Help me decide Lift & Tyres for an 80 series

[80seriesOwner]

Hey everyone, I've got myself an old 1990 dx 1hz-t Landcruiser, and now that I get my P's in the next couple of weeks I'm going to start spending some money on it.
My current concerns are what size lift and tyres do I go? I've really been tossing up my ideas and I'm still not sure what combination to choose.

The car is mainly going to be used for some tough trails (definitely not a tourer). I've got some local tracks around my area (Menai) which I really want the car to excel at, but I also want it to be good at other tracks such as the Glass house track, Northern Queensland, Tasmania and Victorian high country. Really I want the thing to be the best rig at every track, but I also want it to be practical to live out of such as Shaun's 80 series from 4wd 24/7.

If the things going to be practical, 35 inch tyres on a 2 inch lift is really the safest option which is what Shaun is running on Sooty mk2. Myself who isn't super tall should still be able to access the engine bay without a stool, as well as reach in the boot and put stuff and grab stuff off my drawers and be able to chuck some boxes and swags on the roof if need be. So in that sense 35s and a 2 inch lift is really the most suitable setup.
But on the other end, my unpractical self really wants the thing to dominate on the trails, to do this I really do want a large range of flex throughout the thing, just like that patrol from Aussie Four Wheelers which can achieve 1325mm off the ground without sway bars. But yes I know this is unrealistic for a Landcruiser as they don't flex as much as patrols, but on the higher end of 1000mm is really what I want to achieve for flex. I think to do this I'm going to need a bigger lift than a 2 inch as well as cutting out some of my guards.

The dilemma is, if I lift it too high, it'll become a cop magnet, as well as being more unpractical and more unstable on the road and trails which a higher centre of gravity. But if I leave it on a 2 inch lift, will the clearance I lose on higher lifts make that much of a difference in situations like bog holes, large rock setups and set downs and how much flex will I lose?

The main things I am taking into consideration is will I get in trouble for having 35s and anything over a 2 inch lift? And also how dangerous will it become with a higher centre of gravity? And how will that higher centre of gravity effect me on the trails? Cause I've heard Shaun from 4wd 24/7 take about how he lowered Sooty to have a lower centre of gravity.

 

[Triton14]

Welcome to the forum.

Just use the search tab!

The same question has be asked & answered many many many many many many times before

 

[Toyasaurus]

You might want to change your thinking a bit first.
Take the 80 for a run out on the track and see what it and you can do first.
An 80 is a very capable truck off the bat, don`t get to caught up with what someone else is doing or has done.
Learn how to use a fourby responsibly and legally.
All these mods can set you back a lot of money.
Find out what you can do to it within the law, I see more youngsters getting pissed off with plod who`s doing their job.
If you go nuts on mods insurance companies won`t touch you.
Being young the best lesion I can pass on is learn patience.

 

[80seriesOwner]

You might want to change your thinking a bit first.
Take the 80 for a run out on the track and see what it and you can do first.
An 80 is a very capable truck off the bat, don`t get to caught up with what someone else is doing or has done.
Learn how to use a fourby responsibly and legally.
All these mods can set you back a lot of money.
Find out what you can do to it within the law, I see more youngsters getting pissed off with plod who`s doing their job.
If you go nuts on mods insurance companies won`t touch you.
Being young the best lesion I can pass on is learn patience.

You might want to change your thinking a bit first.
Take the 80 for a run out on the track and see what it and you can do first.
An 80 is a very capable truck off the bat, don`t get to caught up with what someone else is doing or has done.
Learn how to use a fourby responsibly and legally.
All these mods can set you back a lot of money.
Find out what you can do to it within the law, I see more youngsters getting pissed off with plod who`s doing their job.
If you go nuts on mods insurance companies won`t touch you.
Being young the best lesion I can pass on is learn patience.

Thanks heaps, that’s great advice. I’ve already taken it around a bit to see what’s she capable of. And she’s already more than capable having twin lockers, snorkel, drawers, compressor aftermarket turbo that sort of gear. Definitely going to drive it around a bit like this, im just thinking more into the future when I slowly start to invest in it.

 

[cam04]

2” lift and 35’s - that’s all he’s admitting to anyway.

 

[Toyasaurus]

I have watched people on 35`s and larger, most of the time it seems the only reason they need them is because
they can`t be bothered airing down.
Some of them just go about merrily tearing the tracks to bit`s and then complain about closures.

