MaximRecoil

When I was a kid (1982) my neighbor had a 1979 Toyota 4x4 pickup. It had a black roll bar (a real fully-welded, heavy gauge steel roll bar; not a decorative "light bar") and a black "push bumper" (that's what he called it; not sure if that's what it's really called).

The wheels were steel with triangular cutouts which formed "spokes", like these, except they were flat black. The interesting thing about them was that they had very unusual wheel covers which I've never seen anywhere else, before or since. They were made of some sort of composite material, about 1/16" thick, and they fit like a skin on top of the steel wheels; having the same triangular cutouts. They had a woodgrain (!) pattern printed on them.

The truck was black and had three "hockey stick" shaped stripes on each side, which started on the doors and then went to the front of the truck, sort of like this:

Each stripe was a different shade of gray.

The truck also had a sunroof and a sliding rear window.

My neighbor claimed that the truck came from the factory exactly like that.

Question 1: In 1979, did Toyota offer a roll bar and "push bumper" as a factory option? What about those weird woodgrained wheel covers?

Question 2: If the truck was indeed a factory option package, does anyone know the name of the package?

Question 3: Does anyone have any pictures of that style of stripes, or any of the other things I mentioned? Also, does anyone reproduce that style of stripes?

Now for some other questions, because I recently obtained a '79 of my own:

Question 4: Any suggestions for curing a sloppy gear shifter mechanism and transfer case shift mechanism?

Question 5: What was the factory wheel and tire size (including wheel offset) for the '79 4x4? For aftermarket wheels, what offset would be correct?

95yoda

I am new to 1st gens but will try to help.

if it was factory, it was a SR5 model.
as for the sloppy shifter, the bushing goes bad and needs replacing, very cheap and easy.
the factory tires were 235/65/15 6x5.5 4.5 off set I think.

one of the gurus will probably correct something.

4banginRunner

1. no
2--
3. Stripes like this (my old 82)

4. 1st of make sure the shifter bolts are tight on the t-case...the 4 the Trans (if its a true 79...its a L43 4spd)
http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...-shifter-seats
http://www.marlincrawler.com/transmi...hifter-sockets
5. Wheels were 15x6, not sure on BS, factory tires were Q series, so in "normal" equivalent probably 225s or 235s tho 33s WILL FIT STOCK

algranger

like the stripes on the white truck? these are factory '80

INFINITY

#4 even with a new shifter bushing the linkage can be worn out. to fix you must open up where the "shifter ball" is (or where it bolts to the tranny) look at the 2 pins and the channels that they fit into on the "shifter ball". these channels without grease start eating away at each other and cause a wallowed out effect, so that it feels sloppy even with a new bushing. same goes for the t-case shifter. to fix you must clean the crap out of them with brake clean and then weld in new material and file it back down to fit the pins on the shifter ball housing.
this is a royal PITA but if you have a welder and a flat file once you open it up you will see what i mean. i can post up picts or a writeup if you would like. just PM me

#5 on my 80 stamped in the door it reads H78-15 (B) for tires size but in a friends 85 it is stamped 225/75/15

MaximRecoil

Thanks for the replies. It is good to know that the sloppy shifter mechanisms aren't a major problem (though it could involve a good deal of work as mentioned by Infinity).

As for the stripes, none of the stripes in the pictures posted so far are the right ones. I've only seen one picture of the same stripes my neighbor had, and it was in an old magazine advertisement for a 1979. I've attached a crude drawing:

bowhunter1

Stripes you are describing were for sr5 option ( I think thats what they called it in 1979) if my mind serves me right,it was not the standard hi-lux opt. I bought the hi-lux new in 1979. The roll bar , and push bar were probably installed by the dealer which was very popular back then. Some people get factory opt. and dealer opt. confused, I would assume same for the wheels.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

the sloppy shifter is probably the shift bushing. it is about $25 worth of part and 10 minutes to fix;
http://marlincrawler.com/transmissio...-shifter-seats

stripe kits can be ordered from a YT member, Jamesdean:
http://jamesdeancreations.com/1981-83.htm
however I think he has 81-83. Maybe he can do a set for 79080...

MaximRecoil

That would explain it. I was going to ask that next, i.e., if they weren't factory options then I figured they might have been dealer options. My neighbor got the truck new and always claimed they were on the truck when he bought it; and I can't think of a reason why he would've lied about it; especially since he didn't like those woodgrain wheel covers, and eventually took them off.

Thanks for the links. I remember reading in magazines about the Marlin Crawler transfer cases being used in Toyota trucks. I might get one. Would that solve the sloppy shifting, or is the shifter mechanism separate from what you get when you buy a complete transfer case from them?

