So I have decided to put my 92 pickup through some much needed maintenance and some mods after she puked out all the coolant. The truck has 205K miles on the clock so I thought...maybe I should just buy another beater truck instead of rebuilding the engine…
…then I saw how much a 2wd pickup costs...
…north of $3500 with over 200k...
…ouch!
Secondly if I want to get a newer Tacoma model, now you are in the 6-7$k range, close to 200k miles and Tacos are bigger then my little pickup and my single cab is a long bed. At this point I figure I should at least check the engine to see how bad it overheated.
I know this is a bit whacky, but two factors make me want to keep my neglected 2wd stepchild. First, this was my father’s truck he bought new, and he takes very good care of his vehicles. This vehicle was instrumental in renovating my home, and she has been a good little beater to daily drive. Secondly, this is the last of the Hilux frames sold in North America, which means a stouter frame then the newer Tacos. I’m not crazy about the torsion bar set-up, but I could always switch to coil overs for around $300. A leak down test showed low on the gauge but it was high in the low range, which is expected for a 200k mile engine. Then the compression test… 195psi constant across all 4 cylinders! Toyota considers 180psi excellent; however, I believe the head was decked when my father owned it…this would explain the elevated psi…but this is still good news. So I decide to replace the water-pump and see if I have any coolant in the oil or vice versa.
Love, Love, Love Toyota’s reliable 22re…everything seems fine after the overheating…and with the new water pump installed! Time for some much needed upgrades and a few performance mods.

Some pics of her, and a list of mods, maintenance, and future changes:

So far the 92 Pickup has gotten:
-New Water pump
-New Spark plugs - NGK 1233 (BPR5EY)
-New thermostat
-New belts
-New 2-1/4" exhaust complete with Walker 22460 muffler - cherry bomb
-New bushings on all suspension
-New Shocks all 4 corners - KYB KG4012(Rear) & KG4752(Front)
-4Runner front conversion, lights, grill, and fenders
-Mustang 17" Bullet wheels and tires, nice wide meats
-Added rear sway-bar
-Fabbed rear bumper replacement
-Deleted EGR and PAIR
-Replaced leaking high-pressure P/S
-Ball joint flip to lower the front 1”
-Center Support Bearing #37230-35070
Bushing Kit Energy Suspension part numbers used:
Front Control Arm Bushings - 8.3106
Front Strut Arm Bushings - 8.7103
Front Sway Bar Bushings - 8.5105
Rear Leaf Spring Bushings - 8.2107
Rear Sway Bar - 8.5115

Some Dull Pics:
After years of not removing the bed liner, yes there are some rust holes, but thats just making her lighter!


4Runner fenders, park, and headlights with little itty bitty stock stealies


Homemade bumper and a bed full of new rims and rubber


And a good shot of how unstanced the stock ride is



Next to do:
Bucket seats
Electric radiator fan
Rewire headlights
Pulsing rumble happening at speed, i think its the output bearing
Center console for bucket seats
Tint
Short throw shifter (gonna fab something up)
LSD for rear OR hack in an ISR
cruise control
electric windows/doors
Paint her!

I’ll get a new shot once the wheels are on

 

can you post some pics on how you mounted the grille and headlights? just picked up a 4 runner front end and lookin for how people are doing their conversions. good lookin truck though, just picked up another '92. build thread is http://toyotaminis.com/forum/threads...c-heavy.22439/ if you're interested

 

Well, I do not have a grill yet, the junker I pulled the other stuff from had a busted grill. I will get some pics of the core support up so you can see the differences. The right way to do this is to swap the entire core support, I simple cut the core support and welded some bolts to mount.

4Runner Core support for Headlight and grill swap. I wish I had pics of the stock 3rdGen Pickup core support for comparison.








Not crazy about the grill paint on this truck, but I like how he changed the wheel opening of the fenders by using some generic JDM flares. The one style detail I do not like about these trucks is the wheel opening not being round.

 

I had no fun drilling out a core support on +100* day recently. I'd never drilled out spot welds and thought it would be quick. NOPE! I was using drill bits. I got it done but went to HF and bought a spot weld cutter bit. I can't wait to try it out.

 

yea, spot weld bits are a necessity for that sort of thing.keep in mind where you are going to weld....some welds can be drilled all the way thru and some you want to keep the backside(or second layer of sheet metal).

 

Is the whole core spot welded in? I found that cores online are only around 50$. Seems like it would be easier to seap a brand new one in than pull one and swap.

 

Probably but you'll still need to drill the old one out.

Are you using a weld busting bit?

 

Headlight tabs missing from 3rdGen Pickup core support



Added tabs with some sheet metal and welded some bolts. Not the prettiest but it does work. Note: I had to clearance the tab i made so the parking lights would fit as the connector collided with the tab, look at the shape of the 4Runner tab area.



Headlight mount bumps out for 4Runner headlights are missing, so I drilled thru the core support and mounted a bolt then used a nut to bring the headlight out to the correct distance.




