NightMares
Senior Member
So I'm going to push back my engine install a few weeks. I was going to shoot for around or just after Christmas, but now I'm going to wait until after the first of this next year. Reason being, after months of trying to figure out a daily driver that I still tinker on, I finally decided I know what I want.
The holidays are preventing me from wanting to leave the state at the moment, we've been slammed at the shop on top of obvious family time, but I've browsed the entire northwest ranging from Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and northern California. Prices aren't changing, and the vehicle I'm after isn't really easy to find, nor is it cheap for what it is.
I'm after a Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series. It offers 3rd row for the kids, reliable, and it's a new project I can tinker on same as the Dodge, only a little more daily driver friendly.
I'd prefer a FZJ80, which is the 93-97 that has the 4.5 rather than the 4.0, as it produces more power and parts are easier to find for it. I'd also, again, prefer a 95-97 for the interior comfort, along with air bags for obvious reasons.
Everything I'm finding around my area, they're all ranging from 5k to 10k and are usually somewhat a mess. Northern California has some really nice ones, but prices on those are ranging between 10k to 30k (no, not a typo).
For whatever reason, while browsing craigslist, they are all over the place in Los Angelos, most in better condition than those further north, and prices range from 2500 to 5k for 95-97's loaded with leather and under 200k on the odometer.
So, after we settle down from the holidays, I'm planning on taking a round trip on a plane, I'll spend a weekend down there looking at quite a few of them, then make an offer on the one I want and hopefully leave a deposit, if not might have to pay in full, then fly back. Following weekend, I'll load up the family in either the Tundra, or a different tow rig, we'll drive down to LA and pick it up, then do some California sight seeing while down there.
With picking one of these up, plans for the Ram will slightly differ now. I won't be AS focused on an expo vehicle. I'll still do the bed rack and probably a roof top tent, but I'm thinking I'll make the FJ80 a little more overlandish and keep the Ram on a trail rig level.
FJ80 being a DD, it'll stay a little more leveled back from the Ram, more so probably a 2.5" OME lift, 17's on 35's, ARB bumper and winch, snorkel, then I'll probably throw a Front Runner rack on top and for the most part call it's modifications good for the time being. Sometime a year or two down the road, I'll invest in a rear bumper with everything on it, but that takes my budget up a little more than I want to spend. I'll add accessories to the rack, but keep the vehicle modifications to a minimum.
One thing I love about the 80 Series, is they hold their value, and the value actually seems to go up with the aftermarket parts on it, unlike my Dodge. There's some fairly hammered, but built similar to how I want it, selling for 18-20k. Pricing out my stuff, I can keep it around 5k mark for upgrades, then always have the option of making about 50% back in the investment if I ever decided to part ways with it.
But here's some photo's that represent kind of the look I'm after with this project.
This one is more or less what I would want it to look like.
The holidays are preventing me from wanting to leave the state at the moment, we've been slammed at the shop on top of obvious family time, but I've browsed the entire northwest ranging from Idaho, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and northern California. Prices aren't changing, and the vehicle I'm after isn't really easy to find, nor is it cheap for what it is.
I'm after a Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series. It offers 3rd row for the kids, reliable, and it's a new project I can tinker on same as the Dodge, only a little more daily driver friendly.
I'd prefer a FZJ80, which is the 93-97 that has the 4.5 rather than the 4.0, as it produces more power and parts are easier to find for it. I'd also, again, prefer a 95-97 for the interior comfort, along with air bags for obvious reasons.
Everything I'm finding around my area, they're all ranging from 5k to 10k and are usually somewhat a mess. Northern California has some really nice ones, but prices on those are ranging between 10k to 30k (no, not a typo).
For whatever reason, while browsing craigslist, they are all over the place in Los Angelos, most in better condition than those further north, and prices range from 2500 to 5k for 95-97's loaded with leather and under 200k on the odometer.
So, after we settle down from the holidays, I'm planning on taking a round trip on a plane, I'll spend a weekend down there looking at quite a few of them, then make an offer on the one I want and hopefully leave a deposit, if not might have to pay in full, then fly back. Following weekend, I'll load up the family in either the Tundra, or a different tow rig, we'll drive down to LA and pick it up, then do some California sight seeing while down there.
With picking one of these up, plans for the Ram will slightly differ now. I won't be AS focused on an expo vehicle. I'll still do the bed rack and probably a roof top tent, but I'm thinking I'll make the FJ80 a little more overlandish and keep the Ram on a trail rig level.
FJ80 being a DD, it'll stay a little more leveled back from the Ram, more so probably a 2.5" OME lift, 17's on 35's, ARB bumper and winch, snorkel, then I'll probably throw a Front Runner rack on top and for the most part call it's modifications good for the time being. Sometime a year or two down the road, I'll invest in a rear bumper with everything on it, but that takes my budget up a little more than I want to spend. I'll add accessories to the rack, but keep the vehicle modifications to a minimum.
One thing I love about the 80 Series, is they hold their value, and the value actually seems to go up with the aftermarket parts on it, unlike my Dodge. There's some fairly hammered, but built similar to how I want it, selling for 18-20k. Pricing out my stuff, I can keep it around 5k mark for upgrades, then always have the option of making about 50% back in the investment if I ever decided to part ways with it.
But here's some photo's that represent kind of the look I'm after with this project.
This one is more or less what I would want it to look like.