smokinquack89

okay here we go im sorry if this is in wrong tread but i really need some opinions and yall have been great in the past. here is my delima

My ideal truck would be a toyota ext cab with 3.4L 4x4... Currently im driving a ford F150 im trying to sell. i have the chance to buy a 1989 toy ext cab, manual, 4x4 w/2.4L. truck is mint! I mean beautiful truck Everything works Flawlessly body 210K on body and interior perfect and has original tires and buying from older fella so i know it was taken care of and has brand new motor w/10K on it. so question is i know this truck won't last for long and i think its priced right "under 5k" and i can buy with cash....but should i get? or should i wait and sell my ford F150 and have more money and get a toyota ext cab 3.4L 4x4? see if i get the 1989 then ill have alot of money left over to customize:gears, lift, tires, rims. but if i get tacoma then it will be stretching it to customize and ill probably have to get one with high mileage since they sooooo expensive and have to eventually rebuid the 3.4L..... if anyone has some in put please it would be a real blessing.

smokinquack89

oh and sorry i left out
Its going to be my daily driver back and forth to work and school really the only reason i would rather have tacoma is imo looks better, i like the suspension "coil overs" vs the traditional IFS and 2.4@113hp vs 3.4@190hp is a big difference but if i gear the 89 4:88 or 529 for probably 35's would it be comparable to 3.4 power wise w/ no gear and 35's?

Utah4Runner86

iTrader: (1)

What are you planning on doing with the truck? If you want to cruise at 85mph in comfort, the '89 is probably not the truck for you. If you can handle a rougher ride and 65-70mph freeway speeds, jump on it.

smokinquack89

thanks for the reply. i also own a 85 toy reg cab 2.4L hunting/play truck used to be my daily driver until i got F150. So i kinda used to a rougher ride haha but yea ill probably never have to exceed 75mph... good opinion thanks

smokinquack89

has any one owned or driven a 2.4L and a 3.4L Pickup"if it matters"? im trying to figure out would a 2.4L "geared" be close to that of a stock 3.4L any one know power and performance wise? thanks in advanced!

MudHippy

2.4L(22R-E) = 116 HP & 140ft.lbs. torque


3.4L(5VZ-FE) = 190HP & 220ft.lbs. torque


"A 2.4L geared" isn't going to be ANYWHERE close to that of a stock 3.4L. Gears don't make an engine more powerful or enhance its performance.

smokinquack89

thanks for the reply but its definitely not the answer i was looking for.....
Either you think that since im new to the site that i have no knowledge about toyotas
OR you just didn't understand my question or maybe i worded it wrong....
Because any idiot knows that gears don't give HP just lower gear ratio....
if thats what my question came across im sorry and ill give an example what im talking about...

Ex: i have 2 chevy trucks
1982-BUILT 350 motor puts out lots of HP but sitting on 39.5 boggers, no gears(sticker says 3.05 and when i did tire to drive shaft turn calculation that about what i got, TRUCK HAS ALL THE HP JUST LACKING GEARS AND BARELY POWER BREAKS IN DIRT.......

In comparison i have 1984 stock 350, 5.13 gears, 39.5 boggers will power brake on dry asphalt until tires blow.....
NO WHERE NEAR THE HP OF THE 1982 BUT IT HAS THE GEARS.

So this is the question 1989 toyota ex cab 22re with 4.88 or 5.29 sitting on 36's VS stock taco 3.4 sitting on 36's

Thanks in advance for the reply. by no means do i want to disrespect anyone on the site, and i apologize to everyone if i came off rude.

but sometimes on these forums it seem people stereotype people that may be new to the site or only having a couple posts (to having no knowledge of anything) and think that you have to have thousands of post to have knowledge... im just an ordinary guy that have owned and own several toyotas... love the trucks just normally use forums to find my answers and research my stuff before i post cuz i know everyone gets annoyed of people asking same questions over and over... thanks to all on the site have helped me A LOT over the years! and sorry i brought chevys into this post just trying to give an example.

currently own 1985 reg cab sr5 22re converted to 22r on 33's/1985 reg cab 22r on 36's/1989 reg cab 22re 33's/ 1989 ex cab 22re on 31's
and just sold my 1983 33's...

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

well that's a tough decision...the 89 you mention potentially buying is pretty much the "perfect" pre-tacoma truck and tends to be the most desirable with the combo of xcab/5spd/22re/4x4 - an asking price under $5k is pretty good for CA prices especially since it's clean and has been rebuilt. BUT if you've already got it in your mind that a tacoma is "the perfect truck for you" then you'll always have that in the back of your mind if you get something else.

I don't know the story with your other 4x 22r-series rigs - but why do you essentially have duplicate rigs? are they like his/hers vehicles? just having those right there tells me to get something different this time to switch things up. then again, perhaps the potential rig is in better condition than one of those, and maybe you buy it just to swap parts and replace an old rig? could definitely be worth buying if you go that route seeing how you can recoup most of your money when you sell the old rig - then you can still get your tacoma -- win/win IMO

I guess it would also come down to what you wanna do with this rig - if you're just looking for a DD and MPGs, then definitely get a CAR since you already have 5 trucks. if you want another rig to build, build the pickup since it's simpler, parts are slightly cheaper, has no airbags or BS technology, or maybe because you only want 22r-series parts for your toolbox for simplicity and interchangeability. if you're looking for a street queen or comfort rig, then get the tacoma. personally, i'd go with a 4dr tacoma since you seem to already have the other bases covered except passenger space. if you're looking for MPGs, I'm gonna guess the 22re will be better especially if you were to put larger tires on the taco w/o gearing it.

As for you ?s regarding the gearing - this is a difficult thing since they're two completely different beasts. I would guess that a 22re/5spd/geared w/36s will feel similar to a 3.4L/stock gears/auto/36s for DD/city driving/lower spees - but once you get past like 30-40mph, where the gearing helps the most for the 22re, the 3.4L will most likely pick up power and take off since it has almost twice the HP and will overcome wind resistance much easier.

smokinquack89

thanks for the reply "highonpottery" you pretty much answered all my questions and some! ha and ill explain all my rigs there mostly just toys and we meaning my dad and i are kinda like a team with lots of plans just no time to do... the 85re converted to 22r was my dd through high school. Started running into issues with motor have yet to figure it out and nobody on here can't figure out either.... the truck runs good one day then the next it wont stay running. ill be driving then all a sudden just acts like some one turned off the gas it will spit and sputter and wont stay running. but i dunno it has some many issue i kinda gave up on it... last time i took it out was running great down a dirt road had mud all over windshield could barely see it was dark some one was coming towards me i went to slow down front passenger tire locked up truck kicked side ways up the embankment i went and rolled the truck. truck was upside down ran back to the house got my buddies truck pulled mine back over it cranked up and drove it back home... roof caved in, windshield shattered, front driver quarter panel smashed, rear side of bed smashed.... so it my trail project now if i can ever to get running right.... as for the other 85 it was just a deal we couldn't pass so we picked it up motor is STRONG so its sitting on 36s pulls em no prob we take it to local mud runs and run it... my dad sold his other hunting truck so we made the 89 reg cab his for hunting. and i bought an 04 f150 my dd for 3 yrs and now im selling cuz i did end up getting the 89 xcab and is now my dd... Im a part time student and work 2 jobs one full time and one part time. and my dad has been working 7days a week at his place since last AUG....sooo needless to say we haven't had any free time to get any of our MANY projects in line... Also currently building a truck for TRUCKS GONE WILD... but because of busy schedules we having to do everything at a SLOW pace... but that pretty much sums things up sorry if i went into too much detail.... thanks again for the input