Marine Pilot VS Navy Pilot

[bluemarlin04]

I'm thinking about trading the FZJ80 in for a Tacoma and doing the long travel thing since, you know, I actually do that kinda stuff. Any complaints or issues with the Taco I should be aware of??

FJ cruiser. Look for the 6 speed manual 4WD model (might take a bit to find, esp with low miles). Has full time 4WD with a crawl gear and electronic locking center diff. It is important to differentiate between the auto and manual trans. They have big differences. More on that here:

https://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/2014+toyota+fj+cruiser.htm

An old man emu 3 inch lift with 285 tires and upgraded Upper Control Arms will give you an extremely capable vehicle that has space, safety, and decent MPG (14ish). Plus it is still small enough to park, can fit surfboards/snowboards inside the car.

 

[scoolbubba]

I'm thinking about trading the FZJ80 in for a Tacoma and doing the long travel thing since, you know, I actually do that kinda stuff. Any complaints or issues with the Taco I should be aware of??

Why get rid of the 80? Other than shitty mileage, those straight sixes are legit and if my intuition is correct, you’ll start seeing the value in clean 80 series start to go back up. The 60s are already sky high for unmolested examples. I’m on the prowl for a lightly abused 60 series to restore over the next decade.

I’ve had two tacos and I now own three 4runners...04 Taco (totaled...RIP), 14 Taco (hated it ) and 3rd/4th/5th gen Runners.

My daily is a V8 4Runner. Tons of grunt and the motor is easy to work on. The third gen is a toy and the 5th gen has the 4.0. It’s a decent motor but for the size, I think it’s under powered and the stock suspension in that generations base model is too squishy. It does fine for mall crawler duties for my wife but I much prefer my 06 for pulling anything or long drives. Whenever I find a new daily driver, it will become the toy and get all the stupid lifts and bumpers, but for now, it’s more than capable of anything I throw at it, and I’ve got an e tool and maxtraxxs for when it’s not.

 

[RedFive]

FJ cruiser. Look for the 6 speed manual 4WD model (might take a bit to find, esp with low miles). Has full time 4WD with a crawl gear and electronic locking center diff. It is important to differentiate between the auto and manual trans. They have big differences. More on that here:

https://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/2014+toyota+fj+cruiser.htm

An old man emu 3 inch lift with 285 tires and upgraded Upper Control Arms will give you an extremely capable vehicle that has space, safety, and decent MPG (14ish). Plus it is still small enough to park, can fit surfboards/snowboards inside the car.

Yeah, but the FZJ80 already does all that. It's basically a Subaru with three locking diffs that married an 80s Toyota Pickup. It's built like a tank. The Cruiser has IFS, so that's a plus, but I'm looking to go slightly bigger than the 80 for a few different reasons.

The Cruiser wheelbase is 106, the FZJ80 is 112, and the Taco is 127. For the desert stuff I do, I want a longer wheelbase. As it is with the 80, the whoops kinda suck. It's not really a shock issue, it's a geometry issue. I really want to be as close to around 125 as possible which will make the whoops a lot less crazy. Ever see a Class 11 Bug go through the whoops? That's what I feel like!



I carry a lot of gear AND the dog, and every trip gets a little more cramped. We winched out five race trucks that were stuck during the 2017 Baja 1000 and last year a truck lost all their tools so we ended up changing their spare. It's the most hands-on race event you can go to, but you gotta come prepared! The 80 is pretty heavy and I don't need/want solid axles anymore. Solid axles were cool when I was rock crawling a Jeep in college, but I'm lucky to get 10 inches of travel out of the 80. An IFS setup like the Taco with rear leafs is really the ideal setup.

Also, with a Taco, I can do a cantilevered suspension in the back and thereby save the utility of the bed, then pack my gear in drawers, and sleep on top of it all. Sleeping on the ground is a huge fucking mistake.

Here's my fat ass changing a tire ??

'

14 Taco (hated it )

Why??

 

[bluemarlin04]

You make some good points. I owned an 80 series too and regret selling it and not taking better care of it.

My only complaint on the 80 was that it got really bad gas mileage and was tough to get in the garage. Other then that it was a beast.

The tacos are nice but the back seat is very cramped in my opinion. Worst then the FJ and the FJ doesn’t even have 4 doors.

The TRD Tacoma with a 6 foot bed and total chaos long travel kit would prob be the ideal setup. Add a camper shell or a Callen Aluminum Camper and that would be a sweet rig. The callen campers are awesome but damn they cost a lot. Guess it’ll pay off if you have it for a long time.

