Anyone know about Yotas?

I am looking at an 88 Toyota pickup, V6 5speed 4x4, 170k mi. Anything in particular to look for/avoid on these trucks?

BTW, not replacing the XJ, it just needs a friend that will allow it to play on the trail more.

Little green dude that can move crap with his mind?

Nice trucks, rust to nothing, decent axle strength, and very upgradable components. IS that enough? Is it IFS or solid? I dont remember what year they changed that.

It's an IFS. Not a fan of that, but also not planning on wheeling it, just use as a DD. What kinda life can you expect out of the V6's?

Ghost said:

Nice trucks, rust to nothing, decent axle strength, and very upgradable components. IS that enough? Is it IFS or solid? I dont remember what year they changed that.

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86+ would be IFS axle.

those 3.0s are hit and miss some will last forever but head gasket failure is very common with that engine

I use to be a Toyota tech way back when, their legendary quality/reliability is why I drive Jeeps!

The 4 banger is a better motor and has almost as much power as the 3.0, but neither are very powerful compared to the 4.0. The bodies rot out easily but the drive train, axles, frame are solid. I hate IFS anything.

im in the same bucket i just bought a nice 86' 4runner and know alost nothing about it... but it runs and the 4wd is pretty awesome so i think it'll work as a trail beater

Youve got a good DD. With stock tires and stuff you should have decent gas mileage. You say 5 spd, so Im not sure what gears, but I think if it came with 31's (stock) then you have 4.10 gears and if smaller tires, than smaller gears. The V6 thirdmember in the rear axle will have a 4 pinion carrier, so your better on strength there. The 8" is a stout axle, comparable to a 44. Even the IFS is strong as long as you dont squeeze all the lift you can through the torsion bars. The 3.0 is gutless compared to the 4.0 we have, but it still has enough mmph to get its light weight through most anything. The problems with it are the headgasket stated earlier, and the exhaust manifold design is retarded at best...the pass. side manifold has a crossover pipe that goes behind the motor over to the driverside manifold and dumps into it almost at a forward angle. All that exhaust dumps out the driverside manifold exit into the exhaust. Other than that, check CV boots on the front axles, make sure the hubs are good (AISIN hubs are the bomb for real), check for rust, smell the oil if you can for coolant (headgasket), and dont let the miles scare you.

All good info, thanks. Talked to the owner again today, he says it has about a 1" lift, torsion cranked and a longer shackle in the rear. Also says it has 33" all terrains and 4.11 gears. He has replaced the water pump, timing belt, and t-stat sometime in the last 7 months. Has the orig trans with a new clutch and he is unsure if the motor is orig. or not. Says it eats less than a quart of oil between changes.

The 3.0 sucks. The 22RE 4 banger is a much tougher engine. If you test drive it, make sure you drive it on the highway if possible. My old 4 runner with the 3.0 wouldnt pull a greased string out of a chickens butt. Merging into traffic was a crap shoot.

Other than that, they are good trucks. I would buy my old Tacoma back in a hardbeat, but not so much for the 4runner.

i've also heard bad things about the v6, but as far as ifs goes, toyota is better than most. if it isn't rusty, congratulations! hit the whole thing with rhino liner! if it is rusty, buy it cheap, rip out the carpet, and you'll at least have good drain holes for the wetter trails. it isn't hard to convert these to solid axle, but it is fairly hard to find a good front axle from under an 85 or older yota...

Converting over to SFA is pretty easy and your options for Axles are plentiful...just did a conversion on my friend's 86 a few months ago.

I've also heard stories about the 3.slow and it's hit and miss head gasket issues. I'd honestly try to locate a 22RE...pretty tough little engine and when geared right will work just fine. Just make sure it's a 22RE and not a 22R (RE is fuel injection and R is carb'd)...unless you like carbs.

I know the 22RE has a timing chain...not sure if the 3.0 is a chain or a belt..if a belt, probably needs to be changed depending on the miles.