Clearancing the headlight, cut the pin and grind the headlight bucket spines


Headlight fitment, you will need to message the a/c dryer mounting to fit. Also there are two grill mounts that need to be deleted. One is the center support is in the wrong location, i just cut the grill itself. The second is next to the passenger side headlight, again just cut the plastic grill there is more then enough clips to hold it securely.



Lower mount i just drilled a hole and used a nut and bolt, you will need to do the same here as you do with the top mounts.


Phase 2 of the LoLux finished and getting closer to a respectable looking truck again. Mustang Bullet wheels, you will need a 5/16" spacer to clear the upper control arm grease fitting. I'm going to get 1" spacers all the way around.




Grill and headlight swap complete using the 3rdGen Toyota Pickup core support with a few modifications



Sway bar added to the rear using some leaf perches I had laying around. I just trimmed them down and welded them on. You can use bolt on mounts found on Bronco II’s and early 90’s Jimmy/Blazer’s. The 4Runner sway-bar (anti-roll bar) is very close to the driver side shock, I am going to bump it forward a ¼” with a piece of plate. It doesn’t rub now but it will when the rear gets dropped 2”.


Passenger side


Just welded the link mount to the frame, the 4Runner sway-bar link mount bolts to the frame, but its quicker and easier for me to weld the mount in place.

 

This is a cool rig, I'm a little jealous! 2wd long bed for a DD and parts getter is perfect!

4runner front end looks awesome on there. I'm actually thinking doing the reverse and swapping a truck front onto mine, do you know if a similar amount of work will be required to swap the other direction?

 

I dig it! Time to bust out the welder

 

Thanks
No idea about going the opposite direction with the swap.

 

Thanks

 

Great to hear you are keeping your dads truck on the road. I like the two wheel drives for a daily driver. Much better on fuel and ride nice too.

 

Thanks Terry.

I'll have an update soon on a cosmetic mod I think these trucks have always been missing.

 

Without chin


With



I always thought the 2wd should have had a different bumper and valance, so I took a lower valance off an 80's S10. I need to spend more time with the heat gun and the air saw to get a better fitment.

Still need to drop the rear 2". And incase anyone is wondering, I'm not looking to slam the truck and make it ride on the frame, but I am looking to make it a better 'driver'. This is also a truck I use as an actual truck.

Rear Sway-Bar is proving to be the best mod I've done on this truck yet. My son was chasing me down some backroads on a spirited drive, and he couldn't believe how flat the truck handled the corners.

Now I have a rear issue, and its a bad vibration. The vibration started as a pulse, it had a rhytem to it, but now has progressed into a more steady, sometimes more harsh like a tire is out of balance, vibration. The harshness increases with speed, at 80mph it is more pronounced and less rhytmic, mean the vides are constant.This all started before I did any of the recent work. I have replaced all the U-joints, center bearing support, all bushings, Tires & Rims, all shocks, had front end alignment done with no issues, tie-rod ends good, pitman & idler feel good, ball-joints seem fine also. So I can only imagine it is in my transmission, or my rear diff. Both of which are wet, I'm guessing the vibes are letting fluid past the rear seal on the trans and the pinion seal on the diff.

Anyone ever have this isssue?

 

At 80, that noise you hear is your truck begging you to slow down I'd check for slop in the pinion, maybe the nut has backed off or the crush sleeve is a little too crushed over the years. Also, I'm not real clear on these long beds with the center bearing and how the drive shaft goes through it, but maybe you need to phase your shaft so that the tranny end and diff end are 90deg rotated from each other. If there is another joint in the middle, then I really don't know what to tell you. If it's none of those things, then maybe you have a bad wheel bearing, but the wet diff/tranny points in that direction.

 

Found this...But pinion bearing hasn't been replaced...yet.



Very Whirried
Problem: Whirring that increases with speed.

identifying Bad Axle Noises pinions Photo 41362587
Cause: Pinion bearings.

Fix: Pinion bearings spin faster than carrier bearings or axleshaft bearings, so this noise is typically easy to decipher. Custom Differentials says it’s not the highest-pitch whine from an axle; that’s normally the gearset. You may be able to just replace the pinion bearings if the pinion hasn’t loosened. If the pinion has loosened the gear pattern will be off and you’ll need a new ring-and-pinion along with a total rebuild of the axle.

 

Alright, I shook the driveshaft at the pinion, and it seems tight.

Does anyone know if an IFS licker will fit the 7.5" rear of the 2WD? LCE site says yes it will, but I have never heard this before, nor do i see any supporting information on the interwebs.

 

I stand corrected. A set of bearings will need to be changed for the truetrac to fit.
Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out this horrible vibration.

 

Hey RBX, just a heads up, not all 2wd's have a 7.5in rear. My 88 2wd had a 8in rear 5 lug axle. Double check before you buy anything. If it is an 8in I have one geared at 4:10 built by marlin crawler with an open carrier I can sell you for a good price. I only used it for 10k then changed it out for a 3.07 rear.