How many of you ACTUALLY overland with your 80s or 60s

[BritKLR]

60's also make great mobile stores when your just starting a gear company!
(and, hauling the store over a mountain pass to an Overland Event in Utah!)

 

[T-Willy]

There is no modern replacement to the 80, with its simplicity . The only comparable rig would be a 4runner , Tacoma , or FJ cruiser . But nothing compares to them , granted the 80 isn’t half as comfortable as a new rig.. nice to see there’s still people ACTUALLY using them . I have a 4Bt swapped 80 that I’ve been building for extended travel , but have been using the FJ cruiser lately

How is the 4bt's fuel efficiency transplanted in the 80? And is the noise tolerable?

 

[Lastresort576]

I'm going to have to agree with Wc203.
I'll start by saying I no longer DD my 80. Maintenance is too demanding and mpg is too low for my 40-mile roundtrip commute.
Its become a toy that I take my family out offroading, camping, and exploring in...It also works for household stuff. Most recent big trip was last Oct. when I took my 4yr old on the RimRocker trail into Moab(just the two of us). Before that over the summer, was driving to MA and back from CO.

There isnt a comparable new vehicle on the market stateside to an 80-series..A fight I'm sort of having with my wife currently.
For me, I find great benefit in having a soild front axle over IFS for offroading here in CO. Easier to lift and more reliable than IFS here in CO. install the tire valve speed bleeders to air down and simultaneously disconnect the front sway bar and get after it on trail.

So what comparable options do I have with a solid front axle? Jeep Wrangler, more specifically a JKU/JLU...Not wanting to deal with the woes of a d30, that puts rubicon on the table...Or spend a ton for d60's in addition of the vehicle price. Both come with a sizeable price tag vs. maintaining what I already have..(i do the work myself, all of it)...The axles under the 80 are pretty damn stout.

Lets compare the size. My buddies JKU is filled to the brim just to take the family offroading and camping along the trails. Similar family size that I have. Wife, Two kids under 7. Which means the kids are still in car seats. It's tight but manageable...Still, he now has a basecamp trailer in order to open up some interior space for comfort.

And one more reason why the 80 checks all of the boxes for me. I have a third boy on the way. He's due in November. It would be a few years before before taking the new baby on any camping trips...But in a jeep, someone's getting left at home. Chances are my wife would gladly volunteer. lol.
Having the option for all of us(relatively comfortable) plus gear in one vehicle because the 80 has the third row I find ideal.

Even though my 80 including paint(except for one rust hole on my hatch and missing 2 flares) is in really great shape, I still plan on using it all over the states for many many years to come.

 

[nickw]

There is no modern replacement to the 80, with its simplicity . The only comparable rig would be a 4runner , Tacoma , or FJ cruiser . But nothing compares to them , granted the 80 isn’t half as comfortable as a new rig.. nice to see there’s still people ACTUALLY using them . I have a 4Bt swapped 80 that I’ve been building for extended travel , but have been using the FJ cruiser lately

Depends on your requirements of a replacement.....if you are ok transitioning to a pickup there are options that are arguably better in a number of ways that are not much more complicated.

You have the more modern 100/200 platforms while more complicated have proven very reliable and again, are arguably a better option in NA....

 

[Westy]

60s & 80s make great wheeling and camping rigs for those who use them. Long extended trips or short trips. Great drivers on and off road.
Been using old Cruisers for a long time now to get into the back country in comfort with reliable capability. They can squeeze through most old trails and two tracks too.

They offer a lot of utility and very practical all around especially given the costs of new rigs.
Sometimes a labor of love. Preventative servicing, parts, maintenance keeps them happy in their old age.

 

[NVLOC]

60s & 80s make great wheeling and camping rigs for those who use them. Long extended trips or short trips. Great drivers on and off road.
Been using old Cruisers for a long time now to get into the back country in comfort with reliable capability. They can squeeze through most old trails and two tracks too.

They offer a lot of utility and very practical all around especially given the costs of new rigs.
Sometimes a labor of love. Preventative servicing, parts, maintenance keeps them happy in their old age.

Nailed it.

 

[Wc203]

How is the 4bt's fuel efficiency transplanted in the 80? And is the noise tolerable?

I get about 15-16 in town and highway is 20-24 ish depending on how I drive

 

[Wc203]

Depends on your requirements of a replacement.....if you are ok transitioning to a pickup there are options that are arguably better in a number of ways that are not much more complicated.

