Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi there tojo guys.

Looking at buying a 80 Series cruiser for offroading.
Have had patrols for years and recently sold my GU 4.2 Turbo.
Looking to buy a cheaper 4by that is setup to live in the garage only to come out for club trips.
I have a 15-16K budget.
I like the more room the 80 offers over the GQ Patrol.
Ecomany is not a concern to me - Company Fuel

What Model and engine type is considered the most reliable in the 250K klms +

Most of the 80s in my price range are getting up there in Ks.
I dont have any interest in the long Outback trips, just local High Country trips with the Club.

Regards

Grant.

G'Day mate

I'm a hilux man but do know a little about bruisers.
From what i can gather the 1HD FT or 1HD FT-E motor are the way to go. they are factory turboed and go pretty good apparently.
or you can go the standard 1HZ non turbo and get an aftermarket kit, they go pretty good too. you can even go the 4.5 petrol but they love juice and don't like too much deep water.

Cheers.

Outer Limits Hilux wrote:G'Day mate

I'm a hilux man but do know a little about bruisers.
From what i can gather the 1HD FT or 1HD FT-E motor are the way to go. they are factory turboed and go pretty good apparently.
or you can go the standard 1HZ non turbo and get an aftermarket kit, they go pretty good too. you can even go the 4.5 petrol but they love juice and don't like too much deep water.

Cheers.

What year did the factory turbos come out ie 1HDFT & 1HDFTE.

Cheers

Grant.

If you don't care about fuel, then go the 4.5l no questions. They have buckets of torque and are really robust. Plus, the vehicles are heaps cheaper than the diesels because they're thirsty!

Box is a personal preference, if manual check that it stays in gear when you stab the throttle and check that 5th is quiet and normal.

GUEEY wrote:Hi there tojo guys.

Looking at buying a 80 Series cruiser for offroading.
Have had patrols for years and recently sold my GU 4.2 Turbo.
Looking to buy a cheaper 4by that is setup to live in the garage only to come out for club trips.
I have a 15-16K budget.
I like the more room the 80 offers over the GQ Patrol.
Ecomany is not a concern to me - Company Fuel

What Model and engine type is considered the most reliable in the 250K klms +

Most of the 80s in my price range are getting up there in Ks.
I dont have any interest in the long Outback trips, just local High Country trips with the Club.

Regards

Grant.

Don't do it and certainly don;t do it for a petrol 80. I've heard people getting petrol GU's for that kind of budget. From someone who has gone from a 2003 4.8 Gu to a 90 model 80 series Sahara powered by a 1HD-FTE, I'd rather my GU any day. I went 80 instead of GQ for similar reasons and that the 80 still looks more modern. The 80 is probably OK but I can't see the comparison against a GU if you can get one in that price range and with infrequent driving petrol is probably not a big deal.

1hdfte are 100 series, 1hdt and 1hdft are 80 series. i would not recomend 1hz +turbo, i've got a 1hz+t and a 1hdfte and there is no comparison. the 1hdfte shits on the 1hz+t in every way.

if you can stretch your budget a few grand i'd get a 40th anniversery with the 1hdft........ nice car, Awesome resale.

Stick with patrol you can get a good petrol one for that money and better offroad than 80 and stronger components and youve had em so you know a bit bout them...

anyone would think this was in the nissan forum. haha. damn nissans being good!

fester2au wrote:

GUEEY wrote:Hi there tojo guys.

Looking at buying a 80 Series cruiser for offroading.
Have had patrols for years and recently sold my GU 4.2 Turbo.
Looking to buy a cheaper 4by that is setup to live in the garage only to come out for club trips.
I have a 15-16K budget.
I like the more room the 80 offers over the GQ Patrol.
Ecomany is not a concern to me - Company Fuel

What Model and engine type is considered the most reliable in the 250K klms +

Most of the 80s in my price range are getting up there in Ks.
I dont have any interest in the long Outback trips, just local High Country trips with the Club.

Regards

Grant.

Don't do it and certainly don;t do it for a petrol 80. I've heard people getting petrol GU's for that kind of budget. From someone who has gone from a 2003 4.8 Gu to a 90 model 80 series Sahara powered by a 1HD-FTE, I'd rather my GU any day. I went 80 instead of GQ for similar reasons and that the 80 still looks more modern. The 80 is probably OK but I can't see the comparison against a GU if you can get one in that price range and with infrequent driving petrol is probably not a big deal.

