Hey yall, been a while! I've been driving an 88 4runner that I TDI swapped 3 years ago. Absolutely fell in love with the truck (my first 4runner) and it's yet to put me on the side of the road. The rear window has always been iffy and it finally quit on me just this past week. The motor no go brrr and I'm unable to manually move the window up or down (it's stuck halfway). Upon tearing into the back of the gate I noticed that the actuator arms and metal track on the bottom of the glass were pretty rusty and most likely not functioning smoothly, hence the death of the motor. I've uploaded a short video of what I'm trying to describe so hopefully you can see what sayin.


Let me know what you think,
Thanks!

 

Might be worth trying to find a whole tailgate at a pick a part type yard. I got a whole gate with motor/glass/reg for $50 at our local self service yard.
The tailgate motor is the same as the right front window iirc. I pulled a right rear window motor off a 91 Camry when mine got weak.

 

Ooo good tip on the camry motor! Unfortunately I live in the salt belt, and these trucks no longer exist. I fear installing a new motor only to have it fail again for the same reasons :/

 

Oh the joy of first gen ownership.

 

That roll-up window on a utilitarian truck is a stupid idea. Heck, even the FJ60, a model up from the 4Runner has the simple flip-up window. If I had the time I would convert mine to flip-up window like what belongs on a real utilitarian truck. We have a thread regarding converting it. IIRC, either Cory or WallyToo did his.
It adds almost 25 pounds to the tailgate. If the battery dies or when you're working on electrical and have the battery disconnected you could not operate the window.

 

wasn't me. i added interior controls for the window in the rear passenger cubby/pocket, so that i can open it when camping. that way, i don't have to fumble with getting keys into the ignition and then finding the center console switch; instead, a switch is right there at my fingertips.

i agree, though. these would be better had they been designed with a flip-up window.

 

Here Flip-up window mod thread:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...2/index4.html:

 

The requested page was not found.

 

Oops!
This one:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...runner-303302/

 

Aaah. So it was Cory.

 

Aaah. So it was Cory.

 

Oo very cool! Can't see the pictures though sadly

 

Has anyone restored a stock window? Or is abandoning the only solution?

 

Of course you can restore a stock window. It's been done thousands of times.

Certainly much more often than abandonment.

I've repaired three different first and second gen windows and their controls myself.

The lifting channels in my '95 were rusted like yours. They were easily replaced.

 

Fantastic!! Where do you source such a thing?

 

The channels I sourced from a rolled '92 4Runner that I own. Some tailgate parts for first and second 'runners are still available from Toyota, others are not.,

Have you tried?? Might well be possible to use 2nd gen channels on a first gen.

As mentioned before, the drive motors are somewhat generic to many Toyotas, although your old plug might have to be spliced onto some of these.

Just about any used Toyota part can eventually be sourced from Ebay if you save a properly keyworded search, and wait for it to come up.

Here in the southwest, the parts you need might be sourced from a salvage yard.

I know where there's a first gen that was hit in the rear and the glass is definitely broken. It might have good lifter channels. I'll try and find out.

I see a whole lifting mechanism on Ebay now. You might contact that seller and inquire about the lifter channels.

No one said it'd be easy to repair these old machines properly. Good, fast, cheap. You can pick two.

 

Yeah, I went to our local dealer after I couldn't find anything on rockauto. They couldn't help me but I didn't inquire about 2nd gen parts. Everything from the dealer tends to be out of budget, so I wouldn't want to break the bank on unreturnable parts that may or may not fit. I've scoured ebay and haven't found regulators that come with channel, if you've got one I'd love the link! Good and cheap, always. Why else would I be drivin a toyota?

 

I did not say the Ebay regulator came with the lifter channels.

I merely suggested that the regulator seller could be contacted to enquire about lifter channels.

Those regulators all came out of machines that had those channels in them.

It shouldn't be so difficult to find and compare first and 2nd gen channels.

Don't you have any local friends that drive old 'Yotas???

 

FWIW, I replaced the motor on my '87 with Dorman #742-600 ($65 total in 2011), and I don't recall it being too painful of a job. I have rust, but not as bad as yours. Lubrication is your friend.

 

Ahh gotchya, I did inquire on a couple of ebay adds no luck. I'd love to compare some 1st and 2nd gen assemblies but like I said I'm in the rust belt, there are VERY few of these trucks around, and I own most of them! I do have a buddy up north with a 2nd gen that I could possibly tear into one of these weekends, but I have a sneaking suspicion that'll fabricating a new track/channel from scratch. Thank you Blueman for the part number! I will most definitely be needing one of those and that price is looking RIGHT!