You have the more modern 100/200 platforms while more complicated have proven very reliable and again, are arguably a better option in NA....

The 200 would be an awesome platform, but like every other new rig prices are insane and let’s not even get started on modifying them, there seems to be no middle ground anymore for a new rig , almost always have to go with a 15+ year old rig to build

 

[Arktikos]

I took my 62 on a few road trips on Alcan and Cassiar within Alaska and lower 48. Look forward to doing the same with the 80 this summer. The gas bill will be substantial, no doubt.

 

[DCGibbs]

fj60 newest is 36 years old (1987 in NA)
fj62 newest is 34 years old (1989 in NA)

Cheers!

The 62 series was launched in 1988. It was a major up-grade to the 60. The 3FE was destroked, fuel injected, 4.11 gears, Automatic Transmission, Power Steering, Air Conditioning, Electric Windows, locks and rectangle headlights. It could drive at 80mph, something the 60' couldn't do. It was replaced in 91 by the 80 Series, with the 3FE, but a different Transmisson. Then the FZJ 80 series, with the 4.5 liter engine. My 62 has 300K+ on the original motor. David

 

[alia176]

I feel like the market of land cruisers has changed to sort of a collectors vehicle and not so much an expedition vehicle? With the cost of parts and rigs these days , seems like most people are just moving on to newer platforms and either letting their 80s sit or selling them on BAT or am I the only one that thinks this ?

My 80 is a dedicated wheeling/camping rig and she gets used hard and put away wet, sort of. She ain't pretty but she'll get me anywhere I wanna go with confidence and comfort. Going on 18 years of ownership, and she turned 300,000+ few months back. She's still young!

17yo daughter is waiting for me to croak.......

 

[rc51kid]

It's quite likely that fewer people are using any series LC as a daily driver anymore. Nevertheless, my guess is that driving around town plus an occasional road trip remain the primary uses for them. A few rich guys spending big bucks on BAT to purchase extra nice examples of them probably isn't representative of the broader picture.
I get where you're coming from though. It seems that a lot of guys like to spend money modifying their Land Cruiser unnecessarily for overlanding, especially the 80 series. Whether they actually end up using them for that purpose is questionable. Of course one of the glaring weaknesses of the Land Cruiser is poor MPG.
So the expensive. collector Cruisers don't get driven because they're too nice for scratching up and the average Joe Cruisers don't get out much either because they're so expensive to operate. It's a lose/lose situation!

My 94 80 sits at 358,XXX miles and is my DD and only 4 wheeled vehicle. I do about 20,000 a year and have it up in the mountains of Montana camping or eploring every week.

Some owners use the piss out of them. But the prices are ridiculous and when it goes i have no idea what i will be able to replace it with.

 

[kletzenklueffer]

I sold my 93 which looked more trail rig anyway, and regretted the sale immediately. A year later and im on a 94. I intend to.keep it til it falls apart. I haven't found another vehicle the can beat it.

 

[Metcalf]

I just did the entire Colorado BDR route from south to north with my #LX45 packed for light and fast travel. This trip ended up being 4 nights of camping over about 750 miles of (mostly) dirt with the travel back home tacked on the end. I think that qualifies as 'overlanding'?

 

[lugueto]

The US may be a different market but 80s do fetch a pretty penny in the third world as well. Land Cruisers are legends and that carries a price with it. This doesn't mean people won't still use them as travel vehicles, all the opposite, even when some people use them as collector's items (and they may very well be).

Sure, older vehicles can and will break down more often due to age but their simplicity means that you can do field repairs on your own most of the times, or find someone who can in remote places. That's the true meaning of a dependable vehicle in the third world: Its not the one that doesn't break down -all of them do eventually- but the one that can be easily fixed trailside by shadetree mechanics. Everything else mentioned about them being less comfortable, heavy on fuel, worse on handling, etc is off course true. But its the compromise you make..

A lot of people daily drive their $30k 80 series down here, and if you analyze our travel convoys, they're always an assortment of 70s, 80s, older Prados and Hiluxes. 4Runners and 2005-2010 Toyotas are usually considered very reliable as well. There's a clear reason for that. Vehicles do break down often, but there have been very few times we haven't been able to get them back up and running. Try that in the new hybrid 250 series..