I've been looking for a cheaper wheeling rig for a while now. Finally found one. Its a 1984 Toyota Xtra Cab Pickup.
It has a bit of rust but nothing major. It needs a door.

Theres 411,000 kilometers on it (255,000 miles).

It runs and drives and everything works, and the transmission and rear axle have been replaced.

I'm getting it for $300 and it comes with a Warn winch.

I seen a few things I know I'm going to need right off the bat. The weatherstriping on the drivers door is toast. Is there a place to get it on the net?

I ordered a 3" Pro Comp lift for it.

I also plan on making lift shackles for it and doing a body lift. I have a body lift for an S10 that I'm going to make it work.

Are parts hard to come by for these trucks? My buddies figure I got a great deal on this truck because there in high demand and in good shape they usually go for $3000 stock or more.

I've never owned one of these trucks but always wanted one. Any tips for me?

Whats the deal with the steering on these trucks once their lifted?

I looked at a 7" lift and it says the following
Whats up with this?

I might end up getting around 5" of lift out of it, maybe a bit more depending on how I set it up.

Heres the only pic I really got of it. It has a new passenger side fender.

 

Welcome to Yotatech! Looks like a steal at that price. depending what part of the country you're in, junk yards an U-pull-its would be a cheap source for some weather stripping. Or browse and find someone on here via the Yotatech classifieds.

Not sure on the lift but someone on here will chime in.

 

I'm in Canada.

I've read some reviews of the Pro Comp stuff. It seems to be decent. We'll see.
Is this the correct bed for the truck?

 

I think the bed is from the 89 on up generation from what i see in the picture. I'd take a peek underneath and make sure it's properly bolted on the frame. Not sure how the crossover was on those generations. No biggie. My 87 4x4 has a first generation 2WD bed on it and it works fine.

 

The bed has been replaced on it. Looks slightly wider than the cab but may be installed wrong.

 

gyoas is correct-3rd gen bed

this link has many sources for parts

 

On the steering.
If you look on the drivers side, there is a "J arm" on the drivers side knuckle, connected to a drag link, connected to a push-pull steering box.
Once your truck is lifted, the angle of the drag link changes and becomes too short to turn the truck.
Best mod once you lift it is to spend the extra cash and do an IFS Steering box swap, with either high steer kit from TG, or the poor-mans high steer from a hodge-podge of parts.

 

I have the truck.
The warn winch doesn't work at the moment, but it seems like it will with some TLC.
The aftermarket sunroof was leaking in it and soaaked the carpet. Smelt like the mens locker room at a gym.
I pulled the sunroof out with the intention of filling the hole in with some sheet metal, but my friend took a look at it and said it would be easier and cheaper to re-install it.
So we stripped off all the 3 layers of silicone and caulking that somebody put on it, and re-did it all. I don't think theres going to be an issue now with moisture.

Alot of the interior piece are missing. No big deal. Are there any seats that are a direct swap into this truck? The stock seats are toast, and they too are smelly.
I have a set of Honda Prelude buckets I might make fit but it will be pretty work intensive. I put them in my Sonoma and it took forever.

The HVAC stuff does not work. It will switch from hot to cold but the fan speed does not work nor the feet/floor/defrost switch. I need heat. It gets to -40F/-40C here.
However my buddy figured out what one of the random switches in the dash does. They wired it to the fan motor, so it will blow heat, and the fans going full tilt, just not on the winshield.

The speedometer doesn't work.

It has a lift in it, but its pretty old. I'm going to replace the front springs and the rear ones later on..

Whats involved with a body lift on this truck? I have one for my S10 that I never installed, so I may just use it, I think its 2" but may be 3".. would I just have to extend the fuel neck?

Once the snow melted in the bed, I saw the pile of stuff in the bed.
-Half of a 22R
-4 Speed w/T Case
-Rear Axle Housing
-Axle shafts and brake parts
-Beer Cans
-Rug
-Light bar
-Spare Tire

The engine was replaced in the truck aswell. It runs good, Trans shifts just fine, 2wd, 4hi/lo work good too. It actually surprised me. It drives pretty good.

However it bogs pretty bad around 1000rpm. I bought some carb cleaner to spray in it.
I may just get a remanufactured carb if it comes down to it.

It has had an oil change, plugs, and wires before I got it, and air filter too.

Passenger bed side has a lot of bondo on it. I may just try to find another bed eventually.

Truck was black then repainted a forest green kinda color.

Needs winshield repair. I need to take pics to show you guys.

Overall, I think I got a decent lil truck.

 

wow you should, or should i say the seller of that truck should be smacked for sellin that fro $300. thats one heck of a deal. body lifts arent bad at all to install. not sure on installin the one from a s10 though. i got a 2in BL on my truck and only had to extend the shifters, didnt have to but did, and radiator and front bumper drop-brackets. buckets from 4runners swap right in. i would go ahead and jerk that carpet cause chances are, its alwasy gona stink. pu tsome Herculiner ( roll in bedliner) in it. i did it and i love it

 

My Sonoma I had the carpet was ruined in it so I did the same thing, roll on bed liner. Easier to clean, I hate carpet in vehicles.

I'm gunna take some pics of it with my good camera.

The body lift I got for the S10 should work, there just little plastic spacers. I probably won't make drop brackets for the bumpers as I'm going to be fabbing my own front and rear bumpers.

You have to drop the radiator?

If I do that lift I got coming (3") and do lift shackles would I need to get longer shocks than what comes with the lift kit?

 

I got my Pro Comp lift. It got sent to another province...
I have the truck in the garage now. I am currently installing the 3" lift.
The front shackles are seized, most of the bolts broke off, etc.
For the front I think I am going to flip the shackle and leaf mount around, and have the shackle up front and the leaf mounted in the rear. This should give me a better pinion angle? I have some DIY lift shackles.

I am trying to figure out what to do with my steering. It seems like the stock steering isn't adequate even with a dropped drag link and the ball flipped around on the J arm..
Thinking about getting a high steer setup.. Not quite sure what that conversion involves.
My neighbor has a YJ with a high steer setup.. I may get him to take a look at the truck and see what can be done. I'm new to SFA stuff, my previous wheeling rig was a mostly stock IFS S10 Blazer.

 

rofl

this aint a Jeep dude..

keep the spring mount in the Front.
and the Shackle in the back.


you adjust pinion angle with Shims buddy.

but with a 3" lift you should be just fine and not have to adjust it...if any just a bit.

the Crossover isn't hard to install at all, but you do have to cut off your old steering box, and weld the new IFS box mount to the right spot on the frame (i think it gets moved forward a bit?) and mount the box. the rest is cake lol.

the stock steering will work for now with the drop drag link, but Hi-steer is a GREAAATTTTT upgrade.

 

I would like to do a shackle lift ontop of the 3" procomp lift though..

why I though to flip the spring mounts around was because I saw an 85 pickup done that way, and it'd be easier to make lift shackles if there not offset like the ones on the truck are now.

I would like to get around 5" of lift or so.

 

i've never heard of anyone doin this....

i suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing....but i honestly don't know anything about that.

i still say do the 3" springs and 2" body lift...cuz with the body lift, it's a lot less sketchy...and it makes workin on the motor and tranny and t-case and all that stuff a lot easier!

 

isn't the rear shackle in the front kinda shaped funny.???? cuz of the frame.

 

Yes the rear shackle is offset.
If I'm understanding the high steer conversion correctly, you use a IFS steering box and new 'arms' (forgot the name of them) that raise the centerlink above the leaf packs. And then you add in a drag link that goes side to side rather than front to back?

 

best thing to do for buddy is to just Search, all of this info is plastered all over yotatech