41 4-speed from overseas. With this set-up, including the stock 3.70 gears, I'll get quite a bit lower crawl ratio than stock and still have a 15% overdrive effect from the taller tires. A big improvement over stock for the price of a low-ratio 4-speed (~$850 used).

I bought my 60 because it was a reeeeaaalllyyy good deal. I drive it everyday now. When I bought it there were 230,000 miles on the clock. As with buying any older vehicle there will be a sorting out period where you must exorcise the demons of the previous owners. Some of the parts are a little more expensive but I love the wagon. :D

Thanks for the info, guys. Helps me out a lot.

Does any one have any pics of a fj60 w/33's or 35's? I rarely see any 60's lifted. If I can get one in a few months or so, that is what I want to do to mine.

From over 15+ years of experience with the 60 series, I wouldn't recommend one for rock-crawling, especially over a mini-truck/4-Runner. Parts are more expensive and harder to find, there is much less aftermarket support, the truck is much heavier and the dimensions ill-suited for extreme hard-core. If however you want to wheel it hard, daily drive it, take it on long trips across the country, and still work on it yourself, the 60 series is a great overall Land Cruiser. Just know that to cross over the line of extreme, you'll be fighting a losing battle, spending thousands of dollars to correct the shortcomings of the vehicle.

As for a 60 with 35's, here's a shot of mine trying the articulation right after the SO (that was nearly 2 years ago, the articulation is even better now!)...

When I bought my 60 I said......"THIS WILL NEVER GET WHEELED, JUST MY DAILY DRIVER":rolleyes:

Now 4.5 years later, it's my primary wheeler, and it gets beat. It takes me anywhere I want to go, but it also shows it. It's to the point now that soon it will be more tube than sheetmetal.

I think it can be a decent "midcore" wheeler, but in the hard stuff, there is just too much body. I've lost both my quarters to tree's on the Rubicon, from being careless, 3 right side doors and counting from flopping, 2 left doors from rocks, etc etc etc. Most of the damage could have been avoided with some decent armor and MUCH lower gears. But I still would recommend against it. There isn't that much more room than a 4runner. Just my input. Either way, you'll be happy driving it. They are nice.

60seriesguy-
That is an awesome looking 60model. How much lift did it take to achieve that altitude?

By the way, I would not be using it to rock crawl. I am more a mudder-trail-type-rider kinda guy. I don't get to extreme when it comes to rock crawling.

I got some advice for you
buy that really nice cruise Patman's got
it's cherry
only driven on sundays

44Basket you have just spoken the words that begin the disease.:D

I guess the total lift is about 10" over stock. Hard to say, mine never really was "stock" in the US sense (came with 31" tires and longer springs than US-spec FJ62's).

I do rockcrawl mine, nothing too extreme (daily driver), but I do put the old girl through her paces as often as I can. Here's one more vanity shot! :)

Here's another one, this one was a close call! :)

If you are not affraid to use a sawzall the 60 can be a bad ass rockcrawler 60seriesguy put that baby on a diet with a sawzall haclk roof and that long rear overhang off take off the doors add a cage, ditch the boat anchor 2F put a real motor in and an auto trans or like a 420 or 465 and laughf. But I guess that sort of defets the original reasons to own a 60 right? Well maby unless you are not affraid to cut up a 60. Over the years I have wondered if my 60 was the ticket after weeling all over including the hammers,moab,montrose,rubicon,21road and some other cool places and the 60 took a beating but it got me through them. To make it a little easyer on me and the 60 I finally cut most of the roof off and bobtailed her took off the front doors losing a total of about 500 pounds and it is like a whole new rig light on her feet...

Hey 60seriesguy is that you Henery? If so this is Justin Reece rember me? long time no talk email me back.

