I stumbled upon an '85 Landcruiser that has a been built pretty much exactly how I would have done it.
The specs:
350 chevy with F.I.
The exact wording for the gearbox was "Toyota 4-speed with 27% gear
reduction" not quite sure what that means.
2" suspension lift
32" tires with two spares
HUGE roof rack, with high lift jack bolted to it.
50 gallon fuel cell/tank
It is originally an Arizona truck, it made it's way to central IL in '06, I didn't see any rust. There aren't any dents either, it looks VERY good and seems quite solid.
I'll check it out a bit more thoroughly and get a few more details soon.
Now for the questions.
I assume it still has the stock axles and diffs, are they prone to failure?
How about the gearbox or transfer case?
Do these have any weird electrical gremlins or anything strange like that?
Would any of you not-so-masochistic GRMers use one as a family vehicle?
Cheers,
Jed
I would.
There is another like it for sale somewhat local to me. If I had the spare cash it would be in my driveway.
I'd clarify the gear reduction bit - you don't want a truck that can climb the side of a house but will rev 7000rpm in top gear going 40mph.
I did gears in my Samurai transfer case. It dropped 4-Low down 187%, 2WD was the same as stock.
YMMV.
Post pics!
The Toyota 4-speed manual is a pretty good box.
The axles aren't strong, but they're not weak either. 3.73 gears. The FJ62 axles are an easy swap if for 4.10s, if that's your thing.
I've DDed an FJ62 all winter. If you can stomach the gas mileage (though with the 350 it'll be better), it's quite tolerable... people leave notes and comment on it all the time.
As was told me when I started looking into them... www.ih8mud.com is one of the best model-specific forums out there.
The price is a bit steep at $5,500 and we're probably going to pass. I know these seem to hold their value ridiculously well but it's an '85 and for that money we can get a late '90's or early '00's suburban. This is for the family after all. I was hoping it had three rows of seats, but it did not. I know some of the newer ones do.
Even though I really REALLY dig it!
It has three shifters. I assume they are gearbox, transfer case and reduction box?
The lift kit is a "2 inch, emu, old man, shackle-under-frame lift"?
I was wrong earlier, it's sitting on 35's that are mounted on aluminum rims with one 35" spare and comes with 5 32's that are mounted on stock steel rims. There is a 2" spot of surface rust below the driver's side rear window.
I'll post the number tomorrow after I find it again and I have slept.
Jed
If it has three shifters, it's probably one for the gearbox and a twin-stick for the transfer case. This way you can select any combination of 2WD/4WD and High/Low/Neutral. With a single-stick transfer case shifter, you usually have to choose between 2WD Hi, 4WD Hi and 4WD Lo. No neutral (which can be useful for towing) or 2WD Lo (which can be useful for gridlock traffic and donuts 
)
If anyone is interested the number is 309-613-0009.
No affiliation.
GameboyRMH wrote:
If it has three shifters, it's probably one for the gearbox and a twin-stick for the transfer case. This way you can select any combination of 2WD/4WD and High/Low/Neutral. With a single-stick transfer case shifter, you usually have to choose between 2WD Hi, 4WD Hi and 4WD Lo. No neutral (which can be useful for towing) or 2WD Lo (which can be useful for gridlock traffic and donuts )
The ol' Land Cruiser can do neutral, and is easily modded for 2WD Lo. The extra stick is probably for the "toy box" reducer.
