What did I PAY for my 1997 3x LOCKED Land Cruiser Last Month ??

[@robertclark2714]

I "Liked and subscribed". Thank you so much for doing these videos. A REAL GREAT friend gave me a 1996 Lexus LX450 F R E E. I feel like I hit the lottery!!!! No rust, original owner that maintained it like it was a family member. It has 500,000 miles on it and I see no reason that it should not eventually get 500,000 more. BTW Yes, it is TRIPLE LOCK !!!!

[@NKPGarage]

That's amazing. If they are taken care of and maintained these things run forever. Congrats on acquiring yours! It sounds like a keeper!

[@Henray316]

Thanks for the video. Its a nice pickup for the price and mileage. 97 and triple locked is up there now.

[@NKPGarage]

Thanks!

[@AZRubicon1]

I just picked up this exact same LC!!!! Color, TL'd, two-owner, AZ NO rust, no PO mods. Leaks leaks leaks! Started top-down on it cleaning everything to make sure I can see the leaks. The motor and undercarriage look new! Gave it a coat of paint on all steel and could not be happier! Doing exactly what you are doing, spreadsheet, all Toyota parts and I will do all work that I can. So far my son and I replaced all hoses, air filter, gas cap, oil cap, valve cover gasket, plugs, distro cap, rotor, wires, thermostat, re-wrapped all wiring, changed oil, trans, diff's, t-case (spedo sensor o-ring too!), cleaned throttle-body, new PCV valve. Have a leak in the steering gear box which we will let go for a bit. I have everything documented, parts, part numbers time to install etc. I will never sell the truck but this helps plan important work first. Paid $9.5k and 272k miles. After the tune-up it runs perfectly, idle at 660 RPM on my OBD2 comp, everything else is great. There are two things I cannot figure out at the moment. 1) I have drips at the flexplate (little odd shaped plastic window on trans) and 2) My diff locks are not engaging, they keep blinking. Any thoughts? I have instructions from IH8Mud folks and will do some figure 8's. They have NEVER been locked! PO drove it 2nFro work for 10 years, never offroad.

[@NKPGarage]

Sounds like you got a great deal on an awesome truck! Congrats! And it sounds like you and I have the same habits of over documentation :-) the leak at the flex plate, if it is engine oil it is usually the rear main seal on the motor that is leaking and needs to be replaced. If it is trans fluid then it could be one of the prongs or seals on the front of the transmission or torque converter that needs to be replaced. For the lockers. Does the center locker engage? Find a gravel patch of road or driveways somewhere (not asphalt or concrete) and put it into 4LO, do figure 8’s and get the center to lock. Then once that is locked engage the switch for the rear locker and do figure 8’s until it locks. You may have to do this for a while turning it on and off every minute or so until it engages. Then do the front lockers with the same procedure. I’ve owned around 18 80series over the years and this process will typically free them up so they start working. But worst case if it doesn’t you may need to tear it down and inspect the parts. Oh, one other thing. Before doing this procedure take a nice long 25-30 minute drive on the highway so your diffs and the fluid is nice and warm. Warm fluid helps as well over cold fluid.

[@AZRubicon1]

@@NKPGarage It's going to be my son's truck (daughter has 04 GX470, wife 4Runner, me, rock crawler in profile pic) I have a weeping hose under the power steering cannister with a hacked hose form PO, ordered new one. I am secretly hoping, that being the last engine compartment leak I can find/see, that t is making it's way down there. Scared of rear main seal and pulling tranni cost, I'm not doing that but my shop is gr8 and will. Once I am in there and it's all apart doing the seal why not do the front seals and replace torque converter seals, right?

[@NKPGarage]

@@AZRubicon1 if you’re already in there you may as well replace the torque converter as well. But before you start pulling the transmission make sure you check the rear of the valve cover. Sometimes you get oil leaks coming from the back of the valve cover and then leaking down looking like they are the rear main seal.

[@AZRubicon1]

@@NKPGarage Just finished off the valve cover gasket with all the rest of the listed goodies above. There was a leak but it was b/c the PO's shop didn't tighten bolts, last 2 against firewall were finger tight. Terrible! No FIPG on the half moons in the front either! When I redid the gasket, I went ahead and put new bolts on as well. Starter goes in tomorrow, takes too many "chugs" to start IMO.

[@nkphomeimprovement3625]

@@AZRubicon1 If your starter is having a tough time the other 2 things I would check are #1 grounds. Grounds from engine to chassis, trans to chassis, battery to chassis, intake manifold to chassis, head to chassis. And #2, make sure you have the correct battery, I can't even count how many 80 series I have seen with batteries that are too small and undersized, and it leads to slow cranks + slow power windows.

[@andresd9146]

Congrats on the new rig! I live in the San Antonio area and yes I’ve seen some triple locked 80’s upwards of $25k around here. Looking forward to seeing your mods and maintenance on it as I have a 1997 LX450 which I’ve been doing catch-up maintenance myself using OEM parts of course.

[@NKPGarage]

Thanks @Andres D Good to see others in the area. I see quite a few 80's driving around in Austin & San Antonio usually. I haven't been to a meet in many many years. Looking forward to hearing more about your 1997 LX. They're fairly easy trucks to work on, and well worth keeping around long term!

[@calokie5567]

Always appreciate an 80 series video, keep them coming!

[@NKPGarage]

Thank you! There will be lots of fun videos coming out of this project. I should be posting a few per week as I get into it. The next video which will be posted later today will be a full interior strip down!! Should be fun!

[@Yota_toy_garage]

I have a 97 the exact same two tone color, grey interior, triple locked, and similar miles!

[@NKPGarage]

Awesome trucks! What are your plans for yours?