Mate the 80 series is by far the ducks nuts. My mates 1 has 500 000k's on it and he still does skids and burn outs. Very very proven truck. Im selling my V8 GU and getting an 80 series aswell. Ive had a 4.5 cruiser. Cant kill those engines but they do drink. Water is no problems either.

Gu's do have a stronger gear box and drive line. 80 series drive heaps better, with no apparent problems if maintained. Better flex and no 80 shakes from factory.. My bet cruiser all the way. Gu's are slow as shit aswell.

Also can run what ever size rims you like.. Damn crap nissans

GUEEY wrote:Hi there tojo guys.

Looking at buying a 80 Series cruiser for offroading.
Have had patrols for years and recently sold my GU 4.2 Turbo.
Looking to buy a cheaper 4by that is setup to live in the garage only to come out for club trips.
I have a 15-16K budget.
I like the more room the 80 offers over the GQ Patrol.
Ecomany is not a concern to me - Company Fuel

What Model and engine type is considered the most reliable in the 250K klms +

Most of the 80s in my price range are getting up there in Ks.
I dont have any interest in the long Outback trips, just local High Country trips with the Club.

Regards

Grant.

Welcome to the side were the grass is always greener Gueey.
Maybe a name change is in order to show your loyalty to your new brothers
may I suggest Tueey

TheBigBoy wrote:Mate the 80 series is by far the ducks nuts. My mates 1 has 500 000k's on it and he still does skids and burn outs. Very very proven truck. Im selling my V8 GU and getting an 80 series aswell. Ive had a 4.5 cruiser. Cant kill those engines but they do drink. Water is no problems either.

Gu's do have a stronger gear box and drive line. 80 series drive heaps better, with no apparent problems if maintained. Better flex and no 80 shakes from factory.. My bet cruiser all the way. Gu's are slow as shit aswell.

Also can run what ever size rims you like.. Damn crap nissans

Like I said I have already been through the same exercise for financial/practicality reasons and although I own one I still don't see the blind faith in Toyotas and 80 Series. Nothing wrong with a 4.5 petrol Patrol engine, plently fast enough unless you want to enter it into the V8 Supercar series and last time I checked skids and burnouts don't make a good 4wd or are considered socially acceptable these days.

As for no apparent problems if maintained you could say that about most 4wds, however I see heaps of discussion on toyota forums about supposedly maintained vehicles damaging or breaking - steering boxes, front diffs, rear drive hub studs, BEB's, the pesky heater hose on petrols. The swivel hub studs that hold the steering arms on work loose and or break. There are as many things going wrong with Cruisers as apparently go wrong with Patrols but you know in all my years on the Patrol forums I never came away with the sinking feelign that they were fragile yet that is the impression I get from toyota forums.

As far as your comment re having any wheels you like on a 80 series I am totally lost there. The only Nissan you have to watch out with wheels is putting 15's on a 4.8 petrol Patrol all the others will take 15's up, offset is much the same issue with both in that with big rubber and offset you can scrub the guards and damage the flares but I don't recall Nissan guys complaining about tyres damaging the flares. The Cruisers before 93 cannot run 15's so I don't understand your argument about wheels, care to explain.

I reckon my GU was a far more comfortable and smooth ride than this 80 so maybe mines a bit of a dud but others haven't impressed me enough to justify the overinflated prices expected. Not all Nissans shake either ?i've had a GQ and 2 GU that were fine and I have a couple of mates who have no issues either.
At the end of the day it's probably not totaly fair to compare the 80 series vintage to the GU but that is what was wanted here but you know I have ridden in a few 80's and now own one and I would go back to a GU in an instant if I could afford to swap around again.

About the onyl thing I really like about the Toyota is it's diesel engines but by that I'm talking 1HD-FT onwards, don'yt see anything special about 1HD-T or 1HZ's.

I'm not actually trying to say the 80 is particularly bad just that it's not special or really any better or really worth the money some people seem to think they are. Oh and I'm not really a died in the wool Nissan fanatic either.

