My Landcruiser Odyssey
- Thread starter kcowyo
- Start date
Scott Brady
Founder
Awesome KC!
60's rock...
Here is my story:
The year is 2000, and my wife Stephanie is quitting her job to go back to school. My 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sahara is on the chopping block because of that, but I am cool with it.
She knew I needed something fun to drive - interesting, to replace my new and expensive Jeep.
So, she was on the lookout and noticed a For Sale sign in the window of this mint 1985 FJ60. Grandpa driven and everything, with on 96k on the clock. Everything worked and it was perfect...
So, we bought the FJ60 and miraculously our neighbors dad bought the Jeep the second the sign went on it. He had loved my Jeep. I really liked the FJ60, but my life and wheeling interests at the time did not lend themselves so well to the FJ60. I wanted something with more "funk" factor and that was SWB. So, I contact this horse trader of a TLC guy in Flagstaff, and tell him I want an FJ40. He has just the plan... He had sold a clean, uncut FJ40 to a couple the year before and now they were expecting TWINS. He wants an FJ60- Perfect. So, we talk on the phone, compare trucks and figured they were worth about the same. He drives down from Flagstaff and I drive up from Casa Grande.
We talk for a bit and I am smitten with the 40. It is straight, but certainly rough in the interior. My 60 is perfect and this guy is wide eyed over it. It is still a fair trade as the 40s were worth more in general at the time (but had not hit the crazy prices yet). So, we trade titles, shake hands and we both go our separate ways.
I owned and drove that FJ40 for nearly five years. Lot of trails and a few mods, most importantly I added A/C... Years pass and I made more money, bought another Wrangler and eventually sold the FJ40 to a good friend, Doron Strassman. He still has it.
Oh, and he decided that he didn't need that expensive a/c in there, so he horse traded it for some work to the engine. A few years pass and I meet Jonathan Hanson and we make a trip to his place in Tucson.
I drool over his Land Cruiser and we talk everything from Camel Trophy to 255/85 R16's (which he has on his FJ40). The conversation about the FJ40 is almost over and Jonathan says-
"Hey, let me show you this great, used factory replica A/C system that I just picked up from a shop in Tucson" "They traded it for some engine work"
A small world indeed.
60's rock...
Here is my story:
The year is 2000, and my wife Stephanie is quitting her job to go back to school. My 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sahara is on the chopping block because of that, but I am cool with it.
She knew I needed something fun to drive - interesting, to replace my new and expensive Jeep.
So, she was on the lookout and noticed a For Sale sign in the window of this mint 1985 FJ60. Grandpa driven and everything, with on 96k on the clock. Everything worked and it was perfect...
So, we bought the FJ60 and miraculously our neighbors dad bought the Jeep the second the sign went on it. He had loved my Jeep. I really liked the FJ60, but my life and wheeling interests at the time did not lend themselves so well to the FJ60. I wanted something with more "funk" factor and that was SWB. So, I contact this horse trader of a TLC guy in Flagstaff, and tell him I want an FJ40. He has just the plan... He had sold a clean, uncut FJ40 to a couple the year before and now they were expecting TWINS. He wants an FJ60- Perfect. So, we talk on the phone, compare trucks and figured they were worth about the same. He drives down from Flagstaff and I drive up from Casa Grande.
We talk for a bit and I am smitten with the 40. It is straight, but certainly rough in the interior. My 60 is perfect and this guy is wide eyed over it. It is still a fair trade as the 40s were worth more in general at the time (but had not hit the crazy prices yet). So, we trade titles, shake hands and we both go our separate ways.
I owned and drove that FJ40 for nearly five years. Lot of trails and a few mods, most importantly I added A/C... Years pass and I made more money, bought another Wrangler and eventually sold the FJ40 to a good friend, Doron Strassman. He still has it.
Oh, and he decided that he didn't need that expensive a/c in there, so he horse traded it for some work to the engine. A few years pass and I meet Jonathan Hanson and we make a trip to his place in Tucson.
I drool over his Land Cruiser and we talk everything from Camel Trophy to 255/85 R16's (which he has on his FJ40). The conversation about the FJ40 is almost over and Jonathan says-
"Hey, let me show you this great, used factory replica A/C system that I just picked up from a shop in Tucson" "They traded it for some engine work"
A small world indeed.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Nice looking trucks, Scott!
I'm fairly certain I know the root of why I never bonded with either of my Cruisers. They were rolling disasters... Both were at 250,000+ miles, bad body cancer, worn out and in need of the kind of care and resources I don't have. With my FJ40 things were dying faster than I could rebuild them. I went through the front axle and the transfer bearings went. I rebuilt the tranny and transfer case, a leaf spring broke. I fixed up the suspension and engine tried to self destruct (with more than a little help from me crossing a high stream too fast). The FJ60, that engine was tired, tired, tired and the frame was starting to show soft spots.
I sold the FJ40 and bought my truck, which I really like and was perfectly content. But my wife wanted something with 4 doors and a back seat. I really wanted to make the FJ60 work, but the agony of chasing down parts (75% of which Toyota doesn't sell anymore), getting bent over by SOR/MAF/CCOT, spending weekends working on it rather than getting away, etc. all came rushing back. We sold that, got a Civic and everyone was happy, until I totaled the Honda last year at least... :-/
View attachment 17489
Bomber The Blue Slug
It was an '84 with the original tool kit, original dealer can of touch-up paint, one owner before me and was always marking it's territory with engine oil and gear lube.
