Something like a 1985 4runner!

So I went to look at this thing yesterday, after calling the guy minutes after he posted the ad the day before. Was all set to buy it and he tells me someone else offered him 2k to hold it for him. Well the guy never showed and I ended up getting it today for the price of 1700. Which is really good if you ask me. As good or better condition than my 81, and also it's a 4runner.





It's in OK condition. Runs and drives better than my 81, which is weird as there's only 2" of clearance between the bumpstops. I guess it must have better shocks or something.

It came with a good set of 33"s + spare, which is awesome since I have the tires off my 81 I can use as street tires.

Goal is to make it a reliable DD. Not doing any lifts or anything. Just going to fix a few rust spots on the body (frame is solid) and then drive the thing. Also going to try to find another engine to rebuild and swap eventually since this one is tired enough already. I could barely get it to do 65 lol.

In the meantime I'm going to rebuild the axles off my 81 so I can eventually swap it to this and rebuild the axles off this.

sweet rig man, part of me wishes mine was still my dd haha. just keep her stock and fix her up nice

Yeah it's definitely gonna stay my DD for a while. I'm really lucky to have found this in time though, otherwise it would've probably been sold already. You're lucky you live in Colorado as there are tons more Toyotas there. I actually thought about going there to get one.

Very nice runner and great price too.

X2 on tons of yotas in CO. I get tempted once a week to sell my runner and go to Co for something else

Looking forward to your progress.

Congrats--nice find!

Those stripes are interesting--it's really close to the original SR5 stripes but not quite--looks like someone tried to replicate them.

I bet it would run on the highway a lot better with 28-29" tires. If the axle gears are stock, 33's really move you way out of the power band and increase the distance between each tranny gear. I'm impressed you got it to 65 on 33s if it has the stock 4.10s.

Yeah the engine is strong but it doesn't like to rev past 3800 or so. So I'm just gonna pretty much leave it alone if it ain't broke don't fix it right? It actually makes good power between 1-3.5k which is surprising. You can't go below 2k on the highway but at slow speeds it does just fine.



Patched up the front left floor board today. Still got like 4 holes on the drivers side I need to patch. Passenger side isn't nearly as bad, there's one in the front corner, but everywhere else is just fine. I painted it with some rustoleum and some duplicolor bedliner which probably won't last very long but it will get me by. At least I don't have to worry about mud getting flung into the cab through that hole.




Also switched to the stock size tires with stock rims I got with my 81. I like the look better actually and it seems to have a bit more power. Pulled the top off to see what it looks like too.

I also flexed it out and heard this loud banging noise coming from the rear. It turns out my rear u-joint caught the tranny skid plate when the axle moved and it pulled it around. So I've got to unbolt the driveshaft tomorrow and bash it back in.

Logan, nice 85 , glad to see you have taken the top off I haven't had the courage to take mine off for some reason on my white 85 , I to have stripes very similar to yours and the same wheels , at first I didnt like the chrome steel stock wheels but they grew on me , now I think there cool.. I only have 1 1/2 clearance in front from bump stop to frame

Technically, since his speedo is off due to the 33's and stock gears... 65MPH on the speedo is actually more like 76MPH(ish). Not too bad at all

It was 60 on the speedo, which is probably like 67 ish. I tested it with my GPS and 50mph on the speedo was 55 on the gps.

Whew--I've never had mine going that fast.

I'm a big fan of the original SR5 wheels as well. I landed a set a few years ago and they're keepers. They polish up nicely with balled-up aluminum foil and water.

Picked up some more spray paint and bedliner and an oil pressure gauge today (where am I supposed to hook this up?) I drove out to a couple pastures and managed to get stuck once. I did get out of it though.

What do you guys think of hood mounted gauges? I have a hood off a second gen pickup I might experiment with.

That noise you hear is because the cam is worn and one of the lobe has probably 2mm worn from the top of it. That's probably why they had the timing retarded so much, it won't rev about 4k with the cam as worn as it is anyways. I'm just going to run it as is now, since I'd have to do a headgasket and stuff at the same time as that. Eventually I'll probably purchase a blown engine to rebuild and swap in.