thinking about buying a FJ80 Land Cruiser.

[joosttx]

I need to buy another family vehicle in 2 years and I think the mid-life crisis bug has bitten me. I am really jones-ing for a mid 90's (FJ80) Toyota Land Cruiser with a new Vortec engine in it. This would be a daily driver. Please talk me out of this.

[wsteve464]

HOME | TLCA ;)

[maunahaole]

What’s your objection to the Toyota engine?

[Moke]

One of the best looking Toyotas ever made.

[joosttx]

What’s your objection to the Toyota engine?

1) they are old
2) hard(er) to get parts for
3) hard(er) to find mechanics who know what they are doing with them
4) less powerful
5) consume more gas
6) release more emissions.

There really is nothing wrong with the v6 in the toyota other than it is old. They will go for 400k and more. Modern engines have their plus sides.

[maunahaole]

The later models have a v8.

[joosttx]

The later models have a v8.

They do but kinda in love with the FJ80.

And maybe a fj62 or fj60

[Jason Musgrave]

Can't talk you out of it brother, they are amazing vehicles and you won't regret owning one.

I owned/daily drove a 62-series for 12 years, and grew up in an 80-series which I later owned. I saw an article (Jalopnik?? Will try and find it) that posits the 80-series is the best engineered Toyota of all time, I completely agree with that sentiment. My folks had a 1993 80-series, it's what I learned to drive in and floated around my family until my wife and I ended up with it. I sold it last Oct with 390k miles on it (had recently don't a 8000 mile cross country trip in it), still running strong.

There really is nothing wrong with the v6 in the toyota other than it is old. They will go for 400k and more. Modern engines have their plus sides.

Small correction here, the Toyota engine is a straight-6 not a V. It's an absolute tank of an engine (the same blocks are sometimes used in conjunction with a BC stroker kit to good effect in drag-racing. And the transmission in them was originally intended for a 30,000lb bus - they last forever!

With my 62 I was really tempted to convert over to a small-block Chevy, like you said it nets you better fuel economy and better power. Maybe ping JustinF, he's done the conversion and can give you real-world feedback. On the 80...mine was too nice, didn't even consider it. I suppose if you found one with a questionable heart then maybe but that truck is really refined from the factory.

[Matthew Strongin]

My only requirement- it must have a kick ass parking brake

That’s the most logical thing you’ve written in this thread.

[Too Tall]

That’s the most logical thing you’ve written in this thread.

He might have ment line lock because smoky burn outs are a thing.

[maunahaole]

Hot Rod HMMWV: Vice Unlimited’s Cummins-Powered Masterpiece [Video] | DrivingLine

[davids]

V90 Cross Country. Mmmmmmm.

What I really want, of course, is the MB E400 Wagon.
What I'll most likely buy (someday, when the house is "done") is an Audi AllRoad.
What I'll drive until then is the Acura TSX Wagon.

[TTX1]

I still remember the first time I saw a Gelandewagen in the US.

I was passing through Stockbridge. There, at the vintage Mobile station, replete with a large enamel Pegasus sign, was a 2-door G-Wagen parked between the pumps. As traffic crawled by, I noted the his and hers gas tanks. The driver and passenger were filling the tanks simultaneously, wearing matching Ray Ban aviators. I think the gentleman wore a cravatte. It was like they fell out of a Robb Report photo shoot, or a Mad Magazine satire of a Robb Report photo shoot.

One thing was certain: In spite of the recent rains, they would have no problem extracting their vehicle from the parking field apres Tanglewood. This was the late 80s, long before Escalades. I felt a small twitch of pity for anyone in a lesser vehicle that day...

[bbattle]

A true off-road, go across Africa vehicle, as a daily driver on paved American roads? Are you really feeling that inadequate? Don't you don spandex and ride a plastic bicycle hither and yon?

Why spend gobs of money on a vehicle whose capabilities will never be tested nor realized by your efforts when you could buy two far more capable and effective vehicles for your stated purpose?

On the other hand, it's your money, why give a monkey's rear about what others think or common sense. Get that bad boy and drive during rush hour traffic like you want to be there, going all slow and stuff with an eye on the gas gauge; that's what 4-low is for.

It's easy to talk you out of this given the paucity of defensive data you've supplied yourself. I'm tilting at windmills now so maybe I'll read the pages of posts talking you out of this purchase and then see if I can add anything to the pile.