I followed a guy in an older patrol up in the high country once, he couldn`t get up this track for love or money, went like a bull at a gate.
I told him to hold in second gear and use the throttle gently, nope had to be winched.
I followed him up in my rangie, low range in drive held the throttle at about 1400rpm, and walked straight up, didn`t even slip.
This clownstick then tells me I had front and rear lockers on, funny thing was I didn`t have the rear on and there wasn`t one in the front.
So I said jump in mate, and showed him how to get up a hill easily.
The guy was gobsmacked, I asked him what pressures he had in the tyres, 50 rear 45 front, should have thought about that first.
Sometimes you fail to see the most important things.
I think he let his tyres down and took things a bit easier after that.
I turned round and went back to our camp site.

33`s are about the limit you can go on a 2" lifted 80, legally.
If you think about things first then go easy most of the time you have much better luck and a lot less repair bill`s.

Don`t forget that a lot of these ytubers get sponsored and have money to fix or replace thing they break
and it makes for better viewing.

 

[discomatt]

Learn how to 4wd first up, picking the correct lines will get you further than a 4wd with heaps of mods and a driver who couldn’t drive a wet finger up ….
I have never had any tire bigger than 32’ and done all of the Vic high country multiple times.
You will only need those extreme mods for .1 % of tracks and the $$ you spend and the time in the garage and side of the tracks fixing broken bits won’t be worth it
Can’t even remember how many busted CV’s and frontdiffs I have seen on 80’s out doing the really hard stuff , I personally have helped change 3 CV’s over the last15 years

 

[Albynsw]

35’s are good for extra clearance on heavily chewed out tracks but apart from that you are disadvantaged with lost power and braking unless you do further modifications to counteract it.
32’s was the sweet spot on the Hilux and 33’s for the 79 even tnough I could easily sit 35’s under it I think it is a compromise. I haven’t watched a Ronny Dahl video for a few years but I used to laugh at watching him do a section with all his modifications and then his father would follow him in a near stock Jeep.

As Matt said pick your lines and improve your technical skills. Much better than showpony big rubber.

 

[hulsty]

As others have said, start out with what its got, ending up with 2'' and 35'' is a good place, they work well on 80's. Couple of other notes, lift does not equal flex, you can build a car with heaps of flex and low height. I had a front leaf spring setup on my previous cruiser that would easily outflex most 80's and Patrols with standard radius arm setup. FYI 80's flex better than Patrols in standardish form, they have a better suspension design and geometry.

 

[80seriesOwner]

As others have said, start out with what its got, ending up with 2'' and 35'' is a good place, they work well on 80's. Couple of other notes, lift does not equal flex, you can build a car with heaps of flex and low height. I had a front leaf spring setup on my previous cruiser that would easily outflex most 80's and Patrols with standard radius arm setup. FYI 80's flex better than Patrols in standardish form, they have a better suspension design and geometry.

Yeah I’ve been looking into the components that go into flex and you’re right. Lift really only contributes to clearance in your guards for bigger tyres, otherwise radius arms, sway bars that sort of stuff is more important. And personally I didn’t know landcruiser flexed more. From what I’ve seen patrols usually our flex the 80s on the trails and the ramps. I’m definitely gonna keep her how see is at the moment. 2 inch lift on 31s and see how she goes. Definitely going to build up my skills as well on tracks before I go hit the hard stuff. I’m just trying to figure out in advanced where I really want the car to be, so i’m not spending my money on temporary mods.

You’re more knowledgeable on this stuff, let’s say I was running a 2 inch lift on 33s, what would be the best mods to get the most amount of flex out of that setup?

Thanks heaps for the response!

 

[80seriesOwner]

35’s are good for extra clearance on heavily chewed out tracks but apart from that you are disadvantaged with lost power and braking unless you do further modifications to counteract it.
32’s was the sweet spot on the Hilux and 33’s for the 79 even tnough I could easily sit 35’s under it I think it is a compromise. I haven’t watched a Ronny Dahl video for a few years but I used to laugh at watching him do a section with all his modifications and then his father would follow him in a near stock Jeep.

As Matt said pick your lines and improve your technical skills. Much better than showpony big rubber.

