Introduction and some advice needed.

[shralp17]

Hello fellow Cruisers,

My name is Chad Heath I live in Northwestern Montana, I moved to Montana in August following my Grandparents, aunts/uncles, and family. I grew up in North Eastern California (I emphasize north) in a town of 5,000. Life growing up was spent exploring the creeks and forests, hiking, exploring mines, and exploring logging roads. I have always enjoyed exploring whether it be by foot, vehicle, urban, or the wilds.

Since high school I have always loved Toyota Landcruisers I have liked other vehicles like classic muscle cars but nothing like Landcruisers. It started with the FJ40 and a couple of years ago I discovered the 60 series. I have owned vehicles out of practicality (and I bought them from my parents) but now I have saved my money and I can finally get my cruiser. I have been going back and forth between a 40 and 60/62 and I have settled on a 62. I do love the look of a 40 but a 62 would be more practical. I plan on using the 62 as a daily driver, roadtripper, and a backroads explorer. I want to do some mods main priority is to make it reliable and tackle rust issues then the fun comes. I would like a modest lift nothing extreme, bigger tires, bullbar, rack, and eventually a diesel. It will all come in time.

So no I ask for advice. I am going to go look at a cruiser this weekend do you have any purchasing advice or secret tips. Place to check for hidden rust, places to look for leaks, etc. I have read the ih8mud purchasing faq about 20 times. The vehicle I am looking at looks really good on 130,000 miles, no rust, he used it for commuting to work and road trips, and it is unmodded so it is a clean slate. So any advice would be appreciated and hopefully I will be posting pictures of my new cruiser next Monday.

Sincerely,
Chad Heath

 

[shralp17]

One other thing

What would be a basic tool set I could pack in a back pack. Socket wrench what size of sockets do I need?

 

[MarcFJ60]

I'd start here:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/13183-fj60-fj62-faq-start-here-come-back-often.html

 

[Hedge]

If you decide to purchase a 62 with the A442F transmission, I'd suggest putting in an auxiliary transmission cooler plumbed in series with the regular transmission cooler. IIRC, the consensus on the LCML (Land Cruiser Mailing List...a moment of reverent silence, please) was that the 62s cooked their A442s much more frequently than the 1991-1992 FJ80s because all the 80s came with an aux cooler as part of the factory tow package, and 62s were manufactured with only the trans cooler that is integrated into the engine radiator, and it just wasn't up to the task in hot weather and/or when towing.

 

[brentbba]

Are you dead set on a 62 series? A good 80 series will probably cost you about the same. '94 thru '97 specifically. Earlier 80's engines were more wimpy than the later...not that any of them have overwhelming power, not that they need it.

 

[rusty_tlc]

On the 60's look for rust in the rear frame rails.

If it were me I'd consider Brentb's advice.

There is a lot to be said for the 80 series, not the least of which is they have a coil spring linked suspension. The performance off road is phenomenal even in stock configuration. Also plenty of after market support and availability of parts. 60 series parts are getting hard to find.

 

[fowldarr]

Get the 60 or 62, I've owned both, and an 80. I did love the 80 and everything the above posters are saying is absolutely true, but they just don't have the style and personality of their older brethren. I sold the 80 and still have a 60, and wish I had my 62 back.

 

[shralp17]

I am pretty set on the 60's series because.
1. I just like the look of them I know this might be a lame deciding factor. To me a stock 80 looks like any other suv takes some work to make it look cool. A stock 60 will turn heads. This is the least of my reasons but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

2. I want something with a simpler electronics less stuff to break and replace.

3. I know the transmission on the 62 is the weak part but I plan on replacing it with an h55f. I also want to put in a diesel.

4. Now if the vehicle I am going to look at is a total bust then I will probably go and look at 80's.

 

[Klierslc]

A 62 has many of the same electronics as an 80....and they are older. If you will be going manual anyway, why not just get a 60?

 

[AndrewP]

FJ62s are cool trucks. I would not have said that 2 years ago. I have one I bought for cheap for my son, and he's away this year in college, so it's my DD.

It is not as good looking as an FJ60. The round headlights are just better and less dated. A 60 would come with a manual transmission, but if you are switching to H55f anyway, that's a wash. Otherwise an FJ62 is better in every way. The chassis is beefier, the stock springs are better, the front axle is gussetted from the factory, the t-case output gears are bearing not bushing supported, the gear ratio in the diffs is more convienient. Plus, fuel injection is just better than a carb no matter how you slice it. The electronics are pretty minimalistic and robust.

