Charles4x4

Hi, this is going to sound like a weird question.

Background:
I'm planning a KOH 2019 stock class 4600 build and am researching 1st gen 4runners (I have an '87 SR5 Turbo in the garage). Given the limitations of the Ultra4 Rulebook, engines and suspension have to match across year/make/model specs and no forced induction (Turbo or Supercharger) allowed unless it was a factory option.

Now ideally an '85 with a Turbo (Solid Axle Suspension) or '86 with a Solid Axle (Turbo 22RTE Option) is the perfect combination. But I'd have to find proof that they actually did/could have existed.

Here is all that I could find:
1) '85 with Turbo: Someone saying: "What most don't know is that the 22R-TE also came out in 1984. It was not widely advertised, however, until 1986. So if you were in the know, you could perhaps have ordered a factory Truck/4Runner with solid axle and Turbo."
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...e-22re-151705/

2) '85 with Turbo: A seller, who Pirate says was a liar, saying: "it matchs the vin number and they made a small production run with the Turbo"
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...ts-better.html

3) '86 with Solid Axle: "You are not imagining things. Although it is difficult to find any record of it on the internet now, Toyota did sell some number of solid axle trucks with 1986 VIN codes. I owned one for a number of years. I'm not sure if they were just trying to use up old hardware or they made a running change during 1986 production, but there were definitely solid axle trucks sold as 1986's. In fact, it was common knowledge among most Toy dealership parts departments....they would commonly ask me if I had a 1986 or a 1986 1/2 depending on what part I needed. I'm not sure if there were other differences but the suspension is the one that stood out."
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...pickups.95536/

I've run out of luck finding more evidence. Either route works for me:
a) Get a '85 that I can prove could have had a 22RE Turbo, and put one in.
b) Get a '86 Solid Axle (likely very rare and hard to find) and put a 22RE Turbo in.

Can anyone find written evidence that either of these options did/could have existed?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

You also need to factor in that some vehicles might be titled a year later depending when the state processed the title .

Have you tried Toyota Corporate they gotta have records of what was imported .

just a thought

old87yota

It is also good to note what type of "year" the vehicle is. The year a vehicle was made may or may not be the same as the model year. It can get quite confusing by just reading someone's comments online as to which "year" they are talking about.

I have not personally seen any 1985 model year turbos, but I have definitely not seen everything when it comes to these trucks.

millball

Conventional wisdom says that all turbo 4Runners were automatic tranny.

Charles4x4

Here's one more piece of evidence for the '86 with Solid Axle that I ran across last night:

"It would be sweet to find an 86 4runner with a solid axle. They existed in eary 86 I have only seen 1 that was not for sale. 86 with solid axle and a turbo."

Justin usually knows his stuff:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...l#post21699946

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

So you wanna find what is possibly a very rare truck and beat the crap out of it in Johnson Valley?

Charles4x4

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Grab the original brochures from Toyotareference.com..

Pretty sure they will show it didn't exist, they are also the sort of proper evidence you will need to show officials at registration as I can't imagine they will accept "Soandso on random web forum said they exist.." As proof..

Any 86 solid axel 4runner, or 85 turbo 22r registered and sold vehicles are going to be errors in registration and titling.

Sans Toyota documents you are going to have to showthem an original vin tag that shows model year and engine code..

There is a thread here "how rare is my 1st gen" it shows zero 85 RTE..

Charles4x4

I sent this question to Toyota yesterday. We'll see what they have to say. Multiple people have said they have seen them and have evidence, but I can say the same thing about bigfoot .

old87yota

Toyota Reference is a great website for brochures and paint color codes. They are migrating their website over to Import Archive: http://importarchive.com/

I am curious as to what Toyota will say. Like Co_94_PU said, you will probably need hard evidence from Toyota. You may not know the whole story to the posts you are reading. I am not saying that the stories are not true, I am saying that we don't have any evidence to truly back up these claims yet.

As for Bigfoot, you just need to install one of these :

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f115/how-rare-your-gen-1-a-58523/

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

i see bigfoot every day

Charles4x4

Well, I've got what I hope is a big update on this thread. I made the bold move of contacting Toyota Motor Corp directly. A nice lady named Millie at Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. responded earlier today.

I won't paste in the entire email (it was a bit lengthy), but the last two sentences are below:

"It would have been possible to purchase from the factory a 1986 4Runner SR5 with a solid axle and Turbo. You would not have been able to purchase that combination on the 1985 model year.

Hope this help and your email has been documented at our National Headquarters. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us."

I then sent the entire, official email from Toyota to Ultra4 Tech for confirmation that it gives me the evidence I need. If so, the 1st gen build is looking pretty solid.

Fingers crossed!

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

so you would still rather go this route than a 4th gen?

Charles4x4

That's the big question. I still like both. I guess- it all boils down to:

- 1st gen is lighter, narrower, NOW decent power with the Turbo, inferior suspension on leafs (front/rear), cheaper ($$), is much less prone to body damage, and has been somewhat done before but will still turn heads.
- 4th gen is heavier, wider (WMS is scary at 74"), more powerful, superior suspension on IFS coilovers (front) and 4-link coils (rear), more expensive ($$$$), heavily prone to body damage, and would garner a lot of attention as it has never been done before.

If sponsors start showing up in droves for the 4th gen, I'd be all over it because of the cool factor alone. But without sponsorship support, the 1st gen is a whole lot easier to pull off with limited sponsorship and mainly regular race discounts.

Thoughts?