Oh and Toyota spare parts prices are just absurd.

Oh and Toyota spare parts prices are just absurd. [/quote]

Not when you know me there not.
Going dirrectly to Toyota is ouchey

Some people make some 4x4s sound like they fall apart just driving on the road or at the sight of mud,Mostly youll find they eather hammer the shiiit out of them and or never service them properly.
Go Toyotas,Nissans,Zooks and anything else that can play stuck in the mud

All I wanted was the best 4x4. Worked my way upto the GU. Went about fixing all the problems/things I didnt like about it no matter what the cost. gen 3 V8 etc.. because those engines are slugs, even the petrol ones. When you lift a gu it magnify's the 80kph shimmy it has from factory. When you go a big offset rim it put extra pressure on the swivel hubs, wearing them out causing it to shake even more = neg 10 offset max. Redid all the bush's in the front a few times.
"the gq had a bad shimmy from factory that nissan tried to fix in the gu by widening the front wheel base and running a 0 offset rim bringing more tyre directly back over the swivel hub"

I had neg 44 15 x 10 on my cruiser with no hassles at all. Castor on them are pain in the ass - drop box's are good though. Im sure I can fab some for the 80.

You talk about your GU vs 80 series prices. Can get an 80 series for 10 grand vs the 32k I bought my gu for plus the other 30k on mods.

I dont know if I would be happy with an 80series for my everyday car. But for weekend and fun. Geeez they are a proven truck. For the money they are awsome.

fester2au wrote: As far as your comment re having any wheels you like on a 80 series I am totally lost there. The only Nissan you have to watch out with wheels is putting 15's on a 4.8 petrol Patrol all the others will take 15's up, offset is much the same issue with both in that with big rubber and offset you can scrub the guards and damage the flares but I don't recall Nissan guys complaining about tyres damaging the flares. The Cruisers before 93 cannot run 15's so I don't understand your argument about wheels, care to explain.

hrmm thats cos it took nissan the next model up to be the equiv to a toyota brakes wise.. compare comparative models... eg 80 vs gq............ hang on ... there is no comparison between the 80 an gq....


most of the gear on the 80 is on par with the gear on a GU....... nissan were a model behind aye... granted the GQ/GU does have a stronger front end.. but i guess they need sumthign going for em aye?

Sorry there cranky, most of the gear on an 80 is NOT on par with a gu. Gu has way better brakes and much stronger everything, gearbox, diff's, axles. But they have problems and limits from factory that I dont like, as explained.

The main reason I love 80 series, is that apart from breakages due to lack of maintanance or being bashed, fatueged. Is from factory there has been no real problems. Pre 93 diesels had an oil drain system that drained from the engine back into the gear box which used to get clogged and cause the gearbox to cease. But on from that not really any probs apart from high k's.

Problems that other models have like... The 75 series has an offset rear diff and floating axles that when combined with big tyres they come lose and break the dawls causing it to spit the axle on the short side. I had a locker in mine for while. Not a good idea.

Not many models of patrol or cruiser can say they didnt have any problems from factory. 80 is all good.

But my comparissons arent for the guys who just buy and drive it stocko. Its for the guys who do 4-6"suspension lifts, big tyres, lockers and boost the power.

TheBigBoy wrote:Sorry there cranky, most of the gear on an 80 is NOT on par with a gu. Gu has way better brakes and much stronger everything, gearbox, diff's, axles. But they have problems and limits from factory that I dont like, as explained.
.

Thats why gu's drive like tractors. And about as fast as one too!!

80's dont have zd30's. Game, Set and Match

TheBigBoy wrote:Sorry there cranky, most of the gear on an 80 is NOT on par with a gu. Gu has way better brakes and much stronger everything, gearbox, diff's, axles. But they have problems and limits from factory that I dont like, as explained.

The main reason I love 80 series, is that apart from breakages due to lack of maintanance or being bashed, fatueged. Is from factory there has been no real problems. Pre 93 diesels had an oil drain system that drained from the engine back into the gear box which used to get clogged and cause the gearbox to cease. But on from that not really any probs apart from high k's.

Problems that other models have like... The 75 series has an offset rear diff and floating axles that when combined with big tyres they come lose and break the dawls causing it to spit the axle on the short side. I had a locker in mine for while. Not a good idea.

