AustinTaco

If anyone followed this thread in the classifieds:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f108...n-salt-116418/


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I am going to be bringing her back to TX. If the link doesn't work or the craigslist ad is down, the truck in question is a 1984 gold SR5 4runner. I bought the vehicle in 1995 while I lived in San Antonio, TX and sold it Thanksgiving weekend of 1996 while living in Dallas, TX. Two guys from Minnesota bought the truck to resell since it was so clean and rust free. By chance, I was looking at the classifieds and read this post and I contacted the current owner.
He had bought it from the guys I sold it to and then went to work over the last 10 years building up a very nice rig.I couldn't believe my eyes. He did an awesome job building her up and keeping it clean and straight.
We negotiated a price and I am leaving on Thursday to fly up to Minneapolis, and then start the voyage home via the Great River road, the Ozarks, and Scenic Hwy 7 in Arkansas, to get her back to Austin, TX.

I have felt like a kid at Christmas knowing what you are getting, but having to wait until Christmas to unwrap the present. In 49 hours, I will be reunited with my first Toyota, and I have Yotatech to thank.

I will take post pics and comments of the roadtrip later, but I just thought that a few of you could relate. This is going to be so cool.

If anyone has any thoughts on places I should stop at along the way, I am open for suggestions.

Kaleb

Well we all expect pictures after you get it!

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Congrats on getting reunited with an old friend.

I see my old '84 running around every once in awhile that I sold 10 years ago. Sometimes I would like to flag the guy down and see what he would take for it. That thing was unstoppable when I had it, except for the 3 rear R&P's I put in it...Lots of good times in that thing...

Have a safe but long drive home...

AustinTaco

yeah, its a straight shot on I-35, 1100 miles, but that wouldn't be any fun. I am going to be just taking it easy and enjoying the country, my truck, and my girlfriend.
47 hours to go!

OSU4Runner

Great story!! Lol

whitetaco02

I remember reading that post and seeing that truck. It looks great and I wish you the best of luck. take care and good luck!!

Mattabilly

My brother has my old '84 extracab SFA truck. Had to sell it when my son was born. I inherited it from my grandfather and hpe to buy it back someday.

Congrats and getting the old girl back, I'm jealous.

riceburner

Your very lucky that it didn't already sell. It's been for sale for a VERY long time:

http://www.mntoyx4.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5103

Corbit

Great story. I sold my 87 4runner to a local kid , but he trashed it.

AustinTaco

I am back, but it was a long week, with lots of blood sweat and tears to get the truck to Austin. I will post some pics of the trip, and Doug, the original owner, and I working on swapping the tops out in Minneapolis, as well as some of the truck up on jacks at a local repair shop in Henderson, TX.
All of the headache of getting the truck back to TX was worth it. I smile everytime I look at her. Pics and story to follow...stay tuned

881stGenRunner

wow this is soo cool. I got goosebumps reading though the threads. Congratulations man. Your "new" rig is awesome!!
*susbscribes*

rdlsz24

That Runner is awesome! Definately one of the nicer 1st gens I've seen on here.

Rob

toy power

Wow what a great story. That truck looks super nice, I hope you enjoy it as much as I would if it were mine!

surf4runner

i sold a '72 nova back to the guy i bought it from. almost the same price 6 yrs later too

AustinTaco

Ahhh. A picture is worth a thousand words. I had never been to Minneapolis until last week, and I have to say that we(my girlfriend and I) loved this town. It was a blast, bike friendly, museums everywhere and of course CARS. In fact, for me, it was the perfect weekend. There was a big triathlon in town(that's my other hobby), a downtown outdoor music festival, and car shows going on. Right on!
Minneapolis from the stone arch bridge


We arrive at Doug's house on cruiser bikes and get down to business..



Seriously, we had to take off the soft top and put on the hard top so that I could get all of the gear back to Austin. At this time, I think Doug was still upset about selling the 4runner. Who could blame him? His rig was nice, and I plan to keep it that way.



