First off, if I'm in the wrong place, please correct me!

I have a 1991 pickup that I bought a couple years ago because I'd heard about the legendary 22RE... After I killed 3 Volvos in a row, I figured I needed something more durable (not to mention it was time for 4x4!)

Soooooo. I'm pretty sure the transmission is going. It pops out of 1st when it's slow (in higher speeds it'll stay in 1st). Like leaving from a stoplight is hella awkward because it takes me 3 tries sometimes (luckily my only passenger is usually my dog, and he doesn't judge). I swear I'm not THAT bad a driver! (Well - define "bad driver" - I bang into things all the time, but I don't suck at shifting!)

The clutch was replaced two years ago and the guy said it was actually fine but he did it because he was in there anyway. That didn't help. Then I did some reading on here and replaced the seat bushing rubber gaskety thingy under the shifter, and that didn't change anything. (PS at this time he also did a partial rebuild where he washed my engine with diesel or something and gave me new valves and timing chain guides and some other stuff).

Meanwhile I've banged this truck into a couple of bushes and ended up with some dents. I bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190898938337 to replace the passenger side fender that I kinda crunched. But OF COURSE my truck is white and this part was black so now it looks all patchy

Sooooooo.... what now? Is it worth fixing the super annoying transmission?

Maybe I should lay it all out on the line for y'all: I am not so much a truck girl, way more a horsey girl. I looooooove my truck. It has a name and everything. I need the functionality of the pickup (I carry lots of really smelly stuff) but the fuel economy of a daily driver (I check my MPG every time I gas up; yesterday I got about 21.14MPG and that's city and highway both). I can only have one vehicle, so I need something that will hold my dog and my saddles, and also have the capability to just drive over the goshdarn medians when I get stuck in the mall parking lot. But I also have a day job, and I'm sick of people judging me because my truck looks like a beater, so if I keep him, he'll need a paint job or something.

I guess the bottom line is: 1. Is it the tranny? 2. If so, what would you do (if you were totally incapable of doing the work yourself)?

 

Take it to Marlin. Since you're a chick, if you're hot you can probably get them to diagnose it very cheap, or free. If you're not so hot, get your checkbook out... It'll be that way for your entire life, but I'm sure you have figured that out by now..... There's probably loads of guys in Sac that would be capable and willing to trade work for dinner/alcohol/horseback rides.

It's probably internal in transmission. I believe the shifter forks wear thin which causes it to pop out of gear, among other things.

If you're worried about the trucks appearance at all, you should probably take better care of it. Stop running over people and curbs and cars. It's a Toyota, for sure, but that's doesn't mean you can treat it like an Abrams tank and not expect some issues.... Time to pay the piper for all the beatings you have given that poor truck. Just think, if it were any other brand of vehicle, it probably wouldn't even be running....

By the way, what's his name?

 

At first I thought "Wow, 3 Volvos? How can someone total 3 Volvos?!" and then I read the rest of your post. Good shifting is the least of your worries when it comes to driving. Safety, i.e. not crashing into stuff (people), is priority #1

Yes! A Toyota is always worth fixing!!!! To me, it doesn't sound like a clutch issue.

^Couldn't have said it any better.

 

Your going to have to think long and hard just what you want to do.

Not sure the going price for labor .

Do you want to go with a used or rebuilt transmission used you might be putting another one in .

Who knows weeks months or it works till the wheels fall off.

used with labor could be $300.00 to $500.00

rebuilt $1000.00 plus.

i could say how when the bearings start to wear things move and it pops out of gear..

The longer you go the worse the damage.

Horse women are known to be some of the worse drivers except for their husbands so running into things is quite normal.

Repairing trailers and trucks paid off my property.For some reason some can never remember to unplug the trailer lights.

 

OMG you guys are hilarious!

I am only medium hot, but it looks like I'll have to take my chances on that ;p
I definitely want a rebuild, not used - I'm not too psyched about doing it again real soon. I found a guy on craigslist who says he'll rebuild mine and put it back in for $750, that seems too cheap, so I'm a little suspicious.

I should clarify - I killed the volvos mechanically, not by crashing them To be fair, they were already really old when I got them. I'm not in the habit of doing major body damage, that was just the once I do occasionally do things that might cause some minor scratches, though... ;p

Sounds like getting a rebuilt transmission is sensible. I also want to do some cosmetic stuff, because he looks pretty beat up and I'm tired of people assuming that I only drive him because I can't afford something prettier. Plus he deserves to be spiffy!

How do I find a new seat? Or is that just not going to happen? I have thought about getting a cover for mine, but it's soooooo beat up. Plus I have this feeling that a cover would just never fit quite right, although I don't know why I think that. Am I off base? Would a cover be okay? I have the bench seat, which my dog likes better

Oh and my truck's name is Clifford. He's the cutest little thing, just needs some TLC.