 

[bluemarlin04]

On the topic of off-road rigs the Suzuki Samurai with a 1.6 FI engine swapped into it from a Geo Tracker and dual transfer cases with missing link suspension was the most capable rig I ever owned. There wasn’t much that the thing couldn’t get past. Only prob was the wheelbase was so short it was incredibly dangerous and I flipped it off-roading in Colorado. Thank god the seat belts and roll bar held up and my friend and I crawled out okay.

 

[scoolbubba]

Yeah, but the FZJ80 already does all that. It's basically a Subaru with three locking diffs that married an 80s Toyota Pickup. It's built like a tank. The Cruiser has IFS, so that's a plus, but I'm looking to go slightly bigger than the 80 for a few different reasons.

The Cruiser wheelbase is 106, the FZJ80 is 112, and the Taco is 127. For the desert stuff I do, I want a longer wheelbase. As it is with the 80, the whoops kinda suck. It's not really a shock issue, it's a geometry issue. I really want to be as close to around 125 as possible which will make the whoops a lot less crazy. Ever see a Class 11 Bug go through the whoops? That's what I feel like!

View attachment 21904

I carry a lot of gear AND the dog, and every trip gets a little more cramped. We winched out five race trucks that were stuck during the 2017 Baja 1000 and last year a truck lost all their tools so we ended up changing their spare. It's the most hands-on race event you can go to, but you gotta come prepared! The 80 is pretty heavy and I don't need/want solid axles anymore. Solid axles were cool when I was rock crawling a Jeep in college, but I'm lucky to get 10 inches of travel out of the 80. An IFS setup like the Taco with rear leafs is really the ideal setup.

Also, with a Taco, I can do a cantilevered suspension in the back and thereby save the utility of the bed, then pack my gear in drawers, and sleep on top of it all. Sleeping on the ground is a huge fucking mistake.

Here's my fat ass changing a tire ??
View attachment 21901
View attachment 21902'View attachment 21903


Why??

It had a really shitty driver seat position. Because Toyota wanted high clearance, a low roof, and a raked windshield, the seat was only about 8 inches off the floor pan.

It felt like you were sitting on the floor in front of a sofa with your legs straight out in front of you. Fine at first but my back would be killing me about an hour into a drive. I tried just about everything short of ripping the seats out and swapping in powered Volvo/Audi seats. I’m not a fan of manual seats in a 35,000 dollar truck after that experience.

It also turned into a rattle trap after 10000 miles. I learned never to buy a Toyota that had a 3 at the beginning of the VIN after that. Anecdotally, they’re not the same quality as the ones that start with a J. I traded it for my 06 4runner, made money on the trade and never looked back.

I borrowed a buddy’s 2017 Taco when my cars were shipped off the island and he was out of town. Seats were better positioned but still manual and the engine seemed smoother but it didn’t seem more or less powerful than the 4.0, just better on gas.

Upside to the 4.0 is there are still superchargers out there floating around for it.

 

[RedFive]

On the topic of off-road rigs the Suzuki Samurai with a 1.6 FI engine swapped into it from a Geo Tracker and dual transfer cases with missing link suspension was the most capable rig I ever owned. There wasn’t much that the thing couldn’t get past. Only prob was the wheelbase was so short it was incredibly dangerous and I flipped it off-roading in Colorado. Thank god the seat belts and roll bar held up and my friend and I crawled out okay.

Samurai is a great little truck. This is my buddy's, or what's left of it (bottom)...

It had a really shitty driver seat position. Because Toyota wanted high clearance, a low roof, and a raked windshield, the seat was only about 8 inches off the floor pan.

It felt like you were sitting on the floor in front of a sofa with your legs straight out in front of you. Fine at first but my back would be killing me about an hour into a drive. I tried just about everything short of ripping the seats out and swapping in powered Volvo/Audi seats. I’m not a fan of manual seats in a 35,000 dollar truck after that experience.

It also turned into a rattle trap after 10000 miles. I learned never to buy a Toyota that had a 3 at the beginning of the VIN after that. Anecdotally, they’re not the same quality as the ones that start with a J. I traded it for my 06 4runner, made money on the trade and never looked back.

I borrowed a buddy’s 2017 Taco when my cars were shipped off the island and he was out of town. Seats were better positioned but still manual and the engine seemed smoother but it didn’t seem more or less powerful than the 4.0, just better on gas.

Upside to the 4.0 is there are still superchargers out there floating around for it.

I have a supercharger on the 80, it's still a dog. 35's don't help, of course. I was thinking about installing an air-to-water intercooler, but I'm not sure how much more money i want to throw at it. That sucks about the Taco seats, you'd think they wouldn't be so chintzy about it. I think if I do this, I'll probably end up with suspension seats though. While I'm tired of paying for 91, I'll probably need to supercharge it at some point. Big tires are just a huge tax on power, unfortunately. Either that or get stuck in the silt beds without enough clearance!