[@sano514]

Allo there, I just subscribed and hit the like button,which was on 99 and I'm the 100th person to like your video,BTW nice video and keep up the good work.cheers.

[@NKPGarage]

You are so right!!! You were the #100 thumbs up on this video!!! That's pretty awesome. Thanks for watching and subscribing. I will do my best to keep the content coming :-)

[@Malkav]

The 96 3x locked FZJ80 I'm planning to restore is only at 166k miles, 1 owner, never offloaded. A little bit of rust on hood, rear tailgate and suspension but nothing debilitating. I'm taking your approach as well in that I'll do the work myself and only with oem parts or better. I'm not planning on keeping it as a garage queen so the only mods done will be reliability mods to bulletproof it from wear and tear from the elements.

[@NKPGarage]

That's a fantastic route to take that I can agree with. It's different for everyone, some people just want to offroad and don't care about some leaks here and there, some want cosmetics as priority, some want maintenance as priority. There's no wrong answer, it's just different priorities for different people. You and I are probably on the same wavelength!! Can't wait to hear more about your 96 build as you make progress!!

[@Malkav]

@@NKPGarage although I saw some original retro toyota landcruiser decals on the net and I can't help but think that a 1996 black FZJ80 with the classic yellow-orange-red toyota stripes would look sweet.😃

[@NKPGarage]

@@Malkav Gotta keep it fun, right? That would look pretty sweet!

[@LostandFoundTravel]

@@Malkav There's a really cool $15 tri-color plastic badge with a universal grill fit kit on the back that looks GREAT on my 97...

[@Gunner6391]

Can't wait till my FJ is valued as much as this 4Runner. Great Video and Thank you.

[@NKPGarage]

I think it eventually will be.

[@NigelNaughton]

This is a Land Cruiser...how dare you call it a 4-Runner!! ;-) haha

[@Gunner6391]

@@NigelNaughton I got me dead to rights..🤣😂🤣👍🍻

[@blck04gt]

Great video. If well maintained, what kind of mileage can you get out of those inline 6 engines?

[@NKPGarage]

The highest milage I have had on one so far was 305k miles. That was when I sold it back in 2013, and then the next owner had it and drove it all over the country for at least another 4-5 years. It was well maintained and I bet it lasted probably till close to 400k miles with the owner after me and then he sold it to another guy. With good maintenance these will last a very very long time.

[@njpw1402]

Cool rig, I just subscribed to your channel

[@NKPGarage]

Thanks bud!! Appreciate the support!

[@Silentway247]

Not terrible. I found Cars and Bids and BaT to be one of the worst places to look for vehicles because egos get in the way and everyone plays a game. I bought mine locally for $12k, 150k miles. Following along as I'm restoring mine as well. As you know Toyota discontinued a few parts but can still be acquired through Denso and NTK.

[@NKPGarage]

I tend to agree. I sold my last 1997 LX450 on BaT a couple months ago, and the process was unusual. At least to me it was unusual. I have never purchased anything from those sites myself, but I have heard both good and bad stories from other buyers. I do prefer to buy in person whenever possible, meet a person, shake a hand, have a conversation, etc...

[@rickymarquez2468]

80 Series rule 🤙🏼

[@NKPGarage]

I agree. Love the 80 series platform!

[@NigelNaughton]

$14K!! Yikes! ;-). I wouln't worry about the miles much but I get your point that it would be better for resell if it were less. I got my latest Land Cruiser for $5500 in the summer of 2018 right before everyone went crazy. A 3X locked Collector's Edition with 220K miles and in super great condition. A fully built and well cared for LC can easily go for $35K and up.

[@NKPGarage]

You got yours right in time! I sold my last 80 series in 2014, and wish I never had. It was a 40th anniversary 97 that I built to my liking over a few years of ownership. Should be fun getting this one built up to play with for a while.

[@NigelNaughton]

@@NKPGarage maybe if someone offered me like 60K I would sell it but I can't think of any other vehicle that makes me this happy for my use case.. overland and adventure cruising. It would be hard to replace so that's the reason I couldn't sell. Same goes for my VW Bus. I could sell pretty easily for 80K but I would have to come to grips that I'd never be able to get one again.

[@NKPGarage]

@@NigelNaughton That's the truth! It's hard to replace these, and if you sell, you probably will never find another for the same price/condition.

[@Jake4WD]

I just bought yesterday mine for 17k 😅

[@NKPGarage]

Congrats on your 80 series purchase! They're fantastic vehicles.

[@faresali3144]

I have one 1994 super clean for sale

[@NKPGarage]

Hope you are able to find a new owner for it. The market is still great for clean 80 series to sell.

[@joekissfm]

14k

[@NKPGarage]

Yessir!! A bit on the high side. But hopefully some day I'll finish the restoration. My 11yr old son wants to keep it, we'll see ;-)

[@joekissfm]

They are one of the rare trucks that increase in value… so I think you win by having it.

[@NKPGarage]

@@joekissfmdefinitely! They are amazing.

[@dfox344]

Keep it

[@NKPGarage]

I think this one is going to get sold once I'm finished with it. But I am still on the lookout for my lifetime keeper 80 series.

[@dfox344]

@@NKPGarage ok. I will keep my eyes open for you. Are you partial to the triple locked...... and what year...... mine is the 95 red triple locked. Looking forward to turning nuts and bolts soon.

[@NKPGarage]

@@dfox344 I am not really partial to a triple locked rig since I can add lockers. Mainly I am partial to a sage colored 1997 40th anniversary edition. I know it sounds silly, but that's just what my heart is set on....

[@dfox344]

@@NKPGarage not sure if it is still available. But 1 was in San Diego a short while back. I'll look again and get back to you.

[@dfox344]

@@NKPGarage I just checked Offer Up. One just came up for sale in Anaheim California 11 hours ago. 97, 40th...