Hey, i'm in the market for a new (to me) toyota pickup but i'm not sure which year I should look for. I like the 90's model but it has to have a 22r-e because i've heard only bad things about the V-6's. I'm thinking maybe 90 or 93 and i've heard you can find one with that motor. Does anyone else have any advise?

 

1985 22re FTW!!!!

 

^^ +10000

1985 Xtra cab short bed 4wd. SFA and 22re motor combo can't be beat. and if you bought a 1986 plus you are gonna convert it to a SFA anyways so you might as well start with on.

 

I'm baised towards 88's. Honestly, don't get picky looking for just an 85 22re or you'll be looking for a long time, they demand a premuim and not many come up for sale.

Get something decent and make it your own...

 

84-88. Hands down.

 

My first choice would be harder to get then an 85 w 22re though. 90ish HILUX. And not because I like the body style and not because of the 22re. I mean SFA in a newer truck w/ a diesel. And by Hilux I mean Hilux not Pickup.

 

After doing a power steering conversion on an 81, (and I'm still stuck with a carb). I would honestly look for a truck that comes with power steering and a 22re. I think this for a few reasons.
1: Chances are that you're going to need to rebuild the axle even if it comes with one because odds are the knuckles are leaking gear oil from a bad inner axle seal and the wheel bearings are going to want to be serviced anyways.
2: The stock springs/mounts and shock mounts will have to be relocated when you lift it.
3: The push-pull steering system was total garbage
4: I would speculate that doing a solid axle swap really isn't much worse than doing a power steering swap. Sure there is going to be a lot more cutting and grinding, but that's more annoying than anything else.
5: I would rather do a solid axle swap than a 22re swap. Finding a 22re solid axle truck on craigslist is very rare. 7 out of 10 times that an 85 pops up it has a carbed motor. Sure toyota came out with the 22re in 85, but not all the trucks were equipped with them...

So, my advice to you is look for an 85-88 pickup because they have the best body style after the first gens with a 22re with power steering (I don't know if they all come with it or not) and then think about solid axle swapping it if you really are into wheeling it.

 

or get and 84 and convert to EFI...

Did they make the pickup Turbo?

 

3rd gen pickup. it's going to be the newest "good" toyota still out there before they started going downhill with build quality and adding crap like airbags and electronic doohickeymabobs. yes, an 85 is good because you can get SA and EFI, but you'd still have to do a lot to that system if you plan on beefing it up or lifting it - so you might as well do it once when you SAS a 3rd gen. you also can't compete with a 1st gen 4runner in terms of versatility since the top comes off.

if you ask me what the best PU would be, i'd be a little biased (because it's what i have) and would say: 3rd gen X-cab with 22re and 5spd and manual hubs...but not a 94 or 95 because those have that stupid looking 3rd brake light on top of the cab.

 

I think 83, Personally my favorite, i would trade one for my 86 in a heart beat...

 

Depends on what you're looking for. I'd go for whatever 22re Xtra Cab I could find in good condition and go from there. I wouldn't get hung up on particular years, get whichever one you believe was best cared for and go from there.

 

95.5-2000 Tacoma with manual hubs.
More specifically, a 95.5-97 single cab 3.4L V6 with manual hubs and an Elocker.

 

My wife is the Toyota enthusiast who loves the 22re, 5 sp. Now that we had twins, her '90 pickup no longer suffices, and we need the 4 x 4 for the family. So, after searching for close to eternity in the south NJ area for a 22re 5sp 4runner, I found an '86. Several weeks later, I found an '88. The '86, although beaten around during its life, had no structural rust. After some work, it also runs like a top. The '88, although in tact inside and out, has rust issues which I deemed beyond my physical and financial reach, so the swapping of the nice '88 parts to the beaten '86 began. Electrically, the under the hood fuse/relay box was cosmetically broken in pieces, floating around. The '88 was very much in tact, and also had the extra DIAGNOSIS add on, so I decided to swap it.

The poor assumption that my '86 and '88 4runners were identical led not to the simple under the hood fuse box swap that I had in mind, but instead I wound up swapping my entire '86 electrical system for the '88. The more I swapped, the more parts I needed to swap. Unbelievable. I'm almost done, and I'm sure it will be fine, but I liked the simplicity of the '86. I can't say I'm too thrilled with the '88 wiring and extra crap under the hood. For example, the '86 oxygen sensor was easy with only 1 wire instead of 4, and it didn't have the extra air pipe assembly at the top of the exhaust manifold, along with all the other crap it attached to on the other side of the motor.

Everybody on this site seems to know their stuff, so I am asking for the general consensus of which yota was more reliable.. the '86 or '88? Both have the 22re, 5speed. Thanks!

 

I know this is a bit off the subject, but we're all talking about swaps too. Here goes: Weren't the older land cruisers solid axle for a few years after '85? Are they interchangeable with the pickup/4runners--like the same length?

 

It seems like a lot of people are saying that an extra cab toyota pickup is best. but, i've heard that a short bed is better because you have more clearance in the rear. I'm just wondering what the strategic value to an extended cab is.

 

Well, you get a lot more space in your cab. If you like reclining your seat and dragging a fair bit of junk around with you then you will want the extra space. Personally I chose the short cab because they are cheaper and I like the shorter wheel base. I would definitely like the extra cab on the 84-88 series though. That is a nice compromise in my opinion. If you are 6 foot+ like me then you will also like the extra leg room on long road trips of the extra cab.

 

Thing is I live on an Island in Alaska where there isn't a lot of places to 4x4 except some old logging roads with a few rocks, large creeks and ditches running through the road to discourage their use. So, my 4x4 use will be mostly mid range. I have a summer job so after summer, and I sell my 86' 4runner, I will have at least 5,000 maybe more to spend on a truck. Given the situation I'm wondering if a 80's or 90's pickup will be better for that kind of use and still look nice at the end of the day.

 

Sounds to me like you would do fine with anything from 86 from 95 with a good set of 31s and a rear locker.

 

why sell the 4runner?

 

I'm selling the 4runner because it's in ok shape but not great. it's got rust on one side and over 200,000 mile on the motor. It's served it's purpose well but now that I can afford to upgrade to a better truck I think it would be best. I'm also not crazy about the fact that it isn't a truck and has no bed. It was my first car so when i bought it I had $2,000 and couldn't find a truck in decent shape for that price.