Possible New LC owner

[Lacy Hershey]

Hey guys.

Just recently sold my LJ and now in the market for a Land Cruiser. Is there any model or years to stay away from? Any common problems?


Currently looking at a 95 FJ80 with 153k miles.

 

[DetroitDiesel]

Hey guys.

Just recently sold my LJ and now in the market for a Land Cruiser. Is there any model or years to stay away from? Any common problems?


Currently looking at a 95 FJ80 with 153k miles.

Any Jeep!..........I just bought the same truck same color. I have a thread asking a bunch of questions about 80 series. It's on the second page. That looks clean. Get a good deal and its legit. Does it have lockers? A switch near the steering column to the left.

I know of a 97 with a brand new motor and trans, no rust Florida car for 6 grand. No lockers. Just keep that in mind.

 

[ChuckB]

Hi and welcome!

Start with these links below. Days worth of reading contained within when searching the forums.

80-Series Buyer's Guide

100-Series Buyer's Guide

ih8mud.com - More knowledge than you could absorb in a lifetime!

Could you provide some details on how you intend to use the vehicle (daily drive, rock crawler, long distance exploration, camping, etc.)? This will help the members provide advice on your specific use and what model will suit your needs the best.

 

[calicamper]

Sold my cherry 93 LC in 2011 still miss it!! 154,000 miles second owner lots and lots of records for replacing old LC stuff. Inner front axle seals started to leak around 150K originals! Took it to the local Toyota dealer given prior experience with the LC is that they do need experienced Tech work on some things to do it right!! Turned out to be a good call the new seals were leaking again very very shortly later took it back and gave the very large toyota dealer hell about it. Second time they clearly put their skilled guy on it. You need those seal seats very clean or the new seals will leak again shortly.

We did the valve cover gasket again very leaky messy thing at 130K all down the back side of the block. $700 job dealer did it. Pesky water hose on the heater circuit I did that because no shop would do it!! MAssive pain in the ***!!! Yep we call it the "Pesky Water hose" look it up! Then right before we sold it needed a more modern larger ride - I had to replace all the brake lines and wiring harness started getting issues with the brake system. Took the dealer two weeks to track down the right parts. Not cheap!! Good news it went to a very good home!!

They are not cheap vehicles to run but every time I drove it I had a grin on my face! Awesome rig! just costly to run.

 

[Flagster]

PHH, sluggish (compared to modern motors), and mpgs in the low teens is what first comes to mind... if you are set on an 80 series

 

[calicamper]

Stock rubber I on very rare occasions saw tank averages of 14mpg. With 34inch BFG's we typically saw 12-13mpg.

The replacement ride 07 4.7L V8 Sequoia (NOT AN LC BY ANY MEASURE) we typically see 14-15mpg around town and road trips we run between 16-18mpg pending crap on the roof and speeds etc.

 

[Box Rocket]

I would suggest a '93-'97 with the 1FZ motor rather than the earlier '91-92 with the 3FE. Big power difference (although they are all on the slow side). Full floater axles and rear disc brakes are another plus for the later models. Lockers are great but I wouldn't let the lack of them be a deal breaker. These are fantastic even without lockers IMO. I have a '93 that we wheeled with open diffs for 8+ years through difficult terrain. It did great. I added a rear Aussie locker and that difficult terrain got easier but it was a simple mod.

Some leaks at the valve cover, rear main, and the front axle seals can be common. The distributor o-ring can also leak. The PHH is a worthwhile preventative maintenance item to safeguard your cooling system.