what he said ^

Yep the 99 or spend $6-8k and totally redo the 88. Like was said unless the frame is rusty then the 88 runner will allways be the best and cheepest choice.

The Rubicon doesn't hold enough for two on an extended outing, the ride is horrible, and there isn't that much room for passengers, yor planned uses outway any benefits fropm the F/R lockers. You can have dual ARB's in your '88 for under $2k(US). The '06 Runner is nice, a large interior, nice ride and a V8. This would make a good family rig, not a great off-roader do to its size, even teh right bumpers wont help that much. IMO, the last gen Runner really has gotten to big to be a good trail rig. The '99 Runner will work well for everything you want it to do, it will be comfy on long trips, hold 2 kids and gear for traveling, should last forever, and is of course quite bit more upscale than the '88 Runner. The FJC is nice but I didn't like driving one, I am 6'2" and even though there is plenty of headroom, do to the design it makes you feel like you have to duck down to see out the windows, and like the Jeep there isn't that much storage room.

If you have never owned(*my*) a new car before, I would buy the '06 Runner for family travel/outings, and keep the '88 Runner for the back woods camping trips, and equip it with lockers. This will give you the best of both and since the '88 is already paid for, off-road dents wont hurt as much, atleast not as much as denting a $40k rig.

However if you don't want to keep the '88, I would look into a late '90's Landcruiser. They come equipped with everything you are after, lockers, luxery, room, V8, and are still small enough to make a good trail rig out of, and you should be able to find one for less than the '06 Runner.

The fuel economy however . . .

How do you feel about the two-vehicle route?
$40k is alot of money (even if it is Canadian, lol).
If it were me, I'd drop 5-6k into making the 4Runner a really fun, off-road toy (selectables, lift, redo teh seats so it's nice 'n comfy, etc etc), and set aside another 3-4k for repairs/upgrades later. Now take the remaining 30k and instead of the 4Runner, get a nice big car - say a Camry, Mazda6, whatever... that will serve better for the family, road trips, MPGs, etc.
JMHO.

What about a slightly newer and lower mileage 3rd gen than a 99? Say an 03, or so? More capable off road than the new 4th gen's, but would still have lots of good years left in it.

Mark

What he said!

If you are rich, spend the money, but if you are a working class bloke I think you'd be nuts to plow your house equity into a rapidly depreciating good like a vehicle. If you invest $40,000 and average a 7% per annnum return for ten years your $40k will become $78,686.05 and after 20 years $154,787. Or if you are good at something start a business based on that thing. Buy a 2nd house and fix it up and flip it, or rent it out. So many superior choices.

Then again the world needs people who will take the big hit so people like me can live on the cheap. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Exactly.

Anything wrong with a used Land Cruiser 80 series?

I considered an 02 (last of 3rd gen) but IIRC the last year for the factory locker was '99 and also in 2000, they lowered the ground clearance by a couple of inches. . . . Can't remember, but some guy went and measured about 20 different 4Runners to find this out. I know an '02 would make my wife a little happier.

Nothing wrong at all, execpt I've heard horror stories about importing them into Canada.