What's my First Love going to be? Land Cruiser or Land Rover?

[jknobler]

Thank you. All of you. You've been supportive and helpful. Thank you for all your insight into this, and helping me out.

My ideas for my rig are pretty simple. Suspension lift for bigger tires, skid plates on the vitals, rock sliders, lockers (not sure if they should be air, electric, or "auto"), bull bar with a winch, roof rack, something to act as a rear end recovery, maybe fabricating my own hitch to with a step in place of the ball to heal getting up to the roof rack, snorkel, maybe some new paint (white or black), new audio, radio instal.

That's basically all that I'm looking at doing... I'm sure the list will grow as well. I've left it pretty generic, seeing as I don't actually have any vehicle sitting in my driveway.

 

[dallen341]

Sounds like a short week @ $100

Can you afford to spend $100 a week on gas?

 

[kletzenklueffer]

You touched on somthing that shouldn't be overlooked. You could always get the FJ80 for a play truck and get a Toyota Corolla (near 40mpg and still Toyota reliability) for a daily driver. The money you save in gas can go to the TLC.

And hoods are cheap.

 

[jknobler]

I mean I could pick up a Corolla for say $1500, and it'll go for a while at 40 mpg. Then I can run with the extra money for the TLC for play on the weekends.

I think I could also talk my parents into covering the insurance for a Corolla, if I buy it and the gas. I'll cover insurance for the Cruiser (on top of buying it and covering the gas).

I figured that hoods would be cheap too.

 

[pfran42]

Btw, the price on that 80 was for one day only. I wonder if someone else picked it up.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[jknobler]

I don't think so. But $3k still isn't a bad price. I mean if the guy is throwing in the tires, and the bull bar with the truck it seems like a pretty good deal. So long as it checks out, of course. With any luck he lives in a state that I have a friend or family in so they can check it out for me.

Worst case, he doesn't throw in the BB and we drop the price. If he does throw it in, I take it, and if I don't like it I sell it.

 

[pfran42]

That is not a bull bar, it is a damage multiplier. That would be the first thing I would rip off the vehicle upon taking delivery. I hate those things. One minor fender-bender and instead of having to just replace the bumper, you have to replace the lights and the grille as well.

This is an aftermarket winch bumper:

This is an aftermarket grille guard (damage multiplier):

This is a nudge bar (also called a bull bar):

 

[jknobler]

Ahhh, obviously I was confused. Thank you for setting me straight on those terms. :smiley_drive:

I'll take it off and sell it then. Or scarp it, or find some purpose for it.
Just as a heads up, the picture of the winch bumper didn't come up, but I know what you're talking about.

 

[scrubber3]

Those last 2 pictures are basically just for the "rugged" look. The nudge bar cannot serve any purpose other than a perfectly good waste of resources. The brush guard has the potential to serve a few minor purposes if used wisely, but as stated it is a damage multiplier and typically just unnecessary weight. Then again, the winch bumper can be a lot of useless weight if it is never used. I.E. mall crawlers and such.

As I say to anyone, just take you time with the modifications and upgrade what you fell needs upgrading as you drive your rig and calculate what is actually needed.

 

[jknobler]

Well considering that I'll have rather limited resources, I'll for sure take my time on it. Things will get on there, but not all at once.

Thanks for that advice, by the way.

 

[98roamer]

I'm looking at getting something that balances low cost of ownership (barring gas), high capability, and cheap to purchase. Depending on what happens with jobs I'll be looking for something between 2K-10K in price. If it's a Jeep, or Toyota, or Mitsubishi, so be it. If it's capable and reliable I don't much care what it is.

If this is the case, a Subaru Outback needs to be on you list, or for a more rugged look an Xterra.

 

[toylandcruiser]

Sounds like a short week @ $100

I don't spend a 100 dollars a week in gas on my fj60. I fill it up about every 2 weeks. That's driving it everyday. Then it takes 70 bucks or so to fill it up.

 

[jknobler]

I don't spend a 100 dollars a week in gas on my fj60. I fill it up about every 2 weeks. That's driving it everyday. Then it takes 70 bucks or so to fill it up.

Well, this is good news, I might be able to get away with driving it every day then.

The outback and the xterra are both nice, but I'd like something a little bit bigger.

 

[kletzenklueffer]

Keep in mind that gas prices aren't likely to drop much if at all. when I was your age, gas was $0.95-$1.10 a gallon. Even then, my 72 Blazer (@ 6mpg) was hard to keep on the road. I don't know how many miles a day you'll be putting down, but I run 50-60 per day and with that, I'm using a tank a week in either my 4Runner or my 80. The difference is that in the 4Runner, that's around $60 a week, and in the TLC that's near $80 a week.

Also, in your job prospect, I ran your calculations ((14hrs day x 6 days/week)x9 weeks)@$10-15hr. That's $7500-11,300, but you didn't figure taxes. Are you working for cash under the table? (don't tell us) If not, don't forget Uncle Sam. he likes his cut. I only bring it up so you consider it in your figures.

 

[jknobler]

If not, don't forget Uncle Sam. he likes his cut. I only bring it up so you consider it in your figures.

Thank you for reminding me. Yeah, the government don't like thieves.... they hate competition. So I guess I'll be making much less than that.

As for daily miles, roughly 18. 8 to school, 4 to the gym, 6 to get home from said gym.