Thinking about a 1st or 2nd gen 22re 4Runner

[cbarclay]

Hey everyone,
I'm in a Forester but am wanting to get rid of the car payment and into a truck that I'm familiar with working on (though I'm no mechanic). I owned a '92 pickup with a 22re for 180k and 7 years (and regret selling it).
I've been looking at the 1st and 2nd generation 4Runners with the 22re lately and have my eye on a '87 and '90 that I hope to look at soon.
My main reason for leaning more toward the 2nd gen is that it has shoulder belts in the rear for the kids car seats.
Any thoughts or suggestions on these two?

 

[Hyde802]

Besides the body styling, the suspension is mostly the same. The 89 is a leaf spring rear and will ride more like a truck, while the 90 is a coil spring and will be smoother on the road. You can add shoulder belts to the back of the 87, they will line right up with the bolt holes on the roll bar.

 

[cbarclay]

Thanks for the input, Hyde. :thanks:
I'm still looking for one but haven't found the right one (local, minimal rust, 4cyl, etc.) and need to sell my Forester too.
Where would I get the shoulder harness supplies - are there any tutorials around here detailing how to do it?

 

[KidVermicious]

Any aftermarket shoulder harness should fit a gen 1.

The biggest pro for the '89 is the removable top. The biggest con is the lack of 4 doors, which may make it harder to get young ones in and out of car seats.

 

[Dylan]

Keep your eye out on craigslist both in St. Louis and nearby. I'm in Kansas City and there are usually a good amount of 4Runners up for sale, all generations too.

Just a quick browse and I saw this one...2nd gen with 22re

1991 toyota 4runner

 

[cbarclay]

Thanks! I haven't looked outside of St. Louis but will start now!
That's a good looking one...I'll look into it.

 

[fourwd1]

Just to clarify a few things, the rear shoulder belt was not standard. You can get some OEM equiv stuff, but FYI the threads for the shoulder belt in the factory roll bar are SAE, not Metric, to comply with USDOT regs.

 

[cbarclay]

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[dj6759]

Have a 90 22RE auto, 280.000, knock in bottomin. will run,but parked. Will poss. sell. In Little Rock Ark. 2nd ower, known since new. will try to get pics.