Over the past few years, I've been finding myself being less interested in hard core rock crawling, and getting more into the overland/exploring type of off road adventuring, and by extension, my 4x4s are getting less and less suitable for this. I recently picked up a '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee to replace the '77 International Scout II I was running, as I wanted something more freeway friendly (as in being able to cruise at 65-70 MPH without winding the engine out, quieter inside, comfortable to sit in for hours, etc), and with modern creature comforts such as EFI, cruise control, and AC.
While I want something more in line with the "expedition/overland" style of vehicle, I can guarantee that I will not be travelling to the back country of other continents with this vehicle (I just plain can't afford that kind of adventuring). It's a rare occasion that I venture more than a few hundred miles from home, so things like servicability in the middle of Borneo or South America is a non issue to me, nor are things like "well, if my life is on the line in the jungles of X, I'd want to be in Y vehicle", as these just aren't situations I'd find myself in. My adventures consist of day trips into the Arizona deserts, and I'll still need to get back to work on Monday. I might venture up into Nevada, or maybe Colorado one, but that's about it.
I chose the Grand because I am very familiar with Jeeps, especially the downsized Cherokee XJ, I could get a factory V8 engine, it had coils and disc brakes at all 4 corners, and was bigger inside than the XJ Cherokee (I always felt cramped in the XJs). What I had failed to consider was how much had to be changed to make it suitable for trail use - suspension, transfer case, rear end, and that to make it effective at the lift needed to clear 33s - a long arm suspension system.
I bought it for cheap with high miles (nearly 300K), with the expectation that I'd rebuild the engine, put a manual trans in, change the rear end/suspension, etc anyways...did a quick and dirty short arm lift to clear 33s, put on my winch, lights, etc and ran some trails...and quickly found out that I feel cramped in this, and miss the space I had in the Scout, especially after adding my laptop for navigation, ham and CB radios, and some other gear. Then started running the numbers in my head of what I'm going to be spending on the axle upgrades, long arm suspension, lockers, and other gear needed to make this work for me...and wondering if I'd be better off starting with a different platform to begin with. I'm capable of fabricating the suspension bits, bumpers/winch mounts, etc myself so I'd save there, but the materials still aren't cheap these days.
I started looking at other vehicles, and the FZJ80s are looking really appealing to me. From the pictures I've been looking at, it appears that it would have considerably more room inside around me in the driver's seat, far more room to put my radios and other gear up front (I especially like the factory double din radio, as that makes it very easy to integrate a touch screen for the computer there rather than having a separate laptop/tablet like I'm doing now), considerably stronger axles factory, with factory lockers if I can find one so equipped, and what appears to be possibly a mid length arm suspension (doesn't look like the control arms would be quite as long as a "long arm" for a Jeep, but still considerably longer than stock Jeep).
From the prices I've been seeing for these trucks, it looks like it would be about even with what I'd spend on the Jeep, maybe even less, plus I'd get other benefits to the LC that I wouldn't have on the Jeep.
Obviously, I expect somewhat biased answers bringing these thoughts to a Land Cruiser forum
, but I'm still curious what the LC hive mind thinks Am I on the right track/mindset, or perhaps am I looking at buying/building a Mack truck to pull a popup trailer (figuratively speaking, of course )
While I want something more in line with the "expedition/overland" style of vehicle, I can guarantee that I will not be travelling to the back country of other continents with this vehicle (I just plain can't afford that kind of adventuring). It's a rare occasion that I venture more than a few hundred miles from home, so things like servicability in the middle of Borneo or South America is a non issue to me, nor are things like "well, if my life is on the line in the jungles of X, I'd want to be in Y vehicle", as these just aren't situations I'd find myself in. My adventures consist of day trips into the Arizona deserts, and I'll still need to get back to work on Monday. I might venture up into Nevada, or maybe Colorado one, but that's about it.
I chose the Grand because I am very familiar with Jeeps, especially the downsized Cherokee XJ, I could get a factory V8 engine, it had coils and disc brakes at all 4 corners, and was bigger inside than the XJ Cherokee (I always felt cramped in the XJs). What I had failed to consider was how much had to be changed to make it suitable for trail use - suspension, transfer case, rear end, and that to make it effective at the lift needed to clear 33s - a long arm suspension system.
I bought it for cheap with high miles (nearly 300K), with the expectation that I'd rebuild the engine, put a manual trans in, change the rear end/suspension, etc anyways...did a quick and dirty short arm lift to clear 33s, put on my winch, lights, etc and ran some trails...and quickly found out that I feel cramped in this, and miss the space I had in the Scout, especially after adding my laptop for navigation, ham and CB radios, and some other gear. Then started running the numbers in my head of what I'm going to be spending on the axle upgrades, long arm suspension, lockers, and other gear needed to make this work for me...and wondering if I'd be better off starting with a different platform to begin with. I'm capable of fabricating the suspension bits, bumpers/winch mounts, etc myself so I'd save there, but the materials still aren't cheap these days.
I started looking at other vehicles, and the FZJ80s are looking really appealing to me. From the pictures I've been looking at, it appears that it would have considerably more room inside around me in the driver's seat, far more room to put my radios and other gear up front (I especially like the factory double din radio, as that makes it very easy to integrate a touch screen for the computer there rather than having a separate laptop/tablet like I'm doing now), considerably stronger axles factory, with factory lockers if I can find one so equipped, and what appears to be possibly a mid length arm suspension (doesn't look like the control arms would be quite as long as a "long arm" for a Jeep, but still considerably longer than stock Jeep).
From the prices I've been seeing for these trucks, it looks like it would be about even with what I'd spend on the Jeep, maybe even less, plus I'd get other benefits to the LC that I wouldn't have on the Jeep.
Obviously, I expect somewhat biased answers bringing these thoughts to a Land Cruiser forum
, but I'm still curious what the LC hive mind thinks Am I on the right track/mindset, or perhaps am I looking at buying/building a Mack truck to pull a popup trailer (figuratively speaking, of course )
