No-Limit

First post here. Just brought this '82 home the other day. Been looking for a while and finally made it happen.
It's got the 22r that has been redone and was bored .30 over according to the previous owner (although, he was not real certain on the specs as everything was done before he bought it). The transmission was replaced with a 5 speed, and shifts good. I'm not sure of the actual model # of the trans, but maybe some of you could tell me what I have from looking at the pictures.

The truck is on 35" tires, and although it's not as much of a complete dog as I would have expected, it's definitely struggling to push those tires from a dead stop, as well as getting down the interestate at any reasonable speed. I would have preferred smaller tires, but previous owner liked the look of the 35's and was willing to sacrafice driveability. The ride home on the interstate left a lot to be desired. 5th gear was almost pointless, as 4th gear was necessary on everything but completely flat straightaways or downhills. I was even losing speed going up hill in 4th gear, but didn't want to drop into 3rd doing 65 mph and grenade the motor, so I just slowed as needed and let people pass.

It pretty much drives like a tank. No power steering unfortunately, so you really have to man handle it. I've read up adding power steering, and it looks like it's possible as long as you can find the gear from a donor 4x4. But before I go checking around at junk yards, I also read about "high steer" and it seems that it's the better way of doing it. Although, it's required that you are lifted in order to run it. Well, I'm not sure if I'm lifted, and if so...how much? Hopefully someone could look at the front suspension and tell me. I don't see any blocks or anything, but maybe the leaf springs that are on it are bigger than stock or something? It looks like the rear shackles were replaced with extended ones, so it may indeed have a lift on it, I just can't tell.

I got a headache from the 1 1/2 hr drive home, as the cab is full of exhaust fumes. There's a hole in the muffler which is located directly below the driver seat. And the exhaust is dumped just behind that (before it gets to the rear axle). The floorboard is not 100% solid, there's small holes in it, and the shifter boot is all torn up, so all that exhaust is coming right up into the cab. That will be the first thing I do to it. I will be using this a hunting vehicle, and can't be smelling like gas fumes..I'd really like to get it as "clean" smelling in the cab as possible. Whether that means a new muffler, extending the tailpipe out to the back of the truck, and sealing up the holes in the floor, replacing shifter boot, etc. Should I look into adding a catlytic converter or anything like that? I figure most people rip them off, they'd probably think I was crazy at the muffler shop asking to put one on. But I really would like to enjoy driving it, and right now it's pretty brutal (sound & smell wise).

I noticed one of the shock bushings is gone up front. I need to figure that out.

Leaking fluid/oil all over the front drivers side tire, what could that be? Axle seal or brake related?

Oh, and the biggest thing...every now & then it will drop rpm's and the engine will amost be lugging. For instance I was driving down the interstate, everything is fine, foot on the gas..etc. Engine just starts dropping rpms feels like it's chugging & going to die....push clutch in let RPM's come back up for a couple seconds, release clutch and everything is good. It did it a couple more times, once while at idle, just started dying & chugging, had to hit the gas to keep it from cutting off. Revved it up for a sec & everything was back to normal. It's sporatic & I can't re-create it on demand. Any thoughts on that? It's got a weber carb. I was thinking either carb issue or maybe timing?

There's a wire hanging down underneath the truck with a metal thing on the end of it, right next to the muffler. The wires run up into the cab, underneath the seat. Looks like an electrical device maybe some sort of 02 sensor or temp sensor of some sort? I'll put a pic up.

Ok, that's enough for now, I'll get to posting some pics...feel free to comment & let me know what I have here, because the previous owner was not too knowledgeable. Everything that has been done to it, had already been done when he bought it (aside from the tires), so he didn't know much about the specifics. I'd like as much info on it as possible.

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

You might have the wrong shock length installed.
That looks like you will need to install new knuckle seals.
That does look like the 02 sensor out of the exhaust system

The front springs look to have more arch than the stock arch, which maybe the PO had put in to run the 35's. Here are some specs that you can check Width=2 3/8", 22 3/4" from the center of the eyelet to center bolt along the the spring surface in both directions, and the depth of the arch should be around 2 3/4" and the spring pack thickness should be around 1 3/16"

Good looking truck BTW

UTAHYOTA

Check the ground at your coil/ignitor. Mine would do exactly what you are talking about. Scrubbed the piss out of it and the problem disappeared. Good luck.

