so im in the market for another truck. I was going to sell my 4runner and get a 3rd gen for a dd but i love my truck its not going anywhere. so i want another yota but i want a pickup 4cyl definitely 4x4 and a 5spd. So what is the generall consensus on reliability and ease of work/ maintenance for the 22re and the 3rz. Which one is overall better? MPG is also a very big factor. I want around 18-20 city. does anyone see these mps with these motors. Also is the none torsion bar front suspension really that much better? I know this stuff is out there but id like to have the info here based off my needs. Thanks in advance to everyones input!

 

I have owned both a 1988 22Re pickup and I now own a 1988 3vze pickup and both have their pros and cons. The 3VZE gets terrible milage as you know but has more power than the 4 cylinder. My 22re used to get 20 mpg+ but the thing wouldn't get out of its own way and struggled to go over 65-70 mph. If your not looking to break any world speed records I vote 22re for reliability and milage as well as simplicity for repair.

 

3rz, not 3vz.....I've own 3 3rzs and all been great, one with 150k, one with 300k, and my current with 250k. I have driven each one on road trips over 2k miles and had no doubts in them. My runner stock i could muster 23/24mpg out of her. With my built up trucks 17-19mpg was usual.

 

Explain to me why in every Chilton and Haynes manual as well the TOYOTA sticker under my hood calls it a 3VZE?

 

3VZE is a 3L V6, the 3rz is a 2.7 I4.

I don't have any experience with the 3RZ, but my 3VZE is getting 21MPG with stock air intake and exhaust, 31" tires (worn down and under inflated at that), plus heavier tube bumpers and rock sliders. It should be better now that I tuned my AFM and got new tires, plus I'm redoing my intake this week.

 

Thank you I learn something new every day. I need to figure out what I am doing wrong for milage.

 

Toyota got it right in the mid-'90s. the 3RZ and 5VZ are arguably the best engines Toyota has produced in a truck. They both get good MPG, have reasonable power and are just damn reliable. I have experience with both. I have owned 3 22res, and one of my good buddies has a '97 Taco with a 3rz. I do/help him with most of the maintenance on it, and I drive it occasionally. Its a damn good motor. His truck has 180K miles on it and the CONVENTIONAL motor oil is always so clean looking after 3K miles. The timing chain is considered a life-time part, IIRC, whereas the 22re's T-chain is to be changed 90-150K miles. The 22re is a good engine, but whoever says the 22re is better than the 3rz is on teh potz.

Get a 3RZ.

 

yea sounds like everyone is on the same page as i am, 3rz is better. But what kind of mpg could i see out of the 22re, in the city. Also with the price difference of the two trucks, i could build the 22re a bit. But would this compromise the reliability? And wouold the 22re be able to cruise on the highway at 70-75 at 3k rpm? In my 2wd taco ive got the 2rz,2.4l, and honestly i dont like it ,its kind of gutless but its fan clutch is also out.

 

My '93 single cab was all stock. I still only got 15-18 city. My '95 had a lift and 33" tires and I got about the same. I dont remember the cruising RPMs as it has been about 9 months since I have driven it. At about 65 MPH, the RPMS were around 2600 IIRC in 5th gear with 4.10 gears and 33" tires. I was getting about 22-24mpg if I took the Yakima bars off. My buddy's Taco gets 20-22 city and 24-26 hwy at 65-70 mph.

The 2rz still has more power than the 22re. Most people say that modded 22res typically dont last as long.

Think of it this way, though. All the 22re powered truck are going to be AT LEAST 17 years old now considering they quit producing them in '95. They are all going to need work done to them sooner or later. Tacos are a little newer, but still will need work eventually.

 

oh, i dont plan on running any type of roof rack on it. I thought that modding it would cause reliability issues, with either motor i expect work. I always work on all my cars it's just my thing even when nothing is wrong i find something to do. MPG is really only the thing that im worried about. In school itll be all city , so i need around 20 in the city so if both get that itll come down to which ever i get the best deal on.

 

I have owned my 88' 4runner 22re with 98,000 original miles for about 3 months now and I consistently get around 20 mpg whether its city or highway with the a/c on. And I drive it harder than I think I should. Seems strange but the difference between highway and city is very negligible in my runner.

