Always been a Toyota guy ('84 Corolla, '91 Camry and now '97 Corolla) - but I've always been wanting a pickup. Came across an older Pickup that was in good running condition and the price was right. So as of this past weekend, I'm a Toyota Pickup owner. It's a '93 4x4, 4cyl, 5 speed with about 140K miles on it:







It's got a small laundry list of problems that need to be addressed, including a vibration when the front hubs are locked, an A/C controller that might have to be replaced, and a sticking emergency brake cable that needs to be replaced. I'd also like to replace the front bumper since it has pretty much rusted away (can anybody identify it?).

Somebody pointed me to this forum and it looks like I've got alot of reading to do!

 

It's a Smitty-built.

 

welcome. how does the frame look? looks like the tailgate has the normal rusted areas.

 

Its a smitty built front bumper.. and damn, who let it go to hell like that?? I have the same one its 20 years old but dont look like that...

 

smittybilt products ( their 3" tube bumpers mostly) are known to rust away. Looks like you have the smittybilt step bars too. I would suggest you ditch all of it.

As for vibrations, I would suggest you pull the hubs and take a peek. Probibly a good time to rebuild them.

heres a good writeup on how to rebuild them:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyota...b-rebuild.html

p.s where are your front turn signals?

 

????? WHAT??
Not entirely true, I have the SB Front and rear bumpers and Nerf bars.. all were put on the rig in 1989..... No rust, Just the typical fading.. I guess it depends on where you're from though too also, doesnt it???

 

i agree with jay...ditch all that stuff...truck looks like a good start, really digging that topper...makes it look like a 4runner

 

welcome to the family
sweet looking little truck you have there...
you even got the 4runner look-alike top you can't find anymore...
a little tlc and your laughing.

 

Well yes, it does depend where you live, what the climate conditions are, what they use on the roads in the winter. But generally speaking, smittybilt products had a HUGE rust problem. Just about everysingle one I have seen have already started to rust away.

 

Thanks for all the encouraging words and the warm welcome.

I'm in the Cleveland, Ohio area. The truck's previous owner is also from the area and I think he purchased it previously from someone who lived in Utah who put on the bumpers and side bars. Not sure how many years the truck spent in Cleveland, but they do use salt quite liberally around here.

One new thing I discovered tonight is that the headlights seem to have gotten some moisture in them so I got some replacements for them. Now I've found that the upper hoop of SB bumper gets in the way of getting the clips off the grille. Have you owners of this bumper found any easy way to get the grille off or is it just a finesse kind of thing? Also found the screws for the retaining rings to be pretty rusted and pretty much fused to the rear part that holds the headlamp in place. Sigh - nothing is easy.

The signal lamps are held in place by a bracket between the two horizontal bars. If you look hard in the first picture, you can sort of make them out.

Got the truck for $800 so I'm not looking to put a whole lot of money into it. Definitely want to get the 4WD mechanicals and A/C working before I tackle the cosmetics (unless I can find a bumper cheap).

I ordered the Haynes and Chiltons manuals so I'll be going through those when they get here. And look at getting the hubs off and rebuilding them. Thanks for the link to the article.

Also - any Northeast Ohio YotaTech members and if so, any trusted places you go to to have your truck worked on?