Tired of Old Junk but no Interest in Newer 4x4s
- Thread starter Ozark_Prowler
- Start date
Ozark_Prowler
Active member
It’s not hard necessarily, but it can be a drain in your time and energy. A lot of the jobs are really fiddly and time-consuming, and they never seem to go off without a hitch.
Right now I’ve got an upper pan seal leak which is a bit over my head, and the apartment parking lot isnt a conducive environment for jobs like that, or a top end rebuild for that matter.
Also J80 parts are famously expensive compared to other models.
Ozark_Prowler
Active member
I thought most farmers usually had debt equalling or exceeding that though, and that might go for many business owners too, but I could be wrong.
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
I feel this. Had an '02 Ford Escape 4WD version and honestly loved it as a DD. In 2017, it drove better and looked better than it did when it came off the assembly line. However, every couple of months a little rattle would start or a slight clunk. Quick fix maybe but it was inevitable. Eventually, things just kept wearing out.
Although this is, usually, the cheapest method of car ownership, it gets old quickly. That being said... if it was a J80 or old 4Runner, XJ, or somthing cool, I'd have kept it.
As things wore out, I upgraded them so it was kind of like a rebounding positive stock curve.
Driving satisfaction goes up because it's old and cool, then a problem, it drops quickly and severely, then I fix it with a better part, and I'm even higher than I was before the dip.
Having just finished a 5-year car note and finally owning my Jeep, I will say that I don't want to ever go back into owing money on a car. Although I was always right side up and was able to drive my (at the time) dream car before I could fully afford it, downtimes and budget squeezes made the car payment just another constant lingering worry.
Todd n Natalie
OverCamper
Agreed. And this was a nice clean yellow '03 Supercharged, leather, etc... I was sad to see it go. But the repair cost wasn't justified as it was 100% of the value of the truck itself.
rruff
Explorer
Not the ones with any business sense. The only one I knew who had that problem was one of my uncles... but he was a consumer addict and greedy. He bought a lake house, boats, jetskis and other stuff... and too much land when the price boomed in the early 80s... and he couldn't make the payments later. My Dad started by renting (which is typical) and slowly bought land over time. He actually bought 80 acres when things were booming, but it wasn't so much that he had to go bankrupt or suffer financially. All of it was paid off well before he retired.
It's tougher now because land and grain are priced for large corporate operations. Most small farmers start with another job that they rely on, and usually never get to the point where farming is full time. One guy would need to farm 2,000 acres I think to make a good living... that's >$20M in land! You have to start by just renting, and there can be quite a bit of competition for that job, since there is a big glut of people who'd like to farm relative to the demand.
It's similar with most businesses. If you start small and slowly add to it, you'll be fine. Let your business success drive growth rather than try to force it with big loans and dreams of being rich.
nickw
Adventurer
You can still get the Ram Tradesman 2500/3500's with the manual Tcase lever.....
nickw
Adventurer
I don't totally disagree, but you need to define things better and figure out use case....but based on your post you are mixing qualitative & quantitavie requirements. When you say things like "its not fun", "doesn't do it for me" or "doesn't interest me"...you are getting away from modern rigs that may in fact suit your need but you just don't want them, fair enough, you need to like them....but from a practical perspective, they may work.
You need to figure out the quantitiative aspects of need:
Payload capacity
Towing capacity
fuel range / MPG
vehicle size
suv vs truck
affordability
resale
reliability (difficult to ascertain)
repairability
durability
capability
etc.
Once you do that it's a simple matter of lining up the rigs that fit with no emotion involved - the answer may very well be an older truck or a Subaru.
Manual transmissions are cool - but I don't think nowadays they are an advantage, reliability or fuel mileag wise, like they used to be. Manual x-fer cases are same thing, a few rigs still have them, but in some cases you still have front diff disconnects which mean it's still reliant on electronics or vaccuum lines to operate which defeats the point IMO (Tacomas used to be this way).