Doing an offroad trip to watch the Baja 500 at the end of May if anyone is interested.

 

[scoolbubba]

Samurai is a great little truck. This is my buddy's, or what's left of it (bottom)...

View attachment 21910



I have a supercharger on the 80, it's still a dog. 35's don't help, of course. I was thinking about installing an air-to-water intercooler, but I'm not sure how much more money i want to throw at it. That sucks about the Taco seats, you'd think they wouldn't be so chintzy about it. I think if I do this, I'll probably end up with suspension seats though. While I'm tired of paying for 91, I'll probably need to supercharge it at some point. Big tires are just a huge tax on power, unfortunately. Either that or get stuck in the silt beds without enough clearance!

Doing an offroad trip to watch the Baja 500 at the end of May if anyone is interested.

Do you still have the stock gears on the 80?

 

[RedFive]

I do. My buddy did a gear change on his 80, but later regretted it. I forget why. I should ask him again.

 

[RedFive]

Correction: He said 5.29 is the only mod he didn't regret! ??

 

[scoolbubba]

Ha, I thought the first post sounded kind of backwards from everything I’d heard.

I’m a firm believer in specialized cars to do what you want. I see and have ridden in too many cars that have been absolutely ruined for 99% of what they are asked to do in order to be a toy on the weekend. Huge ride-killing lifts, bumpers, winches, light bars....basically, a bunch of weight sitting up higher than ever intended....all to sit in traffic on a freeway m-f and maybe make it up to the forest service roads twice a month and more serious terrain a few times a year.

Building out the long travel set up sounds like it makes more sense than trying to shoehorn something that just won’t work into a niche activity. Add the truck to your quiver and get a daily that’ll just get you around without all the compromises a fully built Baja truck requires.

In any case, if that land cruiser starts weighing you down, throw the ad on here. I’m always looking for a new reason to piss my wife off.

 

[PatrolFighter]

I can confirm. Traded a Tacoma for a Raptor - everything on the damn thing broke before I went back to a Tacoma. Lost a shit ton of money. Never had a single problem with either Tacoma, and they both had higher mileage.

Great pics, by the way.

I ALMOST bought a Raptor. But the Tacoma took me. I got a TRD-OFF Road and love it. Couldn't be happier. I'm glad I avoided the Raptor money pit.

 

[Austin-Powers]

Rest in peace, mshaff12, he died of mental masturbation of what branch to join.

F

 

[scoolbubba]

At least he got to worship at the altar of 80 series Landcruisers first.

 

[HappyHook]

I'm currently applying for OCS as a pilot applicant for both the Navy and the Marine Corps and have three questions regarding my applications:

1) For my Marines application, I currently have a 266 PFT score and my recruiter seems confident that I can be accepted with my PFT score since the Corps is taking in more pilots now that in the past. In May I am graduating Johns Hopkins with a degree in biomedical engineering, 3.7 GPA and 70 8/7/8 ASTB scores. Am I competitive as I stand or do I really need to get my PFT in the 280s to have a chance at being accepted as a pilot in the Corps?

2) My Navy SNA application has been submitted to the OCS board convening on 2/6. However, the board for my Marines application doesn't convene until March. With this timeline will I have time to see my results from the Marines before accepting Navy? Marines has previously been my first choice since I do my flight physical before OCS. My flight physical is scheduled for February 5th. I do realize I could just go with Navy after doing my flight physical at NAMI with the Marines since I'll already have results on paper with no prior commitments.

3) What are the key differences in lifestyle and careers between a Navy pilot and Marines pilot? Disregarding the obvious things, such as having to go to TBS as a Marine and being on a boat in the Navy. I want to hear the deep dark (or light) truths I can't always find researching on the internet. I've heard that you get to fly longer in the Navy than in the Marine Corps. An Admiral in the Navy told me that he still has competitions landing jets on carriers with other pilots, whereas an Air Force officer told me Marines only fly up to O-5 in rank. On a secondary note, does Marines or Navy give you better quality of life and chances to spend time with family?

I realize this is actually four questions, but I appreciate any advice and info you can give me. Thank you for your help!

You will be in fine company either way.

Many Marines complained (more than Navy) that the got fewer flight hours per month than Navy, and had trouble with proficiency - but tat was a while ago. No matter what - it seems your goal is first to be an aviator. I'd research how much bench warming time you get in either nowadays. IT may become airframe-dependent too.

Good luck; you may have chosen by now?

M/r,
Happy