 

I have the same problem. I'm an average fellow, and there are very few chick mechanics willing to trade, so I'm forced to do my own work...

If you plan on keeping the truck for a long time, I would get a Marlin rebuilt trans. It's spendy at close to a grand, but you will never replace the trans again if you take care of it, i.e. Oil changed on schedule....

But I know there are other folks that rebuild them, they just don't specialize in Yota transmissions. Marlin does.

Check your bone yards for a seat replacement. You can always do just a little customizing and make most any seat fit. I have 2004 Solara seats in mine. Leather, cushy, recline, great lumbar support, etc. I just had to grind off the Solara mounts and bolt on the truck feet. It took me an hour. And the seats were free.... Seat covers can fit well, if you're willing to spend for good ones. Most chain parts stores carry low-to-middle quality covers. A bit of research will bring up the good spendy ones. Wet Okole is nice stuff... But neoprene and hot, humid southern summers don't mix well...

 

That sounds very suspicious to me. Was it just some random guy who does side work or was it an actual business? I would take it to an actual transmission shop, preferably one that specializes in Toyotas.

Killing them mechanically is even more impressive! A friend of mine had an 850 that he put a few mods on. I remember one time he drove around the Walmart parking lot for like 10 minutes, on the rev limiter in 1st gear What an idiot...he sold it to a friend who totalled it a week later Those things are tanks. It turns out you have to jump it at 110 mph and land in a ditch to actually destroy one.

That's true. However, body work can be very expensive, especially if you have a shop do it.

Your local junkyard or craigslist is the best bet. Most people overlook the bench seats because the buckets are much more desireable.

Another friend of mine had a red 1991 single cab with 38" tires and the most ghetto lift ever that we called Clifford. Just like the other 4 Toyota trucks that he had (that I remember), it was eventually totalled...



EDIT: Rokblok beat me to it...I took too much time typing and editing.

 

I could see if someone had cheap labor to remove and install the transmission there are a few bucks could be made at that price.

What scares me is at those rates if the shop was good it would be a few weeks till you got in.

Then it could be someone doing it to get started ask around check things out.

pictures of your K-9 would be nice .

Clifford would have to be painted red To match Clifford the Big Red Dog!!

 

Hi guys, I'm back!

So I ended up deciding to get another truck instead of throwing a ton of money into the one I had (anyone in the Sac area looking for a project? I have one for sale now).

I'm now the brand new owner of this kiddo, who will need lots of love in the upcoming months (years)!



So? What do you guys think? More pictures ASAP.

 

We have seen enough Trucks we want to see you

I hope this one works for you .

 

X2 nice truck but nobody is in it...

 

That's a purty truck! We don't see many 95-97 Tacomas around here. I think most think the fronts are ugly. I always thought they were pretty neat.

 

Okay here's me:

EDIT: I removed the picture because it included inappropriate text.

Now what do I need to do to Cliffy III? The only thing we've done so far is a stereo.
Thinking about a minor body lift (and if so, what are my choices? We will be doing the work ourselves). What size tires can I put on my 16" wheels that won't make my long city commute too expensive? Any good sources for reasonably-priced seat covers that will keep the mud off (or should I have my neighbor reupholster the 60/40 bench in Cordura)? What's the best fabric choice? Will Neoprene get gouged and frayed really fast, or is it tougher than it looks?

The tailgate is destroyed. Thinking about ordering a new one but painting it black, since there's no way I could get it to match the body paint anyway.

It has several minor chips in the paint - how much will it suck to buy a bottle of the matching paint and dab it on? Will that look okay, or will it look like I spilled matching paint on it?

I feel like I got a really good score on this guy. Tons of evidence that he was somebody's baby - Bilstein shocks, Kenwood speakers, lots of new parts - but there's still plenty of work to be done

 

There's a good chance there is something wrong with you. You should fit right in around here I suspect, welcome aboard!

 

Rig looks good. What year is it? A cousin to my 95.5.

Welcome back!

 

It's a brother to your 95.5! It's a 95.5 3.4 V6 5speed (my mommy told me that autos are for girls). Has some minor body dings but on the whole it's really fantastic (so far)!

 

You are correct sir.

 

Anyone want to tell me a little more about my purchase?

 

Cool! Looks real clean under the hood too. The 5vz-fe is a very good engine.

What's the maintenance history? Timing belt, water pump and associated parts along with lower ball joints may be in order.

How many miles?

After having manuals, I decided to do the auto in mine me. It has served me well so far about 205k miles later and I'm no girl. lol

 

There are no receipts, so no proof - but the guy claimed that his brother-in-law did the timing belt not long ago. Looks like there's a new alternator, which is fine by me. Everything under the hood is suuuuuuuper clean - you could eat your lunch off the engine.

It's at 230k miles right now.

Is yours the exact same color? I love it - way better than the lighter silver I see a lot of.