New guy here who may be jumping headlong into a pickup project soon. Right now my daily driver is a 2003 Ford F-350 Powerstroke with the 7.3L diesel. Between that and my wife's car we don't really have a practical family vehicle that carseats, a dog, and a stroller can fit comfortably in. I've decided to sell the F-350 in order to finance a down payment on something new (probably a RAV-4 or a Ford Escape) for her. I will use the Corolla as my DD once she gets her new car. However, we burn between five and six cords of wood per year, so I still need to be able to haul firewood. Enter the 1991 Pickup 4x4 I inherited from my uncle. Right now it sits beside my garage and was only used if my Ford was in the shop or just occasionally just to keep the tires round. It's about as basic as they come-no A/C, no power anything, 5 speed, 22RE 4 cylinder, but it is a 4x4. My aunt gave it to me when my uncle passed away at the young age of 49. He had taught me to drive stick in the truck and she knew that he'd want me to have it.

The truck is in so-so shape. The rust isn't as bad as I've seen on other Toyota trucks, but the wheel wells and bottoms of the doors have a decent amount. The rear bumper has actually rusted to the point that it won't support weight and is hanging on by a thread and really should be removed. Other than that it's good-no holes, but there are a fair amount of dents and dings plus a large dent in the driver's door that can probably be popped. It doesn't really show much but here is the only picture of it I have on my computer:



Obviously I'll never be able to haul as much wood in the Toyota as I did in a one ton with E range tires and helper springs, but as you can see in the picture the Toyota will carry a fair amount and that's with tired 20 year old springs and marginal tires. Long story short, I want to establish a baseline for how much the truck can safely haul, and then determine how much more I might be able to get out of it. Before I can do that however, I need to address some basic maintenance items.

Engine/drivetrain - The 22RE is pretty darn solid and may have less than 100K on it. The truck has 160K total, but around 90K (I think) the timing belt/chain let go so it was rebuilt. I don't think it burns any oil-it just leaks it The rear main seal (at least I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from) weeps pretty badly. Is this something that can be addressed during a clutch replacement? I ask because it's probably going to need one soon. Any recommendations on a clutch? The trans/transfer seem to be in good shape too-synchros are good, it doesn't pop out of gear, but sometimes I get a very brief shudder during the 2-3 shift. I had a mechanic buddy of mine drive it to check it out and he said it was nothing to worry about and that he's seen those transmissions do that for 300K miles. One problem that has been an annoyance is pinging. I read that carbon buildup in the 22RE head is a pretty notorious problem so gave the engine the full Seafoam treatment. For a few months I had what seemed like a little more power and no pinging at all on 87 octane, but after a while it returned. Is it just carbon buildup again or could something else be the problem?

Suspension/steering - I was able to come across the fix (steering stops) for the awful noise the steering makes at full lock so I'll be doing that, but what else should I be looking at? The steering isn't sloppy at all nor is the handling. Suspension on the other hand is the big question. I have no experience whatsoever with IFS and it looks like Greek to me. The front shocks definitely need to be replaced, but otherwise I don't know what I'm looking at in there. I assume there's some kind of CV joint from the differential to the hub-how hard are those to replace? How often should they be replaced? What other parts in there should I keep an eye on? Now to the rear-does anyone know the capacity of the rear axle? In my experience axle capacity far exceeds spring capacity, so how can I match those two more closely? Add-a-leaf, helpers, etc...? Moving back to the front the Aisin hubs seem to be working just fine so I don't see any reason to swap them unless they have a habit of grenading when you least expect it. Finally, tires-I have a cheap set of tires I got at NTB for practically nothing on there now, but I'd like to upgrade to at least a set of A/Ts if not M/Ts-how big can I go without a lift?

Brakes - I'm hoping that I will be able to fill the bed to the rails with wood and then tow a small (4x8) trailer behind with a fair amount of wood, but if I'm going to do that I need to make sure I can stop it. Are there any easy options for bigger brakes? Does anyone know what the towing capacity of the truck is?

I'm looking forward to learning a lot about my truck here-any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to Yotatech

:wabbit2:

 

ah dont underestimate these trucks...

 

I see by your plate your in NJ??

As long as you use some common sense pulling your firewood trailer with the truck loaded you should be fine. I come down off the hills in first gear and never touch the brakes

I have pulled other Toyota 4x4 vehicles for a few hundred miles. On a tow dolly. With no issues except horn blowing and being told I am number 1

East of the Delaware river it could get ugly.

If I had not bought a 96 F250 7.3 I might have been interested in yours.

If your north of I 78 your not that faraway.

Welcome

Good luck.

 

Look up "ZUK mod" for your rear suspension. Might also want to consider front brake upgrade which is T-100 rotors and V6 calipers (search on this too).

 

I'm just north of 78 about 25 minutes from Easton (Northwest Hunterdon County) so not far at all.

That's kind of what I figured-the more I read the more I find out that the 22RE has little problem pulling-it's just getting it to stop! Thanks to others for recommending the V6/T-100 brake upgrade. Is that a direct bolt-on?

Here's some more pics-does this look like a worthy candidate for a rebuild/freshening up? It needs a wash but like I said, the body isn't bad-I can't wait to get better wheels/tires on it:





Here's an example of some of the rust on the frame. I honestly don't think it looks that bad. I once owned a '77 Land Cruiser so I know what bad frame rust looks like

 

DD and general hauler is what the majority of peoPle use their Toyotas for. Just takes a few more trips sometimes.
Welcome to YT

 

Can't talk for the trailer but these trucks have no problem with a bed full of firewood

 

welcome to yota tech, my fav style of pickup, goodluck!

 

These are 1/2 ton trucks and are designed to handle that payload comfortably. I put a yard of gravel in my '90 a while back (only needed to go 2-3 miles) and the estimated weight was 2 tons.

Did it handle it? Like a champ.

Would I do it again or recommend that anyone else do it? Absolutely not.

Will these trucks handle a bed full of firewood? ABSOLUTELY.

 

Wow-I had no clue it was a 1/2 ton-I figure it was a 1/4 ton truck. I get what you mean about the really heavy loads though. If I can put 1000 lbs in the bed or 3000 lbs on a trailer I'll be plenty happy.

 

Welcome to Yotatech :} Nice toy...

 

pretty much the limit...if those are your expectations, you are good to go

 

Welcome to YT! I'm liking the '91, looks like your uncle left ya a great truck