Thanks for the knowledge. Yeah I’ve seen many videos especially on 4wd 24/7 of Pete’s zd patrol on 33s outwheeling most of the boys in their big rigs. Really makes me laugh and shows that being a good driver and picking your lines really gets you far.
As everyone has said on my thread, Im definitely going to get out first and start wheeling the mighty 80, see how she goes. She’s already more than capable with the twin lockers though, so it’ll already get me here and there.

 

[80seriesOwner]

Learn how to 4wd first up, picking the correct lines will get you further than a 4wd with heaps of mods and a driver who couldn’t drive a wet finger up ….
I have never had any tire bigger than 32’ and done all of the Vic high country multiple times.
You will only need those extreme mods for .1 % of tracks and the $$ you spend and the time in the garage and side of the tracks fixing broken bits won’t be worth it
Can’t even remember how many busted CV’s and frontdiffs I have seen on 80’s out doing the really hard stuff , I personally have helped change 3 CV’s over the last15 years

Thanks for the response! You’re right as many other people have said, wheel the thing first. Looking for some advice from you, I think end goal after really considering everything everyone’s said, I might just go 33s to keep the thing legal and driving nice. But what I wanted to know is what is the best way to keep the rig reliable? And what mods should I do to keep it extra reliable? In the near future i’m looking to really go through the whole car and fix most of the issues (which is has a lot of). I’ve currently order a new aisin water pump as we pressure tested it and found a leak. Going to order a new power steering pump in the near future as well, and I also need to replace the head gasket when I find the time. These are the only things on the agenda right now that is wrong with the car, but i’m suspecting to find new problems as I drive it. But theoretically once I’ve replaced everything i’ve needed to on it, and i’m running my 2 inch lift with 33s, what’s the best way to maintain the car, and keep it as reliable as a 33 year old rust bucket can get?

 

[80seriesOwner]

I have watched people on 35`s and larger, most of the time it seems the only reason they need them is because
they can`t be bothered airing down.
Some of them just go about merrily tearing the tracks to bit`s and then complain about closures.

I followed a guy in an older patrol up in the high country once, he couldn`t get up this track for love or money, went like a bull at a gate.
I told him to hold in second gear and use the throttle gently, nope had to be winched.
I followed him up in my rangie, low range in drive held the throttle at about 1400rpm, and walked straight up, didn`t even slip.
This clownstick then tells me I had front and rear lockers on, funny thing was I didn`t have the rear on and there wasn`t one in the front.
So I said jump in mate, and showed him how to get up a hill easily.
The guy was gobsmacked, I asked him what pressures he had in the tyres, 50 rear 45 front, should have thought about that first.
Sometimes you fail to see the most important things.
I think he let his tyres down and took things a bit easier after that.
I turned round and went back to our camp site.

33`s are about the limit you can go on a 2" lifted 80, legally.
If you think about things first then go easy most of the time you have much better luck and a lot less repair bill`s.

Don`t forget that a lot of these ytubers get sponsored and have money to fix or replace thing they break
and it makes for better viewing.

Thanks for the advice. I’ve carefully considered 33s now, after reading the comments. My dads 79 single cab is also on 33s as well, and it drives beautifully and shits at a perfect height. Lack of experience on my end clearly but I never really knew that that was the reason that people were running 35s. I can’t believe that it’s so hard for them to air down. It’s not that hard with a gauge and if your cars built properly it should have a built in air compressor, even my car has for airing up the tyres. Realising it now I’ve already got a really capable car on my hands. Even shaunos 80 is only running a rear locker and I’ve got front and rear. But I was watching a video on tread pattern between 31s, 33s, and 35s and obviously the 35s have the largest tread pattern deflated at 25psi, but how much of a difference would that make on the track compared to deflated 33s? And how much clearance would I lose? and would that really affect my driving over obstacles?

 

[discomatt]

Best way to keep a car reliable is to keep it as close to standard as possible, treat it with love and care, don’t smash the crap out of it to impress your mates on the tough stuff, slow and steady wins the race, replace the worn out parts with quality parts not cheap eBay copies, look over the car before and after trips , maintain and service it regularly, the more 4wding a car does the more servicing it needs.
STAY OUT OF BOG HOLES!!
That is how to keep your 4wd reliable, I know that because I have owned LR’s for years , have done about 700,000 km in them, traveled all over the country and done more 4wding than I care to remember and only ever broken down due to car abuse or neglect, as in one dead battery, one dead water pump, one broken diff and one very broken car from a 4wding accident