Hello. Been on here awhile and have learned a lot from these pages! I am kinda new to the Toyota world as my family always saw it as the "Darkside" of vehicles. I grew up in a UAW family and The Big 3 is all my dad believed in. I worked for Chrysler myself for near 17 years and never owned a foreign auto. In 2009 I left Chrysler to start my own business and now proudly own 3 Toyotas. Wow have I been missing out!! My wife drives a 1994 Landcruiser as a daily driver and my son has a 1980 FJ40 to restore when he gets a little older. I recently bought an 85 4Runner and love it. Has 160k original miles and in amazing shape. When I first bought it I was near halfway home and she puked her guts out at the gas station. Needless to say I was freaking out because I was told it ran like a top! Typical craigslist misguided info. Lol. Managed to limp her home where it was leaking everything possible! Have taken care of all the drips now and started cleaning and replacing worn out interior parts with OEM whenever I can. Wanna build a drawer system for the back end for when my son and I go camping. Thanks in advance everyone as I am sure to pick some of your brains for info! Happy New Years!

 

Nice platform. Nice garage. What's that trailer in your garage? Is it made from an old pickup bed?

 

craigslist guys are always so honest.. a few years ago I waited about 3.5 hours for a guy to show up..i needed his transmission reallllly bad...

I like the quarter ton trailer you have.. I should have kept mine.

Is that a 2 or 3 gallon rotopax gas can? I am really starting to like how they can mount to roll cages etc.

looking forward to see how this progresses

 

Sweet rig

1st gens rule

Go topless

 

That's my Stevens M416 trailer I am restoring. My soon to be home away from home. Have done a total resto of it. I am looking forward to being topless in the 4Runner next summer. My new grill and SR5 gauges should be here today.

 

3 gallon Rotopax by the way.

 

sr5 model? Sweet truck for sure! What's with the custom paint coloring?

 

Not an SR5 model it's a DLX I think it's called. I am putting an instrument cluster from one in this week though. I like having a tach. The previous owner got somewhat carried away with bed liner on the fenders. Not my favorite thing! As far as the rest of it I believe it to be all stock paint and decals. Looking for a replacement dash pad any suggestions?

 

Same a tach is great!
As far as a replacement dash, I don't know the best place besides a junkyard. Honestly I don't know though.

 

New grill and head light surrounds came in today. Need to replace the headlights while I am at it. Window seals should be in tomorrow. Fixing this 4Runner up is starting to get addictive!

 

My box of SR5 goodies came today! Thanks again 86bedlesstoy!! Looks like I have a weekend free to work on it considering over a foot of snow is inbound!!

 

cool..did you get the mounting bracket for the inclinometer too?

 

Yep it's coming in the next box. Now I need a better dash pad. Anyone have a good tan cover for trade for the grey one?

 

Old gauges came out super easy. Did a little bit of cleaning up. Tearing SR5 dash down tomorrow for a refreshing. Check bulbs out. Looking forward to full gauges!!

 

Nice!

 

Not as easy as planned. Is it ever? Sending unit broke off and it's easy out time now. All I am reading is the wiring will just slide over the new unit. All the connectors I have seen online show the bottom open to work with both types. Mine is solid all the way around. Anyone else had this issue? Thanks in advance.

 

Pics.

 

You should have the larger oil sending unit for the oil guage. If you geta parts store sending unit, it can possibly have a ground prong on it. Do NOT connect to it. Connect to the center of the Sending Unit. I break the ground prong off just to prevent ruining the oil pressure guage.

Corax has a thread https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...repair-230891/ on dash pad repair. You can also get a cover off of ebay that looks good.

If you go to a parts store that mixes paint, depending on where you live, they can take a sample off of one of your other interior pieces and match it. You have to use interior paint. From seeing people using regular paint for interiors, I did not like the idea of it. If using interior paint, it turns out well. Cleanliness is the key to it. Clean the piece in Simple Green or similar, then cover with Adhesion Promoter then put on a few light coats of interior paint. Now I freshen up interiors with interior paint and am really happy with the results.

I have had the Sending Unit to break off. Those Easy outs with the twist in them break off and make the situation worse. I suggest using a square type easy out. The way I got mine out was putting a washer, then a nut over the broken thread and welded the nut to it.

The dashpads just takes patience. One will eventually pop up. Keep an eye out on Craigslist and the boneyards. I have found them for as much as $15. You will see them on ebay for $100 or more.

My father in law is retired Ford UAW so I know where you are coming from as well. lol Wish I would of made the switch years ago.

Great looking truck and look forward to your build. Welcome to Yotatech.

 

I thank ya sir and glad to have found this place! Thanks for all of the helpful advice. Boneyards for old Toyotas are scare around here in Northern Indiana. Most have returned to the earth as rust. I think I will hold out for a good used dash for awhile since it's a garage queen while the roads are salty here. Is tan a common color of interior?

 

Tan is a common color. Don't pass up one that is in great condition in any color, they are hard to find and since your area is going to have fewer older Toyotas, that is going to add to the challenge.

The bigger sensor is the one you will want to use. I don't see the ground prong on it so you are safe. Just slide the connection plug over and you are good to go.