The PLZ-85 (Type 85) was the self-propelled howitzer variant of the Type 85 APC and visually nearly identical to the PLZ-70 that preceded it. Configuration is similar to the APC version and shares its all-welded steel chassis, with the driver seated to the front left and the engine to the right. The rest of the vehicle is composed of a gun crew compartment for operating the Type 86 122-mm howitzer which is a Chinese copy of the Soviet towed D-30. This has a maximum range of 15.3 km extendable to 21 km and with a rate of fire of 6-8 rounds per minute. The crew compartment is semi-open, with a canvas cover provided for protection against the weather. Additionally, there is a shield which offers some degree of frontal protection, although there is no protection to the gun crew from the sides or rear. However, no defensive armament is provided. As with its APC cousin, the PLZ-85 is fully amphibious if needed with the installation of additional pontoons to the sides of the hull, and is propelled by its tracks. The PLZ-85 entered service with the PLA in the 1980s but was not seen as particularly successful and was eventually replaced by the PLZ-89. It was never exported.

The PLZ-85 or Type 85 was developed from the similarly named APC. No variants were built although the D-30 gun was offered for export on the Type 90 APC chassis.