Toyota FJ 55 forum?

Tom '74 911 · 11-16-2011, 09:15 AM

Hi -

There must be a great dedicated forum for older Toyota FJ 55s that I haven't been able to find. Does one exist?

Thanks,
Tom

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

Ih8mud.com

speeder · speeder's Garage

I've never seen one, maybe an all TLC site would be your best bet. FJ55s are not all that common. I love the way they look, do you have one?

EDIT: There you go. ^^^

speeder · speeder's Garage

There you go. ^^^

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

ih8mud without a doubt

onewhippedpuppy · 11-16-2011, 10:30 AM

ih8mud, the only forum with technical knowledge the equal of Pelican that I've encountered.

myamoto1 · myamoto1's Garage

not sure if it's still around but Pirate4x4.com used to have a Toyota section that was the same caliber as Pelican.

Tom '74 911 · 11-16-2011, 11:37 AM

Thanks for the help. No, I don't have one at the moment, but I'm trolling for a winter project and a friend has one that's been parked for a while (outside). It ran when he parked it, but it's rough. . . I need to do some more investigation on it - not even sure he'd sell it. . .

Anyone have an idea what one of these is worth in non-running, rough condition? If I get serious, I can certainly post pics and more detail. . .

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

www.cruizers.com to find them for sale. It'll give you an idea on pricing. As has been said, ih8mud is a great tech forum.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Just track them on eBay, that's the only way to research prices on something like that. I can tell you that if it has rust it's worth about $8.00. If it's dry, a bit more.

myamoto1 · myamoto1's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom '74 911

Thanks for the help. No, I don't have one at the moment, but I'm trolling for a winter project and a friend has one that's been parked for a while (outside). It ran when he parked it, but it's rough. . . I need to do some more investigation on it - not even sure he'd sell it. . .

Anyone have an idea what one of these is worth in non-running, rough condition? If I get serious, I can certainly post pics and more detail. . .

FJ55s (aka Iron Pigs) are known to be rust buckets. Trying to find an FJ40 without body rot is like trying to find an elephant in a haystack compared to trying to find an FJ55 without serious cancer issues. They weigh a ton, are severly under powered, but will go danm near anywhere when set up correctly.

Value is all over the board on these things. I've seen them as low as $1k for a rusty project to over $10k for one not needing much/any repairs. Post up some pics and I'll give you my .02

All that being said, I've never owned one, but have worked on 2 of them owned by friends. Rust - check the frame (everywhere), rear fender wells, door sills, door bottoms, mating surface between fenders and "engine wall" and around the front and rear windows.

t-tom · 11-16-2011, 02:27 PM

ih8mud is the best by far. They should have a link on their site that will take you to a local or regional TLC club.

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

If you want to see pricing and availability of parts Specter Off Road has about anything you would need. Specter Off-Road, Inc. Land Cruiser Parts and Accessories

look 171 · 11-16-2011, 08:47 PM

Did you get an Iron Pig? Mud for sure. I go there if I really need info on my 80 series truck. They are like the people here, helpful and knowledgeable. No pimple face teens.

speeder · speeder's Garage

I love them but they drive like schit.

look 171 · 11-16-2011, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

I love them but they drive like schit.

The Iron pigs or LC in general?

speeder · speeder's Garage

The first ones that drive well on the street were the FJ60s and the FJ62 was an improvement on that. The FJ55 was under-powered and geared wrong for the highway plus had steering that resembled that of a Radio Flyer wagon. And they handle like a shopping cart.

Other than that, they drive great.

onewhippedpuppy · 11-17-2011, 02:27 AM

I love my Land Rover, but I still miss my 80 series.

Tom '74 911 · 11-17-2011, 01:53 PM

OK. . . I talked to the owner earlier today and went to take a quick peek this afternoon. . . here's what I found:

Model FJ55LG
Engine F
SN FJ5527633

It's a 3 speed w/overdrive, has AC components, ran when parked etc... all the little pieces and parts look to be mostly there as far as I can tell (but I don't know anything about these things!). The interior is pretty much shot and the roof is caved in, but still watertight. Hasn't run in XX years. . . Some rust, but not as bad looking as I remembered; but I didn't crawl around underneath it or do much poking around so hopefully not "famous last words" on the rust issue.

My biggest questions are what's it worth in it's current state and what would it cost to get it running and back on the road? I'm assuming the entire fuel system will need to be gone through, the brakes gone through, lots of replacing rubber hoses, carb rebuild, tires, battery, shocks, minimal interior work to make it livable. . . If I could buy it for $X,XXX could I sell it for what I'd have into it?

I'm thinking the next step, if I end up going there, is to drag it out of its current resting place and back to my garage for further evaluation etc.... To my untrained eye, this looks like a pretty good example and one that might be better left stock and original? VS putting a lift kit on it, big wheels/tires, V8 etc. . . ??

All I brought was my iPhone so the pics are crappy, but better than nothing:

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

Well, the seats are not original, there was never AC in that year so it's some sort of "kit" (not that it really matters) That's a pre-75 from the looks of it, so no disc brakes. The brakes are going to be some $$$ to get sorted, rebuilding the drums on all four corners or converting the fronts to disc and rebuilding the rears.

The headliner is NLA, and last I looked near unobtanium. The front fenders are gone, and the lower rockers most likely. I can't see the rear quarters but they are likely gone as well and are also unobtanium. Three speeds are okay... but the four is nicer, the best being the four speed mated to a three speed tcase. Not sure on the OD unit, probably a "Ranger" or something, but not a factory option.

Thats the bad, but that rig has a lot of good as well. It has what looks to be complete interior doorpanels which in some cases are worth more than the 55 itself. The engine compartment is very complete, all the stuff you can't find is there, the 2F itself is probably still running well. However the 2F is a BIT like a flat six in that it's expensive to rebuild. Which is one reason the V8 conversions are nice. Nice factory radio still, lots of little items that are often missing are still attached.

The rust is going to be the biggie, they all have it, it's just a matter of how much. A lot of 55's I've looked at over the years you pull the rubber flooring and it's straight through to the ground. Same in the rears.

For me, I would buy it. I parted two of them recently and the parts are worth their weight in gold. The gaskets around the rear glass you haven't been able to get for many years now, same with the rear electric glass motor so they are worth a fortune in usable condition. Doors, complete quarter panels, those rubber floors, all worth a lot as parts.