LUVTruck.com

Does anyone know what years the Luv was made with the striping and 4x4 decal on the hood? My grandfather owned one and there is some discrepancy on what year it was. I've never seen one until the late 70's. My guess his was a 1979 or 80. THere's no pics and no one in the family seems to know what year it was. I'm looking to buy one...but wanted to get the year he had. Thanks for any help anyone can give.

'79 was the first year for a 4x4, '80 was the last year for the same body style. Other than a slight difference in the emblem on the front fender you would be hard pressed to tell the two apart. '81 & '82 had a more square body style & these two years were also nearly identical. The decals came as a paint upgrade to the base model & were probably an option on all four years. You can easily narrow it down to one of the two body styles but that's probably as close as you'll get without more info.

_________________
'78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78.
'87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.

Like oldisuzuist said, 4x4 LUVs didn't show up until 79, then in 81 they changed to a completely different look. If you look through the gallery on the main site here you should be able to find a 1981 and confirm it wasn't 81 or 82. The big 4X4 decals where available either year and I don't think there was much difference between them if any.

The only visible distinguishing trait I can think of for the 79 vs 80 is the side marker lights. They are rectangular and there is one amber on each front fender and one red on each side behind the rear wheels. The difference is the the 79 is just like the 78 and older. They have a shiny metal ring that goes around the outside of the lens. Not chrome, but somewhat shiny. The 1980s did not have the ring, and the lens had a slightly rounded over edge. The 80's don't seem to stick up quite as much. I don't know if I can find a picture of both types, maybe someone with a 1980 can post of a pic of their marker lights. The 79 and older are of course more common since more years had them. You'd have to be pretty observant to notice and remember the marker lights though. Very few could spot the difference from more than 10 feet.

There is another few differences but most are not visible. The voltage regulator connector is round on the 1980 and rectangular on the 79 and older. The clutch plate is bigger on the 80. The only other thing I can think of is that the 80s have a 4x4 indicator light in the gauge cluster (in the speedo I believe, but not sure). If you remember seeing a green 4x4 light on the dash come on when it was in 4LO or 4HI, then it was an 1980.


If you can't pin down any of those details, then the best you can do is look for a the right body style. 79-80 or 81-82 depending on what matches. They are so close that other than matching the year for sentimental reasons it is almost impossible to tell them apart. Good luck on your hunt!

_________________
95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

Was it a California truck? California emissions equipted 4X4 LUV's had the spare tires in the bed on 79 and 80 only.

_________________
Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

I have an '81 model. Has a 4x4 sticker on the tailgate and small glue-on emblems on the B-pillars.

_________________
Tom
'81 Luv diesel 4X4 - daily driver