Moved back from Nevada to MN and not so sure about "winterization" of the 87. What do you guys do for it? Is it safe to lock my hubs and keep them locked in all winter long? If I am understanding right, they only turn when shifted into 4 high right? Also can you "sipe" a used set of tires? Other things I should do to prepare? My wife's car is at best buy as we speak, getting remote start installed, so I can park in the garage.
Thanks guys,
Woody

 

I used to live in Fairbanks, Alaska, so I've had some experience keeping trucks alive in the cold. Do people in Minnesota plug their cars in when they're at work or if they don't have a garage? If so, you'll want to get a block heater, oil pan heater, and a battery heater or trickle charger. Plug your car in when it's about -15 or colder. That uses a lot of electricity, so most people use a timer so the car is only warming for 2-3 hours before you drive it. Put some lighter weight synthetic oil in, and make sure you have a proper 50:50 mix of water and antifreeze in your radiator.

 

^^^^^^^^ That about says it all.

 

you can buy a tool to sipe your own tires.

my guess on the manual hubs is that when they are locked, trans in 2wd, the axles are going to turn as you go down the road, because they are being driven by the tires??

on the solid front axle trucks, the front axle shafts ride inside a bronze bushing, not a bearing, which isn't the best choice for longevity... if the ifs trucks are the same, i'd only lock the hubs when you need 'em.

get a locker for the rear axle.

 

I've used a weather front on any vehicle I've owned, most of them I've built so they snap on/off, and I used it once it got past -20C or so. It snaps over the grille and keeps out the cold air. You can lock the hubs in as soon as the snow hits, it will not hurt a thing, then you can kick the transfer case into 4wd when you need it; add non-locker hubs are in all the time with no issues at all. You don't need an oil pan heater and a block heater, if you have a block heater you will be fine. Only time I've used an oil pan heater is when my block heater died, and then only sparingly as they can cook your oil if it's too warm out. I have winter boots/gloves/etc in my truck in the event I break down when it's cold out, as well as an emergency kit that has candle, blankets, flares and other things that one might need if you break down.

 

Weather stripping tends to stick to the body if it gets too cold out and could get torn off the door if youre not careful. Be sure to condition your weather stripping with silicone lubricant several times this winter. Also it wouldnt hurt to treat the stripping around the door windows (not the bottom) to help prevent your windows from freezing shut.

 

7 degrees here this morning and I noticed this. Will be fixing this tonight.
Thanks for the tips guys!

 

Yes, I forgot about these ones, but they are vitally important. Break down ten miles away from home in the summer, and worst case you'll get blisters on your feet from the walk home. A breakdown at -40 can be life threatening. Even if you're going from your warm house directly to your warm truck directly to your warm office, bring a hat and coat. Besides the items JohnnyCanuck mentioned, I'd also include a small snow shovel or entrenching tool for digging yourself out of snowdrifts and a towrope. The great thing about the towrope is that it works both ways; not only can you use it on your stuck truck, but you get to help other stuck cars out and show them how hard a Toyota can pull on stuff.

 

been thinking of using 3/4 to 1/4 coolant to water ratio. can you just run all antifreeze?

 

Pre-mixed anit-freeze like the Red toyota stuff works awesome. Running straight anti-freeze won't work, your vehicle will overheat, water transfers heat faster than anti-freeze as I remember it hence mixing it with water. Buy a glycol tester, they are cheap and just test your antifreeze.

 

Yes, I live in TX but grew up in northern Ohio... Just had winters for holidays the past few years...

Snow shovel in the bed, collapsible snow shovel or military folder behind the seat. A bag of pea grave or two in the bed (also helps w/ rear weight to keep you on the road). Pretty sure in MN you can run tire chains -- not a bad idea to have. Traction pads like maxtrack or smittybuilt are good too. Yellow fog lights help to see black ice (really white/blue lights folks run these days you can't see it). Clothes, blankets, water, food, light, and signaling are good items in your emergency kit. A candle or two in the car is good too for heat -- just crack a window a little. Battery jump packs in vehicle can't hurt nor a plug in heater.

D ring on receiver hitch is nice as is 2nd tow hook on front instead of tie down on driver side.

Greases and oils -- use synthetic over dyno wherever possible.

And w/ the salt, wash your truck early in the day w/ underbody wash when it looks to be in the 30s to slow rust.

