Looking to buy first landcruiser?

[phxtlc]

my .02 has always been that the best off road vehicle is

1. reliable
2. durable
3. simple design / easy to fix

And there's very few vehicles that fit that.

 

[whitecon]

Whitecon -

I spend most of my time over on the Mud Board and read stuff on here only once in awhile, but I felt like I'd chime in on this...

Let me first say that you must realize that someone who owns a 100 will say that the 100 is best, someone who has an 80 will say that's the best, and so on and so forth. Nobody will ever tell you "my truck sucks!" will they?

Second, I currently have an 80, in fact it's an 18 year old one. I also was a previous owner of a TJ so I have some experience with Jeeps as well.

Any claim that a 100 is "more reliable" than an 80 is bull**** mine has 1/4 million miles on it, has never had the engine opened more than for a valve job, never has had the tranny open for more than a fluid change, and never has had the axles open for anything other that maintenance. And I've not been the best when it comes to maintaining my vehicles recently.

Now the above statement has to be taken with a grain of salt...if you compare my 92 with a 07 you'd probably find a ton more worn pieces on mine but hopefully I wouldn't have to explain why.

Both the 80 and 100 are great trucks and can do a ton of things, you have to ask yourself what YOU want to do with yours first. If you are only going to take it on wide open trails and not get too hairy I'd probably go 100. If you want to get it down and dirty stick with the 80.

The two biggest off road performance differences IMHO are that the 80 is smaller, and the 80 has a soild front axle.

Really it comes down to $$$$, personally if I think I'm going to bang a truck around I rather spend $5000 than $25000 to do so. It makes those desert pinstripes much easier to deal with :sombrero: Unless of course you plan on walking ahead of the truck and do yard work ;-)

Here's a list of "non maintenance" parts I've had to replace over the past 250k miles.

Starter (contacts)
Alternator (never buy aftermarket)
Thermostat
Radiator (crack in the top tank)
Spedometer Cable ($80)
Air Flow Meter

I could do with a rebuild on my PS pump...$40, and replace the right Birf $350. But if I had to get in an drive it across country right now I'd still feel totally confident.

One more thing...Listen to previous posts, DO NOT make your choice without reading the Mud Board!!! There is more knowledge over there about Cruisers than you'd find anywhere. And trust me, there's plenty of 80 vs 100 discussion for you to review.

Thanks for your realistic input. You are corect regarding "my rig sucks" :sombrero: You'll never hear it. Same as on some of the other forums I'm on. Just ask "what lift is the best?" on any Jeep related forum and see what happens.
I think I'll have to join IH8MUD and see what I find. Since I already have a capeable rig for the extreme wheeling situations. It looks like I'm leaning to the 100 at this time but, you never know what may happen if i find a really clean 80. I prefer the 80 for sure but, I cant deny that it is for the wife. Then again, the jeep was supposed to be as well:sombrero:

 

[ShottsCruisers]

be much more likely than 10% chance of blowing the front diff if taken mildly offroad.

We're talking 2001. Blown 4-pinion diffs are almost unheard of.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

True...... only thing i've replaced on my fj80 that wasn't maintenance (front axle job) or upgrades, (lifts bumpers etc) or damage from trails was a radiator. But at 200k that wasn't that bad.
100's can be expensive to keep up. My buddy just spend more in one weekend doing a 100k scheduled maint (I can't believe a new water pump is a 100k replacement item) than i have in quite a few years on my 80.

Water pump is not a 100k replacement item. In fact the water pump is not mentioned in the Toyota scheduled maintenance guide anywhere. It sometimes get replaced at 90k service because like a lot of Toyotas you are looking at it when the timing belt is replaced.

As for service you should take the time to review scheduled maintenance guilds for the 80 and 100 and you will find they are very similar in needs. The difference between the two is one needs a timing belt and other needs a birf service. For the record a 100 TB is faster and easier then an 80 birf job and cost less at a dealer.

100 Diff failures and 80 bad head gasket are a luck of the draw there are many 100 and 80 out there with original components that are driven and wheeled with lots of miles. From the polls on IH8Mud failures are less then 10% on both.

Bottom line they are both great vehicle you need to find the one that suits your needs and budget. Buy the newest low mileage one you can afford IMO.

 

[TJDIV]

I'd go 80 all day long, buy right and if you REALLY need a nicer ride then sell the 80 fair and upgrade.

UP Cruiser knows...I think he has over 100K miles just offroading his.
And it's still a damn sweet rig.

Oh, and you CAN NOT buy a cruiser without joining Mud. If you do bad things will happen to the truck. Just sayin..