Here's another project of his:



All was good at this point. We had burgers and beer with Doug and his girlfriend at a local pub, called it an early night and we said our good byes. I could tell it was a sad day for Doug.
The next day, we planned to ride around our rented bikes for a bit and then drive around as well. Of course, I wanted to just drive all day in the truck. The truck started to overheat in Dinkytown so that cut the driving day short. We planned on leaving the next day and without tools, a manual, or yotatech to rely on, I went to a local mechanic. Doug was very helpful in diagnosing the possible problem(he's good with these trucks) so I pointed the mechanic to the thermostat. They checked it out, replaced it with a new one, pressure tested the system, and it all seemed good. I say "seemed" because after that, it did not get hot as fast, but after driving through mountains or coming in to the city, it would still start to get warm so I need to figure out if there is a partial block or maybe go with a two stage thermostat.
So, we got to go to a few museums and goof around for the rest of the day.


We decide to see Minnehaha before we leave town, plus we had to drop off some stuff at Doug's house before we got out of town. Thanks to my girlfriend's great sense of distance on a map(she lost her copilot rights several times on the trip) we end up walking 4 miles to the falls instead of the 1.5 it was supposed to be. We cut through the neighborhood to save time on the way back to the truck and then we were on the road by 4...finally!

The great river road was slower but very scenic. We stopped at one town to clean the truck and get one beer and a picture:


We drove into the night, and I was trying to make up time. We tried to stay in Dubuque, Iowa, but there were no rooms! I made it to Davenport and we got a room and passed out until the next day. Before leaving, I checked over the truck(oil, leaks, belts, etc..) and found the rear passenger tire was about 10 psi lower than the others. This could have been the catalyst for things to come....
We make our way through Missouri and into Arkansas. I wanted to go through the mountains that night but thanks to a cup of McDonald's ice coffee, my stomach said no! We stayed in Harrison, Arkansas for the night and got up the next day to take scenic Highway 7 through the mountains and then home to Austin.


We cross into TX, sweating our asses off, but happy to be getting close and I hear this horrible rattling and clunking. I try to find the problem by shaking the truck and feeling around. The driveshaft seems loose, so I go to a local shop to see if they can help out. At first they said that they couldn't look at until Tuesday, but they put it up on the rack and find the pinion bolt to have backed off. After they tighten the bolt, the noise is gone and the truck is running great. On the road again...just can't wait to get on the road again..


We make it to the next town and the truck is running fine, but we are hot and decide to get some ice cream at the Dairy Queen. I pull in, look at the rear end, and I see lots of oil! not good. Its 6:30 PM now, and we are 230 miles from Austin after 1200 miles of driving....why now?? A local refers us to a mechanic that has a great reputation but works out of his house and his home garage. He tells us that we might be leary of the shop when we see it, but that Mike is the man, and he might be able to look at it that night. Our phones do not work in this town, so I call Mike from a payphone and he tells me to bring it on over. Sweet!
I get there, and he puts her up on jacks:



Immediately, he sees problem #1. The rear U joint is locked up. he takes off the driveshaft and spins the wheels and moves around the pinion bolt. At this point, he believes that I fried the gears, and I am looking at a new rear end. Oh CRAP! He doesn't want to drop the third and check it unless I give him the go ahead, but he is just letting me know that I might need to start shopping for a new rear end. We are stuck in this town, and after calling around the few hotels they have we have to stay at this one. Yes, this one...because there are no rooms left except here...I wonder why this place was the last place to fill?