Oh -- and rainx winter windshield fluid is great. Also remote start will save wear and tear on your engine by warming up before putting a load on it; warm car is great too... Can't recommend enough one of the long ice scrapers/busters w/ the two ice scrapers at one end and the brush on the end -- great for removing snow and busting through thick ice. Saved a lot of time at college where I'd leave the car sitting for a couple weeks and ice would build up... Others would have to sit there for 30 min + waiting for their heater to melt it, haha.

And if you have to wear suits and whatnot to work -- keep winter boots or Yaktraks in your car too. Saves you from busting your butt on ice. A coffee can of salt/gravel/sand mix inside your car is good too if parking outside regularly and you don't want to sport the yaktracks or winter boots.

 

Where in MN are you?


FYI, I've never daily driven a Toyota truck in the winter. My 4Runner hides from the evil road salt. But, from what I know of MN winters (I grew up in the Twin Cities, and have been in Duluth for almost 10 years), cars in general, and Toyotas in other applications, here's what I can offer. I good friend of mind DDd a '92 pickup for one winter, and I drove it a couple times (where my experience with the hubs locked comes in).




Chains/studs are illegal here. I highly recommend getting an extra set of wheels and getting snow tires put on them. A little patient perusing of craigslist will turn up a set of used blizzaks or winterforces for less than your insurance deductible, which will make a world of difference with winter handling. And if you only run them in the 4 months or so that are really cold, they will last several years (I have a set of Blizzak revo1s that will be on their 6th season of daily use this year. Still ~7/32nds left).

I switch to a lighter-weight oil in the winter months (first number in the oil weight only, as that's the cold-viscosity. i.e. 10w30 to a 5w30, etc.). I still prefer dino oils in my older cars, though.

IMO a winter front (something to block the airflow through the grill) is not really necessary if you have a functional thermostat.

You can run a block heater, but IMO it's not necessary if you've got a good strong battery. Just be sure to let the vehicle idle for a minute or 2 before you put a load on it, and drive gently for a couple more minutes.

You can lock the hubs, but then all components will turn. It will likely noticeably effect power and mileage. You might want to leave them locked in on snowy days, even if you're not using 4WD, but if things have been plowed out at all, leave them unlocked. Also, make sure to keep them both locked or unlocked. I have a friend who had a manual hub lockout freeze up, and he left that one locked, and unlocked the other.....burned up his front diff.

Spend a couple bucks on a coolant tester to make sure your mixture is on. You can run less water, but there are no gains, it doesn't really get cold enough here to freeze the correct mixture.



Beyond that, the usual winter car gear. A tow or recovery strap, jumper cables, flashlight, gloves, hat, boots to start with. If your out in the country, you should consider granola bars, a candle, shovel, cat litter, etc.

 

tip 1# a shot of antifreeze in the door locks.

tip 2# a beach towel over the windshield vs. scraping

 

thanks for the benefit of your inexperience, I actually laughed out loud. Why offer an opinion if you've never lived in those conditions? Good advice on the hubs and the coolant tester, but the rest is silly.

 

Not sure why this should have happened, at least if it was a Toyota. The ADD system, which was standard on all models after 1992 or so, effectively does exactly that (one hub locked, the other free) while in 2WD, and most of those easily run 150,000+ miles that way. Sounds like a lubrication problem in the front diff.

 

You may have misread his statement.

 

No kidding. What's wrong with snow tires or lighter oil?

 

Nothing at all, I should have clarified what I meant. I've lived in Northern B.C. and now Alberta, and have been to Minnestoa (Theif River Falls) and was surprised how cold it was. A couple of the comments; the suggestion that using a strong battery is a substitute for a block heater is not a good one, considering that the block heaters purpose is to warm the crankcase oil and jacket water. I guess if you'd rather get a bigger battery and crank your engine when it's cold, rather than use a block heater, go for it. I don't get the comment on how a good thermostat negates what a weatherfront will do. Drive around past -40 with and without a weatherfront, you'll find out the difference in a hurry.

 

Right on. When it's cold enough to freeze a bottle of whiskey left outside, a block heater is just not optional unless you want to buy a new starter every month and a new engine block every winter. Using a stronger battery to start an engine at -40 is like using a sledgehammer to open a stuck door. It might work, but it isn't the right way to do things and the results won't be pretty.

 

I notcied today, the coldest day so far, that it started right up. give it 3 pumps on gas pedal before crank, but as I'm first going and it's still warming up if I go past half throttle I get da-da-da-da-da-da-da-aaaaaaaaa sound. like its bogging itself out. once it warms up it is fine.