95 FJ80 Thoughts

[Ocho]

I'm fairly new to the FJ80 world, and am looking to purchase one for a family expedition vehicle. Any thoughts on the below link are appreciated. I've sent the owner an email asking if the PHH and head gasket have been done. The prices around CL and other forums seem to vary greatly. Thoughts on value for the below Fj80 are greatly appreciated.

http://blacksburg.craigslist.org/cto/4271541926.html

 

[mtnbike28]

The price seems a little high for a basically stock truck. Does it have lockers? However, even without the PHH or HG being done, if AC works, the sunroof doesn't leak and works, the mirrors are not bouncy, the back sliding windows don't leak, and the power steering pump doesn't leak - you may be ahead, these are small fixes that add up. (other than the AC, all issues mine and most 80s seem to have) I would also ask if the front knuckles had ever been rebuilt. You can read a lot on ih8mud.com about the 80 series, just don't "believe all the sky is falling" threads.... many go a long time without failure. My '94 is still all stock.... I would like to get to the PHH soon, just to be sure.

 

[Guambomb]

Pass

You should be able to find a somewhat nicely built 80 for that much cash. Also, the painted bumpers make me very suspicious. Additionally, it probably doesn't have the diff locks since they're not mentioned in the add. I'd say that's a 5 - 7k Cruiser, max. I'd look on Mud for better deals. Good luck on your search.

 

[1morebike]

the prices of 80s amaze me, i always wonder if they sell for those crazy prices. $10,000 for a 19 year old truck with 180,000 miles is getting ridiculous. sure the motor can go 350,000 but will it? and as noted above it's not the motor you have to worry about its all the small things that you will need to replace. also if you get on ih8mud ( its a really great site) you might drive yourself crazy about using ome parts. i loved my 80 i really did but i got to o.c.d. about it. i like my montero more, its not an 80 but its pretty tough and can be had at a fraction of the price. also figure gas milage into an 80 they sucks gas pretty bad...really bad.

 

[MarcFJ60]

My LC is way nicer than that, locked x3, OME low, PHH, and maintained like a true IH8Mudder. I had been toying with the idea of selling recently, and figured my truck would probably get around $8K. No way that thing is a $10K truck. Feel free to PM if you feel like throwing $10K out the window! Don't be in a hurry, FZJ80s are still plentiful - they last forever.

Also, don't get too worked up over the Landcruisers and headgaskets. Do some fail? Yes. But if you look at the numbers it is like 10% and even then it seems to be when they get over 150K. And when they do fail, they typically give plenty of warning (hundreds or even thousands of miles). Check for milky oil or bubbles in the coolant to make sure you don't buy a rig with a HG that is already starting to fail. But if it is fine, don't lose any sleep over it. Most never have a problem with it.

Find one that has been maintained well. They can be expensive to maintain if some of the bigger or troublesome services haven't been done. Other than that is is just oil and fluid changes. But as 1morebike alluded, people over on IH8MUD can get a little crazy about PM. Which is great if you can buy from somebody like that. (like changing a HG as PM?!?!?). Some people rebuild their knuckles every 60K. When I bought mine at 120K, it hadn't been done. But I checked the grease in the knuckles and the oil in the diff still looked good, so I knew the seals were intact and there was no hurry. I eventually did them at 140 or 150K and everything inside still looked fine.

Maybe if the tax man is good to me, mine might go on the market in Feb or March.

 

[Ocho]

Thanks for the thoughts, they were as I expected. Guess I needed a little reassurance. I've been lurking the classifieds over at the other forum.

Cheers

 

[1morebike]

as marc said just wait for the right one i saw great one awhile back for $5000 with 160,000 on it. ih8mud is awesome but i don't know about finding a deal there. and yeah don't let the worry about pm drive you crazy just do what you can when you can and try to do as much yourself as you can. ih8mud is really great for learning how to work on them.

 

[peneumbra]

I think the reality is that a truck's worth to one person is not necessarily its worth to another. I recently picked up a '97 Series 80 for a fairly hefty price, but it had the features I wanted (lifted properly, high-quality springs and steering mods, reservoir shocks, new tires, new radiator, low miles, super clean, high-end stereo, blah, blah, blah) Here in AZ and in CA these trucks are very popular, are generally rust-free, and many of them are well looked after.

So I guess what I'm getting at is, find something you really like, something you can believe in, something that you can live with (all right, that you can LOVE), and bite the bullet. And don't look back - something might be gaining on you...