3rz Taco vs. 80 series Land Cruiser: Long Term

Don't care what people in Australia and Dubai do.

When rock crawling around tree lined trails in Appalachia the Tacoma works much better than the pig!

 

Wait hold on, Appalachia... shouldn't you be high off your ass on meth with 4 mismatched weather checked iroks in a Squarebody that's misfiring on all cylinders without a straight body panel in sight.

 

I've owned 2 Toyota pickups and now an 80, off roading in the 80 is far superior than any Tacoma I've owned. If a Tacoma out wheels a Land Cruiser the Land Cruiser owner doesn't know what they're doing.

 

Doesnt the 80 series have a shorter wheel base then the tacoma?

 

About 3" longer than a single cab and much shorter than a ext cab

 

I thought it was 112", right between the regular cab at 103" and the extra cab at 122"

 

reg cab is 109"

 

I would think a TRD Tacoma with a rear locker would outperform an unlocked Cruiser stock for stock, but I could be wrong.

My single cab felt much more agile and had a better breakover angle than my J80, again, stock for stock.

I've never really tested the FZJ80 seriously off road though, so I could be surprised.

Google was telling me 103.4", but I've never measured it myself so that could be mistaken. It'd be cool to see side by side pics to compare all the dimensions.

 

You can get a stock FJ80 that is front and rear locked so if you are going to compare stock for stock at least be fair about it.

 

Close!!

 

Yeah if it's twin locked that changes the game.. but those were rare from the start (only 7% being optioned that way), and nowadays if you can find one it'll be priced at a big premium -- usually more than the cost of adding lockers yourself.

And again even with lockers, a fully loaded Cruiser can struggle in some tight/very slick situations where a little Samurai or minitruck would just prance up.

Maybe in more rocky open terrain out west it's a different story though.

 

Sure I guess but now you're talking about a built up rig for a specific purpose. This all adds money to a vehicle you don't even own.

 

The last line is generally the case with 80 owners!

I just never been impressed with them or understood the level of fanboiism with them. I used to wheel with guys who have chopped down fj55s, built an fj80 on 42s with 2" of lift and cruisers like that so not a bunch of overlander dorks.

 

Setup of an LC for the conditions is key. My wheeling encountered both muddy hills and rocky trails. But I'm set up with long travel suspension and 35" tires. And yes I am 3x locked. That's a distinct advantage but I've seen unlocked LC's out wheel locked Tacomas.

 

OP just make a decision on you're own. Nobody knows what your specific needs are and it all boils down to YOU anyways. Good or Bad the decision is yours to make and so are the consequences.

 

Right now my commute is 30 min each way, so I'm looking for more of a DD/weekend warrior. I knew about MPGs going in so it wasn't a big shock, but hitting 20 mpg on the highway wouldn't hurt either.

As far as wheeling goes, I usually do easy to moderate trails, but they tend to be tight and pinstripey. Occasionally I'll do a more difficult trail like Pearl Pass out in CO (where the LC would be preferred), but mostly pretty tame unimproved roads.

So I'm trying to decide whether to drop a rear auto locker and sliders onto the J80 and use that as a daily ripper/trail beater, or get back into another Tacoma which might suit my needs better.

Ideally I'd get another regular cab as it seems to perform better on trails than the Extracab, but I won't pass on a clean xtracab like the one in the thread either.

@Speedytech7 I'm wondering how limited off-road an extracab would be with the long wheelbase and open diffs. Any idea how it'd compare to an unlocked single cab and/or CDL only FZJ80? The one in this thread has a lift and 33s.

 

I just so happens I've wheeled both... I still prefer to wheel my tacoma. As always the quality of the lift is important, can always clearance for 33s easily on a tacoma

 

You can source parts easier for the Tacoma as well.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. It seems like the Tacoma would be the better overall option for me. I'll probably keep the LC at least until the summer though and try to shake it down a little more while getting it in better shape mechanically. I'm still trying to figure out the most cost-effective way to go about all that if I plan on selling in the near term.

My biggest concern with the Tacoma would be frame issues rearing their head again down the road. I've learned that even with preventive measures the steel still like to delaminate internally.

I guess this might be why $12-20k seems to be the going rate for clean examples almost regardless of the miles.

If I look at it and the frame is perfectly smooth inside wherever I can feel and/or possibly see with a camera, is this still a concern at all in the long term?

 

It's likely okay, TBH I have no idea what Arkansas is like for road care or climate, no one I've known has ever been from Arkansas or visited it or even brought it up in conversation. Is it even a state really.... But if it ain't salty chances are what you dig up will be okay if it looks clean inside and out, maybe buy a $20 borescope