what i have learned (88 4runner 22re)
07-09-2014, 02:08 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
what i have learned (88 4runner 22re)
So for the last four and a half years I have been working on a $400.00 1988 4runner my parents bought me as my first car. When I first got the truck I wasn't too happy, I thought it was the biggest P.O.S to ever be bolted together and shipped over to the US to ever exist. My parents told me that the reason I would be getting this truck over a 2000 Oldsmobile intrigue that my dad was suppose to pass on to me when I received my licenses was the fact that this truck would keep me busy and out of trouble, plus it would make me to be more mechanically inclined than the average 10th grader.
When the truck was bought it had a few major issues that were keeping it from being operational. First the gas tank was sitting in the bed of the truck, the fuel pump line was crimped, the pumps wires where lose, a section of fuel line had a holes in it due to rust. Secondly the engine needed a new spark plugs, distributor wires, battery, air filter, basically a tune up. Third the exhaust flange had a giant hole in it and the o2 bung was missing. But me being a young and stupid I ignored the priorities that would get the truck up and running and went straight to cosmetic. The first thing I did was remove the running boards, front mud flaps, radio, carpet in the bed, and the center console trim. The only effective thing I did was remove all the trash, beer bottles, and disgusting used condoms from the truck.
After a few days I finally got settled on actually getting the truck running; so my dad taught me how to weld a new fuel line to the fuel pump, and taught me how to solder new wires to the pump. After that I changed out the oil, spark plugs, wires, just the basic tune up. Once I finished the tune up I dumped a few gallons of gas into the tank I fired the truck right up. Hearing that engine fire was a life changing event, from there on I was determined to make a career in the auto business just due to the shear excitement of hearing that engine roar after all the work I have put in.
Since my flange still wasn’t repaired and my exhaust caused my truck to sound like tank, my father told me that I wouldn’t be allowed to drive it until that exhaust system was fixed. So I went to my uncle and he taught me how to TIG weld metal over the flange hole and weld a new o2 bung on, we also took some time to gut out the catalytic converter. While banging around on the exhaust I discovered that wasp love to make their homes inside mufflers, so that had to be replaced.
The next major replacement that had to be done was replacing the front fenders due to all the rust that was eating away at them. This is where I learned that you should do your research and never buy the first auto part you see; turns out I spent $380.00 on fenders when another site wanted only $90.00 for a pair. A few weeks later the fenders arrived and my father told me that they needed to be sanded and primed. Again me being young and stupid I sanded down one of the powder coated fenders to bare metal, luckily my dad came home and yelled at me for sanding to bare metal before I had a chance to sand down the other fender. But the down side to fully sanding one fender and not the other was the fact that I now had to use two different types of primer, which in term meant that that i had to use two different colors, one fender was white and the other was gray. Leading me to my second big quick fix discovery, PLASTI DIP! The only reason I know about this stuff was because my uncle told me about it and it sounded like the greatest stuff to ever be invented. So I ran over to pep boys and grabbed two cans of matt white Plasti dip and sprayed it on my fenders which was a terrible idea, if you don’t know how at apply that stuff do your research before you do, I’m still trying to remove that stuff to this day. Once I had the fender situation figured out I finally got the truck on the road.
After a few weeks on the road I thought the major issues where taken care of, than the unexpected happened. While me and my x girlfriend where out on a date late at night, I really didn’t know how to drive a manual at the time which caused my clutch to blow up, which lead me to my next big project, changing clutch during a cold Maryland winter. For 2 months on and off I was tasked with going to work and fixing my clutch. I had drop the sway bar even though I broke the bolt heads off every bolt, drop the front and rear drive shafts, and drop the transmission, warning if you haven’t ever changed the clutch on this model truck the clutch may contain asbestos so be safe and wear a mask and goggles. Anyways once everything was dropped i replaced the clutch, pressure plate, fly wheel, pilot bearing where I discovered that you do need a grease gun to remove, and shaft bearing. After all said was done, my clutch was still having issues turns out that my slave cylinder and master cylinder needed to be replaced.
