I'm selling my old Landcruiser. It needs way more help than I can give it at this point in time.


I'm debating between an early 90's Landcruiser and a '95 4-Runner.

Is '95 a good year for a 4-Runner?
Approximately how many miles can I get out of one if it's been well maintained?
Which does better off road, 4-Runner or Landcruiser?
Which does better on the road?
Which has a better turning radius?

What other things should I be asking while trying to make this decision?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

i do believe the 95's had the good head gasket?
you can drive it forever if you take care of it.
off-road? not sure, maybe the landcruiser. i think some came with lockers
they're both good on the road
and it think the 4Runner would have a better turning radius

Thanks for the reply,

The Landcruiser I was looking at is a '92. It has a button that says Diff. Lock or something like that.

I'm assuming that this means that the button will turn the LC from full time 4x4 to full time dual Posi-Track? I wasn't sure what else it could do.

This seems like it would be much better for off road.


The LC has around 140,000 miles and is $3,600.
The 4-Runner has 165,000 miles and is $3,300.

Close enough to really consider both. The problem is that both of them are far from me, so I have to decide and then get one.

How are you gonna use it?

Personally, I would go with the LC because its more rare around here, have diff lock(s), 3 row seating ( think) and, as far as I know, even the early '90s have SFAs. Also, their inline 6 engines are pretty nice. 1fe? A 4runner would probably easier to mod to your liking because there are more lifting/modding options available, probably get better gas mileage, and a little better turning radius. What engine does the 4runner have?

That button should be for the center diff lock. Does it look like this?:


IIRC, Toyota did not offer the dual locking diffs until 1993. If its just a button in the center of the dash, its just the T-case lock. If its a dial to the left of the steering column like this:



then it has dual diff locks, and its a SUPER rare option. That would make it worth a lot more than $3600, and i would jump all over it.

I guess this person doesnt know the value of their LC then: http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/929349538.html

That thing has 200k+, and no pics and unknown condition. Given that its an alaska truck, i am sure its rusted from here to next week. So yea, 3500 is about average for a high mileage Alaska truck

haha. I know. I was just poking fun. Actually, Alaska isnt as much of a rust bucket as you may think. The state uses only gravel on the roads, no salt. Sorry..didn't mean to hi-jack, but what I said earlier still stands. I would go with the LC

I agree. LC all the way! Gotta love them dual live-axles!

if your dead set on a 4runer get atleast a 3rd ge the 3.4L is much better

95s still had the HG problems.
Well at least mine did

Thanks guys. I was leaning toward the LC, but wasn't sure about the differences.

Any other advice?

Also there was a certain year on the 80 series when they switched over to a bigger engine, it might have been '92, but I have read that if you go for a 80 series, to get the better engine.

I am sure the 'Coug knows what year they switched over to the bigger engine.

I'd say LC too, but one thing to keep in mind is that parts for runners are way more readily available than parts for LC's and can cost significantly less, at least in my neck of the woods... That said, an 80 series LC is my dream family car, and if it does indeed have lockers, you should be sold on it. Despite turning radius.

I read another thread that said this didn't happen until '93. I don't really care about the engine size. I had a 22RE truck that would outclimb a mountain goat.

The thread said that the '93 & up were better on the highway if you wanted to keep up with traffic. These are a little more expensive and I don't really plan on going on a road trip in it.

It would be nicer I'm sure, but my budget is tight.

The 80 series is definitely the one I'd go with even though your fuel economy may suffer a bit. You can throw a 2" OME Lift on it and fit 35's and it looks like a factory fit.

How hard is it to put the kit on yourself?

I've been working on cars since I was a kid out of necessity, but I wouldn't say I'm a mechanic.

It's hard to give a recommendation without knowing what kind of wheeling you're doing.

That said, LCs have fully floating axles, and coils all around. Putting on a lift is very simple; replace the flexible brake lines, swap coils and shocks. You may need to adjust your panhard.

I don't think 4Runners got coils until '96 and never had fully floating axles or a solid in front with coils. You might look into a 96'+ Runner with the factory Elocking rear diff. That gen front flexes rather well for IFS.

The LC is a way bigger truck.

80 series had a full floater rear end?