New Guy in Virginia- 1994 SR5 Limited - Toyota 4Runner Forum

ivbyiv · 06-24-2019, 10:43 AM

So i've thought over how I want to introduce myself and came up with two options:

1) I thought "oh I can tell my whole life story"
2) The mundane "new guy here just got my 94 project truck I want to build it for overlanding what's the biggest tire I can put on the stock wheel?" and then never sign on again.

So you get the first option, mainly because I like to read other people's intro's.
I live in Fauquier County, Virginia. The area I am in on a daily basis sees farm trucks, new range rovers, l322 range rovers, 80/100/200 series land cruisers and a guy in town imports Range Rovers and Land Cruisers from Europe.
Grew up in Manassas and spent years of my childhood camping.
My father always had some sort of Japanese truck as long as i've been alive- 2 nissan 720's and then in October 1999, after his second nissan cooked its HG he found a 1984 FJ60, recently driven up from Tejas.
For years my father had considered a Land Cruiser after hitch hiking around the world and working in New Zealand in the 70's and saw the 40 series being employed in every single working application imaginable with no qualms despite neglect and abuse by their owners.
He still owns his FJ60 today, in a rather haggard state of being.

For years (a decade +) almost unwaivered I spent countless hours of my life on IH8Mud, with a few overlapping nissanpathfinders.net due to my owning a 98 r50.

So, after driving a camry from age 18-21, I finally got my first japanese beater- an 86.5 d21 2wd. Total death trap. Loved every second of it. Alas after a year and 12k miles I felt something 4x4 and more people friendly would be a good idea, so I ended up with the aformentioned pathfinder.
Drove that for about four years and had many memories in it, and stupidly traded it in on an 07 crv when I got my first real job.

CRV isn't really worth a mention aside the door lock going bad 2 times, a/c breaking 3 times and my son (firstborn) coming home from the hospital in it.
CRV is gone and a pilot (plastic) has taken it's place.

Back to the real trucks. So I have been on the prowl for a year or two for a cheap fixer upper due to us always being broke, and had a few chances that never came to fruition. Last week as I conducted my daily search of Craigslist I happened upon a '94 4runner for $400. That's right, in June 2019 this truck was being offered at June 2008 pricing. Talked to my wife about what our price point was and she gave the go ahead.
Reached out to the seller and made a deal, went to pick it up Saturday.
Once we got close to the sellers location I started questioning my life decisions and how I may very well be robbed for my 2000 ES300 with sagging suspension, balding tires and desperately neglected transmission right there on the streets of Baltimore. That's right, the caveat of obtaining my 184k mile '94 4Runner was I got to take an urban ecological expedition. MD laws are amazing and inhibit the right to self defense so we were going in soft skinned with no weapons except my dull pocket knife and a can of mace. I deduced that my hillbilly friend that I brought for muscle may in fact have been more inclined to instigate than defend. Thankfully I am here telling this tale so he did no such thing.

I get to the sellers address, check the truck out and seal the deal. AAA shows up and gets it on their flat bed, I apologize to the driver for the 90 mile drive ahead and he says "hey man it's no problem, it'll get me out of this city. They've had us out here all day".

So with my 4Runner on the flatbed we set off and made it home in tact.

Yesterday I go to looking at the truck and made some observations (some new, some reoccurring that I noticed on Saturday):

• The tires are all shot, possibly bad ball joints in the front. It is also missing the spare wheel and tire.

• Driver side door creaks when you open it, the hinge(?) is broken and the portion where the door bolts into the body looks like it's cracking.

• Passenger side door lock was punched out at some point as the key doesn't turn and the lip is a little raised.

• Frame is extremely clean with very little rust. I was expecting rust on a truck of this condition however there is just a few spots in weld points and that's all. There is rust on the driver's rear door and below it. Couple that with the sun fading on the roof I am guessing this truck was a mostly southern truck. Waiting on the toyotaowners.com site to come back up to enter the information.

• Interior is beat to piss, so presumably a work truck. Will need a thorough vacuuming, shampooing and maybe bug bomb- my buddy found a cockroach crawling up his leg while we were waiting for the tow truck. He was standing about 25 from it. I saw an earwig on the handle when we got home and yesterday noticed small black ants. So I think it sat for longer than I thought and stupid me didn’t think to ask. It was long enough for a small vine to reach its way up to the axle.

• There is some sort of leak on the front of the engine as the whole front is caked in grease.

• Power steering pump could be the culprit, as it is caked in grease.

• Has newer muffler/tailpipe, new spark plug wires and cap, owner said he had a guy do the TB/WP on it. There are records in the glove box but I haven’t looked at them yet, they look old.

• Milk crate with misc. parts was included- ECU, Turn signal assembly, alternator, body lift pucks and some other bits.

• Battery is 1.5 years old but was completely flat, had to jump it with my Lexus when I was there so I could hear the engine noise. The noise sounds like a scrape/rattle/tick. Will get a video today of it.

• When the truck started, blue smoke poured out. Owner said he tightened one valve cover gasket so I believe that could part of the problem is bad VCGaskets.

• Transmission shifter needs new bushings, since I can slop the shifter around and it doesn’t show the indicator staying in park.

• Owner said loss of power so severe that even driving up the slight incline where he parked it the truck was going 2mph. So transmission condition is unknown, but he never mentioned any slipping.

• Truck has a tow receiver and hitch that was beat up. I noticed that and hooked up to his replacement 4Runner was a smaller trailer, so I know this thing has been worked.

That’s about all my observations. Please feel free to give input on what any of the problems could be, don’t want this to be too much of a money pit because the end goal is to have it up to daily driving specs if need be. I want to start takin my sons on the adventures I had in an old Japanese truck instead of the plastic (albeit safer) soccer mom honda. FWIW the seats in my 19 year old Lexus are still more comfortable than those in my 3 year old Pilot. Go figure.

Thanks for the past 5 min of your life.

Pics to follow.

Edit: Few things- steering wheel is filthy and worn out, unknown if a/c works, and it has a newer radiator but I took the cap off and it was dry. One roof rack is dented, and it has a newer brake cylinder too but filthy fluid...