Not many models of patrol or cruiser can say they didnt have any problems from factory. 80 is all good.

But my comparissons arent for the guys who just buy and drive it stocko. Its for the guys who do 4-6"suspension lifts, big tyres, lockers and boost the power.

but your 'comparisons' aren't based on facts - just opinions. there is very little difference in strength comparisons when actually tested, and the 80 does come out on top ever so slightly.

Gday
fzj80 4.5 all the way, get a 95 plus, they start at 10k and were nice strong bases for mods....dont get gassed, buy cheaper non gassed and fit gas if needed, gives you 90 ulp 100 gas... get the rebate. down side to petrol is water, up side is power.1hz is by far the most reliable but r slow and wont punch up anything very fast...4.2 turbo early models are cheap these days too, but do need big dollar maintenance (like 1hz) compared to 4.5 z9 filter and 6 litres of oil every 10k the 4.5 has awsome power std....id even suggest you would get an fzj105 for that money.
All 80 and 100's have 4 piston callipers up front, ive never seen a nissan with that...do they really have better brakes?? Watch out for the front diff in a cruiser, they r not as strong as nissan.
Andrew

TheBigBoy wrote:Sorry there cranky, most of the gear on an 80 is NOT on par with a gu. Gu has way better brakes and much stronger everything, gearbox, diff's, axles. But they have problems and limits from factory that I dont like, as explained.

The main reason I love 80 series, is that apart from breakages due to lack of maintanance or being bashed, fatueged. Is from factory there has been no real problems. Pre 93 diesels had an oil drain system that drained from the engine back into the gear box which used to get clogged and cause the gearbox to cease. But on from that not really any probs apart from high k's.

Problems that other models have like... The 75 series has an offset rear diff and floating axles that when combined with big tyres they come lose and break the dawls causing it to spit the axle on the short side. I had a locker in mine for while. Not a good idea.

Not many models of patrol or cruiser can say they didnt have any problems from factory. 80 is all good.

But my comparissons arent for the guys who just buy and drive it stocko. Its for the guys who do 4-6"suspension lifts, big tyres, lockers and boost the power.

better brakes! 80's have the same size brakes as the GU's and the 80 has 4spot brakes.............. hrmmmmmmmmm

my 80 has been running 7" lift 38" tyres, lockers both ends for the last 3 years.... only ever broken one front diff.. and it aint no city tourer......

sorry mine must still be close to stock... thats why i have no idea.........

also have 3 mates that have/had GU's.. one had a 4.5 gu on 37's.. it was JUNK.. he sold it and got a 100.. the other had a TD4.2 on 37's.. he's selling it.. buying a 100.. another mate still has his 4.8 GU and that is running 38's and i will admit his is pretty good.. bout time they put a decent motor in one.... only tens years behind toyota!

Yeah jacked, they are slow a hell thats foresure..

Well thats just me comparing my gu to my old cruiser/ and my mates cruisers and patrols (in which I love my mates 80 and my dad has had 4 80 series.) . The cruiser couldnt handle the power of a supercharged 4.5. The gear box was well on its way out. The patrol can easily handle it and more power aswell. And the brakes just feel better in the GU. The patrol CV's Ive found pretty hard to break. Ill take your word for it if you say that in real life they are the same strengths. But where are the facts you speak of? I havnt ever seen them or any tests 1mad.. So all I have to go off is my mates comp trucks and my own personal experiences.

Dont get me wrong im not defending the gu and I agree the 80 series is a better package and for the money by far a better package.. But MHO the patrol drive is bigger and superior.

Cranky im not sayin yor is stock at all mate. Just dont want those tossers who leave theirs standard and come on here and argue the fact. To me they are more like a car if left stock. Not much breaks if you leave a car stock unless its a new patrol 3 litre.. Then its fireworks allround....

Looking at a 91 GXL Turbo diesel 1hdt - 225K.
Good service history.
Is this a good base for a Hard Tourour ?
The plan will be Twin airlockes an 35s , same as my Gu TD42T.
I just want it to be a cheaper replacement of what i had , I am not looking for better , but i dont want to feel disapointed!!

Any thoughts!!!

