My old truck

[Doc Boots]

From long before I was born to when I turned 16, my Dad drove a 1984 pickup truck (manual).... It was loud, reliable, and could go anywhere. When the time came, he passed the truck on to me as my first vehicle.

I drove it through high school but then decided that I wanted something shiny and new. I was too immature to see what a gem this truck really was. Going into college (08), I got a 2006 2 door Civic in manual and passed the truck off to my little brother.

It has taken a few years for me to catch on, but the longer time passes, the more I miss that truck. I never had the stress of worrying about someone dinging it or scratching it. It never bottomed out on a speed hump or had a plastic bumper to get scratched up by sticks in the road. Plus I can't take the Civic off pavement at all.

The truck is now out of the family and gone forever (still driving around somewhere I suppose). Today I feel I would trade my car for it in a heartbeat.

Though the gas mileage for the car is very nice, I want something that can make it to my hunting/back-country hiking spots. An SUV would be a better fit for me than a pickup, so I have been looking at the newer generation 4Runners. 1984 was the year of the first 4Runner and this truck was practically a 4Runner without the removable top and 2nd row of seats. It is certainly closer to a 4Runner than a Tacoma or Tundra.

I am torn between pursuing a 1st generation 4Runner or a recent model. There is an obvious price difference, but it seems like a lot of the 1985 models that are in decent shape are going for a pretty penny (some wanting 5-8 K for a 30 year old truck with high miles).

Any advice on how to proceed? Am I just feeling nostalgia and giving the old truck too much credit? Do you feel that the new 4-Runners are built as well as the first gens and can last 30+ years?

 

[LandCruiser]

-new Toyotas won't disappear into a cloud of tetanus and rust
-new Toyotas have pretty big engines and won't get you killed merging onto a 80 mph expressway
-new Toyotas have safety features, so you won't die as much in an accident
-new Toyotas are bigger, a current 4runner is about the same size as an old Land Cruiser
-new Toyotas have electronic doo hickeys that make off road stuff easier

None of today's plastic computerized cars will last more than 10 years.

 

[Doc Boots]

-new Toyotas won't disappear into a cloud of tetanus and rust

I am not too worried about rust. That coat of paint was applied before I was born and I never had rust problems (It was airplane paint). That said, it will be hard to find many first gens without rust these days and I don't want a truck with large rust holes in the body.

-new Toyotas have pretty big engines and won't get you killed merging onto a 80 mph expressway

The old truck was very slow. The engine screamed like it was dying at 75 mph. It never bothered me then, but I also didn't take it on the interstate much.

-new Toyotas have safety features, so you won't die as much in an accident

In the event of an accident, the truck was more likely to survive than I was. Then again, a 3 mph bump would cause no damage to the old truck and would gouge new vehicles.

-new Toyotas are bigger, a current 4runner is about the same size as an old Land Cruiser

This fact is a negative in my mind. I think the trucks and SUVs today are too bulky.

-new Toyotas have electronic doo hickeys that make off road stuff easier

I haven't used modern electronic 4WD so I have no idea if I would like it any more than turning the dial on the hub caps.

None of today's plastic computerized cars will last more than 10 years.

This is what I was afraid of. I don't care for all the electronics. I don't need a navigation console, heated seats, and computers controlling how the vehicle performs. I especially don't like that they abandoned the simple layout under the hood that made the old models easy to work on.

New 4Runners are pretty expensive considering the 10 year lifespan. There is no guarantee that an old one won't die on me after a few years either though. I was hoping to find something that I could keep and work on for a very long time like my Dad did.

Are there any kits to build a first gen like they have for Jeeps? Is there a way to gut most of the electronic systems from a newer vehicle and replace them with mechanical parts that older ones had? (sounds outrageous and expensive)

 

[Doc Boots]

Do the 5th generation SR5 4Runners have available shift levers or do you have to get the Trail? Didn't the 4th generation SR5's have them? Not a fan of the turn dial.

 

[jstanwood]

Do the 5th generation SR5 4Runners have available shift levers or do you have to get the Trail? Didn't the 4th generation SR5's have them? Not a fan of the turn dial.

The image you linked to is an SR5. I know for at least 2010-13, there is a lever in the SR5.

 

[drewm]

This is what I was afraid of. I don't care for all the electronics. I don't need a navigation console, heated seats, and computers controlling how the vehicle performs. I especially don't like that they abandoned the simple layout under the hood that made the old models easy to work on.

New 4Runners are pretty expensive considering the 10 year lifespan. There is no guarantee that an old one won't die on me after a few years either though. I was hoping to find something that I could keep and work on for a very long time like my Dad did.

Are there any kits to build a first gen like they have for Jeeps? Is there a way to gut most of the electronic systems from a newer vehicle and replace them with mechanical parts that older ones had? (sounds outrageous and expensive)

Ugh, you seriously believe that guy? There's a V6 4th gen on this forum with 550k miles, and the 4th gen V8 that's also used in the tundra and land cruiser is known to go way way longer than that. My 11 year old 2003 with 183k runs solidly with no oil usage on the original engine and tranny.

If anything that's LONGER than a 1st gen 22RE will last, which is around 400k miles tops before the head gasket goes. And run far far away from the 1st gen V6 which blows head gaskets like they are going out of style.

That same V6 engine with 550k miles in the 4th gen is nearly the same in the 5th gen and will last just as long.

Go look around the 5th and 4th gen forum, barely anyone talks about things breaking.

 

[LandCruiser]

Ugh, you seriously believe that guy? There's a V6 4th gen on this forum with 550k miles, and the V8 that's also used in the tundra and land cruiser is known to go way way longer than that. My 11 year old 2003 with 183k runs solidly with no oil usage on the original engine and tranny.

If anything that's LONGER than a 1st gen 22RE will last, which is around 400k miles tops before the head gasket goes. And run far far away from the 1st gen V6 which eats head gaskets like they are going out of style.

That same V6 engine with 550k miles in the 4th gen is nearly the same in the 5th gen and will last just as long.

Go look around the 5th and 4th gen forum, barely anyone talks about things breaking.

The last "new" Toyota I had was an FJ Cruiser--it had disintegrated by 50k miles.

My 1997 40th anniv. 80 Series made it to 300k of heavily abused miles before crapping out.

They don't make cars durable anymore. None of that microprocessor and plastic crap will hold up over time.

I have a 13 Trail, which if you believe Tundra and GX owners has two time bombs: the KDSS and the air induction emissions system.