Hey all.

After pouring 1000+ hours and several thousand $ into my 1992 4Runner, some bastard stole it. I know it's already in parts across the Pacific NorthWest, and the body and frame are in either a lake or on a mountaintop, so all I have to do is wait for the insurance cheque and shop for a replacement truck.

Whatever I get has to be a daily driver, and pretty nice. The insurance on my heavily modded 4Runner will probably give me enough to get a late model 4Runner, a lifted and nice 1990-1995, or a 1992 or 1993 80 Series. A friend of mine does insurance rebuilds, and he's looking for a fixer-upper on my behalf.

I'm starting to think that, instead of going with a 4Runner, and then spending time and money going solid axle and locked rear end (I already have an E-Locker I didn't get around to installing), maybe I should just spend the extra money up front and get a comfy, solid axle Toyota with all the bells and whistles. Plus, I'm a little tall for long trips in a 4Runner, and I have read that 1996+ 4Runners are a bitch to lift/modify, and there's not much aftermarket support for them.

So... Who here wheels an 80 series? I see pictures of them on trails, but I don't actually know anyone who does, and, frankly, the ones I see in town don't look very capable.

Does anyone have any good experiences wheeling an 80 series? Pics? Links? Aftermarket sources? What's good about them? What's bad about them? Engine choices?

Cheers...See you on the trails (a Hertz Sebring can do Moab, right?).

I defanatly dig the idea of a hardcore 80 series. i saw on tv you can fit 38's with a small lift and alittle trimming! Oh yeah!

Get the 80 and say good by to the 4rnr. You love the 80!

Get at least a 93' They have the bigger inline6 which has 212hp and 275ftlbs if thats not enough they make a supper carger for them. Even better get a 95-97 with 3 diff locks ( front, center,rear)

Lots of after market support.

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/index.html
http://www.jtoutfitters.com/
http://www.man-a-fre.com/fj80_main.html
Many more

Info:
http://www.safari4x4.com.au/80scool/index.html
http://www.sleeoffroad.com/newbie/newbie100.htm
Many more

BBS:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/80scool/
You have to join the above site but its free:)
http://www.acme-outfitters.com/wwwboard/index.html
http://forums.vmag.com/suvlc0199/
Many more

How could I forget................http://www.ih8mud.com/


I dont wheel mine, its the wifes and newborn son's grocery getter but I am colleting parts for it already :D

I have a 97 FZJ80 that I have recently "finished" building for trail use. I have had the chance to take it off road a few times, and I am truely impressed. The truck has the factory lockers and will go just about ANYWHERE I want.

Definately contract Christo at Slee Offroad - he is THE 80 Series source of info.

BTW - once you wheel a 80 - you'll have a hard time going back to anything else. My FJ40 has only seen the trail once since I got the FZJ80 going - and it was due to inevitable rock rash.

Get the Cruiser and don't look back!!

Yup we do. Here is the latest project. :D
http://www.sleeoffroad.com/technical/warwagon/tz_warwagon.htm

Pismo Jim's LC website , 60's & 80's

http://home.off-road.com/~cruiserhead/

talk to nolen. im sure he will have something to say :D

OK, you 80 owners... what do you TOW with it?

Nolan... with Kate wieghing in at 4800#, plus 2000# for trailer, any comment about pulling that weight?

Ya, I love my 3/4 ton crew cab, but with the larger family I find myself looking at the FZJ80's more often! Need to keep the truck
to build a large garden shed & shop first...

Tom :usa:

Check this out...
:(http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1852438118
regret having to sell... nicest all around vehicle I've owned!:eek:

Chevota, nice truck on ebay. If I can ask, who did the intercooler work for you and did you notice any improvements with that.

Hey Chevota1, that'a sweet ride.

It's too rich for my blood, I think. Of course, that depends on how much my settlement is, and how high your bids go.

I'm actually looking for one that's not so nice, because I live in the PacNW, so within a couple of months it'll be all pinstriped and dinged. And a 93-94 is more in my price range, anyway.

But good luck with your auction!! Maybe we'll talk if it doesn't meet the reserve.

