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

You need to spend less time reading on Mud...The level of head gasket overblowness there is unreal. And this is coming from a guy that owned a 350k 1FZ and has multiple friends with 300k plus 1FZ's with no head gasket issues.

The short take on the Tacoma stuff is that the 5VZ is stouter than the 3RZ for sure. 3RZ's definitely need maintenance with the valve lash and the valve seat area isn't particularly strong in the head. My first 3RZ made it about 350k. Needed a head reman to fix cracks and then the bearings eventually gave up in the bottom end. More glitter than a Kesha concert. The second motor made it about 130k before I had another Kesha party going on in the oil pan. Rolled new bearings in it and cut the balance shaft chain out and it's been fine for the last 3 years since. Granted, it's in a hard wheeler that sees a ton of angle at times.

 

Yea I've seen a lot of single cabs for stupid prices lately, especially the 95-97.

 

Yea carfax had it at 11.2k and that’s stock. But people still have been telling me it’s too much for a non-TRD model. Beautiful truck btw!

 

Yeah the 1fz is pretty bombproof as long as you keep it cool.

Would you say the 5VZ bottom end is stronger than the 4 cyl also, or just that it has less need for top end maintenance?

 

You've been noodling on purchasing this dudes truck for a long time... why hasn't it sold already... something is fishy there

 

He doesn’t actually have it listed for sale anywhere. He told me a while ago he’d let it go for 11.5k after we discussed doing a trade for my LC.

 

The 5VZ is definitely better and the big reason is the oiling system IMO. The 3RZ doesn’t oil the balance shafts well so any loss of oil pressure wrecks the bearings quickly and then sends the debris through the rest of the galleries and wipes the bottom end.

Mains from both my 3RZ’s

 

Balance shaft delete

 

Would that fix the oiling issue @Snowy was referring to? I thought that mod was mostly done on racing builds.

 

Yeah that's an advantage of the 1fz: it has an excellent oiling system with a huge sump and even squirts oil right into the cylinders. I guess the 5VZ is no slouch in this regard either. I

From my research (including input from this thread) I'd give the 5vz and 2uz-fe the edge over the 1fz and 3rz though those are great engines too and a little easier to work on.

 

I cut the balance shaft chain out so that the shafts are still in there but not doing anything

 

I've been seeing a lot of threads lately about frame cracks and warping in the c channel of the Tacoma frame. Even apart from how rust prone they are, it seems like the frames are really weak; I even saw it bend when I jacked it up one time. Anyone know why Toyota made them so much thinner than the previous gen/Hilux?

Also, I'm thinking maybe this is a reason to keep the LC, even if it's not as fun to drive. Toyota actually gave it a proper truck frame. I mean, is the Tacoma able to stand up to long-term use off-road with the subpar metallurgy and construction of the frame?

 

Wait...this "possibility" of choosing an LC or Tacoma has been going on since November?

I left a 1st Gen Taco to a 3rd Gen 4Runner, now to a Land Cruiser and don't regret it one bit.

Would I go from the Land Cruiser to a Tacoma? Not a chance, but owning a 1st Gen as a daily would be nice while keeping the Land Cruiser as a toy.

 

Keeping both here. 1999 model specific purpose vehicles.

 

Yea I guess I’d better just keep the LC and try to save up for a Tacoma as a daily, but my finances are pretty uncertain at the moment as I’m about to get my masters this May.

My reasoning was that the Tacoma would be more fun and engaging to drive with the manual, and I don’t do enough heavy off reading to justify the burliness of the LC, but then again it’s nice to not have to constantly worry about frame rust starting up.

 

Wait what...

If you obtain a Tacoma that doesn't have problematic rust, then it won't be an issue unless you become negligent and let the truck wither away.

I don't know if you touched on cargo capacity, or gas mileage and such, but I assume those aren't factors in your decision considering how vastly different the two vehicles are.

If I didn't need room, and didn't want better off-road capability, I would've kept the 4Runner. If I was single and had no pets, hell the Tacoma would've sufficed.

 

I still prefer the Tacoma for wheeling and daily use. My LC definitely wins on payload though, but it is less comfy than my tacomas ever were.

 

Yeah, the Tacoma was definitely more comfortable in terms of ride quality. Weight with on the Dakar's that is; Fox 2.5 coilovers helped too.

For me, if comfort was number 1 (without regards to cargo or payload), 4Runner wins hands down for me.

 

But I’d still worry about cracks and bends developing over time, especially with repeated off-road use. I’m not sure how much of a concern this is, but enough to have a whole thread on here dedicated to frame cracks.

Also, the metallurgy and rust-proofing on the frames are so poor I wonder if it’s just a matter of time for all of them to start delaminating internally, even if they’re clean now.

 

Really? My LC is a Cadillac compared to my Tacoma, but I had the short wheelbase version.