quivvy

whole family's been a toyota fan my whole life, and now its my turn. lookin to get a good DD truck to take to the trails every once and a while. plan was keep my truck now and get a 85 yota pu to beat on, but ends up i may end up having to just end up gettin a newer yota DD instead.... so the question is... ill have about 5G to spend... what is hte best year yota PU and best motor combo? i know its a broad question but hell, shoot some responses and we'll work from there. thanks again in advance.

take it easy.

masterwacker

Here is the answer most hated... It all depends on what you want to do. I know, I know that answer was not what you wanted to hear, but it is where you need to start out. Here is some info I gathered before buying my truck, in signiture below, and made my decision.

Do you want a truck or 4runner?
Do you want SFA or IFS? This is a loaded question so make sure you have all the info first.
Do you want of powerful engine, a very reliable engine with good market for upgrades, and what else do you want in regards to your engine?
Do you want to have to do any body work?

These questions may seem too obvious or mundane, but they need to be asked and answered by you to yourself before you can make the decision.

As for me I chose my truck since it was a V6, truck was cheaper than a Tacoma, I like the look of the pickups more than the Tacomas, good condition and not as prone to rust as the older trucks. It also had some conveniences that I wanted to like AC, sunroof, a good ext cab. I was willing to live with the IFS for several years so that is why I chose my truck. Not sure if this is what you wanted, but maybe I gave you some direction so you can figure out what you want. This may sound stupid, but once you answer all the questions you have and no what you want in a Toyota the choice is really simple

My99

Broad is right. The 22RE 4 banger is a fairly bulletproof engine, and when mated with a 5 speed stick, it's pretty much idiot-proof. It won't have much power. the 3.0 IMO is sad. Guzzles gas, marginally more power than the 22RE, and is a black sheep in the toyota family of engines. Unless built correctly with ARP head-studs and a quality head gasket, you can expect to have to change this out. They also seem to throw rods a little more often than most yota motors, although I will say once the HG is fixed, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it were me, I'd go with a 22RE. Not quite as much power, but better mileage and more reliable.

If you could, try to gather an extra 2-3k together and you can come up with a 96+ Runner with a 3.4 with about 120k+ on it. Thus far, these 3.4's have been proven to reliably run 200K+ miles without issues, much like the old days of the 22RE. Except you'll have power to motivate you down the road at highway speeds, as well as light duty towing etc.

EDIT, noticed you were looking for a PU. Same rules apply however. Go for the 3.4 if you can afford it. I don't know what year it was they first went into the pickups, I'd assume same year, 96.

quivvy

You guys have been a good help so far, let me give you some more info and see if we can narrow things down. Like i said before. my ideal situation was to keep my current and to get an 85 PU to use as a trail vehicle only. however, ends up i cant do that. so....

-i want a truck
-ill live with IFS...
-i want reliable motor most importantly which limits me i guess to the 22re or the 3.4
-body work - no.

to sum it up.... im lookin for a reliable truck in good condition inside and out and i will use it and abuse it. to me it looks like an early 90s is the best choice (as a DD and work truck). is any year a "better" year? and any advice on where to start lookin for good deals?

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ca...n&cardist=1725

thats i guess a perfect example of what im lookin for.

thanks again!