Even the AT on a 62 is especially robust and strong. Unfortunately it's power hungry and the output shaft wears out causing a clunk that every Fj62 over 100k miles has. An H55 will fix all of that, but after owning the FJ62 for a couple of years I'm not in a huge hurry to swap the AT (and I have an H55 and all the bits needed for the swap!) The same AT was used in a 10000 pound bus and is more than strong enough for any job in a Land Cruiser.

With that said, an FZJ80 is exceptionally versatile and will do everything better, except 1 thing...

If you are interested in swaps and mods, an FJ62 has a motor that is easily adopted to other transmissions, both manual and automatic. There are plenty of adapters and options for gearing etc. The 80 motor is for all intents and purposes not adaptable to anything else. It works great as is, but there is none of the usual Land Cruiser swap-a-roni that makes them so much fun to own.

 

[Pskhaat]

If you are interested in swaps and mods, an FJ62 has a motor that is easily adopted to other transmissions, both manual and automatic. There are plenty of adapters and options for gearing etc. The 80 motor is for all intents and purposes not adaptable to anything else.

Minus the 91-92 FJ80. I'm sure there would be the standard challenges of gear shift levers, but it'd be fantastic to see an FJ80 with an H55f and PT case.

 

[AndrewP]

Minus the 91-92 FJ80. I'm sure there would be the standard challenges of gear shift levers, but it'd be fantastic to see an FJ80 with an H55f and PT case.

This sort of brings up a good point.

A 3FE is (barely) adequate to move an FJ62 around, in an 80 which is substantially heavier, it's a dog. Every hill at highway speeds will be painful. I'm talking real hills, not East Coast hills. Plus, for what ever reason, I've not seen tranny swaps in 80s come out with decent looking shift levers and tunnel architecture. It ends up looking a bit hacked. In an 62, you can retrofit FJ60 pieces on the top of the tunnel, and it can look stock.

I have seen in an 80, 4BT to SM465, to split case, that worked great and looked OK. The tunnel still ended up bing a bit of a kludge, but it worked.

Just me, but if a manual tranny is your true goal, and FJ62 will be a better choice than a FJ80. In the 62 it's practically bolt in, where as in an 80, you'll have to work at it. A lot.

 

[rusty_tlc]

FJ62s are cool trucks. I would not have said that 2 years ago. I have one I bought for cheap for my son, and he's away this year in college, so it's my DD.

It is not as good looking as an FJ60. The round headlights are just better and less dated. A 60 would come with a manual transmission, but if you are switching to H55f anyway, that's a wash. Otherwise an FJ62 is better in every way. The chassis is beefier, the stock springs are better, the front axle is gussetted from the factory, the t-case output gears are bearing not bushing supported, the gear ratio in the diffs is more convienient. Plus, fuel injection is just better than a carb no matter how you slice it. The electronics are pretty minimalistic and robust.

Even the AT on a 62 is especially robust and strong. Unfortunately it's power hungry and the output shaft wears out causing a clunk that every Fj62 over 100k miles has. An H55 will fix all of that, but after owning the FJ62 for a couple of years I'm not in a huge hurry to swap the AT (and I have an H55 and all the bits needed for the swap!) The same AT was used in a 10000 pound bus and is more than strong enough for any job in a Land Cruiser.

With that said, an FZJ80 is exceptionally versatile and will do everything better, except 1 thing...

If you are interested in swaps and mods, an FJ62 has a motor that is easily adopted to other transmissions, both manual and automatic. There are plenty of adapters and options for gearing etc. The 80 motor is for all intents and purposes not adaptable to anything else. It works great as is, but there is none of the usual Land Cruiser swap-a-roni that makes them so much fun to own.

If only the 60 series had come with a coil suspension...........

 

[shralp17]

Thanks for the advice

So this weekend I bought my 62 and I love it. I took the train to Seattle from Whitefish MT and met the guy Saturday afternoon. The LC has 123500 on it and the only rust is on the rear lift gate handle, so I can remove that and put on a new one. It is stock so I can mod it how I want. The first thing I need to fix is the steering it is loose and I want to replace the driver seat. I drove it back from Seattle to Kalispell MT it ran beautifully no over heating I checked for leaks at stops didn't see anything. It chugged its way over the passes reminds me of the little engine that could. One thing I notice was a buzzing sound over 75 not from the engine sound like it was coming from the dash. Honestly I love the vehicle all the switches with there clunking sounds, the huge interior, and the engine that just keeps on running. I have waited 10 years and I finally have a LC. I will post pictures shortly.

 

[shralp17]

Some pictures all poser though