As far as SUV's are concerned, I think the Bronco hits the most check boxes for most, qualitiative and quantitative, manul trans with granny gear, robust platform, factory warranty, big tires, IFS for better ride, excellent engine, priced reasonably. Front end issues? They are making a Dana44 upgrade, but unless you are really rock crawling I don't think the stock stuff is in trouble and it's light years better then anything Subaru has. Nothing wrong with Jeeps either, really preference but I like the Bronco platform a bit better.
You can step up to a Ram 2500 platform, n/a gas engine, manual tcase, you can get manual hubs for it, full float rear axle, HD front axle, 8 speed trans, 15-18 mpg, 3000+ payload for mid $40k, you are in the mid $50's with tire / wheel upgrade, front bumper + winch and a rear locker....nothing wrong with that! Ford platform is good too but you lose option for manual Tcase and they tend to be in the low $50's off dealer lots.
Fishenough
Creeper
For almost a year search the Japanese auctions for a 80 LC, but beside finding my desired spec being impossible, all came with slushboxes. I was searching for a 1HD with a manual. Bought a 01 Hilux Surf, that has been used hard for 2 years and cost me nothing outside of upgrades and service. The same time the Toyota landed, Canada, a local company was advertising rebuilt injection pumps for the big diesel Toyota, at exactly the same amount as the Surf's cost landed plus new tires and shocks. Yikes. And I still want an 80 series one.
Understand your pain, I had a 2016 Tacoma for 2 years, I did not like how the underside wasn't aging well on a vehicle that I didn't offroad, but covered many dirt road miles. My 2010 F150 was better stock and I am a Toyota fan boy
Good luck!
Ozark_Prowler
Active member
Yea I can’t stand autos but I made an exception for the FZJ80 because of the solid axle and beefy frame which doesn’t seem to be nearly as rust prone as Tacomas or 4Runners of the same vintage. I think at the end of the day I’d still rather be in a manual Tacoma or 4Runner though.
An older solid axle mini truck seems like the perfect balance between the toughness of the LC and nimbleness of the Tacoma. A 3rz or 5vz swap in one of those would be sweet.
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billiebob
Well-known member
New vehicles are far more hassle. At least with old vehicles the hassles are all predictable and avoidable with a proper maintenance budget. But the issues with new vehicles are often a computer geek malfunction that puts you in limp mode when everything mechanical is perfect. If you have a carb and it goes into limp mode..... drain the sediment bowl.
You talk all around it but there is only 1 vehicle readily available that is as low tech as it gets, available in 2or 4 door and manual. Plus the roof comes off.
2013-2018 , choose your trim level from no ac and roll up windows all the way ‘to leather blue tooth and lockers front and rear. Buy a sport and add your own lockers if those new dangled electronic ones are too new age for you. (Only been in about 20 million vehicles of all makes for the last 20-30 years)
I just sold my 13 4 door sport s, MT, LSD for a low mile mint 2015 rubicon
But my sport did have power windows and ac so that would not fit your Luddite model.
95k trouble free miles and drove and shifted like a truck from the 60s.
2013-2018 , choose your trim level from no ac and roll up windows all the way ‘to leather blue tooth and lockers front and rear. Buy a sport and add your own lockers if those new dangled electronic ones are too new age for you. (Only been in about 20 million vehicles of all makes for the last 20-30 years)
I just sold my 13 4 door sport s, MT, LSD for a low mile mint 2015 rubicon
But my sport did have power windows and ac so that would not fit your Luddite model.
95k trouble free miles and drove and shifted like a truck from the 60s.
Todd n Natalie
OverCamper
Maybe the JK's are better. But the TJ I owned was one of the worst vehicles I've owned. Maybe mine was a lemon?
rruff
Explorer
I think his point is that they are low tech... not that they are reliable.
Ozark_Prowler
Active member
I thought the TJs were supposed to be better with that bombproof 4.0 straight six, kind of like a 3FE but more power. Sure the Dana 30s aren't great, but there's not that much to go wrong on one of those.