First 4x4

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CitySlicker's picture

Justin Kimmel
Victoria, BC
First 4x4

Hey guys, I'm extremly new to this scene but I've got my eye on a Toyota 4Runner and I'd love some input. I've had alot of expirience in the low/fast import scene but I'm getting tired of it and I'd love the abilitty to just pack up and go where I want. Anyhow this is the post I'm looking at, let me know what you think.

 

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/3166425353.html

Ryno's picture

Nanaimo

If it were cheaper I would say go for it, but at $4,000 there's a lot to be desired there. If you're going to drive it a lot on the street it a lot the first thing to do is get narrower tires and rims with less offset, those will get you pulled over in no time, the tires look pretty much bald too. The missing front turn signals is an easier fix, but I would expect a $4000 truck to have them. It will have the 3.0L V6 which is not great, not much power, pretty hard on fuel, its worth mentioning they are notorious for head gasket failure. On a positive it has 4.56 gears..

I would start with a stock 4x4 personally.

CitySlicker's picture

Justin Kimmel
Victoria, BC

What if I could get it for 3? How much would tires and turn signals be?

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Shane
Alberni Valley

a couple of things to consider: if you buy stock and do all the work yourself, it's going to be a lot more expensive (especially if you pay for any of the labour). My truck is pretty similar to this one and I've done all the work myself. I probably have $10k into it with an initial purchase price of $3k (bone stock). That makes sales like these look pretty appealing, it's all been done for you and is ready for the trail. That said, most of the pre-modded trucks I've seen for sale have been pretty badly abused. If this one is in decent condition and tracks straight on the road, I don't think the price is all that bad. Get ready to break cv axles though with that much ifs lift! I go through 1-2 axles per month with only half that lift, and the people at lordco are becoming more and more suspicous with each warranty return ;)

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Justin Kimmel
Victoria, BC

Haha okay that's something I'll consider! I can always buy a smaller lift kit right? Also, the tires ARE fairly worn and have a pretty aggressive offset, can anyone recomend a tire size/offset that wont draw so much attention and be a little more street friendly? I know I can phone Toyota up with the VIN and ask if they have ever done a head gasket replacment on the engine because it was part of a recall it's covered under Toyota apparently (or so I've read).

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Admin

Shane
Alberni Valley

In looking at the pictures more, I'm actually not sure if it's really a 4" ifs lift.. it could be half suspension lift with some body lift as well. I could be wrong but I would expect the lower control arms to be at more of an angle otherwise. As far as the tires are concerned - that's the same size I run. Granted I don't drive on the road all that often but I find wheel offset and wide tires help on the trail. I guess it really depends on whether this will be a dd or more of a weekend rig.

CitySlicker's picture

Justin Kimmel
Victoria, BC

Hey guys, been a while since I posted on here but what do you guys of this?

http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/1990-Toyota-4Runner_18149193

 

Dirt Nerd's picture

Dan
Nanaimo

My truck is pretty similar to that one, so you might like to know my experiences. I have a 1991 Pickup with 3"/3" IFS lift , with 35" All terrains on J rims. It's basically identical to that one, but it's a pickup, not a 4runner. It sits about 9.5" higher than stock, which is pretty awesome. I have plastic fender flares to cover the extra wheel width and have never been bothered by the cops. I've had this truck for almost 4 years and I'm very happy with it. It does have a few things to consider, a few limitations that further work could overcome.

The 3Z-VE V6 motor sucks. Period. They say compared to the 22RE 4 cylender you get "all the power with half the economy". It does actually do a bit better on hills than the 22RE, but they also say it's famous for head gasket failure and guess what my truck has... head gasket failure. It started about 6 months after I got the truck and has very gradually gotten worse with time over the past 3 years or so - but its *still* servicable (its my daily), it just burns oil and doesn't have as much power as it should. I am researching alternate motors to put in it (leading the way right now is a 1999-2005 1.9L Volkswagen TDI, or barring that maybe a 350 short block).

The IFS is not very flexible relative to the same truck with solid front suspension. The truck gets kinda lousy articulation. It would suck on a ramp test. That said, with all the clearance and the bigger tires I usually get where I want to go with no issues. Unless you're doing crazy rock crawling, its good. I'm hoping to address this with a solid front suspension coversion, but not until the engine is addressed.

When I do crank the wheel over hard I catch the fender flares with the tires, especially in reverse (why it's different than forward I have no idea). At moderate levels of steering if I drop off something or drive over something it often rubs as the truck bounces. It doesnt' seem to damage anything, though one of the flares is cracked, but I think that's from a big chunk of ice from the winter that we had 4' of snow in Nanaimo. If I had no flares I don't think it would ever touch. If and/when I do the SFS conversion I would bump the lift up ~1.5 inches, and wouldn't have any more issues. Alternately, my IFS sits flatter than stock so I've been thinking of restoring it to it's proper position.

I also want to add lockers, probably aussies.

So that's the issues... its a Toyota its a great truck. There's tonnes of them around, parts are easy to get.

 

Dirt Nerd's picture

Dan
Nanaimo

Note that my profile pic is when it had 33" tires. It's a bit beefier now.

CitySlicker's picture

Justin Kimmel
Victoria, BC

Thanks for the AWESOME feedback Dirt Nerd, I love Toyota's because they feel so bullet-proof. I've heard of the 3Z problems but the guy says it's a new crate motor so if he's got the paperwork and I can confirm that it'll be very settling. It'll be my DD for when I can't ride my sportbike, and it will be mostly for ripping around back roads and getting me to sweet surf spots so no CRAZY rock crawling. I'll probably do a solid axle swap and a locker if I start getting serious but mostly just fender flares, and a roof rack.

Another question I've got is about front bumpers/bull bars: Are they worth it? I know I can mount a winch to it, any other input?

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Admin

Shane
Alberni Valley

I guess it depends on how much you abuse your truck - speaking for myself personally, bush bumpers (especially the front one) are invaluable. I would have destroyed my front end many times over if not for my bumper. The rear one is helpful for protecting your glass mostly, you actually get the best clearance with no rear bumper at all.

Dirt Nerd's picture

Dan
Nanaimo

Mine's nice... it has the winch right in side it so it's much harder for someone to steal it, plus it keeps the winch pretty clean for the most part which will go along way to making sure it works when I need it to. Since my truck is my DD, I don't really bash it into stuff at all, so otherwise my bush bar is pretty much just used to encourage slow people to vacate the fast lane. The stock toyota bumpers look nice as far as stock bumpers go, but I can assure you from past experience they're just about as sturdy as an empty beer can.

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