Help with potential purchase

[4x4pilgrim]

Hi all. 1st post here, although I've been cruising the classifieds for a while. I may have found my next truck, a 1991 4wd 4runner, but it has some issues, and I'm hoping someone can give me a few pointers on potential solutions:

1: A whine that sounds like it comes from the rear diff at about 25 mph and up.
2: AC is non-functional with terrible grinding sound from behind the radiator (sounds like more than a slipping hose)
3: red fluid on battery terminals (no idea what that is)
4: Some window switches don't work. How difficult to fix electrical gremlins?
5: Tire recommendations for daily driver/weekend toy?

The guy is asking $2800, and if I can get it up to daily driver status for less than $3k additional investment, I'll be pretty happy. Is this a reasonable expectation?

Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.

 

[KidVermicious]

The whine from the rear will probably be a diff needing rebuilt. The cheap way to fix that is to throw in a junkyard diff, $150 or so? The grinding could be the AC idler bearing or the AC pump itself. Those are cheap too, but the R134 retrofit isn't. The red fluid is probably battery terminal fluid, to protect against corrosion.

How hard do you plan on wheeling it? I like my KM2s, but they're not for everybody.

 

[BucknutBob]

Yeah, that whine from the axle is probably the pinion bearing giving up the ghost. As KidV mentioned, get ready to rebuild or replace the whole unit (no sense to just replace one bearing, as the rest are likely just as worn). We use that red stuff on batteries at work all the time--it is a protectant, also as mentioned. Electrical hassles can be a deal killer (once you have one, you often have many more on the way), but windows can often be just the door switches gone bad. Sounds like the A/C compressor is hosed. $2800 might be a bit high, unless the rest of the truck is in great shape. For more casual daily use with some trails thrown in occasionally, the BFG All-Terrain has served people extremely well, although I also lean towards the Mud T/A (KM2) because of its more aggressive trail abilities.