The mechanic's wife, Donna, drops us off at the hotel. If the hotel was not bad enough, this is also a deadspot for phone reception. The mechanic can't call me, I can't call long distance. If I cross the 5 lanes of the 5 way major intersection of highways where this hotel is located, I can sometimes get a call through. Ughhh. Doug is helping me out with lots of knowledge,but due to the phone situation, our conversations are getting cut off.
The next day we got good news. Its only bearings. I need new front and rear bearings and a "seal kit". O'reilly's has the parts, but they have to be ordered and shipped from Dallas, and that would be another day or two in town. If I can get the parts, I can get out of here, but I need a car. This is where you really appreciate the things you have.
Phone doesn't work, the only car rental place in town is out of cars. The next closest rental place wont' pick up, but we can get a car at the airport if we can get to it. No cabs in this town. However, a local cop feels sorry for my girlfriend and calls a cab from another town to come and get us. $50 later, we are at the airport( a small local airport, not a major one), but Enterprise has shut down there desk. Uh, I just made a reservation 2 hours ago?
I chew out the Enterprise rep, they send a car over and give me a rate reduction, and we are our way.
Things are good. We have a car, we have phones that work, and we have a line on parts from different places. After cross referencing between the local Toyota parts counter and the O'reilly's in town, we think we have what we need. Front bearings, rear bearings, a seal....but what about this piece called a crush sleeve? Huh?
Nobody has it in town. The local driveshaft and 4x4 shop, Longview Driveshaft, orders it up for next day delivery. Its a $4 part, but the delivery charge will be another $40. Who cares at this point. Let's get out of here!
We order the part and stay at the Motel 6 down the road.
Its a few steps up from the night before, its close, and they have a gas station that sells 24oz beers next door...
Of course, the next day, UPS is late, and the package is lost in the system. After going to the UPS hub, they call all of the drivers and find the package. The driver meets us at a Wal mart one town away, and we race back to the mechanic with all of the parts in hand.
Mike goes to work on the car, and about 3 hours later, we return and he's finishing up. His rate for all of the work, was more than fair, and so far, its all held up. I am having a local shop check it out after the bearings break in, but according to Mike the mechanic, my gears were in great shape when he pulled them. I looked at everything when he had it apart, and it all looked good to me, but what do I know. BTW, the crush sleeve from Randy's R&P is a GM part number, so keep that in mind if you ever need one.
Like I said in my first post, no matter what, this was all worth it. If you read this far, that's what I can say for sure. Buying back this truck is going to go on my list of risky things I did in my life that I don't regret, but that's how it is. No pain, no gain.
For anyone that commented about seeing your old truck around and thinking about buying it back. Consider this.
I have had lots of cars and 4x4's in my 20 years of driving. Samurai, two Jeeps, a camaro, a 79 cobra, 89 Full Size Bronco, Dodge Ram 4x4, etc....but I wouldn't buy them all back. You can't. However, this truck is the one. The one I missed the most, and now its back with me, at my house, in Austin, TX. I am home, and she is home.

The end

Toy-SkiTzo

thats great

i hope you keep the truck for good now, good luck with it

whitetaco02

WOW!!! Great story and I am glad you all are back home safe!!

TOY89

nice story bro...

64-Hurricane

Hey man, you posted in my topic about an 85 Runner in CO. I'm from Minnesota, and I'm a carpenter by trade. This gas station, is a very famous gas station in Minnesota. It is also the last exit before you get to the 35W bridge that collapsed last year. Probably heard about it in the news. Anyway, next door to this gas station was a place called "Maxwells Bar" It had a big fire last winter, and our company got the bill to clean out the debri from the fire so investigators could find the source. We dug through the frozen debris with, i kid you not, pick axes, sawzalls, shovels, and torches for two weeks until we cleared the 2cn floor apartment of 3rd floors structure and subsequently the roof. We were standing on roughly 5-r feet of frozen debris when we began. After that, I think it was levelled. Anyway, kind of a cool little connection. Great rig, and great story!

AustinTaco

I remember that gas station clearly, and we were there about two weeks prior to the collapse. That car show overflowed into the parking lot next door which is where the pic was taken. Yeah, we gassed up, at a brat on a bun, and hit the road for our adventure.

Minnesota in the Summer was awesome, but I don't know if I could handle a Winter up there. brrrrrrrrrrrrr