Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I'm in the market for a good diesel 80 series cruiser to chop into a dual cab for work and play, but they all have 250000+ Kms on them with a premium price tag to match. I have found a decent looking 94 GXL petrol (4.5 twin cam) with low Kms for a good price but want some advice on what the petrol donk is like?
1. Are they a thirsty motor as the truck will tow my work trailer day to day and our camper trailer for touring.
2. What sort of Litres per 100Km do they use.
3. Are they a strong motor for out back touring (don't want to in be a remote area with an unreliable truck)
4. Do they have any inherent problems?
5. Is there anything in particular i should be looking for?

All so who in the Brisbane area does dual cab conversions other then Creative Conversions?

comments made are from what I've read or heard
you usually don't cut up a "good"unit into a dual cab!
Unless $$$ are not an issue.

1. thirsty = yes.
Towing = good
2. don't know
3. haven't heard of any major issues
4.
5.
Last one! On track 4WD Centre Moss St
cheers

what sort of $$ are you talking

SASS wrote:I'm in the market for a good diesel 80 series cruiser to chop into a dual cab for work and play, but they all have 250000+ Kms on them with a premium price tag to match. I have found a decent looking 94 GXL petrol (4.5 twin cam) with low Kms for a good price but want some advice on what the petrol donk is like?
1. Are they a thirsty motor as the truck will tow my work trailer day to day and our camper trailer for touring.
2. What sort of Litres per 100Km do they use.
3. Are they a strong motor for out back touring (don't want to in be a remote area with an unreliable truck)
4. Do they have any inherent problems?
5. Is there anything in particular i should be looking for?

All so who in the Brisbane area does dual cab conversions other then Creative Conversions?

1. Yes they are Thirsty but an LPG conversion will help your pocket on this.
2. My 96 4.5 got 16L per 100K around town. Never got it out on the highway for a good run. They only get worse when towing. But they will tow with little effort.
3. They do not suffer from any real reliability issues.
4. Keep the Toyota Genuine Coolant up to them and keep on top of the services and they will do 500K+ without putting a spanner to them. Mine had almost 400K on it and still ran like new.
5. Try and find one with LPG. Check how much play there is in the front drive line. Generally its just the spline on the outside of the CV and the drive flange that wear and cause excessive play. And this is easily fixed with a new set of CVs and drive flanges wich are both available cheap aftermarket.

The one i am looking at is $17000 with 120000kms. All the low km (under 250000kms) diesels are $25000+, doesnt leave much for the chop. My budget is $25000 all up. Im not interested in a hilux or other available dual cabs as they are too small inside, Im 6foot 6inch, and $25000 doesnt buy much of a hilux.

sounds like a bit expensive for it age

SASS wrote:The one i am looking at is $17000 with 120000kms. All the low km (under 250000kms) diesels are $25000+, doesnt leave much for the chop..

does it need to have a chop straight away? Why not buy the truck you want, then save up to do the chop later.. If you spend more, you will end up with a better result, and long term, you will be happier.

SASS wrote:The one i am looking at is $17000 with 120000kms. All the low km (under 250000kms) diesels are $25000+, doesnt leave much for the chop. My budget is $25000 all up. Im not interested in a hilux or other available dual cabs as they are too small inside, Im 6foot 6inch, and $25000 doesnt buy much of a hilux.

I dont know, I have seen a lot of good diesel 80s for a lot less than 25 grand. have even seen good turbo diesels for under 20. I saw a reasonable 1hz diesel with approx 280- 300 ks go for 8,000.

I dont know the answers to your other questions but PM 2Dextreme off here. He does nice dual cab conversions.

Well i don't know if anyone has been following whats available on the QLD market right now but it is very expensive. Every yard i have been to have said the same thing, they cant get any Diesels at the moment (no mater what make or model), no one is selling them or trading them hence the premium price tags (one yard had 6 petrol cruisers and 1 diesel that was sold).

As for a diesel cruiser with 280 - 300 thousand kms that is way more kms then i am ready to consider. This truck once i do the chop is going to have to last me long while (kids on the way, starting a new business, ect) as money will be tight. A truck with that many Kms is bound to have issues. Yes i understand that the diesel donk is good for 500 thou+ if well maintained but Gearboxes, Transfers, Diffs, Seals and Bearings are all open to abuse and with that many kms on them it's only a matter of time before they pop.

This truck will be for work, play and touring. Id prefer a truck with a Km range between 100 - 200 thou MAX as i plan to do a lot of travel in it.

