obviously an 85 is the best, but I'm having a hard time finding them for cheap. Looking for ex cab 4cyl manual. DD w/ occasional wheeling. 86-88 or 89-95?

 

WHat's "cheap?" Around here an 84-85 already modified and trailworthy runs under 5 grand, less if just the typical old rig with no mods. I looked at a pretty decent stock 85 the other day for 1800. I also looked at an 88 with 69K miles on it in amazing showroom condition for 5995 asking price on a lot. (But it was an auto therefore not ever gonna end up in my garage...) All are cheap in my book.

INMO 85 Xtracabs in decent shape are harder to find than 4Runners, since most all of them were used hard for 20 years. Many 4Runners have been babied.

But of course, things don't rust out here and Yotas have always been very popular here so they are plentiful.

 

IMHO, get whatever you can with a 22R. This carbureted engine is pretty much fixable with a flat head screwdriver and hammer. If you get a 22RE, it's fuel injected, and you have all the issues of dealing with the computer (although with the knowledge base here, those problems are minimal)

 

Never had a single EFI problem with the 22re, other than a squirrel chewing through the wiring harness.

If there are plans for mods, don't fret w/ finding an 85. An 86-89 can be SAS'd for about the same price as setting up an 84-5 w/ crossover and wider rear axle.

 

i love my 94, 22re. real reliable and excellent off road capabilities.

 

My price cap is about 5000. Just wondering, did the 22r continue in the 86-88? I thought it was done away with in 85, but I have seen posts of guys in 86's w/ carb issues. I know the 89-95 is longer, but where does it get bigger, in the cab? I plan on massaging the fenders, crank the torsion bars a little, and like a shackle in the rear and run 33's and a rear locker.

 

22r continued only in the base pickups.
89+ has a larger cab, but you'll notice this in the xcab only.

 

22R was the standard engine until 1987 in 4x4s, 22RE was optional from '85-87, and then in '88 the 22RE became standard and the 3VZE became optional.

both the 22R and it's fuel injected sister, the 22R-E are very reliable engines. my EFI setup is cleaner than a typical 22R factory setup, less lines and vacuum gadgets, and runs flawlessly.

i like the extended cab '84-88 pickups better than the extended cab '89-95 ones, but '89-95 had little back seats so that might be a consideration if you ever want to cram somebody back there. they also have less rust problems than the early trucks.

 

Agreed about the Xtracab models - but add this reason - the 59-95 Xtracabs are LONG! 10" longer that the 84-89, which were already longer than the shortbeds and 4Runners... And for all that length the cab is no more comfortable, and back "seats" are still a cruel hoax.

 

should I go with the 22re or the 3 liter? also, 4runner or truck?

 

i love my 3.0 but get a 22re cause it took a bunch of money to dump into my motor for me to like it, and i still dont get good mileage. truck or 4 runner is your call do you want to hall crap or people/nicer things

 

probably more towards the truck

 

IMHO, the 22R(E) and 3VZE have similar performance. Fuel economy in the 4cyl is better and there are TONS of aftermarket performance parts available which will get the performance BETTER than the 3VZE, which has very little aftermarket support (well - until Node gets the turbo setup in production...)

 

Well, I'm decided on the truck now. But which is easier/ cheaper: SAS or efi swap?

 

between me and my dad, we got the fabrication part down. But I was just wandering how much electical is involved in the efi swap. It's still kind of a mystery to us, too complicated.

 

it can be complicated, but definitely doable. best bet is to get an FSM for the truck you're pulling the EFI setup out of. easiest factory conversion is the EFI from an '83-84 celica or '84 2wd pickup.

if you don't mind dropping $1000 or so, you can also get the SDS system set up for a 22R from LC engineering. you can get much better performance out of this than a stock 22RE.

 

Why not just keep looking until you find a 22RE truck? Way simpler and cheaper...

 

Agreed.

 

well, I was wandering which is more of an advantage to begin with, efi or a front solid axle?

 

EFI is nice for a driver. never have to worry about it dying out on you in cold weather, and gets better mileage than most any carb(especially one that's tuned to make more power than stock).

straight axles are overrated. for probably 80% of the stuff i do off road, my IFS truck will go just as far as my solid axle truck. if you're building a balls to the wall rock crawler, an SAS is a good investment, but IFS is fine for most stuff.