At this point the truck is basically done; according to the original owner the transmission was rebuilt, the exhaust has a small leak but bearable and the whole clutch assembly was redone. Well a few days later my front right tire popped, and I knew this would happen due to how long the car sat. So during the even I called USAA roadside assistance over to get my spare down because the assembly holding the tire on was basically seized by rust and I was stuck in the middle of a snow storm. Sadly the person sent over to get my tire off and change the spare ended up beating the hell out of my wheel by beating it with a hammer and to make matters worse even he couldn’t get the spare down, so I had to drive home in the snow with a flat. The next day I was tasked with buying a new tire and not being factory the cost was ridiculous. Once the tire was replaced I was set on finding the original tires for the truck. Now I knew it was cooler having the [265/75r15] because the truck looked beefier and sat higher on its chrome American racing rims, but I figured I bring the truck back to its stock form. A couple of days later I found a set of never been used tires and original wheels plus a spare tire that was the same size as the former set I originally had for 325 bucks on EBay. I didn’t end up actually end up picking up the tires until 3 months after I bought them, and it turned out that the wheels actually came off an 88 pickup not a 4runner.
My next big issue actually came a few weeks after I replaced the 265 tire. While on my way back from a trip to Ocean City, Maryland I lost my gas cap and for some reason that caused my brakes to stop working. So I want to Pep boys and replaced the cap which seemed to solve the issue for a while, but that wasn’t the true issue. A couple of weeks later my rear brakes ended up locking up on me causing me to spin out into a major intersection, luckily no one was hit, I just ended up facing the other way in the opposing lane. For a while I couldn’t find the issue myself so I just to deal with the rear locking up and skidding around, until it just got to the point where ether my truck would get hurt or someone else would. So I asked my uncle and it turns out the rear brake line that led to that rear brake distributor thing had a leak in it.
For many people this would be an easy fix, well apparently I’m not like many people. My first attempt I cut off the section of line, brought it to salvos and bought (2) ¾ female compression fittings and (2) 1/8 compression fittings. While installing the fittings and flaring the lines I knew something wasn’t right, turns out I just made matters worse by causing another leak a little farther up the line and the fittings just ended up leaking because of their size difference. So after many, many, trips to the store with my friend who was helping me out that day, we ended up turning an hour and a half job into a seven hour job. By the time we got back home from going store to store looking for a full set of 1/8 compression fittings my friend needed to head back home, and him being the dumb ass he is forgot to take the bolts that held the gas tank up out of his pocket, and another big issue was that I had my senior prom that night, and, I didn’t have use of a car to go get them from him. As you can guess by me not mentioning any worry about picking up a date that I didn’t have one, well you would be right. luckily my neighbor was able to give me a ride over to his house to get the bolts, the only bad part was that by the time I got back and finished the truck I had no time to shower and get dressed so I just through a suit on and with the whole mechanic look.
At this point the brakes seemed to work for a few months and then they gave out again. So after some research on this site and some common knowledge I ended up replacing the master cylinder, rear brake cylinder in the drum, and bleed the brakes again and I haven’t had any issues ever since. I also took the opportunity to change out the front shocks and repaint my vacuum plus change the 3 belts on the engine.
After all of that was done I was hit with a broken fan clutch which will be my fan clutch, which is causing me to overheat if I don’t mess with the temperature gauges and a/c setting, but that will be my next project
This truck has taught me a lot, mechanically, and socially. I’ve also learned to love the truck its self, ever time I drive it I’m proud. I love getting complements about it, people taking pictures of it when the top is off, hearing people talk about it when I pull up and get gas, people yelling out there car door next to me at a stop light about how they have own 6 of them or just how much they love it; it makes me feel like I am one of those people you see driving there lotus, or 69 blown Challenger and you can’t help but just stop, stare, want one, and fall in love with it.
