Tremek

Hey guys, there's a very nice-looking 85 1st gen that I'm trying to decide whether is worth my dollars or not. Both the body and interior look to be in excellent shape, but it needs at a minimum the timing chain done, as well as new tires. Right off the bat we're looking at $2k+ incrementally over what I'd be spending for it, and then it's also geared all the way down to 5.71s and is also on a 7" Skyjacker lift which I suspect rides like an oxcart. So really we're looking at $5-6k incrementally to have work done on this thing to do the timing chain, put BFGs on it, go down to 4.88s or 5.23s, and potentially put a lift in that rides better on it. And of course you know that if we cracked the diffs, I'd want to put ARBs in there too.

My initial out of pocket won't be high for this truck but I can see a lot of incremental dollars down the road coming into the picture. I know these trucks are getting rare, but should I look for something that's more stock and has less stories, or would you consider going down this route? Truck in question pictured below. Thanks!

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Cool find. Hard to give someone advice on such things. I do my on wrenching on most things, yet to do a dif. A 31 year old truck will need work, sooner or later. So price will jump exponentially paying some one else to turn wrenchs for you.

ewong

Wow - that looks like a BRASS 3 row radiator!

Lets use a reality comparison.

I put my 4Runner into a barn and 8 years later I pull it out.
Ive been dealing with all of the deferred maintenance stuff
-- needs tires (has a death shake which I suspect is belt separation / out of round tires)
-- drive shaft u joints
-- lots of minor engine crap
-- AC idler bearing
-- Alt bracket
-- Heater hard pipe
-- heater control valve
-- needs a blower box swap (mouse nest)
-- Brake Cable
-- broken gauges
-- clean out the AC evap
-- convert to R134A
-- Starter (which I had)
-- battery
-- weld frame repair rust in corner horns
-- fix splash shield / pre runner bar

By the time I get done - $2.5K maybe?

And Im the original owner and I KNOW whats been done (since I owned the truck since new)

It really depends on your pocket depth and how much you NEED the truck running (I don't - its a play / weekend car, not a daily driver, and even my daily driver isn't a daily driver as I bicycle to work most days)

at least you KNOW that this truck will require work.
Convincing yourself that it is worth it, is a whole nuther thing...


(in my case, Im doing the same thing, Im glad Kathy humors me on this)

Tremek

Thanks guys, appreciate the perspective. I don't need the truck to run every day 24/7 - it will be our 3rd vehicle and mostly be a convenience versus a necessity - but much as your wife humors you, I won't get good humor from the wife if I have a driveway ornament.

On the face of things it seems like it could be a good base to build up from and make a bulletproof runner for all occasions, but I also want to be able to drive it this winter and park my CTS-V, while not getting into it so deep that if I ever needed to sell it I wouldn't be looking at a massive loss.

If this truck was relatively cheap, would you pull the trigger on it versus these other two trucks (both in Fresno for some reason - I'm in CO) -

http://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/5779162888.html

or

http://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/5818509504.html

Thanks!

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Anyone of the 3 trucks will need work.
The 2nd one looks pretty good.
The 3rd truck looks hacked with the rattle canned tube bumper

It all comes down to what you want. I like the 1st one, clean and you make get lucky and already have locker. ARB' s are gonna be $3-4k for both front and rear.
I look at project trucks as a hobby, over the course of the life of my 81 I knew I would never get out of it what I had into it (one reason I didn't sell it as a whole truck, a lot is being recycled to the 94) I could probably double what I have into the 4runner just because I got it cheap and have done all the work myself so far.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Paying someone to do most of the work on these trucks or 4Runners gets real expensive fast.

Only you can decide how much is in your budget

Tremek

That's fair. Is there anything on the first truck that would make you walk away? If not, I think I'll drag it home and be excited about it.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Looks like someone spent days cleaning the interior or never used the vehicle.

One day I hope to get a vehicle that only has no more then 2 colors on the body

CamTom12

It looks like a clean truck.

I'd prioritize the needs:
1) timing chain now, because putting that off can get real expensive later. The parts are not expensive, and the work is not hard. My father did a timing chain and water pump on his old '86, and he does not have very much wrenching experience at all. He had a friend's help and a haynes/chilton manual. It took him a few days, but you said this wouldn't be your DD. (http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ingChain.shtml)
2) do the tires NEED to be replaced? Mine are pretty worn, and I've "needed" to replace them for about a year. Still driving fine, just fails the ol' penny test. I don't have the spare cash right now so they'll keep driving until I do. If my tires go faster than I'm planning for them to, I'll buy some used ones to carry me as a stop-gap until I can do better.
3) suspension is a long-term thing, and my '85 factory suspension rides like an ox-cart. I can't imagine that lift being any rougher. Just my opinion though, I'd go test drive it and see if its just fine, if you can live with the suspension for a while, or if there's no way you'd drive the truck as is.
4) those seem like pretty tall gears, but those tires seem pretty tall too. My truck has factory 4.10's and 31's. I would not go any larger on tires without a gearing change or a serious horsepower increase - windy days have a direct and measurable effect on my highway speeds.

