and I wanted to say hello. Name is Chris. Live in southeastern Wisconsin. Used to have a 85' 4runner with 22re and solid axle, but had to let it go. Right now I drive a '90 jeep cherokee and I miss my toyota so much. I'm hoping to get this set of wheels in my driveway soon...

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/car/408049257.html

I've been trying to find out a little more about this year, and from what I understand, the tranny in it (L52) is pretty much one of the worst ones out there. I'm familiar with the 22re, so the 22r wouldn't be too big of a change. The truck has only spent the past year in Wisconsin. Before that, it called California and New Mexico its home. Super clean except for the interior/upholstery, but who cares about that. I'll have a chance to drive it this weekend, but the current own says 4wd engages quite well, and from what I was able to tell in the 5 minutes I say it run, it's runs pretty well too.

I'm not too keen on the price, but I'm not too sure how he'll budge on that yet. I'll keep you all posted, and hopefully the jeep will be gone and I can play with Toys again.

-chris

 

Considering that there are probably not a lot of 1st Gens available there, his price is not too bad...especially compared to this one that I am sure you saw:
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/car/414088403.html

As much as I would love to see you get a first gen, this one looks pretty nice:
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/car/436829164.html

WOW: only 30 trucks to choose from...Good luck!

 

Price doesn't seem terrible. I paid $3k for my 83 from California where I picked it up. If you found a cheaper one somewhere else, like Cali, or Az, it would cost you to get it to Wisconsin so maybe you can factor that in. Those things being said, 4000 is still near the higher end for what I have seen the first gens going for. The seller prob has some leverage since Wisconsin trucks are mostly rusted out, but offer him less, all he can say is no. I love my 83, you just don't see many of them on the road, they are simple and classic. Oh and about the tranny being bad, it's true that most people say how weak this tranny is, but honestly are you going to wheel it hard enough to find out? Mine is still kicking with 200k on it, I don't wheel it hard though.

 

Wow thats a really nice clean truck for this far north! You definately dont see many of those around here!

 

Awesome, my favorite year. Good find, I wouldn't worry too much about the L52, just drive it with that in mind, and keep your fluids changed.

 

well I finally had a chance to drive the truck this weekend. Owner went with me but we were able to talk about it while I drove . Drove really nice. Smooth engagement, firm clutch (pretty new actually.) Took it on the highway, through town, and then to a parking lot to run through 4wd. Everything seemed to work really nicely. 4hi/low both engaged well, with no odd sounds or clunking (unfortunately for me, it's been a while since I drove a vehicle that a) had a working p-brake, or b) hubs that had to be engaged from outside. So after I locked the hubs in, I climb back in the cab and drive around a bit. Woulnd't have felt like an a** had I remembered to disengage the p-brake...OOPS!) Anyhoo, the truck was really nice. I found out a little more about why the engine/tranny were worked on. Tranny was started to sound funny to the owner about 10k ago, so had it dropped and rebuilt (clutch was replaced then.) A little while later, the engine started to take a crap, so he had that pulled and rebuilt (this is when the water pump and timing was done.)

Along with that, it has a new exhaust, new brakes, new radiator, tires, and a couple of other little things. Crawled underneath and the thing is dry as a bone! No oil or grease, no sludge, nothing. A little bit of grease around where the u-joints are, but not anything I was concerned with. My truck was ('85 4runner) and is ('90 cherokee) covered in muck from various little things leaking, and I fell in love with this new truck as soon and I got to explore it. Springs front and rear appear to be original (fronts are a bit saggy).

I am a bit concerned (paranoid?!) of a few things, and I think it's only because I don't want any unexpected surprises should I happen to purchase it...

-coating of oil on sides of block (I'm guessing a shoddy VC gasket, or if the guy is like me, an oil filler cap that was left off for a period of time )
-lever for turn signals has to be disengaged manually after a turn (an easy fix or not???)

-one of the radiator hoses has a small leak (he told me about this, but I couldn't find it. I figured maybe I could replace the hoses and clamps right away and take care of any and all issues.)

-a few rust spots (soooooo......)

-shoddy interior (fun weekend fix-er-up-er project )

-the gauge cluster consists of a speedo. that's it. I don't like that (replacement options that look decent? did any 1st-gen trucks come with a bezel that had other gauges in it? Aftermarket would be simple with a GF that works at NAPA, but relatively stock-looking would be cool.)


So all in all, I'm pretty excited about this truck. Not too keen on the price however. The guy said he's pretty firm because of all the little things that were recently done to it, and the fact that he doesn't even want to get rid of it. He said it would be ok if I put a down payment, and the rest would come later, but "the rest" depends on me selling my cherokee and comanche, and I have no idea how much they will bring. Hopefully it will all work out in my favor.

 

Well I can give my advice on the problems-
Coating of Oil- Prolly a VC gasket, simple to fix, gives you an excuse to adjust the valves. Or I would probably just leave it and watch the oil, it could have been on there for a long while.

I would imagine the fix for the Turn indicators would be easy. I have seen complete units go on ebay for ~$15, just replace it all. Or I would probably just turn it back.

Agreed replacing the hoses and clamps is a good, relatively cheap idea.

If its just surface rust, hit it with some rust-oleum. If its through, you may want to consider patching it and painting the area.

Interiors are easily mended.

I reckon you could get an SR5 cluster, it includes a tach as well. There is one for sale in the classifieds, i think. Not sure what you'd have to do to get the tach working, a wiring diagram would help. In addition, SR5's had 2 gauges down under the vents, could be found on ebay. In addition, an altimeter, inclinometer combo out of a 4runner would work nice on the dash.