It’s gave me a appreciation for the toughness this truck as well over the years, It has been through mud, submerged in flood water, it has done fair share of burnouts and long teenage adventurous road trips where you will know where you are going when you get there, sat under a tree for 10+ years, survived countless situations where the bump your just hit should have totaled your car. for the longest time people told me that my truck is bullet proof, or its unstoppable and just now as I am typing this I truly understand that they mean its cant be killed or beat down; no matter what, surely there are going be clutches and brake pads, and stuff over the years but for traveling 145,000 miles of this earth and gone places your average "off road" [use that term lightly] jeep or Honda civic cannot go and for the price its unbeatable.
This truck is an amazing vehicle. Parts are cheap, easy to work on, never get stuck. It’s for sure no Ferrari, it goes 0-60 in 25 seconds while, screaming, in 4th gear and can be out ran by a Toyota prius, but to me it’s better than any car or truck on the road today and that’s because I have thrown my sweet, blood, and plenty of x girlfriends around in the back with this truck over this endless journey with this truck so far. I know that I am no where even close to being fished with this truck, but honestly I hope it never ends and I’m glad that I am a proud owner of this 1988 toyota 4runner.
Thank you for reading this if you have gotten to this point, I only wrote this because I’ve wanted to get this story out for the longest time, and I’m looking to see if anyone else has their own story to say. (I will be posting pictures shortly)
[IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG]
When the truck was bought it had a few major issues that were keeping it from being operational. First the gas tank was sitting in the bed of the truck, the fuel pump line was crimped, the pumps wires where lose, a section of fuel line had a holes in it due to rust. Secondly the engine needed a new spark plugs, distributor wires, battery, air filter, basically a tune up. Third the exhaust flange had a giant hole in it and the o2 bung was missing. But me being a young and stupid I ignored the priorities that would get the truck up and running and went straight to cosmetic. The first thing I did was remove the running boards, front mud flaps, radio, carpet in the bed, and the center console trim. The only effective thing I did was remove all the trash, beer bottles, and disgusting used condoms from the truck.
After a few days I finally got settled on actually getting the truck running; so my dad taught me how to weld a new fuel line to the fuel pump, and taught me how to solder new wires to the pump. After that I changed out the oil, spark plugs, wires, just the basic tune up. Once I finished the tune up I dumped a few gallons of gas into the tank I fired the truck right up. Hearing that engine fire was a life changing event, from there on I was determined to make a career in the auto business just due to the shear excitement of hearing that engine roar after all the work I have put in.
Since my flange still wasn’t repaired and my exhaust caused my truck to sound like tank, my father told me that I wouldn’t be allowed to drive it until that exhaust system was fixed. So I went to my uncle and he taught me how to TIG weld metal over the flange hole and weld a new o2 bung on, we also took some time to gut out the catalytic converter. While banging around on the exhaust I discovered that wasp love to make their homes inside mufflers, so that had to be replaced.
The next major replacement that had to be done was replacing the front fenders due to all the rust that was eating away at them. This is where I learned that you should do your research and never buy the first auto part you see; turns out I spent $380.00 on fenders when another site wanted only $90.00 for a pair. A few weeks later the fenders arrived and my father told me that they needed to be sanded and primed. Again me being young and stupid I sanded down one of the powder coated fenders to bare metal, luckily my dad came home and yelled at me for sanding to bare metal before I had a chance to sand down the other fender. But the down side to fully sanding one fender and not the other was the fact that I now had to use two different types of primer, which in term meant that that i had to use two different colors, one fender was white and the other was gray. Leading me to my second big quick fix discovery, PLASTI DIP! The only reason I know about this stuff was because my uncle told me about it and it sounded like the greatest stuff to ever be invented. So I ran over to pep boys and grabbed two cans of matt white Plasti dip and sprayed it on my fenders which was a terrible idea, if you don’t know how at apply that stuff do your research before you do, I’m still trying to remove that stuff to this day. Once I had the fender situation figured out I finally got the truck on the road.
