I bought this 94 4runner a few months ago for about 1200. 155000 miles.My other car caught fire so I was in a hurry to get something. In my foolishness I bought it without inspecting the underneath. They said it just had a bad water pump so it seemed like a good deal. Which was a complete lie. Ball joints were shot along with cv axles and brakes all around. I have all new parts in that aspect just sitting at the house. Brake drums, shoes,rotors, pads, upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, tie rod adjusting sleeves, idler arm, pitman arm, cv axles. So quite a plethora of new parts . Having all these fresh parts to put on is the least of my worries. After knocking atleast 20lbs of rust scaling off the frame and looking for weak spots I have found several. Is it worth repairing.? The whole frame is rusty and worries me. Ive already poured alot of money into this 4runner and its been nothing but a headache due to used car place that sold it to me( they shut down due to shady practices before I got my title) and a mechanic that ripped me off as well. Im really trying to stay positive about this but its hard not to feel like its a losing battle everytime I crawl underneath and the frame seems worse than before.

 

that's a sad story, but what exactly are you asking?

whether you should bother putting the new parts on? not enough info to answer that... i.e., is the engine using oil? clutch or auto, does it shift well? how much have you put into the truck, minus the spare parts that aren't installed? etc.

 

Im in a little over $2000 so far. I still need to finish the timing belt and put the front end back together.I changed the idler pulleys while I was in there ( the bearings were shot just like the waterpump) I only drove it once and that was on the way home. Had to stop several times so it wouldnt overheat. I plan on putting all that back together shortly. I was mainly just asking if the frame looks shot with all the rust holes and rust in general. Ive never seen such a rusty frame. I just wanted some constructive input. Perhaps people have dealt with worse frames and fixed it but im not sure. A frame swap would be ideal but just too much money right now.

 

Well your frame needs repaired .

If you can do the work your ok if you need to pay labor rate it can get expensive .

Either use this one as a parts vehicle and hunt for a 94 in better shape

Sell it as it is and cut your losses

Not being up close and in person paying to have that repaired the right way you will now have another $2000.00 invested best guess

Did you not check anything before you bought it?? It is 22 years old

Just where are you at ??

Did this see 22 years of Northern Winters ??

A real shame to see a neglected Toyota My parts trucks are in better shape

Let the buyer beware is more true today then ever.

 

the frame is toast, not worth attempting to fix, imho, and the body of the truck isn't worth swapping onto another frame... you could pick up a dry 4runner out west for much less hassle than flailing around with that junk.

put the engine back together and drive it around, see exactly what you got for a drivetrain... if it's solid, you might be able to use it to swap or for parts, like wyoming says... although it's got the 3.0?

the upside is that this will be a good learning experience, and you'll get to know the truck pretty well.

 

Thanks for everyones input. I was kind of leaning towards the same thing. Im in WV and they do salt the roads here. It has been a learning experience all around. Take my time and inspect more in depth to avoid costly mistakes in the future. On a positive note I have become alot more familar with these toyotas.

 

You got screwed, cut your losses and start over, part that one out.

 

Nothing is to bad it can not be repaired the question is weather it is cost effective !!

This is a example of new vehicle lust one is so excited I am not sure where the blood goes it is sure not the brain.

It tends to get us all at least once .

This is quite common for a vehicle this old in this part of the country

sometimes we forget people for the most just get in the vehicle and drive change the oil once a year or just add fluids as needed

That body is in better shape then all of mine osv you must have high standards ***

 

Yeah. I agree. For the amount of labor it does not seem cost effective. a decent frame from a junk yard would be atleast $400-500 or so not including picking it up or shipping. Then all the labor of actually pulling everything off and putting it on the new frame. I should have known better and they did work me over. Think I had some serious tunnel vision going on. I definately dont feel comfortable having it "patched up". The pot holes and roads in WV are horrible. (It would be an accident waiting to happen. Ive driven over 10000 miles in Iraq between all my missions and the roads were actually very comparable to WV in quality.( not an exaggeration). I have to fill out a dealership complaint form from the DMV to get my title. From there I suppose I should part it out accordingly( the 31 inch tires and rims are brand new atleast) the engine and drive train should be good as well. I hope anyways. When I finish routing the timing belt and putting drive belts and radiator back in im hoping it runs with no overheating or leaks. Im not sure if I want another 2nd gen 4runner or something else this time when I accumlate more truck money. I do like the 1st gen 4runners. They seem easy to work on and the removable top is a pretty cool feature (especially If got ahold of a nice soft top)

 

this thread highlights an important lesson: unless you want to get ripped off you need to be very thorough inspecting any vehicle you plan to buy. Some auto shops will perform a free buyer's survey and let you know if they find anything wrong in the hopes that you will buy the vehicle and bring it to them for repairs. you can then use this information to negotiate a lower price. it the vehicle is coming from a used car dealer do not take their word for anything, test drive it to another shop for a once over. I have worked as a mechanic at stealerships used car dealers and independent shops/tire shops and can tell lots of horror stories, trust me on this, if you don't do everything yourself find a good mechanic at an independent shop and stick with him, ask the shop to make sure he is the one working on your rig, if he quits to move to another shop follow him. once you find a good and trustworthy tech don't let go!