Im thinkinh about buying a 85 toy pickup! Let me know what you all think about them. And good and bad things about them! Thanks for you time.

 

Only negative i could think of is rust. Any 79-89 pickup will always have an issue with rust. I cant think of anything really bad about them besides this. Especially if you can get one with the 22re.

 

the engine might be in need of a good rebuild

 

I might be getting it for free! From a good friend of mine! It has the 22re in it and I plan on building it into a rock machine. Going to put a 4.3l chevy v6 in it. The bed has some rust. Should I fix or go flat bed?

 

i would go flat bed, rocks and a bed dont mix that well

 

The good:
First year with EFI
Solid Front Axle
good strong platform to sequentially build up from

The Bad:
Push pull steering
High potential for rust
Less comfort features than a later model

It has been shown that when building a hardcore trail rig, you aren't really saving any time or money by getting an '85 as compared to later model. But then, yeah, if it's free jump on it man. Plus 84-85 trucks look pimp.

 

If it's free than thats one good thing. Other than that its inexpensive to lift, extremely reliable engine and drive train. easy to work on. The Bad... a rough ride (but if its for rock climbing.... no matter), engine is under powered for big tires.

 

Rust shouldn't be too big of a deal since your from ID.

 

rear passenger spring sag.? thats taken its toll on mine

 

Only things I can think of that are bad about them compared to older and newer models is the rarity and price. Other than that 85s are the most sought after Pickups and 4Runners in the Toyota 4WD community, which would explain the rarity, which would in turn explain the price...

 

As far as driving one every day:

Good:
Reasonable on gas
Reliable
IMO, they're cool lookin

Bad:
Noisy
Slow
Not going to ride like a car, ever, doesn't bug me but it does bother some.

 

If your making a rock rig just keep the 22R and gear it.

 

There are advantages to the EFI as it will have a topshifting t case and a w series tranny. These are considered "better" generally but the difference is really minor. You can still get crawler gears and duals for a forward shifter and the 1st gear difference in the tranny is 3.93/3.95 (hardly worth mentioning) The engine itself doesn't matter if you're just going to throw in a Chevy anyways. (I wouldn't) The push pull steering isn't that big a deal either because ifyou want to build a crawler you will want to convert to crossover anyways. Yeah you will need to get an IFS steeing box but you will already have an axle. The only other drawback that I can think of off the top of my head is that the 85 and older stuff has a narrower rear axle. If you can get it for free it's a no brainer.

 

Hmmm.... Free is good, I am in the process of seeing if I can sell my 85. I found mine with 100k for a reasonable price without really thinking about what I was doing. Previously owned an Acura RL. Anyway after installing lift springs, 33" MTR's, power steering, etc.. Its finally done and I dont really want to deal with the hassle of fixing things on a 23 year old truck every other week. So, time to go....

Pros: Pretty tough, straight axle, easy to lift, etc

Cons: Rides like hell, reliable?, hard to locate parts out of a wrecking yard

Maybe I am just pissed at my truck and I will probably regret selling it but like Jack Burton always says "What the hell".

 

Keep the 22re. Spend money on gears and steering stuff instead? An '85 for free is a good deal for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing some pics.