After a few weeks on the road I thought the major issues where taken care of, than the unexpected happened. While me and my x girlfriend where out on a date late at night, I really didn’t know how to drive a manual at the time which caused my clutch to blow up, which lead me to my next big project, changing clutch during a cold Maryland winter. For 2 months on and off I was tasked with going to work and fixing my clutch. I had drop the sway bar even though I broke the bolt heads off every bolt, drop the front and rear drive shafts, and drop the transmission, warning if you haven’t ever changed the clutch on this model truck the clutch may contain asbestos so be safe and wear a mask and goggles. Anyways once everything was dropped i replaced the clutch, pressure plate, fly wheel, pilot bearing where I discovered that you do need a grease gun to remove, and shaft bearing. After all said was done, my clutch was still having issues turns out that my slave cylinder and master cylinder needed to be replaced.
At this point the truck is basically done; according to the original owner the transmission was rebuilt, the exhaust has a small leak but bearable and the whole clutch assembly was redone. Well a few days later my front right tire popped, and I knew this would happen due to how long the car sat. So during the even I called USAA roadside assistance over to get my spare down because the assembly holding the tire on was basically seized by rust and I was stuck in the middle of a snow storm. Sadly the person sent over to get my tire off and change the spare ended up beating the hell out of my wheel by beating it with a hammer and to make matters worse even he couldn’t get the spare down, so I had to drive home in the snow with a flat. The next day I was tasked with buying a new tire and not being factory the cost was ridiculous. Once the tire was replaced I was set on finding the original tires for the truck. Now I knew it was cooler having the [265/75r15] because the truck looked beefier and sat higher on its chrome American racing rims, but I figured I bring the truck back to its stock form. A couple of days later I found a set of never been used tires and original wheels plus a spare tire that was the same size as the former set I originally had for 325 bucks on EBay. I didn’t end up actually end up picking up the tires until 3 months after I bought them, and it turned out that the wheels actually came off an 88 pickup not a 4runner.
My next big issue actually came a few weeks after I replaced the 265 tire. While on my way back from a trip to Ocean City, Maryland I lost my gas cap and for some reason that caused my brakes to stop working. So I want to Pep boys and replaced the cap which seemed to solve the issue for a while, but that wasn’t the true issue. A couple of weeks later my rear brakes ended up locking up on me causing me to spin out into a major intersection, luckily no one was hit, I just ended up facing the other way in the opposing lane. For a while I couldn’t find the issue myself so I just to deal with the rear locking up and skidding around, until it just got to the point where ether my truck would get hurt or someone else would. So I asked my uncle and it turns out the rear brake line that led to that rear brake distributor thing had a leak in it.
For many people this would be an easy fix, well apparently I’m not like many people. My first attempt I cut off the section of line, brought it to salvos and bought (2) ¾ female compression fittings and (2) 1/8 compression fittings. While installing the fittings and flaring the lines I knew something wasn’t right, turns out I just made matters worse by causing another leak a little farther up the line and the fittings just ended up leaking because of their size difference. So after many, many, trips to the store with my friend who was helping me out that day, we ended up turning an hour and a half job into a seven hour job. By the time we got back home from going store to store looking for a full set of 1/8 compression fittings my friend needed to head back home, and him being the dumb ass he is forgot to take the bolts that held the gas tank up out of his pocket, and another big issue was that I had my senior prom that night, and, I didn’t have use of a car to go get them from him. As you can guess by me not mentioning any worry about picking up a date that I didn’t have one, well you would be right. luckily my neighbor was able to give me a ride over to his house to get the bolts, the only bad part was that by the time I got back and finished the truck I had no time to shower and get dressed so I just through a suit on and with the whole mechanic look.
