hzj80r

Hi Goldsahara,

If you can buy a vehicle with full service history (FSH) it would be a good starting point.
The GXL and Sahara variants have a few creature comforts over the Standard, which has manual locking front hubs, vinyl seating and floor mats, keyed door locks, wind me down windows and barn doors.
Points to watch for,
Constant 4WD models can have excess wear and backlash problems in the driveline and that can also be a cause of excess wear on tyres. Standard models suffer from rust around the (fixed) rear side windows. There can be cracking of the front chassis near the steering box. A badly maintained cooling system, early radiators have plastic tanks, can lead to overheating and result in a cracked head. Early Turbo Diesels (TD) had a problem with a bad batch of bearings, you need to know if these have been replaced. The naturally aspirated 1HZ is considered to be a slug, though reliable when maintained properly. Watch out for CHEAP vehicles that have been run into the ground in mine operations. Check the under body for, corrosion of gearbox/transfer case and rusted chassis rails…….. as a starting point.
Case 1. Number one son bought a neat 96 standard with 180 000 kms on the odometer.
Had to replace the clutch and first gear gear-set within one month of purchase. Otherwise there have been no problems with the vehicle. Purchase price was just over 25K two years ago.
Case 2. 91 standard with 219 000 kms. We busted the rear diff on the first trip out, driving along a flat road, two teeth off the pinion gear. Paid a lot less than Number one son did and we are happy with the vehicle as it is a quantum leap forward from the 60 we had.
Both vehicles were bought with the following criteria in mind………….
Manual, Diesel, Standard, White.
We look forward to our travels in our 80 and hope you do well with your future purchase.

Cheers,
Wayne.

PS. Further info on the 80 series can be found on a number of websites,
http://www.lcool.org/index.html
http://www.offroad80s.com/index.php
http://forum.australia4wd.com/

bought mine at 204,000 had a hard life ex exploration
needed a new rad and fan re gelled and alot of brake com ponents relaced, master cylinder, all pads rear rotors etc and rear proportioning valve (sure sighns of alot of MUD)
only prob since has been aircon in 45,000. Gearbox is notchy at has got no worse

Hi mate,
just sold mine, a 80 series standard with over 500000 km's. I bought it with 295000 klicks and had only to replace the radiator and some wheel bearings. I am a stickler for good oil, filters and maintenance though. The cruiser is still going strong, uses no oil and was the most reliable vehicle i ever had the pleasure to own. It still has the same motor and running gear and the only thing i have found wrong were some cracks in the radiator support bracket. The price you pay for corrugations i suppose.
The 80 is in my books one of the best cruisers ever.
Cheers, Udo

I love my standard 80 series, owned it for ten years now, still only done 124000km, only really gets used for trips. Mine was one of the very last built, two weeks before production finished in late 97. I know this isn't answering your question but there must be some other low mileage examples like mine out there, so if you can find one it'll be a good vehicle.
Jon

Let me start with this statement....if it is serviced to the book....you will get many more kms from it, a good friends 1991 std cruiser has 380 on std motor/clutch/with a rear diff rebuild at 300 due to oil seal leak and a service on the fuel pump somewhere in there due to leaking diesel.
Early models had problems with chassis crcking at the steering box, my mates was one of them....weld and gusset and all has been good for years....all the 80's have a issue with rust where the inner guard bolts to the floor where feet sit...check there for rus, pull and leave out the rubber plug/fishoil it....if you can afford a 93 or better, they have bigger brakes, and started coming out as dx's, which had tachos and cloth seats 95 and better are the best of the best with all problems taken care of
Andrew

There was somebody on here the other day whom had 1 650 000 km on their 1HZ, original motor.