I'll definitely order one of those Heavy Duty Shifter Seats for the transmission shifter.

About the stripes, I came across the JamesDeanCreations site earlier. It would be nice if he could make the '79 stripes. I could have them made myself if I had a good high-resolution, side-profile picture of some original stripes, and some measurements. They could be drawn in Illustrator as a vector file, and then a vinyl sign company could cut them out on a plotter.

Another question: The truck I bought needs a gasket(s) between where the exhaust manifold mates to the exhaust pipe. The previous owner took the exhaust manifold off, intending to put a header on; never got around to it, and ended up bolting the original parts back up but without the gasket(s). The parts store handed me something that looks like a ring (like on this page), but the previous owner thought it was the wrong part. Does anyone know what I need? If the ring gasket is what I need, do I need one or two of them?

83

That part looks right to me. They are metal rings that go between the manifold and exhaust pipes. I'd honestly just go to Napa or get them from the dealer. Can't be too pricey.

Have you looked at Marlin's prices? Great quality, well worth, but you're likely going to pay double what you paid for the truck to put a rebuilt t-case from them in your truck. I got a rebuilt transmission from them and I paid for it...

Typically t-cases last just about forever, unless they were abused. The transmission should go out long before the t-case, so start with the bushings and see what that does for you. If you put a brand new t-case in your truck and put the old shifter bushing back in, the shifting would still be sloppy. If you get a t-case from Marlin it includes one of their heavy duty bushings. Basically the shifter sits on the bushing, with just a longer piece sticking down through the middle into the t-case or tranny which moves the parts inside. The bushing holds the shifter ball steady and firm in the socket. If it's all broken up then you've got a shifter which feels loose & sloppy. Replacing the bushing will not fix a tranny or t-case which is already toast, but if they're still in good shape, it can make the thing feel much better.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Found these pic's on another forum, I think they are the stripes you described:

4banginRunner

^ best OEM 1st gen color scheme right there...wish i had the time, money and patience to paint my 79 like that

MaximRecoil

Thanks for posting those pictures. That is a beautiful truck. Those stripes are close, but they are not the ones. They only have two of the "hockey stick" stripes per side, while my neighbor's (Bill's) truck had three. Plus Bill's truck's stripes didn't slant on the vertical part, and the corners of the stripes (where they transition from vertical to horizontal to head toward the front of the truck) were rounded on Bill's truck, rather than being sharp corners like in the pictured truck. Bill's truck also had a single color (black) paintjob, rather than having a second color on the hood and upper fenders like on the pictured truck.

It looks like Toyota did a lot of variations on the "hockey stick" stripe theme.

Edit: Another question: Does anyone know where I can get a pair of those "Toyota 4WD" fender badges (aside from endlessly searching junkyards)? My truck is missing them.

83

Endlessly search junkyards. Actually there are some people here who have access to all Toyota junkyards. Check the classifieds. The "practically anything you want" thread is your best bet, but if you keep checking, they come up every now and then.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

i have been outbid on ebay more times than I can count when trying to find those badges...

83

http://www.toyotareference.com/#TR79

Careful, takes a while to load even on high speed internet. You can scroll through the catalogues for each year and look at photos. Somebody just posted the link in another thread. Soooo cool looking.

foskco87

Wow that SR5 shortbed is amazing. I would kill a puppy for one of those (not literally i love dogs).

83

They do make me jealous.

MaximRecoil

Awesome link, thanks. I found the right stripes right away. I had to put two picture halves together because of the way the picture viewer works on that site (attached below).

So as far as anyone here knows, no one is reproducing those stripes? I'd love to get a good high-resolution picture of them and some measurements.

Edit: Better yet, this is Bill's truck; well, in a manner of speaking anyway:



That's the same paint color and the same stripes. However, Bill's truck didn't have the stripes on the hood. I'll bet he peeled them off before he moved in next door. I wouldn't put such an act of vandalism past him, given that he eventually peeled the side decals off the truck too. That not only upset me as a 7-year-old who thought his truck was the greatest thing ever, but his mother wasn't impressed either (Bill was in his late teens at the time and she technically owned the truck; though she bought it for him to use).

MaximRecoil

Another question: I'm going to order the "Heavy Duty Shifter Seat" from Marlin for the sloppy transmission shift lever, but what specifically should I get for the sloppy transfer case lever? The only thing I could find on Marlin's site was a shifter seat "for 1984-1995 forward shifting RF1A gear drive transfer cases," (link) which isn't for my truck.

Do I just need one part for my particular transfer case shift lever or do I need several parts? If the latter, is there a kit I can buy?