I personally like the look of that truck the way it sits - that looks about like the stance I'd like mine to have.

Tremek

My thoughts are right in line with yours aside from the tires - we get snow and ice out here for the better part of 6 months, and my kids will want to ride in this occasionally, so I'm going to prioritize some BFG KO2s right after the timing chain.

Is there a timing chain kit the community likes best? I have been looking at a few on Amazon - this kit comes with the timing cover, water pump, and oil pump along with the chain and gaskets and from my untrained eye seems pretty complete? Would appreciate any suggestions.

I'm not particularly well-versed in doing work like this, but I also feel like every time I try a project like this I get better at it. A few years ago a buddy and I replaced the plastic coolant pipes under the intake manifold in a Cayenne and my guess is this has a similar LOE.

t-1hundred

If it were me id buy the first 4runner and do the timing chain myself. Its pretty straight forward process to replace a timing chain on the 22re engine. I'm sure there is a thread on here explaining how to replace the timing chain you can briefly look over to see its something you feel comfortable doing yourself.

As for a place to buy parts my first choice is a toyota, nothing beats oem parts! my second choice would be Napa.

For tires iv'e always found awesome deals on craigslist for tires and most of the time they're mounted on rims too! From what i read up above it seems like you're not in a rush to drive it if you do happen to buy it. If you can afford to buy the 4runner and wait for some good deals on tires to come up i would do that. I myself found a killer deal on craiglist, 35" km2s with 80% tread mounted on some nice centerline aluminum rims for $800.


Hope this helps!

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Engine Builder:
http://www.engnbldr.com/toyota-hotlicks.html

CamTom12

Like DZ said, engnbldr.

Just curious, where is here? The best snow/ice tire I've ever run is the Duratrac, but those are pricey. Lasted me ~70k miles on my F250 though. That was when I lived in Fairbanks, before anyone laughs at snow in north Alabama!

Tremek

Email sent to engnbldr, hope to hear from them this week.

Here is the Denver area - our winters really aren't that bad and nothing like what the mountains 45 minutes west of us see, but it pays to have good rubber under the truck regardless that can handle snow, ice, slush - and then the other 3 seasons.

I have also heard good things about Duratracs but when doing some research for tires for our Land Cruiser I came across some concerns about sidewall strength and durability offroad. I would definitely like to take the 4runner on the dirt and rocks too, and in the two outings we have been on since getting our LC the KO2s we put on it have been nothing short of impressive. On-road manners are great too.

millball

If you're comitted to doing your own work, I'd spend some time looking for a more stock-ish truck to build up.

My '87 runner came to me for $500 with a bad tranny and many other small defects common to any 30 year old truck.

Runs great now with some busted knuckles and a modest amount of cash invested.

Just found and brought home a similar orphan for twice that $500. Very happy to get it.

No matter what money you give to mechanics, you never really know what kind of job you got unless you did it yourself.

Mechanics who work for money are always trying to get over the top of your job and on to the next one.

Not conducive to the most meticulous results.

ewong

Finding mechanics that can 'work with you" (aka, you get bumped to the back if they get backed up) helps.
But those are rare - you need to build up trust (for both of you)
And, they are not "inexpensive".

OEM parts are best

I've heard good stuff about engnbldr

I've been using
http://www.22reperformance.com/

Especially since the Toyota Parts guy I had the good working relationship with - left that dealer and I moved away...

If you have $$$ to burn, the dual row timing chain kit is great, but IMHO, not necessary.
It will also confuse future owners (uses a different water pump / the older water pump)

Tremek

Engnbldr front end kit ordered, on track to picking up the truck on Friday. Even if it needs some stuff in the long run hopefully this gets us a good base to build upon.

MaK92-4RnR

Regardless of money to be spent on it, how much are you picking it up for?

Tremek

About $1500 in cash and $3500 worth of trades. Is this a decent deal, or am I giving too much?

ewong

Price is set by the BUYER, not the SELLER......

As long as you are happy, you are good.
To spend to much time on what other people "think", is to use the wrong yardstick.