Cheers

OK, you 80 owners... what do you TOW with it?


I'm curious about this as well. Christo, if you're still watching this thread maybe you'll have some insight. I've been contemplating my options for a tow rig for a long time. I've got an FJ40 that I've normally driven to the trails but now that the family is growing (two kids now) we end up taking the 80 a lot. I like the 40 on the tighter trails and I'm not anxious to go hardcore with the 80 just yet. I've been thinking that 4.88's (already running 35's) and a supercharger might allow me to consider using the 80 to tow the 40 on a trailer. Is this a correct assumption? Can the 80 handle that kind of weight? What about just a gear change and no supercharger?

I'll say this much....

I've towed regularly with my 1995 Toyota pickup, V6, 5-speed, 31" (now 33") tires with 4.56 stock gears, pulling a 14' car trailer with my 40 series loaded. I never see 5th, but it does 70+ in 4th and pulls off 11-13 mpg to boot. No handling or stopping problems, and rides excellent. The truck is only rated for 3500#, so the 6k#+ that I pull WAY exceeds it. Accelleration is not fast, but it holds light hills and flats with no problem. I towed just last weekend, about 45 miles each way, and the truck will break 150k next week.

IIRC, the 80 series is rated for 5k#, and running a weight-dist hitch upps that even. My educated guess says you won't have a problem, but I would look into some performance upgrades if you hit much for hills. My motor breathes better with a K/N filter and a 2-1/2" Dynomax exhaust....noticeable difference to that 3.0 V6.

Hanna Quality puts out some pretty sweet product for 80's series.
Here is a link Hanna Quality (http://www.hannaquality.com)

Hey, I'm learning alot here, guys, and nobody's making fun of me anymore now that i no longer own an IFS rig...

I've narrowed my criteria to a '93 or '94 Series 80, but, after doing a bit of searching, it seems like everyone else is looking for the same thing.


Obviosly the first advantage to going post-92 is the factory E-lockers. I'm not worried about the lesser power engine on the older Series 80s, especially after driving an overloaded 22RE automatic 4Runner on 33s and 4.56 gears(!).

So, how hard is it swapping in factory E-Lockers onto an earlier Series 80? Is it prewired for them, and does it use the same axle housings/driveshaft lengths? I understand the pre-93 models don't have the full floating rear end, but that shouldn't prevent the installation of an elocker.

Cheers.

I would love to get an 80. My friend has an 80 that I go out with every weekend, and I am very impressed...

Submarine (http://www.geocities.com/frismanis/nick.html)

I'd post the pic, but I don't have a way to host it other than doing this. :(

Be warned that geocities shuts down my service if I get a lot of hits, so if you get a message that the page is unavailable, please try back in an hour or so... :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Iron Yuppy
I understand the pre-93 models don't have the full floating rear end, but that shouldn't prevent the installation of an elocker.
Unfortunately, it does. The rear 80 series locker has no provision to access the c-clips, because it has 4 spider gears. Thus you HAVE to have a full floater to put it in. 93 plus trucks can have the lockers retrofitted, but it is a costly process. They are not prewired at all, and the computer for the locker control is $$. Depending on your skill, you can fab a wiring harness. Ask Morgan how much fun that is.

I'm curious, I did a couple searches but couldn't find what I was looking for. How big a set of tires can you run on an FJ80 before you start having major breakage issues? I'd like to be able to run something in the 36-39" range.

Thanks,
Jon

Saw a couple pretty beefed up 80s at Cruiser Moab this year, 38s etc. The biggest aftermarket springs out there are the Downey's (4") but OME just released their 3" springs for the 80. Christo @ Sleeoffroad is making spacers for the springs to get upto another 1.5" - with 4.5" you can easily run 35." Getting custom coil springs isn't too hard either. Then you'll easily be able to run 38" ers though they can be flexy. And when you have 6000lbs above 6" with soft coil springs it can be a little hairy on anything off-camber. 80s wheel great, nice looking project Christo! -- should be a lot of fun....!

Andre

Since intercooler questions havn't been answered I'll chime in on what I know from diesels and Saab/Volvo gassers (which isn't much but it might help).