Hey, Justin, que pasa?! :)

I've always said that if I roll the truck, I'll break out the sawzall, but in the meantime, this is my *only* vehicle, it's gotta pull daily driver duty, grocery getting, taking me to meetings with clients in a suit and tie, anything and everything, so a tube-monster with rubber floors is out of the question for now. Besides, *knock on wood*, I've been lucky so far and haven't pushed the envelope, I've had a couple of close calls, but so far, dents and scrapes are the worst body damage.

My take on this was expressed on a Toyota Trails article I wrote last year, "Don't Mess with the Highway Manners". In it I said that if you want to do extreme rock-crawling, you have to ditch the 60 series, it's the *wrong* Cruiser to build. While the longer wheelbase may be attractive to some and the cargo capacity a bonus on longer trips, the vehicle is much better suited for expedition-style wheeling than it is for rock crawling, and the potential for expensive damage is much higher than with an FJ40. If you try to compensate by chopping the top off, bobbing the rear overhang and losing the doors, the result is still worse than an FJ40 (too wide), and now you've eliminated the pros of having a 60 series. What's the point? You're better off building an FJ40 for extreme rock crawling, and that was my point.

My point is even more poignant when it comes to the 80 series. Either these people who wheel the crap out of an 80 series don't care about the cost of repairs, or they've been extremely lucky. But the first time you lay an 80 series hard on its side on an obstacle like the Little Sluice, the cost of repairing it will be in the thousands of dollars, and chances are it will *never* be the same. That's a big risk to take for a vehicle with an initial purchase hovering around the $20K mark.

The flip side of this argument is that you *cannot* build an FJ40 for serious expedition use and get the same benefits you can get from a nearly stock wagon. I've been on long (2+ weeks) expeditions in an FJ40 and it's as close to torture as you can get, especially when compared to the same trip in a 60 or 80 series. You need to think about these things before you start building; if you want an overall wheeler than pulls multiple duties, *any* Land Cruiser will do, but once you clear the hurdle of extreme rock crawling, you have to make a wise decision. That's why I think stuffing 38" meats under an 80 series for rock crawling is not very wise; if you need 38's where you're going, you probably shouldn't be going there in an 80 series.

I've rolled (and obliterated) one Land Cruiser and have been in four other hard Cruiser rollovers; I've seen and experienced the damage, and I'm going to stick by my opinion. Take it with a grain or two of salt...

hardest trails and it gits me through them minus a few birfields just fine. I have been really surprised how well it has done over the years...I have a 73, 40 that I wheel as well that was originally was going to be my primary rockcrawler but the 60 goes everyplace. and your argument for the fact that it is to wide...what about the many people running fullwidth stuff under jeeps,cruisers,toyota trucks is that not to wide? Mine is lacking lots of the stock sheet metal and I am not affraid to smash up whats left so why is it too wide? lots of people have said you cant take a 60 up upper heldorado its to narrow I did, same in the hammers I did, same on die trying, clamidty, in montrose all the toughfest trails and it gets through. my point is you can wheel a 60 really hard on the best trails if you just are willing to make it work. I dont have 15,000 in my 60 and I do the hardest trails. This is just my opinion on the 60 and my stuborness to make it work and it does. Hope you understand my side too. Hope to talk to ya soon and maby see you at cruise moab or or some place else.

Justin

The top part of that post got cutoff for sme reason but it was not real important

Okay, let me rephrase myself...the above doesn't apply *IF* you're not worried about serious sheetmetal damage. Most of the hardcore wheeling 60's I've seen look like Godzilla's chew toy. I got no problem with that, but in my line of work, I can't show up to a business meeting in a truck that looks like a junkyard reject, I get enough looks as I climb out of her in a suit! :)

If damage is of no concern, you can do almost anything. I have a friend who ran all the Hammers in an FJ60, he made it, but the truck looks worse than Patman's rolled one. To each his own, I wasn't trying to put the 60's down, it's my favorite Land Cruiser series, as my moniker indicates.

As for the full-width argument, full-width axles is not the same as full-width body....

To each his own I guess. and just for the record mine does not look like a junk yard reject it looks like it gets used for what I built it for.