'88 Toyota Pickup 22RE Manual
 

Hey YotaTech community, this will be my first post. So please be nice if I'm posting in the wrong thread, I will gladly take it over to the correct location if needed so.

I have a 1988 Toyota Pickup 22RE 5-Speed manual with about 230k Miles on her. I'm only 17 and have a job working 2 days a week dish washing at a restaurant so my income is very limited. I'm sorry I don't currently have a picture of the truck at the moment, I'll try to get one up ASAP. I did have a new clutch put in last week. The man who works on my truck is a good'ol country fella who lives on Toyota Rd. Charged me $550 for Fly wheel, Pressure Plate, and the Clutch, I figure that's good considering Bandwagon shops were telling me $700.

So I'm here on YotaTech because I know you guys are the guys who know how to get the most bang out of your buck, and I need some well knowledgeable Gents who can guide me along.

A couple of Questions I have:

I'm wanting to have a mean look to the truck, so I figured wheel spacers, what size would you best recommend?

Where can I find a Bush Guard that will bolt up with my truck for a good price?

What size tool box will I need to find?

Is Rustoleum Bed liner a good choice? (Just for the bed, not for the bottom siding.)

Is there anything I can do to make this truck get a little more power?

Any advice really would be great, I'm a Senior this year in School and for the whole year, half my day will be in the AutoTech center which is a completely separate Building which is the nicest in the state. So If I'm ignorant to some things, I am still learning but have the initiative.

Alright, so I've decided to make this thread more Long term build thread as I go, of course I will need help and have some questions as I tread along. But this would make the thread more appropriate to where it is posted if I continuously update the thread with what's new.

Here are some pictures of my rig.

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Hi Daubenmire, welcome to YotaTech! It looks like you have a very clean truck to start out with, it looks really nice! It also sounds like you are planning ahead, by taking the Auto Tech classes, something I wish I had done back in the day, so you are off to a good start! I'll try to answer some of your questions, and I'm sure a few will chime in and be able to add more info also.
You said you're wanting to go with a "meaner look" I might need more of a definition from you on that. I'm not sure why you would want to run wheel spacers (I personally would try to avoid that) it would give you a wider stance, (make yours wheels stick out further past the fenders) but I don't see any benifit in doing this. Most people use the wheel spacers when doing a SAS (straight axel swap) into a ifs (independent front suspension) truck. Since the front straight axel on the 79'-85' pickups are aprox 3" narrower than the rear axel on the 86'-95 pickups and 4 runner,, so they run 1-1/2" wheel spacers on each side of the front axel to match the rear Axels width. If you are wanting a tougher look, without lifting your truck you could probably go with a 30 or 31"x10.50 tire with more agrresive tread, and a wheel with a little more backspacing would give you that wider stance look without running wheel spacers. I would suggest reading through some build threads and finding the rigs that have the "look" that you like. Then read and see what kind of modifacations they had to do to run the tire size that they have. Ask question's along the way. But I think you could run a 31" x 10.50 without problems, 32" if you want to trim your fender a little. Then there are a bunch of other mods, lifts, ball joint spacers, SAS, etc that I could get into, but I think you need to figure out what direction your wanting to go before I overwhelm you with that, lol.

For the brush gaurd, i would look on Craigslist or other classifieds for one. I see them all the time in my area pretty cheap on CL.

For the toolbox I'd also look on CL, you can get them WAY cheaper than buying one new, and they are easy to cleanup/ polish to make look like new. If you are looking under "auto parts" and under "Toyota" as a sub-category on CL then chances are you will find one that will fit your truck. You just need to make sure it will clear the inner wheel tubs in the bed of your truck. If you're buying it used, then you can test fit it. If you are buying it new then you would buy it for the year of your truck.

On the bedliner, I can't give you an opinion. I haven't used any roll on Bedliner products as of yet, I know there are a ton of different products out there to chose from, herculiner comes to mind, I'm sure some one else will chime in and give you an opinion on what's good.

For more power, the easiest bolt on mods would be a cold air intake and the exhaust. I've seen a lot of people swap the battery to the driverside and move the air intake to the passengerside. The more free flowing and cooler the air is coming in the better. On the exhaust you could go with a header and after market muffler (and cat if needed). Again I'm sure someone else can help you out more in this area, I'm just trying to point you in the right direction and these 2 mods would be the easiest, without tearing down your motor and going with a bigger cam etc. I hope this helps you out some, and after doing some reading and research I'm sure you'll figure out what direction you want to go with your build. Don't be afraid to ask questions along the way, most people on here are awesome, and more than willing to answer questions, (we all have some sooner or later, lol). I look forward to seeing some more progress on your truck down the road! ....Ed.

Thanks Ed, you are of Great help! I immediately began my quest for parts on CL and have already found a tool box for 125 that seems to be in great condition!

