First let me introduce myself. I am Michael and this is my first 4x4. I am a senior in high school and I worked all summer to save enough to buy this.

I paid 3k for this rust free 88 sr5 4x4 3.0 v6 pickup. When I purchased it the guy I bought it from told me he used it for getting to rock climbing locations. The doors insides were messed up so the door latches didn't work quite right, it leaked rear diff fluid badly and within the first week of driving it after changing all the fluids and oil it overheated and blew an EFI fuse on the side on the road. I had to get it towed home. Since then I have fixed the diff, did a cooling system overhaul, (new rad, thermostat, water pump, hoses, clutch fan, etc.), fixed the leaking diff (new seal), and I developed a power steering gearbox leak which I fixed with a new box. Currently it sits without leaks and I am daily driving it.

I have plans for a full respray to red and my long term goal would be a SAS. I will post pics when I get back from school today. I have pics from just about everything.

 

Day I got her. 88 rust free, 3.0 v6 4x4.







Sanded it down with in a few days to bare metal and rolled on some paint. I regret rolling it on, because it is bumpy, but didn't have access to a compressor. Also I want a red yota.







During paint. The final colored looked a lot like the primer much to my dislike. I get asked if it's primer all the time lol.







Tuned it up, new fluids and filter ran great, Then I drove to autozone and my truck blew an EFI fuse and overheated. Had it towed home. I did meet 2 awesome guys who I am not sure are on the forum or not who helped me out, but I owe them one! Since then I am always willing to lend a hand to those in need. I also carry tools for just about anything that can go wrong with the truck.

 

Because this is a 3.0 I thought my head gasket was blown, so I began by doing a leak down test with one of those rental test tubes. I don't have oil in coolant or coolant in oil and the truck isn't running badly nor white smoke so I believe that the head gasket is fine currently. I did have to solve the overheating. I went through everything in the cooling system to figure it out and nothing fixed it, so I ran it without a thermostat and concluded it was just the thermostat. Fixed!







Changed the diff seal. Leak fixed! Think I have 4.10 gears. I really want a locker.









Took the door off and redid the hinges and insides. Now the door works nicely.







Partially removed my bed to access the fuel sending unit that was bad when I purchased the truck. The fuel gauge works correctly now.

 

I did build a custom rear bumper for it.







Spent a decent amount of time at Folsom lake when I first got the truck. Don't go out there as much as I used to, because the wheeling is too easy for me. On the bright side it is only about 10 minutes away from my house.

 

I've been wheeling up in foresthill the past couple weeks and camping off finning mill road. There's some good wheeling out there. I don't have any other photos of the good stuff. I just love how beautiful it is.

 

Recent photos from the lake. I brought along a friend to take photos for me. My truck is lifted about 2.5-3 inches in the rear at this time and the front 1.5.











My truck next to my friends. Our trucks are actually the same height, but his shell makes his look bigger than it really is.





Most recent photo. I got new tires recently (not pictured in the photo.)

 

Well, that concludes what I have done so far on the truck. Not as exciting as most people on here, but I have put in so many hours to get it to where it is now and it means a lot to me. Stayed tuned for a front bumper build, sliders, and a respray to red paint as money permits. Thanks for reading!

Also if you are in the roseville/folsom/sac area in California let me know. I am always looking for people to help me with my rig and wheeling with.

 

Hi man,

good start. Don't worry about your build compared to others on here. We all do how much we can afford in time and money. You mentioned a locker early on, yes, get it, it should be your next thing to do! I purchased an aussie locker and am very satisfied with it. under $300 with DIY installation.

Also, i enjoy reading through various build threads since it gives me ideas of what I can do as well. Most of the time readers may not comment, and it may look like you are talking to yourself in yor build thread but it's a great way to keep track of the progress.

keep it up.

 

Great start. A locker is the best mod you can do for wheeling. Keep up the posts and keep up the photos. Your build thread could also help you document things you have done and to be a time frame. Should you ever sell it (you will regret it btw) the potential buyers can see just what you have done so far.

 

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I am doing motor mounts next weekend,because my engine vibrates more than it should. I think I will try and do a write up on here with pictures for others to follow. I can't find a thread that actually has detailed pictures on how to do it.

 

Good call on the write up.

 

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