Complete 4runner noob questions

[JordanRumsey]

Im on the hunt for a 4runner looking to spend 2-5 grand and have one I like a lot in town that's a 94 sr5 3.0 wiith 230,000kms no lift on 31's with a great body and good interior however it leaks oil and you can smell oil burning a bit when driving and this concerns me. also its a 3.0.Ive brought him down to 2,000 however im just curious of a few things so here are a few questions for you guys

1) is it fairly easy to lift these beasts? id wanna throw some 33's on with a 3-5inch lift expensive to do? sites that have kits?

2) is the 3.0 really as bad as my circle of friends say it is? (mind you they all drive a cummins)

3)how many kms do you say average full tank would get? regular city driving

4) would you personally pay the large difference in price between a 94 and the 3rd generation 4runners with the 3.4? the difference around here is 2000-4000 for a 3.0 94-95 decent shape and 5000-8000 1999 limited 3.4


I know these stupid noob question posts are annoying but Thank you!

 

[ryan4r]

if youre not in a rush to buy one i would just wait till a better deal than that comes up. thats not a horrible price but i wouldnt want to buy something that right off the bat has something wrong with that youll have to deal with. i have a 92 that i bought two years ago totally stock. the main reason i got it was because ive always loved the body style of the second gens and this one was 4x4 5 speed in really good shape especially for having 240k on the orig engine and i paid $2400. i dont regret buying this one at all because its been an absolute work horse for me and i havent had any major problems, but if i was you and my budget allowed it i would either buy a third gen or something that has had the 3.4 swap in it. its just a really sluggish engine and trying accelerate quickly sucks. i think the fastest ive ever driven mine was 85 on the freeway but that doesnt bother me because i dont like driving fast anyways. those are my only real gripes about it. since i bought mine ive replaced the clutch and flywheel with nicer ones, lifted it with the cruiser coil lift, put 33's, installed an aussie locker in the rear, installed aissin hubs, and put a cherry bomb on. i did all of this myself (ive never worked on cars before doing any of this) and it wasnt all that hard, the clutch took much longer than i expected. i enjoyed doing all of this stuff to it but if my budget was 2-5k i would just wait till something pops up that is a better deal than that one youre talking about. you could find one in the same condition mine is in right now for less than 3k pretty quickly probably and that would save you the time and money of having to do all that stuff yourself or paying to have it done.

 

[Hyde802]

Im on the hunt for a 4runner looking to spend 2-5 grand and have one I like a lot in town that's a 94 sr5 3.0 wiith 230,000kms no lift on 31's with a great body and good interior however it leaks oil and you can smell oil burning a bit when driving and this concerns me. also its a 3.0.Ive brought him down to 2,000 however im just curious of a few things so here are a few questions for you guys

The oil leks are probably the valve cover gaskets, another know problem on this engine. You can change them out in an afternoon easy if your good at workin on stuffs.

Is this a 5 speed or an auto?

1) is it fairly easy to lift these beasts? id wanna throw some 33's on with a 3-5inch lift expensive to do? sites that have kits?

Read the stickies at the top of the Classics forum (where you posted this) You can fit 33s stock with a little trimming. 2 inch lift is easy and pretty cheap. 4" gets you into the $600 range. Gearing is a concern when going to larger tier. Your truck will feel slower. 33s will probably be ok, but you will feel that they are there.

Really depends on what your going to be doing with the truck. Mostly street driving? mostly off road?

2) is the 3.0 really as bad as my circle of friends say it is? (mind you they all drive a cummins)

People are quick to hate on them because they have a rep with the headgaskets going. As long as maintenance it kept up, they re great dependable motors, I mean this one had 230,000 metric miles on it right? Obvously doing something right. I prefer them over the 22res...But they are not fast.

3)how many kms do you say average full tank would get? regular city driving

Too lazy to convert... expect anywhere from 12-18mpg

4) would you personally pay the large difference in price between a 94 and the 3rd generation 4runners with the 3.4? the difference around here is 2000-4000 for a 3.0 94-95 decent shape and 5000-8000 1999 limited 3.4

THe motor in the 3rd gen is more better. People commonly pull 3.4s and put them in 2nd gens. Its basically the same motor with some up grades. Like no more headgasket issues and 40 extra HP.


I know these stupid noob question posts are annoying but Thank you!

Yeah they are! haha. But we all stated somewhere! Google is your friend! Any time you have a Q type it into google, these questions have all been answered a million and a half times.

 

[JordanRumsey]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Badwolf]

I've owned a 1990 3.0 5 speed since 2009. There's sill a little bit of an oil leak, I've changed the clutch, two sets of tires (had to change the first set almost right out of the box, but I knew that going in), had a DEVIL of a time getting it to pass emissions (P.O. took off the EGR system and did such a nice job with the removal, you couldn't even tell it was gone), and other than that, it's been a helluva truck. I would buy another 4Runner in a heartbeat, but I'd go with a 3.4 rig for a number of reasons (More power, OBDII, etc.).

If you can swing it, look for a 1996-1998 with a 3.4. They should be gettable within your 5 grand price cap.

BTW - forget about good mileage. Best case scenario is like 19-20 on the highway. You don't get 4Runners for high MPG; you get VW diesels for that.

 

[JordanRumsey]

lol my daily driver right now is a 1973 super beetle (photo below) im buying a 4runner because theyre bad ass and ive always loved them. I don't care too much about mpg I was simply curious. I looked at another 4runner today-had it listed for 3,000 and his wife said shed sell it for 2,000 if I bought it this weekend and it has 259,000kms and the head gasket was done 90,000kms ago. its a limited as well- and im considering buying it due to the price and I could lift it and throw some 33's on it with what id save buying a 1999+ as they are priced around 4500-7,000 here :tsk:
I honestly like the look of the 94 more than the 99 I looked at tho.

anyone know of any good sites that sell lift kits for 2nd gens?

:thanks:

 

[JordanRumsey]

96+ not 99+