Jeep Convert from Charleston SC

[lowcountryt4r]

Well as the title says I am converting from the jeep world lol. I am currently in the process of selling my beloved jeep wj for a 4runner. I am looking at getting a 1st gen, I love that you can open them up and get a soft top for them and all that, plus I have always been a fan of the 80s toyota trucks and the way they look. Im not really sure what to look for in one though, there are a couple 1st gens for sale around and they look to be in good shape. I will be looking at one here in a few days. Obviously rust and common mechanical issues I know to look for, but specifically on the 1st gen 4runners is there anything I should know? I look forward to spending some time on this forum!

 

[Quatre Coureur]

Welcome to T4R! Good choice on picking a 1st Gen. 84-85 are solid front axle, 86-89 are ifs. 85 on are EFI but not always. An 85 EFI truck is thee most desirable as its the first year for EFI and the last for SFA. Avoid the 3.0 v6 as they are prone to head gasket failure. Also avoid the automatics as they rob too much HP. They are very strong tho. Check the frames for rust carefully because they rot from the inside out. Probably missing something I'm sure but good luck and post some pics.

 

[lowcountryt4r]

Thanks for the insight! Coming from jeeps I am a bit partial to solid front axles. I was hesitant to go to a 4runner because of them having ifs, unless I can get lucky and find an older one. Thats good to know about the v6, unfortunately all of the trucks for sale around me are v6 automatics haha. I guess I will keep searching. I know the 22re's are essentially bulletproof, i had a buddy that had a 92 pickup and we were not nice to that truck yet the motor just kept going.

 

[Quatre Coureur]

You're quite welcome! I'm an ex-Jeep guy also. I've owned five. The 22RE is damn near indestructible! I own two, one with 230K miles and one with nearly 300K. Both all original. The ifs isn't bad at all. I rockcrawl mine pretty hard. I will eventually SAS it because it does have its limitations. So if you're not planning on making a hardcore crawler, go ahead and get the ifs.