 

Yea you know with my 3vze I feel the same. 15.5-16 MPG no matter what I drive and I cruise at 3k rpm on the highway which is about 60 maybe. If the 22re gets 20 in the city then I'm leaning towards that

 

My '84 has a 3RZ and I love it. Had it for a couple months and it has 230k on the truck, about 15k on the motor. It gets 18mpg at anything over 76mph and up to 90mph. 70-75mph and it gets 20-22mpg. Stock 4.10s, 33x10.50x15 BFG KM2s, 4" lift. All the power I need, and loves to run all day long...

 

The 3RZ has about as much horsepower stock as a pretty heavily modified 22R-E will have. I had an 02 Tacoma for a while and was a really great truck. The transmission and clutch in the Tacoma took a little getting used to though. A friend has that truck now, and it's been reliable for him. Plus, there's a lot of other little extras you would be getting with one of the newer vehicles (OBDII makes troubleshooting so much easier, on average a little better gas mileage, a little higher gear ratio for highway driving, etc). If I were looking for a pickup, I would go 3RZ. The main problems I've heard of out of the Tacomas is issues with the intake manifold and a few of them had headgasket problems. Issues with the 22R-E is usually either timing chain guide failure and sometimes the headgasket. Either way, you really can't go wrong. Both of them at this point have a pretty solid track record.

About gas mileage on the 22R vs the 3RZ, mine gets a pretty average 20 MPG, with a mix of city and highway. The Tacoma I had averaged around 22-23. It was a 4WD single cab. They really are pretty close though, considering my 4runner has a good bit of additional weight on it compared to the Tacoma.

 

Get the 3.4L V6. I get 22mpg's! PLUS it has power!

 

i have really thought of the 3.4 but my buddy has a 4door taco prerunner with it and he sees around 17-18 city which is not much better than me. The 3vze has taught me to be a very slow or hmm gas conscience driver but i still think i need a 4cyl. I have until the beginnig of second semester to buy it so i have time to do any work i need on it, So it will be a few months. What about the two different suspension setups? no one has commented on them yet, is the non torsion bar setup (95.5 +) really worth the extra cash for a newwer truck?

 

to keep it easy go 3rz swap. however with my sc'd 3.4 i'm seeing anywhere form 16-20 mpg depending on how heavy my foot is.

 

i think what ill end up doing is a 3rz swap just because i like the pre tacoma looks better but im not sure yet. Im saving the sc 3.4 for my 4runner once i get another dd because it will become my trail rig.

 

Old thread, but...

What is wrong with you people? 22mpg?? In my '00 Tacoma x-cab with the I4, I got 35mpg or better on a good tank in the summer. That's country miles, not city, not highway. Some twists and turns and stop signs, but no lights and not much in town. In the same landscape I'm getting 28mpg in my '86 reg-cab 1-ton. Both were 5 speed.

The real test will be once I get my new (hah!) '92 x-cab with the 22re set up with a W55 and drive it around, since it has a very similar layout and aerodynamics to the '00 Tacoma.

In case anyone wonders, they're all red, so color differences won't be effecting performance. But maybe I should paint the new truck mango...

 

I'm a little late to the party as well, but I'd say what's "Wrong" is probably four wheel drive and big tires. I'm assuming your two trucks are RWD, because you're getting similar numbers as mine - a 1985 22R-E Xtracab 2WD. I get a pretty consistent 34 MPG cruising (rather slowly) at 55-60 MPH, turning 2200 RPM. That's the W55 trans, and the differential is geared stock at 3.58. It could definitely use some internal work and a front end alignment, so I'm probably missing a few MPG here and there.

Even though I'm two years late to be of any use to the original conversation, maybe someone stumbling upon this later will appreciate my info. I love my 22R-E and I've never gotten stuck offroad without being able to get unstuck again by myself, even without 4WD or diff locks. Power didn't seem to be an issue on the highway either, because I've had it holding 100 MPH when the cops weren't looking. It doesn't exactly love to climb hills, but if you keep the RPM above 2200 it'll pull it without needing to downshift in most cases. Does better than a 4-cyl camry, that's for sure. If money is an issue for the decision maker, I'd say nursing a 22R-E to health is a perfectly viable option, but if a 3RZ truck is available in comparable condition, and you like the body style, go for it by all means.

If I wasn't so sentimental over my 22R-E, I'd run it till it dies, then swap in the 3RZ. I can't vouch for its MPG figures in a 2wd truck, but according to the fellas above, it gives a healthy bonus on their 4x4 rigs -- especially important with that extra weight to have the 3RZ power.