irv

As these trucks become less common, what do you think the future outlook of the availability of parts will be? Do you think parts will be readily found in all the auto part stores and online for decades to come? Or will we start having a hard time finding certain parts? Are there any parts that already are hard to find?

I drive a 1986 4wd Pickup up here in Maine and it's one of the only ones I ever see on the road. I get people commenting on it almost everywhere I go. I bought it out in Washington State and is in very good shape. The salt and harsh winters of Maine have killed most 80s and lots of 90s vehicles here. It's uncommon here for people to drive vehicles much older than 20 or 25 years as they just don't last. But, I am still able to find parts quite readily even at the local auto parts stores. I just wonder for how much longer.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Depending on where you are right now. Many parts are out of production. Some places offer aftermarket replacements for out of production parts. But it's not going to get easier to source parts in the future.

AKHeathen

Toyota seems to stock parts longer than most dealerships. when availability drops off there, chain stores usually pick up on the stock dependant on demand. in salty regions, I expect there would be a lot of ordering over in-stock parts, since 95% of a toyota will outlast the rusty body. places like arazona, nm,nv,etc probably have a lot still on the road.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I see how hard they are to find parts compared to just 5 years ago. The aftermarket will still have some parts for a while but can only imagine what another 5 years it will be to get the less common parts. One reason I am going to be converting 2 of my trucks to 22r so wont need to depend on aftermarket for some parts and ease to work on.

Trying to find parts for a Stout or 79-83 now is what I expect to be in the future for the next generation of trucks. Unless our trucks get popular enough for a company like LMC that supports older domestic trucks, or like the first gen Camaro, it is not going to be easy. I think I have a nice stock pile of parts to keep me going for a while.

I remember when the 79-83 were new and were everywhere. I do good to see one a month if I am lucky now. I am hoping to be in mine 10 years from now.

Janos01

RockAuto.com or O Reilly Auto Parts, For common cars like ours, parts will not run out any time soon.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

It all depends the major items that are in demand will be around as long as the demand is there and money can be made.

It is the little things that tend to cause problems.

Like the vent windows on the early 4runners and trucks

Wiring harnesses for most of the eighties trucks are gone

While with thinking most things can be circumvented it still can get frustrating

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Good point about aftermarket companies picking up some of the slack. A read an article a couple months ago. Our trucks are becoming the 1 of the more popular less known classics.

Reminds me I need to order weather stripping for windows, doors, and tailgate.

Odin

Hate to say it but with Chinese made aftermarket parts there is a quality problem. I hate thinking what it's going to be like in a few years.

About 10 years ago I purchased a no rust 2nd owner VW Bug that needed the motor rebuilt and started purchasing things for it. I noticed even things that were supposed to be good quality from GeneBerg, EMPI, and Hurst were of a lower quality than I was expecting and a great many of them said made in China. You had to get parts from an aftermarket German source to find real quality but as you can guess it was expensive. I ended up selling it back to the previous owner without driving it and was only out a couple hundred bucks.

I noticed the same thing when my friend purchased some restoration parts for his 66 Nova years earlier. From what I hear locally and read on different forums it's only getting worse. Performance market, not so bad. Reproduction, not so good.

bhaithc

I hope parts do not get scarce. I am back driving an 84 and I honestly enjoy the piss out of it. Don't get me wrong, I love my new truck, but the old Toyota is just rewarding. Its been nice bringing mine back from the dead the past two years, and the fact that I am able to adjust and be in control of nearly every aspect in the way it runs is very satisfying. I'm sure major parts will always be there though. Engine internals, timing kits, etc, but it does suck when you want to find an interior part and I know that is only going to get worse.

I wonder if there is enough demand for a company to clone these interior parts and make a profit. I had thought about trying to make a mold of my dash pad to re create and sell, but could not find anywhere that could make a proper mold.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

A friend and I was talking the other day about the trying to restore one of these 2015 trucks 30 years from now. They are too complicated. The trucks today are just going to be throw away trucks and trying to get parts for them I could only imagine what it is going to be like in the future.

Dash pads and fuel pump brackets are already getting hard to find for these trucks.

AKHeathen

well, you have to understand the separation of american cars, european cars, and asian cars. they will always be separate..... that being said: toyota trucks are like the chevy 350 in a way. i'm sure they are one of the few that will be supported in the aftermarket, at least partially. those, and maybe vw/audi cars of the last decade or so.

Odin

Honestly I believe it's meant to be that way by design. That way most people have to purchase a newer vehicle to help the economy and they like it or not are purchasing cars that are more heavily regulated in safety and emissions.
Not to mention tracking your butt and soon to be hands-free driving to give you more time to spend on the important stuff in life like taking selfies and posting on facebook or reddit etc.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I really thought self driving cars were a bad thing but the skill of some drivers I might have to rethink my position on this.

I think your a little off in your thinking about the newer vehicles .

If you compare your basic car from the sixties with something mid eighties the advance in tech is about the same as mid eighties to now

The only thing is we don`t see it like that .

Granted today`s youth for the most seem pretty clueless public education to blame for that.

Coming of age now it would seem no big deal to hook your portable computer ( Reminds me of the Tricorder From Star Trek) smart phone and talk to your cars computer and ask how it feels today

Who can say

AKHeathen

that's the way it was 30 years ago, and 30 years before that. people will evolve.....maybe aen burn proms like you brew coffee...

