Series 80 questions

[holl]

I'm new to the land cruisers and am more familiar with GM products. BUT am looking at a series 80 LC that is unmolested and rust free . (not sure what year it is...) my only real criteria are that it have air bags and fuel injection.
I'm interested in putting some TLC/paint/ into the truck not so much modifying it for off road. Realizing this may be a "blondes vs brunette" kind of question, but are there years to stay away from?
Can you point me to forums that mainly deal with restoration, maintenance, electrical repairs and such?
what about availability of interior trim, molding, reproduction parts. From the little research I've done to date, it seems the 45, 60 and 62s have a lot of repro parts out there. And not so much for the 80s

TIA

 

[MANUCHAO]

Other way around
80 parts are readily available... earlier LC models not so much..
Checkout IH8MUD.COM
there is an 80 series section..
I would be looking at the '95 to '97 year production... with OEM lockers..

Good luck..!!

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Slee Off road has a buyers guild on their site with a bunch of great info.

 

[Oilbrnr]

Slee Off road has a buyers guild on their site with a bunch of great info.

How do you get on their guild? Do you need to be nominated?

 

[calicamper]

I'm new to the land cruisers and am more familiar with GM products. BUT am looking at a series 80 LC that is unmolested and rust free . (not sure what year it is...) my only real criteria are that it have air bags and fuel injection.
I'm interested in putting some TLC/paint/ into the truck not so much modifying it for off road. Realizing this may be a "blondes vs brunette" kind of question, but are there years to stay away from?
Can you point me to forums that mainly deal with restoration, maintenance, electrical repairs and such?
what about availability of interior trim, molding, reproduction parts. From the little research I've done to date, it seems the 45, 60 and 62s have a lot of repro parts out there. And not so much for the 80s

TIA

93/94’s got the 4spd AT early 93’s and older had the 3 spd AT.
Lots of info on the cruiser forums
Keep the knuckles greased!
And be aware they go through brake pads like a 3
Yr old eats candy.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

How do you get on their guild? Do you need to be nominated?

Senator Cramer is not alone with a problem with auto-correct

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

93/94’s got the 4spd AT early 93’s and older had the 3 spd AT.
Lots of info on the cruiser forums
Keep the knuckles greased!
And be aware they go through brake pads like a 3
Yr old eats candy.

Check you source all 80 series had 4 speed there were different model but all 4 speed.
Slee Buyers Guild provides a good overview.

 

[calicamper]

Check you source all 80 series had 4 speed there were different model but all 4 speed.
Slee Buyers Guild provides a good overview.

7 yrs in a very late 93 basically a 94. Yeah ok?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

7 yrs in a very late 93 basically a 94. Yeah ok?

Well kinda, no Land Cruiser has ever had a 3 speed automatic all 4speed

 

[toylandcruiser]

7 yrs in a very late 93 basically a 94. Yeah ok

Even the fj62 was a 4 speed.

 

[1Goat]

Some of the 80's came with triple lockers (front, center and rear).
Google LCCSA. Plenty of information there.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

 

[babybluebeast]

you cant go wrong with any year of the 80 series. They are build to be bullet proof reliable. The only issue you will find is that most of the ones for sale for less than $8-10K have been neglected due to how reliable they are and will need maintenance immediately to get them back to a reliable state. I actually prefer 93 & 94 to the later years. Not only does it have the better looking "Toyota" grill, but it also has the 442F transmission was sourced from a bus and is way overkill for the platform. Only problems you will ever get from it will be a broken kick down cable or solenoid failures. Both are relatively easy and inexpensive fixes. 95 and later utilize the 343 transmission that was shared with all the other light duty trucks Toyota made during that time period and even carried over to the 100 series land cruiser for the first few years. It too is a good transmission, however i prefer the 442.

I am biased however. I have a triple locked 1993 FZJ80.......

 

[HiLuxer]

I second IH8MUD for the forum to check out. Plenty of deep, useful info and then some and is the best one around.

 

[rock_shoes]

Some of the 80's came with triple lockers (front, center and rear).
Google LCCSA. Plenty of information there.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

The OEM lockers are great but I wouldn't get too hung up on them. Many of the OEM locked 80's have been wheeled hard and it wasn't a terribly common option in North America. I would focus more on finding the cleanest example possible as a base to start from. If you find you want lockers there are great options from both ARB and Harrop (you can even wire the Harrop using a factory switch for that OEM look).

Do not for any reason buy a gas version with the 3FE engine. The 3FE is ultra reliable but woefully under-powered for the 80 series chassis. The 1FZFE supplies adequate power, but don't expect it to blow your hair back or pass too many gas stations. If you're willing to pay the import diesel premium, holy hell they're good (one drive and you'll be mad as all get out Toyota didn't bring the 1HD-T/1HD-FT/1HD-FTE to North America).

Like many vehicles the 80 gradually became more refined. By the last model year sold in North America it had OBDII, a full-float rear axle, rear disc brakes, ABS, optional front/rear lockers, and a Lexus version. The LX450 is a thinly veiled 80 series and in every respect equal to the Toyota branded versions. Sometimes you can get a better deal on an LX450 because the seller doesn't know what it is. Personally I went for an unlocked 1997 LX450 because it was the cleanest version I could find at the time.

As others have mentioned the Slee guide is a great overview of these unique vehicles.

 

[nickw]

I'm new to the land cruisers and am more familiar with GM products. BUT am looking at a series 80 LC that is unmolested and rust free . (not sure what year it is...) my only real criteria are that it have air bags and fuel injection.
I'm interested in putting some TLC/paint/ into the truck not so much modifying it for off road. Realizing this may be a "blondes vs brunette" kind of question, but are there years to stay away from?
Can you point me to forums that mainly deal with restoration, maintenance, electrical repairs and such?
what about availability of interior trim, molding, reproduction parts. From the little research I've done to date, it seems the 45, 60 and 62s have a lot of repro parts out there. And not so much for the 80s

TIA

Regarding parts availability, best thing is to sign up on IH8Mud.com and ask in this thread:

The Ultimate 80 Series Parts Discontinued Thread

Which is cool, but easily circumvented stuff And?

forum.ih8mud.com

Some things are available, some things are NLA and some things are a PITA to source but you can find them. Best just post in that thread linked if you need anything and see what the pros say. It would drive me a bit crazy that I can't just drive down to Toyota and get stuff but some guys have the patience. I think the 80's are in kinda of that middle ground, not 'vintage' enough to have repro parts but old enough it can be difficult to get some stuff...