Please tell me if you think i am being naive but as i said this truck has to last me, be 100% reliable for work and play and come in under budget of $25000.

Please keep the advice coming!
Cheers
SASS

How thirsty is thirsty?

How many Litres per 100km's?

Ruff said 16L/100km, that is what my current hilux gets with no load on around town!

I don't think that is too thirsty!!

Can anyone else give me any Litres/100km figures?

What could you expect out of a diesel?

Is the difference that great when we are paying more at the pump for diesel anyway?

Cheers
Sass

greetings

just thought i would throw my $0.20 worth in as i to am looking for a Cruiser

the $17000 for an 80 series petrol is a little on the expensive side even with only 120Km on the dial, you can have an early 100 series for that money with the same or less km's

i am looking for a cheap diesel or V8 Petrol with a 5 speed auto as it will only get driven 5 or 6 times a year pulling a 3200Kg trailer & will be left sitting the rest of the time

regards
rod

Anyone else have any litres/100km figures?

A stock one running empty down the highway will return about 15 - 16 litres to the 100.
Mine running 35's and towing say 3t while sitting on 110 - 120 will return about 29 litres to the 100.
So depending on tyre size, towed weight, speed etc you will get figures any where in between that.

I've just put mine on gas, haven't finished the install yet so can't tell you what it does on gas. But can tell you the $2000 grant from the government is great Hoping we finish it before Friday as I'm driving it to shep and back.

If your only going to cut it into a dual cab why not go to the auctions and buy a damaged one?

Not quite the same, but a mate has a 2000 100 series with a dualcab conversion with a 4.5petrol auto. He tows a 2t trailer for work every day and he gets about 350km per main tank. Not sure how big the tank is though, I'm guessing it equates to about 25-30L/100km. He's got a bit of a heavy right foot though. I'm not sure if gas is the way to go if you are doing a lot of towing, because on my gu patrol 4.5 petrol, around town and driving easy it uses around 15-20% more gas than ulp but on the sand(ie. under load) the lpg consumption goes right up so the cost is only marginally better than ulp. Hope that makes sense.

hi ive got a 2000 100 series wagon with 90000 kms and adveraged 460kms towing a 6x4 trailer with a cage on it,from ipswich to surat,....then got 260 on sub tank with 4 people in wagon no trailer.. thinking of selling as wife has troulble getting into it lol looking around $28,500 reg till 6/08 3yr warranty rwc log books ect white in colour 8 seater gxl

main tank holds 90ltrs sub 50 ltrs

Another thing to consider on lower k 80 series petrols is things like the valve stem seals. My mates dad's got a 97 model and its only done around 120k and had to get the valve stem's done as was getting quite smoky...cost bit under $2000 I'm led to believe. Tows very well though and great car but yes quite thirsty on the fuel.

Also have a look on carsales etc. for cars in NSW, VIC and SA, they are substantially cheaper down there (especially NSW) and QLD is the only state at the moment where 4wd sales are still very high, hence higher demand. I just bought my new GU but was considering interstate as the savings are significant on the same car and the cost of a plane ticket these days is stuff all.

1. Are they a thirsty motor as the truck will tow my work trailer day to day and our camper trailer for touring.

Thirsty yes compared to diesel. You can't compare the two, but it will have the power though.

2. What sort of Litres per 100Km do they use.

About 23-25l/p 100 depending on how heavy the trailer is

I spend a wad a cash getting the power & economy out of mine but mine is auto. Mine is around 18/20 l/p 100 with a dove jayco on the back

3. Are they a strong motor for out back touring (don't want to in be a remote area with an unreliable truck)

Very strong IMO. I have reved the bickies outta mine and no problems. Again good maintenance is the key.

4. Do they have any inherent problems?

The motor. not really

5. Is there anything in particular i should be looking for?

Yeah, the auctions. MIne is a 96 model and I paid 9K for it. all electric etc. He is dreaming at $17000.

SASS wrote:Anyone else have any litres/100km figures?

On petrol I get about 25/100km's and on LPG I get around 30l/100kms (both running around town). On a country run, the LPG usage drops to around 24l/100km's. I've got a 2" lift with 285/75/16 BFG M/T's.

I had (up until 2 years ago) a '92 GXL on gas (110 L gas tank - looked like a bull dog from behind). Same as EMO I usually got around 25/100 km on Gas and a bit better on Petrol.
The thing was an absolute rocket ship though. Could keep up with most things on the road and great for overtaking on long trips with the camper on the back.
Only issue we had was with the gearbox wearing 1st and 2nd (rebuild was $5K plus clutch, etc.). My brothers a mechanic and he seems to think it was a pretty common thing after about 150K km.

