cruiseroutfit said:
one offers a pickup bed and one offers passenger capacity though I think it completely fair to say they can both be outfitted to satisfy the needs of their owners.
This is really the bottom line. As capable and everything as an 80 is, it's not a pickup and will never quite fit if that's what you need. So Kurt is right when he draws that distinction. I personally had a FJ40 and never really clicked with it, too small and cramped in some ways, too much room in others. We never really found the right key to make it work. We came from a Super Cab Ranger to the FJ40 and followed the 40 with a XtraCab pickup, which fits us perfectly. That's why I've owned this one now 9 years and have no desire to replace it. It's important to know, we also don't have kids and I imagine that makes choice of vehicle different.
That said, the T100 will never be as capable as a 80 (or any solid axle Cruiser) because it runs leafs and IFS. The T100 is a hodge podge of parts, sorta the runt kid of the Toyota pickups. With a solid axle fabricated under one, I'm sure they could be pretty capable. But still compared to an 80, not much is as flexy. Personally I don't feel limited by IFS, but I'm just an explorer and not a dedicated rock crawler.
The T100 runs the same IFS as I have and the main advantage IMO to the Hi-Trac IFS is that it's a relatively simple and primarily a stout IFS. It tucks the torsions up high, is reliable, reasonably well protected ball joints and steering. It has a couple of weak points that are easily addressed (idler arm and lower rear frame truss). But it will never flex anywhere near as well as a coil IFS or any solid axle. Once you forget the holy grail of axle articulation and just drive it, it won't matter. It's comfortable on the highway and does OK within it's limitations. Bring an extra CV axle, maybe an extra upper and lower ball joint and it won't strand you under typical overland use.
I would look for the 3.4L ones at the end of their production or get one with a 3.0L and do the 3.4L swap (easier starting with a V6). Although I'm sure the 2.7L 4 cylinder is OK, couldn't be any worse than my truck with a 22R-E. But it's slow, don't expect miracles. Other swaps might be possible, there is a bit more room under the hood compared to the mini trucks like mine. So if they can fit in a 4.3L Vortec V6, small block Chevy, etc in a mini truck, then I'm sure it's possible to do with a T100.