Odin

That is a given so I didn't bother to mention it.



Yes, but even then a person could repair a lot of their own vehicle. Now it seems like so many things are hooked into the computer that you have to have special equipment (sometimes expensive) to do a high number of diagnosis and repairs. Too many sensors. That in turn helps the average owner to take it to a shop for repairs where for the most part things will be kept in stock form where government mandated emissions and safety equipment will be left in place.



My guess is that the hands free computers will be able to decipher any language, or form of it, and drive you to where you want to go




You guys hear about the driverless car that got out on the freeway and had a hard time staying up at the speed limit? I guess it followed the law and calculated the correct following distance and slowed down to achieve it. Most times when correct following distance was achieved someone pulled in and it had to slow down again, and again, and again.
Having someone pull in front of you within one or two car lengths on the freeway and thinking it's normal has definitely become a problem where I live.

Janos01

Its said to see what the car industry has come to especially Toyota. Every car these days is almost all "Plastic" and as you guys mentioned "Full of sensors" that require special tools which cost $$$.

I personally love the hell out of my 90 4runner. Ive had it since High school and it was the only car Ive ever known until I bought my commute car "2012 Toyota Camry SE"-(plastic alert) to extend the life on my 4runner.

In all, parts for our cars will still be available. O'Reilly's is a great place for them as a lot of parts they carry are Domestic or Japanese for our older Toyota's. Rock Auto is good as well due to the fact they carry "DENSO" which is half the parts of our cars.

slacker

iTrader: (1)

we have been in business for 20 years now .. toyotafiberglass.com .

I know some of you are still "old school" and think steel is better , but with all the improvements in the FRP and epoxy industries .. steel is NOT better . its weaker and rusts . new technology , if only supported more would be less expensive .. things like carbon fibre , Kevlar and hemp .. all stronger then steel , even the FRP we do today , is stronger then steel ... just people are afraid I think ? .. IDK

anyway .. We are working on new techniques for vacuum bagging , and auto claving for new products .

we are here for the long haul fellas supporting 79-95 trucks and 4runners


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AKHeathen

it's all in liscencing rights..... i can see things going "stage2" of what they did with obd2 to prevent unneccisary proprietarianism and instill minimum function to all vehicles... they found a way to get around that more and more to only allow a genaric user to access emmisions functions while maintaining a great majority of function to liscencing once again. as it is, if you are mot warbucks, you need to spend 80-600 on your first scan tool, then progress to a tech2, then genisis, etc, and keep on paying every time there's more protocols, etc, or bit the bullet and dish out 8k for like a snap-on module and yearly updates, either way, you are paying over 10grand to keep up with interfacing and that's 5% hardware and 95% liscencing to interface...... hopefully, it would progress to obd2a and obd2e or something like that to be had for under 2k for a 5year stretch with reasonable update pricing. but, yah, the interface code is basic still, just have to pay the piper to be allowed to access it. i sure hope they don't figure out how to make the driverless car anylize trafic flow and match speed and distance to what real people do, and come to the conclusion that driverless modes need their own lanes, like the carpool lanes, and then learn that over 500feet at 60mph is not a reasonable, or even close to feasable following distance. they would need to develop a moving network of automation to close the gap and fit those other 10 cars on that space like real people do.

first.... orileys is not a great place...... csk from 15 years ago was a good place. orileys is even crap compared to the crap csk turned into. i deal primarily with carquest, then napa..... orileys is just a bigger selection than wallmart, and just as knowledgeable people working there.
it's not "sensors" that are the problem..... many sensors solve many problems... and yes, do create some because they were designed far to sensitive and fragile, like "nox" sensors which usually have a module attached, callibrated to the individual sensor... back when 2-way auto-starts were a new thing, i was tasked with installing prototypes and finnessing the instructions..... well, one of the vehicles was an over 10 year old acura..... that was a total bs... even the range rover was a nicer install. tapping into the engine harness was not too bad, and other functions under the hood no worse than you would expect from an over-packed honda compartment, but the stupid thing had 13 modules related to installing the thing..... 13 stupid computers and nowhere to run wires... the whole car was more complicated than rewiring an apple2e..... and if you know about computers, that is no small task. so no, it's not "sensors" it's the big network of computers that they have become.... just try putting a stereo in a ford focus.... no thanks!
i worked lots with fusor products at my shop.... they claimed 2500psi tensil strength in a bond..... that's like 5x total bonding than factory pinch welds. as you can guess, we put on a lot of body pannels with fusor..... but everything has it's downsides. you just need the public to see it spank good 'ole steel somewhere. i mean, for example, on the dirt track, all you need is a scissor jack, 2x4's and sometimes the cheapest flux-core welder to keep a steel bidy going for years, but something else would just explode and take out half the drivers with floating fibres...... all you have to do is attend a good old destruction derby to appreciate steel....

slacker

iTrader: (1)

good ol steel still rusts .. and I agree .. if your lookin to beat the crap out of it .. maybe steel is what you should stay with , if you can get it , after all raisins are popular apparently ? . fiberglass industry has come a long way in just a few short years it is stronger then steel .. ya just cant weld it !
not sure what your sayin though ? cuz I don't think there will ever be steel aftermarket support again or any more for the older Toyotas .. there just isn't enough demand , and simply Toyota owners wont pay for quality steel . we tried with market research , for example : with stamping new floors .. 10% support .. just not enough

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