i am new to toyota . i have owned other 4x4s
is one year better than the other ? i would like build it up some .

auto or manual .which is stronger?

thank you

 

as far as year, if you can score a 85, go for it. last year of the solid axles and it comes with the 22re, EFI. other than that, all are good, i like the 85-89's. go for a manual if you can, better mpg and better for maintenence.

 

As said if you are looking for a vehicle to build up go for the 85' with the solid axle. After that year everything is IFS. One of the biggest things to decide on is the 22RE or V6. Most everybody will recommend the 22RE. It runs longer is lighter, gets better gas mileage and can almost produce the same power down the highway with a few mods.

 

if you are dead set of a 4cylinder get the 22ret over the 22re. the 3vze is perfectly fine from introduction till about '91, then all hell breaks loose with the HG after that year...then there are no issues after 94.5 or aren't supposed to be...

As far as mods making the 22re = 3vze, i'm afraid Ill have to disagree on that one, short of all out turbocharging the 22re... (Remember the 22ret has the same HP but less TQ than the 3vze stock for stock) The HG issues on the 3vze are what really prevented aftermarket from offering a ton of mods like the do the 22re/22r/22ret...

As said 1st gens have the solid axle front ends, and I think the 2nd gens look the BEST of all 4runners - even if they dont have hood scoops.

 

I prefer the 85 but all first gens with the removable tops are great

 

go for an ifs truck, 85's are way overpriced, and if you do SAS it you will be ahead with a newer truck, ifs steering box, and wider rear axle, if i had to do it over again, i would have bought a ifs rig

 

superjoe83,
Why are you sorta down on your 84? I have owned my 89 since new and am thinking of buying an 84 or 85 to rebuild with my 89 parts. Seems that it would cost about $2k to SAS an IFS truck. You can buy an 84 or 85 for about $3-4k. Of course if you don't like the removable top and prefer 4 doors go for the 2nd gen.

 

I love my 84 and my 88 I even love my 90

 

thanks for the support

do the 84 85,s have leaf springs front and rear?

what do the other first generations have for rear suspension?


and how much does it cost to do a solid axle suspension ? i would do my own welding and labor

what donor trucks could be used other than a wagoneer? i would assume the waggy springs would be to stiff?

 

Not to hijack this thread, but what did Toyota change in the 3.0 after 91 to make the hg go bad? I always thought that the older ones had the problems and in 93 they fixed it.

 

all first gens have leafs in the rear. 84 4runners are just like 85s but no efi

 

One of the HG plants evidentally changed how they made the HGs that caused big issues... My '90 has 260,000 on it's HGs and the big issues seem to crop up after 91, particularly talking to the mechanics that worked onthe 3vze's...

 

The standard ifs to sas uses a 79-85 toyota front axle. You can use other donors if you like fabrication. The "standard" kits will run you between $1-2k. Take a look at Marlin Crawler, All-Pro Off-Road, and Advanced Off-Road's websites to get an idea of what is required.

 

the reason that i would buy a ifs truck is that they can be had cheaper, because people think that nobody wants them, since Ive gotten my '84 i have put a ifs rear axle, ifs steering box, and soon i am converting it to EFI, so if i would have bought a 86-89 runner, all i would have had to do to it is a SAS...

 

Based on the work I have done over the years on my 89, I would rather swap the rear end and steering box on an 84 or 85 than torch the whole front suspension on an 86-89. I don't know the power difference between the 22r, 22re, and 3vze, but neither is a real power house. Out of curiosity, what do you expect to pay to convert the 22r to efi? For comparison in my area I am looking at an 84 for $2.5k, 85 for $4, and an 88 for $2.4k. Based on that comparison, I'd take the 84.

 

engines?
4 cyl. or 6 cyl?
what year did toyota start using a v6 ?

 

Im pretty sure that 88 was the first year they put the v6 in the 4runner. My friend's 4runner that was stock turbo (4cyl) was extra slow and slugish. At the right RPM and speed youd get awsome performance, but that rarely happened when you needed it. It also could have needed to be tuned/maintained better. He did kinda blow up the motor. I got an 89 with the 3.slow cuz I knew I wanted stable power without modding. As far as manual or auto, Id go with manual, but auto is much easier when stopped on a really steep hill. Which happens somewhat often.

 

I have a 94 3.0 and a 90 3.0... are there any differences in the heads/block that are noticeable?