87nonturbo

last night i noticed an alteration sticker on my truck in the door jam. it's an 87 4runner, and the sticker is from 87? when i get back home, i will try and take a pic and post. has anyone here heard of anything or seen, like this?

rustypigeon

When there is a recall, the technician doing the recall puts a sticker on the car so others know the recall has been completed. It should have written on it, the SSC number, the date, and the dealer code.

87nonturbo

will definately have to look for that. thanks

87nonturbo

pic of sticker

drmix

Doesnt look like a toyota sticker.

I remember something about how they would import the 4runners with a block off plate over where the back seat is for tax reasons. Then once it was over here they would remove the plate and install the back seat. It was cheaper to import a 2 seater than a 5 seater.

Maybe this is a sticker they had to put on each one showing that it was modified?

87nonturbo

not sure? truck made may 1987, sticker says alteration june 1987????????? tring to google "crown port servies inc".

MudHippy

Did that, got nothing.

I like drmix's theory. That makes sense to me.

87nonturbo

same here...

drmix

Yeah so once it made it to the states from Japan they would modify it by putting in the back seat which would have been around June. I was reading online and it says that the 4runner when imported was classified as a truck for tax reasons then when it got here they would remove the panel and install the back seat.

Heres a post I found with a pic of the panel
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=673517

87nonturbo

makes sence...

XtraSlow_XtraCab

A lot of A/C units weren't installed until imports reached the U.S. either.

It could also have been retrofitted with a tow package or oversized tires and a mild suspension lift by a dealer to help the vehicle sell (think of the black truck in Back to the Future). Some dealers had Yotas "dressed up" to attract buyers and increase sales.

xxxtreme22r

someone on here has a similar sticker too. It was some sort of interior custom work or something like that. Not sure if anyone on here has a truck with the factory rear seat delete. Which is what is being talked about. If that were the case more of these stickers would be more common but they really aren't. The reason I say that is the rear seat delete is very uncommon.

drmix

If this were the case I think that the sticker would say that the dealer did the mods and not a port company. I dont think Toyota would outsource something like installing a lift kit to a port company.

Just doesnt seem like a Toyota thing.

drmix

Is there anything done to your truck?

SCToy

My 81 didn't get a bed until it was in the states there is a sticker on the bed that it was made in LA but nothing in the cab

The MAN

are you sure? I thought the chicken tax targeted light truck imports, but if it had back seats, the tax didn't apply... that's why we had goofy vehicles in the 80s like the subaru brat

MudHippy

I'm glad you mentioned that. Because I was going to ask what was up with that. That being why some trucks were like that, shipped here with no bed(a.k.a. deckless or Cab & Chassis, or Building Condition Category "IV: Incomplete Vehicle" in Toyota terminology).

My 88 long bed PU is one of those too. According to the model code anyways, VZN66L-MDEA3. The last letter of the code, A, verifies it was shipped to the U.S.A.. The last number of the code, 3, verifies it was an "Incomplete Vehicle".

So where is the sticker you found on the bed located exactly on yours? I kinda doubt mine's still there, since it's been repainted once. But I wouldn't be shocked to find it under some of the newer paint neither.

87nonturbo

not that i have found. it does have a back seat. looks the same as my other 87 (jan 1987)?

SCToy

From my understanding of the brief googling I did after finding the sticker, Toyota was avoiding an import tax on pickups by importing the cab and chassis as a passenger vehicle. Manufacturing the bed and and placing it on the chassis in the states. I think it had something to do with a abnormally high import tax on pickups to discourage foreign auto companies from competing with the good ole american companies

Here is where the sticker is found on first gens



Sorry for the topic hijack, I just meant to add that my door panel is not have a sticker saying it was modified, you would never know without the sticker on the bed.

MudHippy

Cool! Thanks! I'm gonna go check if mine's got one still...