Grant

GUEEY wrote:Looking at a 91 GXL Turbo diesel 1hdt - 225K.
Good service history.
Is this a good base for a Hard Tourour ?
The plan will be Twin airlockes an 35s , same as my Gu TD42T.
I just want it to be a cheaper replacement of what i had , I am not looking for better , but i dont want to feel disapointed!!

Any thoughts!!!

Grant

the only thing with pre nov 92 cruisers is they do have the small brakes.. nov 92 upwards had a few upgrades.. if u can live with the smaller brakes then it would be ok

i would try and get one of the "series 2's" as with all cars.. the first series always had their niggles

Grant,
From memeory the pre 92 had a big end bearing problem. I am unsure if it was a recall on Toyota's behalf, but I would check to make sure it has been replaced.

EDIT: Does it mention in the service history if it has been replaced?

Do it, you wont look back. a well looked after 16 year old 80 series will drive better and squeak/rattle less than a 8 year old GU. They have more room, easily as good offroad ( Patrol has better LSD but cruiser has better front flex ) and have plenty of aftermarket support. The only bad points about the 80 are

- Full Time 4x4 in GXL models, this creates excessive backlash with a few k's on them ( mines now running a part time kit )
- LSD is not as good as the Nissan, I run Limslip 85w140 and it works surprisingly well
- Front diff is the weakest point in the drive train ( cv's are much stronger than what people think, speak to Yuri )
- Gearboxes are known to crunch, 94 onwards have triple synchro boxes which are a little better
- Early 1HDT engines suffered big end bearing issues, should mostly be rectified by now

Alot of dramas for both vehicles comes down to lack of maintanence or abuse. Snapping rear axle studs is generally due to loose rear wheel bearings etc

I am not on eyed by any means, I have plenty of mates with Patrols and I go everywhere they go. Patrols are deinitely the better choice for comp trucks as the drive train is just about bullet proof. If the cruiser had a stronger front diff and were as cheap as Patrols you would see alot more of them in comps.

I never saw any issues with my smaller brakes on my 2000 model Patrol which happened to be 3.0l that didn't blow up . The 4.8 brakes were a bit better but not a lot, just the originals were not bad. Just cause a cruiser has 4 pots doesn't automatically mean they must be better there are many factors that make brakes work well or otherwise but certainly the early cruiser brakes are very ordinary with 35's. That's why I'm in the middle of upgrading them as many others have done.

Does an 80 truely have more room inside I can't tell where and I reckon it actually feels smaller. Certainly seems to have far less storage for nick nacks etc but then the Sahara fridge may seem good in some respects but is a pain as it takes away some storage. Oh and I can't get used to the tailgate, I really like the barn doors for access even if it is hard to stop them squeaking. For the record too my Patrol did not rattle, squeak and drove far smoother than this cruiser. Age certainly has a lot to do with it and there is nothing visibly wrong with my bushes etc.

Because the vintage difference makes a difference I still feel the Crusier interior looks dated and drab being too dark but going back in years that is expected.

I probably wouldn't be so disappointed if i wasn't in the middle of shelling out dollars for a rear diff rebuild on something that was supposed to be a cheaper part time user but still not a day goes by that I don't miss my Patrol. Both are set up similarly - the Patrol was 4.8 with twin lockers, 35's and 4" lift the cruiser 4.2 FTE with factory lockers, 35's and 3" lift

Its funny How he asked for advice on Toyotas and seems like he getting told how great nissans are as well (probably Nissan owners not wanting the truth to be out)
Jump GUee the Titanics are sinking, The Toyota liferafts will catch and save you

beinthemud wrote:Its funny How he asked for advice on Toyotas and seems like he getting told how great nissans are as well (probably Nissan owners not wanting the truth to be out)
Jump GUee the Titanics are sinking, The Toyota liferafts will catch and save you

Many perished in the liferafts as well

fester2au wrote:

beinthemud wrote:Its funny How he asked for advice on Toyotas and seems like he getting told how great nissans are as well (probably Nissan owners not wanting the truth to be out)
Jump GUee the Titanics are sinking, The Toyota liferafts will catch and save you

Many perished in the liferafts as well

yes, but usually those who were too hasty, and jumped into the first leaky boat that came along.