The point of the intercooler is to cool air getting sucked into and leaving the turbo (because exaust gas temps / hence the turbo's heat can be @ 1000 degrees +. The cooler air allows combustion to occur more completely so not only are you getting the added air of the turbo but the intercooler increases it's potency.

I know when an intercooler is installed on an early 80s Volvo you can increase boost pressures without making additional changes to the fuel system that you would normally have to make, and the average gain power is around 5-10%.

On an 80 it might be a little tough to rig in an intercooler because of the blower's cast housing and lack of space but there is no potential damage and only gain, even if it's only 5%-10% in gain.

But with the right formula you can get a whole lot out of small displacement with a blower which could make an 80 scream if done right. Saab 900 turbos have a neat little intercooler that you could probably rig into an 80 easily. As do VW 1.8T and TDI models.

Andre
75 FJ40
87 HJ60
88 Saab 9000 turbo

Sorry for the delay. The intercooler allows you to switch to a smaller pulley on the supercharger and combined with the cooling effect on the air increases power noticibly. The vehicle can run 3-4 more lbs of boost no problem with no detonation.

I towed my FJ-40 with mine for over a year. I would drop it in Drive and run 3000 RPM forever. It would get around 9 mpg and would drop off very bad on hills.

I towed a 16ft farm trailer under the Cruiser.

I ran HiLift bags in the OME medium rear coils and 4 wheel drum brakes on the trailer.

I put over 10K on the Cruiser towing and never had a hickup on the tranny.

One guy in out club tows his '40 with a tow bar and hauls ASS with it.

I want another '80 :(

Found this page on intercoolers, hope it helps

http://pages.cthome.net/gus/intercoolers.html

Top left is Volvo 240/ 740 turbo intercooler, great for gassers or diesel. Fits in a 40 in front of a 40 radiator. Top right is a Saab 9000 intercooler, also great for gas or diesel, fits in 60s and 80s.

Smaller intercoolers also seen can be effective but I guess check out the site to see how much. You could easily reprofit a small guy like that into a 80, put it out of the way of the motor and not too many major modifications...

Oh shit. I leave town for a few days only to come home and find out property values have decreased again. Christo is now on this board :flipoff2: :D

Mad Cow dude, I run 36x13 TSL's on my 97FZJ80. No issues, but Christo is correct (as usual) when he says you need more lift to do it right.

The 80 kicks big ass. I have a supercharger on mine and tend to be a tad heavy on the foot while on the street and having dogs of fun on the trail.

Get the 80. Fawk the soccer moms (hey, wait a minute, that's not such a bad idea :flipoff2:

Not to be the single dissenting voice of doom, but for ALL of those considering an 80 Series for hardcore wheeling, just remember that if you ever put that truck hard on it's side, or worse, on it's roof, it's BUGGERED. It will cost you a small fortune to get it fixed, and it will NEVER be the same. If you want to wheel hard, stick to an FJ40 with no top. If you want medium-to-hard wheeling, then consider a Cruiser wagon too.

Of all Cruiser wagons, the 80 Series is BY FAR the best one for wheeling *out of the box*, meaning that with minimal modifications you'll have an extremely capable vehicle that will transport you in civilized comfort to the trail, then often (assuming the pilot is up to par) outwheel the piss out of older, more modified rigs. I've seen it time and time again.

*One Caveat* just as it's the most capable, it's also the most complex of the true Land Cruisers. That means that you might not want to go with a US-spec 80 Series if your idea of wheeling is getting deep into isolated areas. Too many of the vehicle's key features rely on computers, and if the electronics take a dump in the middle of nowhere, you're SOL, these trucks cannot be overhauled on the side of the road like their predecessors. Again, if you're going to be pushing the limits, you might want to stick to an older, simpler, easier-to-fix Land Cruiser.

Just my two cents, take them with a grain of salt and don't get your panties caught up in a bunch...

"he dont say much, but he sho say it good" :D :D

i agree with him.

check out Jim Brantley's main web site, full of more information and trail reports.

www.realcruiser.com