So there is an 85 Toyota 4x4 truck for sale in my town. In theory its pretty nice- solid front axle, sun roof, 22re (not the R) but its rusty and the engine looks pretty oily. I have an 87 4runner thats has its minor problems but I know its reliable and I recently did a 2k mi road trip in it with 0 problems. My problem is... is the solid front axle and a real bed enough of a reason to give up my mechanically sound 4runner? I put my 4runner up for sale the other day and already have 4 offers and even one guy who like camped out at my apartment waiting for me to come home so he could talk to me about it. I love my 4runner but the rear seats are about worthless unless the top is off and I dont really have a full bed unless the top is off. I know you cant make the decision for me but I just need some input. Money is not a factor as i can sell my 4runner for almost twice as much as the truck is going for.

 

It is hard to fine factory re 85's though. Look in to it to see if it is solid just a bit dirty and neglected maybe. Also if the rust is too bad I would pass on it though.

 

It depends...

Angel wispering in your ear: do you wheel very hard? because honestly (and this has been gone over at length in other threads so we don't need to here), the majority of us just don't do the kind of offroad stuff that makes a solid axle make sense. A bed is nice if you haul more stuff than people, but you could probably find a nicer, newer truck for your money. Giving up a good reliable truck for one you have no idea about is scary and usually not a good idea. Probably, even in decent shape, the truck is a bit of a money pit, and a really rough ride with that SFA.

Devil wispering in your other ear: Do you want it? Do you like it better than your runner? Wheel hard? Because if you had a couple thousand left over after selling your 4runner and buying the truck, you could put a LOT of work and new parts into that truck. For me, the older the vehicle, the better (to a certian extent), and that's why I've got an '83. I wouldn't trade it for a newer, more mechanically sound vehicle even if they threw some money in on top of it. If you want it, buy it, make it work. You could rebuild the engine for what you've got left over after selling your 4 runner. If you can do a lot of the work yourself, you could do a lot more than that with the money.

Of course if it's just not a good vehicle, then keep looking. You don't want to be looking at an engine, tranny + other stuff needing to be replaced. That's just too much. From a strictly rational straightforward mindset, you should probably keep the 4runner. But's that's no reason not to sell it and buy the truck, if that's what you really want to do. I shouldn't have bought my truck. It's been a money pit and taken up way too many of my weekends, but at this point, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

83 you are a wise man. thanks. ill be keeping the runner til my brother is done with his 01 trd taco. seems like a good next step since he knows his vehicle. i want the bed but the 85 just wouldnt cut it for me.

 

can you do both?

 

OH! Nice monkey wrench to throw in.

Hey thanks JShaffer. It's all about perspective.

Yeah both would be cool if you've got extra cash around. I'd love to have a couple vehicles so I can have a vehicle down for repairs and still be able to get around. Can't do it at this point in my life, though. If you can, that would be cool. You'd have a beast for offroading and hauling stuff & pulling stumps, and a nice taco for everything else.

 

i wish but sadly im a junior in college making next to nothing driving city buses. gotta pay for the 4runner and 01 ninja 500