i am a complete newb, i know enough to get myself in trouble. i have a friend that has a 1987 to 1989 4runner, he is going to get me the exact year. i know for a fact it needs a new motor, tranny is in good shape as well as the rest of the truck. i found a motor at yota yard in denver colorado for 700$ and can install it with a buddy, who is a mechanic in a weekend. here is the hard part, what should i look out for? i have no time frame, just want to have a fun weekend vehicle for the wife and kids on some rather tame offroad trails. i know it is ifs and not solid axle is that a problem for what i want to do? are parts hard to get? if down the road i want to turn it into a crawler am i limiteted by the front end? let me end this by saying i do not have to pay for the runner, well a case of beer that i will share with him. any help is appreciated!

 

Yes you are limited by IFS if you plan on rock crawling. I would not turn down the runner because of that. Straight axle swaps are pretty rampant these days, so there are conversion kits and tutorials to help you out. And once you have done that, IMO the sky is the limit with what you can do. YOu are severely restricted with what you can do with IFS. I was planning on going bigger with my IFS, but due to input from on here I have decided to do the SAS myself, and I dont even go offroad that much. So it would be wise to keep it in mind, as well as a bigger engine. If you have to buy an engine anyways it would be cheaper to buy a 5vze-fe now instead of later. you may not need as much power now, but you will want it later trust me. And the 5vze-fe is a GREAT engine. It works great with forced induction, and you can get alot of extra horsepower out of it with mods. Those are a couple of things on my wishlist.