At this point the brakes seemed to work for a few months and then they gave out again. So after some research on this site and some common knowledge I ended up replacing the master cylinder, rear brake cylinder in the drum, and bleed the brakes again and I haven’t had any issues ever since. I also took the opportunity to change out the front shocks and repaint my vacuum plus change the 3 belts on the engine.
After all of that was done I was hit with a broken fan clutch which will be my fan clutch, which is causing me to overheat if I don’t mess with the temperature gauges and a/c setting, but that will be my next project
This truck has taught me a lot, mechanically, and socially. I’ve also learned to love the truck its self, ever time I drive it I’m proud. I love getting complements about it, people taking pictures of it when the top is off, hearing people talk about it when I pull up and get gas, people yelling out there car door next to me at a stop light about how they have own 6 of them or just how much they love it; it makes me feel like I am one of those people you see driving there lotus, or 69 blown Challenger and you can’t help but just stop, stare, want one, and fall in love with it.
It’s gave me a appreciation for the toughness this truck as well over the years, It has been through mud, submerged in flood water, it has done fair share of burnouts and long teenage adventurous road trips where you will know where you are going when you get there, sat under a tree for 10+ years, survived countless situations where the bump your just hit should have totaled your car. for the longest time people told me that my truck is bullet proof, or its unstoppable and just now as I am typing this I truly understand that they mean its cant be killed or beat down; no matter what, surely there are going be clutches and brake pads, and stuff over the years but for traveling 145,000 miles of this earth and gone places your average "off road" [use that term lightly] jeep or Honda civic cannot go and for the price its unbeatable.
This truck is an amazing vehicle. Parts are cheap, easy to work on, never get stuck. It’s for sure no Ferrari, it goes 0-60 in 25 seconds while, screaming, in 4th gear and can be out ran by a Toyota prius, but to me it’s better than any car or truck on the road today and that’s because I have thrown my sweet, blood, and plenty of x girlfriends around in the back with this truck over this endless journey with this truck so far. I know that I am no where even close to being fished with this truck, but honestly I hope it never ends and I’m glad that I am a proud owner of this 1988 toyota 4runner.
Thank you for reading this if you have gotten to this point, I only wrote this because I’ve wanted to get this story out for the longest time, and I’m looking to see if anyone else has their own story to say. (I will be posting pictures shortly)
[IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]Last edited by Dakotaneu; 07-11-2014 at 03:16 PM. Reason: grammar of a 4th grader
07-10-2014, 07:07 AM
#6
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Central MA
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Funny....this guys gets more replies than most of my threads......and no one has even read what he said!
Need paragraphs, capital letters, punctuation, etc. Even then it would have been information overload. Probably would need multiple threads. Not many people want to sit and read a story for 20 minutes...even if it was well written!
I tried to read it but didn't get more than two lines into it before getting lost. Its like one of those posters where if you look at it cross eyed long enough you start to see an image...
Need paragraphs, capital letters, punctuation, etc. Even then it would have been information overload. Probably would need multiple threads. Not many people want to sit and read a story for 20 minutes...even if it was well written!
I tried to read it but didn't get more than two lines into it before getting lost. Its like one of those posters where if you look at it cross eyed long enough you start to see an image...
Trending Topics
07-10-2014, 10:32 AM
#8
Agree with everybody ^^
Great parents teaching the boy a good set of values.
But need to teach the kid how to write, too. LOL!
Heck, my parents' generation had A class purely for hand-writing; with fountain pens!
But need to teach the kid how to write, too. LOL!
Heck, my parents' generation had A class purely for hand-writing; with fountain pens!
Last edited by rworegon; 08-09-2014 at 07:17 AM.
07-10-2014, 11:04 AM
#10
Well, maybe you all readers should learn how to read the cliffnotes version from the main novel 
I read through it (in 4 minutes), and it was a good story.
PICTURES will get people interested in what you have to say
My wife and I were talking about if we want a girl or a boy for our first child, I said "I don't care, I'm going to treat them the same, boy or girl they will lay down with me under the car to change the oil" I think it's a great lesson.