View attachment 17490
The Amazing Technicolor Cruiser
The tub was rust with tan and aluminum accents, had one grey and one green door and one blue fender.
I'm fairly certain I know the root of why I never bonded with either of my Cruisers. They were rolling disasters... Both were at 250,000+ miles, bad body cancer, worn out and in need of the kind of care and resources I don't have. With my FJ40 things were dying faster than I could rebuild them. I went through the front axle and the transfer bearings went. I rebuilt the tranny and transfer case, a leaf spring broke. I fixed up the suspension and engine tried to self destruct (with more than a little help from me crossing a high stream too fast). The FJ60, that engine was tired, tired, tired and the frame was starting to show soft spots.
I sold the FJ40 and bought my truck, which I really like and was perfectly content. But my wife wanted something with 4 doors and a back seat. I really wanted to make the FJ60 work, but the agony of chasing down parts (75% of which Toyota doesn't sell anymore), getting bent over by SOR/MAF/CCOT, spending weekends working on it rather than getting away, etc. all came rushing back. We sold that, got a Civic and everyone was happy, until I totaled the Honda last year at least... :-/
View attachment 17489
Bomber The Blue Slug
It was an '84 with the original tool kit, original dealer can of touch-up paint, one owner before me and was always marking it's territory with engine oil and gear lube.
View attachment 17490
The Amazing Technicolor Cruiser
The tub was rust with tan and aluminum accents, had one grey and one green door and one blue fender.
articulate
Expedition Leader
Ah, KC and his tales . . .
:campfire:
Waffle on the fridge if you must, but for God's sake get the oil in there. Always call it good. Like a passage out of Genesis: On the 403rd day, KC found his FJ60 and called it good.
:campfire:
I'm thinking of throwing my Engel in the back, adding some oil and calling it good.
Waffle on the fridge if you must, but for God's sake get the oil in there. Always call it good. Like a passage out of Genesis: On the 403rd day, KC found his FJ60 and called it good.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
What a wonderful thread 
There must be something in the air. I acquired this little guy yesterday afternoon for an amazingly reasonable sum. It is also one of those "hit or miss" Salt Lake City trucksas far as rust (some are really really bad, some are very good) that is definitely a "hit!". It needs lots of little maintenance items but I think I can bang them out in a day or two and it also has a newer engine, and a bunch of engine power modifications to get better performance out it of it, and some small mods that can either be undone easily or were tastefully done. It is a great little truck and I am ecstatic! Similar era, roll up windows, cloth, bare bones, etc. It is funny to think of myself of almost 30 and this truck really doesn't seem that old to me. But I was 10 then it was built and it was (in every sense, color, etc) was literally one of my dream childhood vehicles.
I wanted to be clear too that the FJ60 Land Cruiser is one of my favorite vehicles of all time, the Land Cruiser that got me into Land Cruisers and the epitome of what a "Land Cruiser" is to me, despite all the variations and models I've owned over the years! This truck was a very close second to a '87 FJ60 that I was also considering! But passed on because of the cost of mods and poorer mileage... Very cool regardless, and I love the Wyoming snow storm story!
There must be something in the air. I acquired this little guy yesterday afternoon for an amazingly reasonable sum. It is also one of those "hit or miss" Salt Lake City trucksas far as rust (some are really really bad, some are very good) that is definitely a "hit!". It needs lots of little maintenance items but I think I can bang them out in a day or two and it also has a newer engine, and a bunch of engine power modifications to get better performance out it of it, and some small mods that can either be undone easily or were tastefully done. It is a great little truck and I am ecstatic!
Similar era, roll up windows, cloth, bare bones, etc. It is funny to think of myself of almost 30 and this truck really doesn't seem that old to me. But I was 10 then it was built and it was (in every sense, color, etc) was literally one of my dream childhood vehicles. I wanted to be clear too that the FJ60 Land Cruiser is one of my favorite vehicles of all time, the Land Cruiser that got me into Land Cruisers and the epitome of what a "Land Cruiser" is to me, despite all the variations and models I've owned over the years! This truck was a very close second to a '87 FJ60 that I was also considering! But passed on because of the cost of mods and poorer mileage... Very cool regardless, and I love the Wyoming snow storm story!
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24HOURSOFNEVADA
Expedition Leader
Sweet deal. I think you scored on the better end of it.
24HOURSOFNEVADA
Expedition Leader
dieselcruiserhead said:What a wonderful thread
There must be something in the air. I acquired this little guy yesterday afternoon for an amazingly reasonable sum. It is also one of those "hit or miss" Salt Lake City trucksas far as rust (some are really really bad, some are very good) that is definitely a "hit!". It needs lots of little maintenance items but I think I can bang them out in a day or two and it also has a newer engine, and a bunch of engine power modifications to get better performance out it of it, and some small mods that can either be undone easily or were tastefully done. It is a great little truck and I am ecstatic!
I wanted to be clear too that the FJ60 Land Cruiser is one of my favorite vehicles of all time, the Land Cruiser that got me into Land Cruisers and the epitome of what a "Land Cruiser" is to me, despite all the variations and models I've owned over the years! This truck was a very close second to a '87 FJ60 that I was also considering! But passed on because of the cost of mods and poorer mileage... Very cool regardless, and I love the Wyoming snow storm story!
I miss my little regular cab 87 that I drove as my second truck in Gerlach. Looks like you scored too A-