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By meaner, I mean something that makes a bold statement. I'm interested in wheel spacers because they aren't too much and give the truck a wider stance. Some new tires are pretty hefty on my wallet. I'm only getting $100 a week from my job, so that would take me 2 or 3 weeks to get a tire.

Nice score on the toolbox! I know how it is to be on a tight budget, I personally would stay away from the wheel spacers, ( ive heard to many bad things about them loosing up, plus they are illegal to run on the street in some states, for offroad use only, Im sure there are some that would disagree, and thats just my opinion) but you can get the same affect with the right offset wheels. If you keep looking on CL I'm sure you would be able to find a set of tire wheels for pretty cheap. It might take you a few paychecks to save up, but I think you would be happier and safer in the long run than going with the spacers IMHO. Nice work so far!

Thanks, Ed. I'll hunt some more see what I can find. I forgot that my buddy who's brother has a Nissan pickup with a toolbox in it that doesn't run, I called him up and asked him to ask his brother if he was looking to sell it. Hopefully that will save me money as I only have $100, and the guy where the tool box is on CL is about 45 minute drive from where I am. I'm really hoping I can get a good deal on my friends then still have money for some bed liner that I can get rolled on this week.

on bedliner i wouldnt use herculiner, i used it in the cab of my pickup and am not happy with the outcome at all, had to use 3/4 of a gallon, laid on real thick, and is chipping off only after a year, i prepped it the way the can said, id have in line x'd or rhino lined

I'm looking at the Rustoleum kit as I'm on a budget. Heard anything good or bad about that?

Aye Dauben, welcome. Good move on the slow build. Take your time.

PS skip the wheel spacers, get 31's and nice rims first. Oh and in my opinion I think the stock Toyota filter is very good. Or a stock replacement K&N.

Just an update, I did end up buying that Tool box from CL I got it for $100, my truck and the box need drilled before I bolt her down.

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So I have the tool box now, still not bolted down yet. My next few objectives are to get some liner rolled in the bed and I'm to take your guy's advice and avoid the wheel spacer and save for some 31s; however I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to tires, I've never had any real experience with them. I'm not going to be looking for some new ones because I'm not bank with unlimited income. About how much should I look to spend on four 31s? Would I need a new rim for them to fit? I have no idea, school starts the 27th for me so I'll begin to learn a lot more as the days go on.

The stock rims would be ok. And its up to you on the 31x10.5 tires. Just google the tire size and pic and choose to your price.

I've heard Duplicolor Bed Liner isn't bad either. Just a thought...

I apologize for the poor image quality, my phone isn't exactly magnificent.

Here's what I've done the past few days!

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A nice wet coat of Rustoleum bed liner!

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My brother was kind enough to hand me down his 6x9 speakers and buy me a couple of boxes to get them placed in! I huge upgrade from my tiny 6" speaker with bad quality!

A slow build indeed, I do have the tool box drilled and set, just waiting on this liner to dry and get another touch up before I bolt it down again.

Nice job on the rustoleum bedliner! Looks good. I had a set of 6x9 in boxs set inbeteen the seats like that in my old 83' lol, you can hear them pretty good that way!

Awesome! I'd put a second coat on it. Tell us how it holds up to the abuse. I've been thinking about getting rid of my molded plastic liner and upgrading to a roll on or possibly even a spray in if the budget allows.

So I thought I'd give you guys a small update. I went with rustEDyota83's advice and got some 31x10.5, ended up getting some Thunderer Ranger All-Terrains for $550. Which I thought was a very good deal. Here are some pictures but I do apologize for lack of quality.

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Hard to tell a difference from the side view.

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Some of you wanted to know how the bedliner held.

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There's some dirt towards the back due usage. For the most part there are only a few chips from a 900 LB load of steel that I took to the Recycling Center which I had donated to me from my Welding instructor in efforts to save for tires.

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I'm currently looking to make the exhaust system my next project which I have two exhaust flange gaskets for the exhaust flange as it has a leak and it sputters, which is quite embarassing. Hopefully PB Blaster can live up to its name on those nuts.

What would you guys recommend for a muffler? I'm wanting to get something that has a more "badass" drone to it, and not like that of a Honda.

Also looking to look at the brake system. The truck sometimes hums and grinds when coming to a stop. The rotor seems pretty wore out and is past the point of being turned. I've had front brake pads and rear drum brakes looked at and still get this noise so I'm assuming that it's the grooves in the rotors and will be trying to purchase a pair here soon.

Those 31s look great. I've got a set on my truck, and with my lift it sits great. Of course, I've also got a set of 36s that make me sit higher than most other full size trucks and SUVs out right now. They are in the garage at the moment though. Keep up the good work. The truck is coming along nicely.