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

I had a problem like that also, the distributor wiring was shorting out on dip stick, which was leaning against the power steering pump mounting bracket

No-Limit

Thanks guys I will check that out.

I'm looking at the axle/knuckle seal repair and it looks messy but do-able with a lot of patience and maybe a little swearing. It looks like the Marlin Crawler axle seal kit is the best of the breed. Should I go ahead and get the bearing kit as well, or would repacking the bearings be OK if I'm not having any problems with them? Not sure of the miles on the truck, the odometer doesn't work. Should probably just spring for the new bearings to keep from having to do the whole thing again.

I will look into the distributor grounding, hopefully that's what it is...would be an easy fix.

Thanks for the info.

medicmoose

That looks like a great truck needing just a few things to make it great. I too did not have power steering on mine ('82) and although I am not running as big of a tire, I really wanted get some power. I found a donor set-up on this site (Corey). Although I haven't had my truck on the road yet (full restoration) I suspect that I will be very happy with the power steering set-up! It was a breeze to install!

RAD4Runner

solid axle and carb... We hate you already! LOL!
Welcome to the forum, although you joined in 2009.
The first-gen BeForeRunner was born (inherently) sexy! Best wishes on the build.

No-Limit

Yeah I didn't realize it but I guess I joined this forum back when I bought my '07 Tacoma...just haven't posted much till now.

So the truck has been in and out of the muffler shop all week. They welded in a new straight pipe (in place of the original header flange which was loose, and was a "weak point" according to them), and then fixed a leak at the muffler, and then welded in a new pipe out to the back of the truck. There were a couple leaks in their welds that I would find when I got home, but I think we finally got it right this last time. There's still a pretty bad exaust smell from the truck in general, but it must be just because it's an older truck with no cat? Do all of them smell like that? When I'm moving it doesn't bother me, but sitting at a red light with the windows down it's pretty strong. Is that just something I have to deal with? The exhaust now exits behind the drivers side rear wheel. Would running the pipe over and dumping it on the passenger side do anything to help with that, or is it just something you have to live with, with these older trucks?

I spent a couple hours working on the windshield with a razor blade, bottle of windex, high speed rotary buffer, cutting compound, and some polish in an attempt to remove the past 35 years of hard water spots, paint overspray etc.., and to try to get some of the scratches from the wipers out. Worked pretty well, it's a big improvement over what it was.

I will be checking & cleaning up the ignigtion coil ground this weekend, in hopes that it takes care of the chugging/rpms dropping issue. Will keep you posted on that.

I'm moving on to the axle seal leak now. Getting ready to order the kit from marlin crawler. It looks like the only difference between the "knuckle service kit" and "knuckle gasket & seal kit" is the addition of the knuckle bearings in the "knuckle service kit"? Are the knuckle bearings typically necessary or recommended for this job? Anyone with experience doing this seal replacement have any recommendations there?

Medicmoose- When you said you found a power steering donor setup on this site (Corey), is that a vendor? My plan was to start checking around at junk yards and hoping for the best. Was that the "high steer" set-up that you installed, or just the OEM power steering?

Lons81- I haven't measured my front springs yet but I will to confirm if they are original or if they've been upgraded to something larger. Thank you for the specs on that. I will report back shortly.

After I finish the knuckle seal, the power steering will be the next on the list. Thanks again guys for all the help.

medicmoose

He is a long-time member and owns the shop http://www.toyotafiberglass.com I bought my fibreglass bed from him. The point about the power steering is that people here are always willing to help. If you put the message out that you are looking for a complete power steering set-up there is likely someone out there who will have one. Take a look and post in the classifieds area here.

Yes, my power steering is just factory power steering...not high-steer.

toy_tek

Since you're unsure of mileage & service interval, I'd recommend replacing wheel bearings while you have the front apart. Also, you'll need to get the o-ring for the manual hub dial separately (got mine from dealer). It doesn't come w the Marlin kit.

If you have have access to a parts washer for the knuckle rebuild - It'll make the job slightly less crappy