[jerk]

A true off-road, go across Africa vehicle, as a daily driver on paved American roads? Are you really feeling that inadequate? Don't you don spandex and ride a plastic bicycle hither and yon?

Why spend gobs of money on a vehicle whose capabilities will never be tested nor realized by your efforts when you could buy two far more capable and effective vehicles for your stated purpose?

On the other hand, it's your money, why give a monkey's rear about what others think or common sense. Get that bad boy and drive during rush hour traffic like you want to be there, going all slow and stuff with an eye on the gas gauge; that's what 4-low is for.

It's easy to talk you out of this given the paucity of defensive data you've supplied yourself. I'm tilting at windmills now so maybe I'll read the pages of posts talking you out of this purchase and then see if I can add anything to the pile.

if able to "go across africa" was the yardstick we'd all be driving either Toyota Hi-Luxs with 50 caliber machine gun as the only option or 1983 Mercedes W123 diesel kong wheelbase manuals.

they'd both be either beige or baby shit brown.

[jerk]

if able to "go across africa" was the yardstick we'd all be driving either Toyota Hi-Luxs with 50 caliber machine gun as the only option or 1983 Mercedes W123 diesel kong wheelbase manuals.

they'd both be either beige or baby shit brown.

i just re-read this thread for some reason and i found this gem and none of you guys ever even commented on this brilliance. i'm going to go join PvD in the super secret stable genius subforum-

seriously- that was gold! re: trucks i haven't driven my Tacoma in two and a half months. It's essentially Kate's car now. The good thing is that I have stopped obsessing over how to throw money at it and turn it into a pre-runner that you can race the Baja 500 in AND live in for extended periods of time. That fantasy was about to get very very expensive. I've moved on to how can I make my Harley Street Bob awesome which is just as absurd but a good deal cheaper.

[jscottyk]

i just re-read this thread for some reason and i found this gem and none of you guys ever even commented on this brilliance. i'm going to go join PvD in the super secret stable genius subforum-

seriously- that was gold! re: trucks i haven't driven my Tacoma in two and a half months. It's essentially Kate's car now. The good thing is that I have stopped obsessing over how to throw money at it and turn it into a pre-runner that you can race the Baja 500 in AND live in for extended periods of time. That fantasy was about to get very very expensive. I've moved on to how can I make my Harley Street Bob awesome which is just as absurd but a good deal cheaper.

Ha! Craig, that is indeed solid gold.

And this whole entire exploration for me is "absurd" considering I have a perfectly fine '14 E350 wagon but damnit I think I've been bitten by the bug.

[guido]

My daily driver is my 2015 Prius. 60+ MPG, comfort, holds 4 in a pinch. With the back seats down, holds more stuff than I could fit in my Subaru wagon.

Least climate change contribution of anything but a full on electric and infinitely more practical.

The Tacoma is for photo trips and adventures. A decent 20+ MPG even with the cap and a high percentage of 4x4 deployed.

[j44ke]

i just re-read this thread for some reason and i found this gem and none of you guys ever even commented on this brilliance. i'm going to go join PvD in the super secret stable genius subforum-

seriously- that was gold! re: trucks i haven't driven my Tacoma in two and a half months. It's essentially Kate's car now. The good thing is that I have stopped obsessing over how to throw money at it and turn it into a pre-runner that you can race the Baja 500 in AND live in for extended periods of time. That fantasy was about to get very very expensive. I've moved on to how can I make my Harley Street Bob awesome which is just as absurd but a good deal cheaper.

We were in Kenya during the election violence in 2008 (not part of our plan but there we were) and I’d say that a Toyota truck with a big machine gun sitting mid-intersection and full of itchy scared stoned government troops is just about one of the most real things I’ve seen. We got picked up at the government airport (main airport was closed - due to snipers in the slums beneath the runway approach supposedly) by a driver sent by our tour agency after several weeks of safari and he drove through Nairobi at 90mph - no other cars - and then this Toyota “technical” probably on its second half-life after being sent as part of humanitarian aid before someone bolted a gun onto it. Man were we happy to reach our friends’ compound. Later we had tea and cakes and watched sunbirds in the garden. Still feels totally surreal when I type that out.

[nahtnoj]