How much do you trust your truck
 

So I was recently gifted a 93 toyota pickup, 22re 5 speed manual. The truck has 332,xxx miles and still runs like a champ. I changed trans and diff oil. Front and rear brakes replaced. I was wondering if you guys would trust this truck driving it on a 200 mile road trip to the desert with a dirt bike in the bed. The truck idles good and ive drove it for about a month to and from work(40+miles). I would take my f100 but it gets 10mpg.

If these trucks are well maintained, they seldom just quit out of the blue.

Components generally give signals that there is impending failure to those who look and listen.

If it's as you say, I'd drive it. You've got a cel phone don't ya??? Are you going alone??.

That's seldom wise, no matter what you're driving, although I go to remote places alone all the time myself.

I bought my 1987 4Runner in 2012 with 318,000 miles. It now has 415,000. I drove it to home and back to college for dozens of weekend trips 400 miles round trip. I've taken it from Virginia Beach to Nashville to Miami and back over the course of two weeks last year. That was probably almost 3,000 miles with all the side trips. I've driven from Virginia Beach to Cleveland and back twice which is about an 1,100 mile round trip. When I have the time and money to get away I'm really looking forward to a west coast trip to Colorado and Utah. Traveling over the road isn't the same as going way off the beaten path. I do take mine wheeling every chance I get but I always go with someone. It's also different being a few miles back in the woods and being 2 hours from cell service and farther from a paved road. That being said, get to know your truck. Have a look around. Running good and well maintained are two different things.

Rattle on startup is a broken driver side timing guide. The timing chain will eventually eat through the timing cover into the water pump area causing coolant to flood the crank case. Pull the valve cover and have a look. This will leave you stranded if it fails.

Last year my 92 22RE would rattle on cold start for a couple seconds, and then stop. Guide was broken on driver side. Head gasket was going bad, so I did a timing chain kit too. Rattle free now.

From what I can remember, the timing cover had some grooves in it, and I am pretty sure the cylinder head did too on the driver side.

Valve cover is easy to pull, so it will not take long to find out.

Yes you can buy just the heavy duty metal timing chain guide for the the driver side. Some kits come with the heavy duty guide like Cloyes if you buy the HD timing kit.

I'm a nervous wreck everytime i drive the turbo truck... what's going to blink, whirr, psssshhhh, break, or go out next.. I'd like to drive the dang thing for a week without something going wrong!
Having said that, we had another 87 non turbo 4 runner we'd take anywhere, anytime...
I'll get the turbo glitches worked out and have that toyota runner confidence back...

Amazon has Sealed Power KT1028S timing kit for a blow out price of $12.56. The sprockets are Cloyes for sure. Not sure about the rest of the kit, but it could be all Cloyes regular kit. Does not come with timing cover gaskets. Does not have the heavy duty guides just plastic. Who knows the price might be less than $10 in a couple days.

The Sealed Power kit was priced about the same as the Cloyes kit, and then the price started dropping. Only one left. Amazon price drops on some items. I bought a front set of Raybestos Professional Grade semi metallic brakes for about $9. They started out at about $37, and when they got less than $10 I bought them. Have them on my pickup now, and they work really good.

My 4Runner has 330k on it with 3VZE and rebuilt engine at 303K -- manual transmission. I'd say I trust it the majority of the time. I've towed trailers 300 miles and driven it 500 miles in a day.

There are some issues that scare me a bit, my rear diff is going out and I think I have a little too much blow-by even though I've had the oil analyzed and all is well.

Some days I want to buy a 2018 Tacoma with 6 speed, it's tempting.

I have a few known issues with my truck and have gave me warning, so I do not currently trust it on long drives. Knowing your truck inside and out gives you a great chance to spot problems when they are small so you can address them before they become big. If you know your vehicle well enough, you will start to get a feel for how trust worthy it is, mostly by spotting problems well before a breakdown. Of course there is the possibility of a sudden failure, but most problems give you warning before the real trouble begins.

For the cold start rattle, remove the valve cover and with a flashlight, look at the timing chain guides to see if they are broken.

If a timing chain replacement is in your future, I recommend an OSK timing set. Even though their parts are more expensive, they are high quality, Japanese made parts.

:safari:

As much as I trust myself and my tools and a headlamp. Because nothing ever brakes during the day time...

I've drove home my 4Runner 400 miles with only a fluid check. I didn't even buy it in person, had a buddy buy and drive it. Was never worried about it leaving me stranded.

Things you should never be without.. Basic hand tools, fan belt, radiator hoses, water/food and a sleeping bag..

If you know the truck, totally. Water+radio+cellphone+toolset

I've driven with

Bad 3rd pinion bearings: held for 100k miles
Bad, leaking headgasket: at least 50 miles :p (lots of water) I got me home.
Broken 3rd (3 miles) (clunk! clunk! clunk! clunk!)
Missing or broken alt and starter (choose between wipers and ignition!)

You will be fine. Just don't doo stupid ˟˟˟˟ in the dessert, like harsh shock loads or tire chirps... (in movies tires chirp in the dessert guys!)
My way is: if it makes a weird sound, it will usually self heal and go away. If something falls out or explodes, I reaplce or rebuild it.

I have a complete "take it all apart" toolset on board.

I have a '95 pickup with 22re and 235K. Every year for the holidays I drive from the Denver area to Los Angeles and back. Usually do at least one of the trips straight through, with the pedal to the floor for hours at a time, sustaining 85-90mph (Utah). I regularly push 5000rpm on long grades through the rockies. Round trip usually ends up around 3000 miles.

I also once towed a 4000lb trailer with another 1000 lbs in the bed 50 miles. Could barely get out of second gear on the freeway. Both tires on the trailer delaminated and the head gasket was blown when we got back with coolant in the oil. :banger: It had about 200k at the time. When I took the head off, there was a copper shim in between the block and the head which was missing cutouts for several of the coolant passages into the head. I had put 60K on the truck at that time since buying it used, not knowing about the shim. Still has original bottom end as far as I know.