I'm driving a GQ now (Maverick) and gotta say sometimes miss the luxuries of the 80 (more of a car inside - dash, elec windows, mirrors, etc.).

That said the Mav is a diesel and I love it for that fact alone. If I was in your position I'd be looking for a diesel 80.

I flogged the piss out of one for about 200 thou kms then gave it to my dad who still has it (just came back from the cape - again). Expect an average of about 19l per hundred - more for towing.

Reliability wise -

1. they don't like too much water over the engine - they'll start missing and farting.

2. the little plastic manual gearstick connector thingo in the gearbox will flog out and snap over lots and lots of corrugations.

3. rear seat power windows can fall off the slides (Easy fix - don't use them)

4. elec power mirrors undo from the actuator arm sometimes.

That is the sum total of 400000 kms on that particular vehicle. Motor is like a sewing machine (unless it gets very wet) and I'd drive it around oz tomorrow.

Coolant is important as someone said, as is recoring the radiator every 150 odd k's because of the plastic tanks.

Good luck.

$17k is top dollar - I saw an import vx for that the other day with 60k on the clock for $15 and it even came with a genuine tojo slide out kitchen and sink in the back, not to mention fact lockers, sunroof, fridge thingo, and 70's pornstar brown velour trim.

Our 80 gets 15 ltr per 100kms on the highway
20-22 around town
20-22 towing the buggy about 3-3.5 tonne fully loaded
Yes get the radiator done they now do a multi fit with a good tank
I agree they dont like water on the engine cleaned it & it runs likecrap for 10 mins
But a great 4b
We paid $9300 for a genuine 1 owner 160 000kms one in imackulate condition never been off road. Was very lucky thou
Cheers Dan

Yeah we paid $19,500 for our's about 5 or 6 years ago. It had about 180,000kms on it then. I wouldn't pay over 11g MAX for the same thing now.

Oh yeah, the rear wheel bearings like a bit of extra care every 100K or so depending what you're doing with it.

C.J.

And there's a dicky friggin heater hose coming out of the very rear of the motor that no-one ever checks but will leave you up the ditch when its perished.

Don't get me wrong, good motor etc, just trying to send on some hard earned (read expensive)info.

nabstud wrote:Not quite the same, but a mate has a 2000 100 series with a dualcab conversion with a 4.5petrol auto. He tows a 2t trailer for work every day and he gets about 350km per main tank. Not sure how big the tank is though, I'm guessing it equates to about 25-30L/100km. He's got a bit of a heavy right foot though. I'm not sure if gas is the way to go if you are doing a lot of towing, because on my gu patrol 4.5 petrol, around town and driving easy it uses around 15-20% more gas than ulp but on the sand(ie. under load) the lpg consumption goes right up so the cost is only marginally better than ulp. Hope that makes sense.

I get 350ks out of half a main tank (1hz)


I hunted around for awhile and found a HZJ105R solid front end i got it for $24,000 2004 model with 120,000ks on the clock. i had a budget of $35,000 and with the extra $11,000 i had dale fron http://www.2dextremefabrications.com.au/ do the dual cab conversion, supply and fit 3" susp kit, custom made rock/side step, and make a dual cab hilux tray fit my cruiser and i am still $1,000 under budjet till my wheels arive.

I picked p a 98 100 series 6 months ago for $16,000. Had 245,000km's on the clock but had a few extras. It's a 4.5L petrol and I get just over 400km's out of the main 90L tank.
The way I look at it is you are going to pay around $5000 to $10,000 more for a desiel of the same model and then you are going to pay 10cents more per litre. To get the close to the same power as a petrol you will have to put on turbo another $3500.
So I think stick to a petrol and you can't go wrong.
Forgot to mention that it is alot cheaper to fix a blowen petrol than desiel.

My 2cents

my hungy (100 series 4.5 petty auto) gets anywhere from 20 to 30 litres per hundred depending on use..... so yes thirsty but power on tap makes up for that..

Gday
The 4.5 is a nice cruuiser to drive...like a car..plenty of go, smooth, the 95 and later are the best models to gas up but all of them gas well...To tow, they start drinking 25-30l/100 but around town, mine got constant 20's auto. Highway got 16 at best.
Now, proe wise, you can buy petrol 100's for 20k, you can buy 4.2 turbo diesel gu's for 25...2002 + it would have to be a nice 80 for 17...have a look in the classifieds section of www.lcool.org/forum