buying a rangie

[RV80]

ok im looking at pushing my current ride aside
and getting a rangie. what should i be looking out for any real problems? weak links? im guessing
around an early 80's model. any help would be great.

[rovernut]

depending on what you want 2 or 4 door, 4 or 5 speed i'd say the 1985 phase 11 rangie was a vast improvement on the earlier model improvements included

-lt77 5 speed manual (was not known for it's strength though but should have been rebuilt by now, the older 4 speeds are pretty well bullet proof but arent as refined.
-mechanical difflock instead of vacume operated
-central locking
-fuse box was inreased from 3 to 15 fuses
-one piece front door glass (no quarter window on door)
-fully adjustable seats
-improved dash layout

then the fuel injected 3.5l was introduced in 1986 and again alot better than the old carby version

the axles on all these models were not know for there strenght only 10 spline they were upgraded in 93 to 24 spline

the rangies outer panels are aluminium but the footwells and firewall are not and are know to rust if they've had alot of beach work

The rangie is still and will always be a highly capable offroader and will mix it with the best of what you can buy these days with only very minor mods. They do require a bit more attention than your average Jap 4wd , parts are easy to source and aplenty all over the country the only drwbacks are the fuel consumption of the V8 but alot have been converted to gas these days, the body roll around corners (whch can be easily fixed with a stiffer set of springs or rollbars of a discovery) other than that do your homework scan the local trading post and find out what you want.