Land Cruiser J80, learn me

What do you guys know about the 19990-97 Land Cruiser? It gets abysmal mileage, I'm generally OK with that. The tow 5500 lbs, I'm OK with that too. What else would I need to know abput them? Weak points? Quality concerns? Interesting facts?

Check out expeditionportal.com

Like I don't already spend enough time over there.
I was just wondering what YOU guys had to say.

Indestructible, bad on gas. Desirable options....locking differentials f/r, and factory (trd) supercharger. Iirc later ones are full time 4wd, but other countries have a selectable transfer case so they can be rwd or we'd. I think there is a mod to make us ones that way too. Check out ih8mud, Happy hunting!

Unbreakable, hilariously overbuilt. Take a look at the front axle/birfields on one. Enormous.

It's an suv built like a 1ton.

The TRD supercharger wasn't incredible. Look for a later one 93-97 to get the 1fz motor. Earlier ones had the leftover 3me from the J60.

Buy one. Don't ignore the Lexus equivalent. They're cheaper sometimes because they don't day "Land Cruiser" on them.

It's really too bad there was never a uz engine in this body style.

Check this out

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/newbie/newbie100.htm

carbon wrote: It's really too bad there was never a uz engine in this body style.

I actually kinda prefer the 1FZ,myself.

1fz is a good motor but it only has like 200 some horsepower. Only thing I have ever done is a head gasket on my brothers fzj80. His had a rear main seal leak, but that isn't a big deal on those engines

Thirsty with the 4.5L gas engine. Very good build quality, and probably the toughest series of the landcruisers, as the subsequent 100 series (97 onwards) started to soften up - independent front end on some models, weaker front diff. SFO is correct about the LX450, which is often more capable in stock form as they very often came with standard diff locks. Plus they are better equipped inside. They all have reasonable stock articulation and they can be made to flex like below pretty easily.

Oh, did anyone mention they're horribly thirsty? As a result LS conversions are very popular down under. A good company for conversion kits is Marks 4wd Adapters and they have kits for both autos and manuals. They should also have a kit to change from full-time to selectable four wheel drive.

Expedition Portal disagrees about the FJ100 softening up but the FJ80s are classic and amazing.

http://expeditionportal.com/top-10-used-overland-vehicles/

I was shopping them when I ended up with my montero because I got a lot more car for the money at the time.

http://expeditionportal.com/the-best-overland-vehicles-for-under-15000/

Jaynen wrote: I was shopping them when I ended up with my montero because I got a lot more car for the money at the time. http://expeditionportal.com/the-best-overland-vehicles-for-under-15000/

We came to the exact same conclusion.

Yeah honestly I really wanted a LC, the FJ80s around were just a little "too old" feeling and well worn. The FJ100's I could afford were not best examples or were out of my price range. So I ended up with the gen 3 montero. So far I can't say I wished I had the land cruiser (but I still <3 them) those expo'd out FJ80s are so sex unlike my gen 3 montero lol

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this was my 92 fj80, it had the 3fe which had ~150 hp which is dead reliable but struggled hard to hold 70 mph on flat ground, highway was about 14 mpg. but the thing never let me down and could go just about anywhere though anything, stock height with 33" cooper stt's. if you ever want to do any highway driving or towing get a 93+ with the 1fz to get some more power, they only problem those ever really had was head gasket issues which most have probably been fixed by now, if not there is plenty of info out there on how to do it.

Damnit, now you have me looking at Land Cruisers again.

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4816486364.html

I need more money.

So....Can you setup a cot in the back for Car Camping at the races? I know you can fit a miata hardtop in the back but I've got a cot that is 81" long and I'm looking for something that isn't a minivan to take to the races and have a place to sleep at night.

So as a weird feature in the Montero

1) I believe at least on my gen 3 the middle row flips up to create more storage space unsure if enough to laydown straight.

2) the front seats recline horizontal and so does the rear seat allowing the two to create a sleeping surface.

This was demo'd on the gen 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikid469Fv2g

Nice. I like that. Decent head room too. Thanks for the info. Now to actually find the full size Montero. I only usually see the Sports.

Be careful with the 2nd gen monteros. The intake manifold has some butterfly valves that like to fall off the shaft and get ingested by the motor. I can explain more out of this thead if you're interested.

terrible mpg - mine got 12 all day, these were 40grand plus new- most have been taken care of. The ones with the locking diffs bring about $1500 more, nothing wrong with the AWD models but locking diffs make off road much easier. Look for signs of rust around windshield,most people blame damp carpet on leaky sunroof, it's not,many have rust issues behind windshield gasket. Check for rear seat heater under passenger front seat. Make sure hoses are in good shape to prevent leaks. Power seats have plastic gears that get chewed up, someone makes them, just can't remember who? Check out Ih8temud forum, lots of good stuff there.

Just found this thread on da Googler. I found a 96 LX450 on craigslist for $2000 that I just had to text the guy about. Maybe it will turn out to be something other than a scam or E36 M3 show.

Any word on towing something like 4000lbs with one of these?

I knew a guy who towed a rallycross car on a trailer with one. He said no complaints other than the mileage somehow got even worse. That's one of the reasons I was considering these as they would satisfy my meager towing needs.

with one picture of a pretty nice vehicle, no map, not much description, and a low price...well, I'm expecting it not to be real. But maybe I'll find a Christmas Craigslist Miracle.

In reply to ultraclyde:

I looked at one this summer for $3k asking price, talked the guy down to $2500 but ended up walking away. Fuel mileage and automatic were the deal breakers for me. Probably could have had it even cheaper than that, guy called a few weeks after I had turned it down and asked if I was still interested because it still hadn't sold.

I've seen others located within a couple hours drive down around that range too, so its not out of question for that to be legit.

Lots of these in my neighborhood and one of my good friends owns one. I drove his for a trip up to the mountains and it's comfy and has awesome A/C. I had to cane the living hell out of it to hold 55mph up the grade though.

Not enough power for me especially for how thirsty it is. Great off roader, if you're not going to take it off road much I'd choose something else.