Grim Reaper
Expedition Leader
The 90's 80's are down around a price I can live with. We have a situation in that we have 4 vehicles. (see sig). So I am considering an 80 to replace 1 or 2 of them. One day it may become my wheeling rig.
We have an immaculate 1988 Suburban with 86,000 original miles. If you didn't know the body breaks you would think it was 2 years old. It’s just the cleanest you will ever see. I put it in Car shows and people think I did a full restoration on it.
The problem is it’s a thirsty girl. It has a 454 with a TH400 (no over drive). So hwy the best it does is 11mpg. Around town with the A/C....8-9. It is just not DD material. Its sitting 2-3 weeks between drives so while it is listed as a pleasure vehicle and has low insurance premium...Its still a premium to be paid
We also have a beater Honda my wife has been using as a DD....Great MPG. I use to drive it when I worked 22 miles up the road before I got the 4runner. The car paid for its insurance in fuel saving over me driving the Sub when the gas prices started to climb. I now work 3 miles from home and the wife is a stay at home mom so MPG is not a huge concern but the more MPG the better.
The Honda is a REAL tight fit on me. It’s also showing its age. A/C quit, Paint is a mess. It’s just not worth putting any real money in. Thought about keeping it around for the oldest to drive in a couple years but that’s jut not practical now.
Now the other big problem is we have a 22ft Airstream camper. That’s why we have the burb is to move that camper. I originally had wanted to tow my 4Runner when I went wheeling as well but my wheeling style is moving away from rock crawling. Since I am not looking to stand the truck on the back bumper anymore I'm not as worried about driving to some of the trails with my club. If it’s going to be a rough trail I will catch a seat with somebody else, pull cable and live vicariously through the carnage on their rig.
What I need is for that 80 to handle being a DD AND be able to handle about 4500lb of load (trailer, gear and family) a couple times a year in places like CO.
I'm a realist and not expecting huge MPG but I am finding no first hand MPG quotes on these two vehicles. CAFE standards are a joke. I want to know first hand experience.
I found a couple 80's I have interest in.
#1 is a 91 with 120K and original owner. Reasonably optioned and it all is suppose to work.
How does the 3FE do with the weights I want to haul?
What sort of MPG can I expect from a 91:
city (most of what it will see)
hwy
Hwy hauling 4500lb
I have read the 3FE is like my 22RE 4Runner. Very reliable motor that will go for a long time but slow as can be. Any comments?
#2 is a LOADED TO THE GILLS 95. It has it all including lockers. It appears very clean.
The Big negative is it has 300k on the clock :Wow1:
I hear more power out of this motor so may be a better motor for towing. I also hear it gets better MPG.
What should I expect from a 95:
City
hwy
Hyw hauling.
I am trying to weigh what makes the most sense. I don't care for ABS and Airbags of the 95 but the lockers and rear Disc are big pluses. Yeah I can throw lockers in the 91 but I can just as easily and for about the same price throw a low mile engine in the 95.
What sort of miles are people putting on this motor? 300K sounds huge but if it was well taken care of I wonder if its still a viable choice.
Any comments on these vehicles are welcome
We have an immaculate 1988 Suburban with 86,000 original miles. If you didn't know the body breaks you would think it was 2 years old. It’s just the cleanest you will ever see. I put it in Car shows and people think I did a full restoration on it.
The problem is it’s a thirsty girl. It has a 454 with a TH400 (no over drive). So hwy the best it does is 11mpg. Around town with the A/C....8-9. It is just not DD material. Its sitting 2-3 weeks between drives so while it is listed as a pleasure vehicle and has low insurance premium...Its still a premium to be paid
We also have a beater Honda my wife has been using as a DD....Great MPG. I use to drive it when I worked 22 miles up the road before I got the 4runner. The car paid for its insurance in fuel saving over me driving the Sub when the gas prices started to climb. I now work 3 miles from home and the wife is a stay at home mom so MPG is not a huge concern but the more MPG the better.
The Honda is a REAL tight fit on me. It’s also showing its age. A/C quit, Paint is a mess. It’s just not worth putting any real money in. Thought about keeping it around for the oldest to drive in a couple years but that’s jut not practical now.
Now the other big problem is we have a 22ft Airstream camper. That’s why we have the burb is to move that camper. I originally had wanted to tow my 4Runner when I went wheeling as well but my wheeling style is moving away from rock crawling. Since I am not looking to stand the truck on the back bumper anymore I'm not as worried about driving to some of the trails with my club. If it’s going to be a rough trail I will catch a seat with somebody else, pull cable and live vicariously through the carnage on their rig.
What I need is for that 80 to handle being a DD AND be able to handle about 4500lb of load (trailer, gear and family) a couple times a year in places like CO.
I'm a realist and not expecting huge MPG but I am finding no first hand MPG quotes on these two vehicles. CAFE standards are a joke. I want to know first hand experience.
I found a couple 80's I have interest in.
#1 is a 91 with 120K and original owner. Reasonably optioned and it all is suppose to work.
How does the 3FE do with the weights I want to haul?
What sort of MPG can I expect from a 91:
city (most of what it will see)
hwy
Hwy hauling 4500lb
I have read the 3FE is like my 22RE 4Runner. Very reliable motor that will go for a long time but slow as can be. Any comments?
#2 is a LOADED TO THE GILLS 95. It has it all including lockers. It appears very clean.
The Big negative is it has 300k on the clock :Wow1:
I hear more power out of this motor so may be a better motor for towing. I also hear it gets better MPG.
What should I expect from a 95:
City
hwy
Hyw hauling.
I am trying to weigh what makes the most sense. I don't care for ABS and Airbags of the 95 but the lockers and rear Disc are big pluses. Yeah I can throw lockers in the 91 but I can just as easily and for about the same price throw a low mile engine in the 95.
What sort of miles are people putting on this motor? 300K sounds huge but if it was well taken care of I wonder if its still a viable choice.
Any comments on these vehicles are welcome