Hi,
I am looking at buying an early 90's pickup (a 4x4 ext. cab) and would appreciate any advice anyone can give me regarding any potential problems that were common in those trucks or what I should be looking for or looking out for. Is the V6 from those trucks regarded as not so great? I actually would rather have the 22R. Thanks for any advice.

 

The main thing is the HG recall on the 3.0. Most of us here recomend staying away from the 3.0 although I had an 89 ex cab 3.0 with 225,000 miles on it and it was strong as hell. The 22re gets much better milage and has nearly as much power with a few mods. Personally I would stay away from power options since they tend to have problems off and on with any rig that old.

 

I had 370k on the stock motor (3.0 V6) before rods were done then the top end was just done at 396k so with the proper care they'll last you a while I personaly like my V6, I get 20 mpg and have more power then any 22re that I know of, with just an intake and headers it breaths alot better and makes quite a bit more power. The 4 cylinder in these trucks is the 22re which is fuel injected were as the 22r is carb. They last pretty much forever. Pretty much everything on my truck is original aside from the motor, shocks, brakes, CVs, various lights and small stuff like that. They really are bulletproof and last forever with proper treatment. I'd stay away from ADD or auto hubs and go with manual hubs as that eliminates one of the weekspots.
Good Luck

 

As above,for the head gasket recall, check the VIN with Toyota's 800 number. You want one that HAS NOT been done yet. I called in about 25, before I found one I wanted. Most had been done (gonna blow again) but I found at least 10 that had never been done. These are the ones you want. The HG recall can turn into a free long block, if it fails outside of the campaign specs. Good deal for a 15 yr. old truck!