[mattdavis11]

Matt, there is 42-43 inches between the wheel wells on the FJ80, and FZJ80. The total length that I guessed earlier was wrong. With the rear seats folded up and tail gate down, you have 7 feet, the tail gate down adds 18 inches, so 5.5 feet inside. I imagine if you took the rear seats out for hauling you'd get 8 feet. The FJ60 and FJ62-->Craigster59, have more room between the wells.

There are many ways you can haul the 4x8's. I'm sure I've laid them where they were angled, and have also hauled where the inside part of the load rest on the floor while the ends rest on the tail gate when it's up and they clear the wheel wells. I can't remember which worked out best, probably the latter.

Anyway, I guessed earlier, I was a foot off, but it sure does seem like there's that much room. For load weight, I don't think you are going to break the axle, so as long as the front tires are still on the ground..........

As far as usage goes, both the are fantastic for hauling kids, but the 80 gives you two more seats over what the FJ60 & 62 have. Off road, the 80 is better, but that doesn't mean I'm saying the 60 & 62's are terrible, they are not, they are far superior to any other vehicle built for a similar purpose. My brothers have a couple of FJ60's and one FJ62. We've hunted the snot out of these vehicles on some of the nastiest terrain, and it's like being in a cadillac rolling down the freeway. One thing I do like about the FJ62 is the throttle cable, it can act as a cruise control when rolling along chasing the white tails, it's very nice. The only real difference between the FJ62, and the FJ80 (91-92) is the full time 4wd, and the coil spring front suspension on the 80. The rest is body panels and interior. The 62 is still leaf spring, and in my opinion is not quite as smooth off road. The displacement of the engine in the 80's series went form 4.0 to 4.5 liters in 1993 (known as the FZJ80), but people seem to have head gasket problems on the 1FZ motor (4.5), however, the two in our family have not and both have over 240K. The 3FE (4.0) in the FJ62 and FJ80 are bullet proof, IMHO.

Craigster59, you have a very nice example, sorry to hear you are unloading it. Someone will be very happy to have it.