I read through it (in 4 minutes), and it was a good story.
PICTURES will get people interested in what you have to say
My wife and I were talking about if we want a girl or a boy for our first child, I said "I don't care, I'm going to treat them the same, boy or girl they will lay down with me under the car to change the oil"
I think it's a great lesson.
07-10-2014, 08:23 PM
#14
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Memphis, TN
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dakota, I loved that story.. Well written, bits of funny, and loads of learning. Everything a proper build thread story should be. The people that can't read it just need to suck it up.
Looking forward to whatever you have for us next!
Looking forward to whatever you have for us next!
07-10-2014, 08:52 PM
#15
Contributing Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Columbia River Gorge, Oregon...east side
Posts: 5,125
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Nicely done. I like that your parents thought to buy a older Toyota (or any other brand for that matter) so you can learn as you have from it. It's cool to see the evolution from your first impressions to your feelings for the rig now. Keep up the good work on it!
Last edited by rworegon; 07-10-2014 at 09:05 PM.
07-10-2014, 09:43 PM
#16
Registered User
Thread Starter
thank you for the replies. so my plans for the future is to fix the rust in the rear quaters and clear coat the truck the way it is, than throw a turbo in it, 4-5 inch lift, and turn this road close sign (that i "found") into a skid plate
07-10-2014, 09:59 PM
#17
Nice edit! 
Oh no! Now we love your post. Kudos on the good working experience, and congrats on having good parents and on successfully getting the truck running.
Heck yeah, I enjoy driving my 27-year old 4Runner more than I did my 2WD XTerra, and I don't mind getting dirty keeping her up and running.
I know you don't like the rust but make reliability a higher priority than superficial rust. For about 2 years after I bought my own truck, the fact that her paint was oxidized, she had road rash, etc did not bother me, as I worked on restoration. Now, I'm slowly working on outside stuff. Currently installing a rail-style roof rack, and details of my windshield.
Oh no! Now we love your post. Kudos on the good working experience, and congrats on having good parents and on successfully getting the truck running.
Heck yeah, I enjoy driving my 27-year old 4Runner more than I did my 2WD XTerra, and I don't mind getting dirty keeping her up and running.
I know you don't like the rust but make reliability a higher priority than superficial rust. For about 2 years after I bought my own truck, the fact that her paint was oxidized, she had road rash, etc did not bother me, as I worked on restoration. Now, I'm slowly working on outside stuff. Currently installing a rail-style roof rack, and details of my windshield.
07-11-2014, 04:05 AM
#18
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Central MA
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great edit and nice story! Sounds like a similar story to my life. My dad is a mechanic and has been his whole life. He gave me two 78 Camaros when i was 15 in 1996. He paid $20 for each of them and he told me to swap parts until I had a working Camaro. He probably paid too much at $20 a piece!
That passion led to many other vehicles, and eventually to my 87 4Runner. In 1999 as a freshmen in college he gave me a 87 4Runner with 55k miles on it for a winter beater. He paid $100 for it because you could reach into the interior through the quarter panels.
I drove it for a year and it sat from 2000 until 2012. Then I began restoring it. Here is the final product:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...uk-mod-256308/
Sounds like you are traveling down a similar road. Keep up the good work!
That passion led to many other vehicles, and eventually to my 87 4Runner. In 1999 as a freshmen in college he gave me a 87 4Runner with 55k miles on it for a winter beater. He paid $100 for it because you could reach into the interior through the quarter panels.
I drove it for a year and it sat from 2000 until 2012. Then I began restoring it. Here is the final product:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...uk-mod-256308/
Sounds like you are traveling down a similar road. Keep up the good work!
07-11-2014, 08:56 AM
#19
Registered User
Thread Starter
do you know where i can find those rear end suspension stoppers, there under the rear spings in the pictures. Also trust me i love working on my truck, today im planning on turning this road closed sign into a front skid plate
